How to Be a Twitter Celebrity

Being popular on Twitter can help you market your business or publicize your blog. The most well-connected users on Twitter have over 100,000 followers, and some even have over 500,000.[1] Most of those users were quite well-known before they started tweeting, but that doesn’t mean you can’t climb your way to the top.

Steps

1. Tweet like a blogger. Twitter is a micro-blogging tool; it’s basically blogging in 140 characters or less. Generally the same guidelines for being a good blogger apply for for being a good Tweeter.[2] You can’t expect a blog with only three posts on random topics to attract many subscribers, can you?
   • Choose your topic. If you want to be famous on Twitter, don’t take their question (“What are you doing right now?”) literally. It’s more like: “What are you doing or thinking right now that’ll be interesting to a certain group of people?” The theme should be specific enough that people know what to expect, but not so narrow that only 50 people would be interested in it. Start with only one to two primary topics or “tags”. Then expand as your Following grows.
   • Find the man bites dog story. Read news feeds voraciously for a nugget you can spin into a good tweet. Guy Kawasaki, who has over 100,000 followers, goes as far as paying employees to find buzzworthy stories for him to tweet.[3] Mix up informative Tweets with entertaining Tweets.
   • Be interesting, transparent and provocative. Share intimate news about your life. If you can spin a good story, you might get readers addicted to the daily dramas of your everyday life.
   • Network. Good bloggers link to other blogs. Good Tweeters retweet other Tweeters. Search Twitter for keywords related to your topic. When you find an interesting one, hit “Reply” and add “RT” or “Retweet:” to the beginning, and post it. Not only are you forming connections with other Twitter users, but you’re also bringing good content to your followers.
2. Follow like a spammer. Once you’ve got your quality established, focus on quantity. Take the same approach that spammers do. In order to avoid actually looking like a spammer, though, make sure there’s never more than a 200 or 300 gap between who you’re following and who’s following you. This can be handled automatically by various services.
3. Keep your followers coming back for more. There are some basic dos and don’ts that will keep your followers list from shrinking. Use a service that notifies you whenever you’re unfollowed. Examine your last few tweets – what did you write that could’ve turned them off? Keep the following bits of advice in mind:
   • Do not use services that allow you to auto DM. Auto DMs frequently cost you followers. Some people get their DMs on their cell phones, and an auto DM can be an annoying reason to have to check your phone, not to mention the cost that might be involved in receiving it.
   • Do not radically change the content on Twitter after you’ve already established a twitter presence. People like consistency and followed you for a reason.
4. Ask questions. One of the best ways to engage your followers and spark a dialogue is to ask questions. Keep the following tips and tricks in mind:[4]
   • Acknowledge answers. If you can’t respond to each answer individually because there are too many, at least send out a general thanks.
   • Stick around to listen. Don’t ask a question right before leaving your computer. If people respond, you want to be able to respond to them as quickly as possible, while they’re at their computers.
   • Repeat your question several times throughout the day so you get in touch with different timezones and schedules. Make sure one of the times is “prime time” when most people are online (usually weekday mornings).
   • Ask your followers to retweet your question.
5. Tweet often, but not too often. Every time you post an update, it shows up in the public timeline, exposing your profile to people who don’t know you yet. At the same time, tweeting too frequently can annoy your existing followers and make it difficult for them to respond. Stick to one topic at a time and leave some time in between updates for people to respond.[5]
6. Use a Twitter client. A client can help sort the updates that you see by user, keywords, etc. For example, you might be following people all over your country, but you can create a list of users in your city, and use a client to see only their updates to get a glimpse of what’s going on in your area.
   • How to Use TweetDeck
   • How to Use Twitterfox
   • How to Use Twhirl With Twitter

Video

Intended for novice users, this video describes how to get started on twitter.

Tips

• If your motive for becoming a Twitter celebrity is so that you can channel more traffic to your blog or website, learn How to Gather and Use Twitter Metrics to measure how “effective” your fame is.
• Once you follow 2000 people, you won’t be able to follow any more until you gain 2000 followers. You can “clean up” your list with some third party services that will show you who you’re following that isn’t following you back–unfollow them.

Warnings

• Be prepared. Whenever you project yourself out there to get known, there will always be someone that will come down on you. Don’t take it personally. Know How to Handle Fame.

Sources and Citations

1. ↑ http://twitterholic.com/
2. ↑ http://michaelmartine.com/2008/03/26/secret-success-twitter-blogging/
3. ↑ http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2009/03/24/guy-kawasaki-can-handle-being-called-a-spammer/
4. ↑ http://www.twitip.com/how-to-ask-effective-questions-on-twitter/
5. ↑ http://www.problogger.net/archives/2008/05/08/5-tips-to-grow-your-twitter-presence/

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