Comment posted on How to Make Twitter More Fun Than a Barrel of Monkeys by Basam@silpada
By viewing your whole video I can give the twitter the name of “hub” that plays important role in the network. Without hub you can enlarge your network.
Recent comments by Basam@silpada
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I am a wife to a great husband of 13 years (here ya go, now I have to make changes to this sentence once a year), a mother to a beautiful and, no doubt, genius little girl, and a successful internet entrepreneur. I also devoted my life to Jesus Christ many years ago, and He remains my true priority, focus, and hope.
{ 66 comments }
Ana, as usual, you deliver a no-nonsense approach to a “social” network that is rarely used properly - on either extreme.
Before I understood the meaning of social in social media, I did an experiment in automation. Naturally, it was a failure, as I never offered anything of value like you have suggested. I came to despise all automation - based on my misguided understanding.
However, through that journey, I managed to discover a useful way to use Twitter - or so I thought. I have three “Announce-only” accounts which are associated with my software websites. I don’t follow anyone, but I invite my opt-in users to follow the appropriate account if that’s how they choose to be notified of news and updates.
Based on your stats, this method may be ALL that Twitter is good for - in my case. I would have to do a complete paradigm shift to embrace automation in Twitter. I guess I’m still unlearning the old definition and don’t want to appear “spammy”. Of course, that’s why I keep my “Quality” account. I do retweet the announcements from my software accounts, but that’s it. Everything else is old-fashioned (time-consuming) networking and fun.
Once I decide to use Twitter for traffic, I will remember your strategies.
Cheers,
Mitch
Mitchell Allen´s last blog ..You Totally Suck at Marketing
The main point of automation is following other people on Twitter, Mitch - I don’t think there’s anything spammy about it, since the people you follow still have a choice to follow you back or not.
I still do provide a lot of value in ALL of my accounts and that’s the key. Granted I do it through automation, but I still watch my @mentions to see if anyone is asking questions.
So yes, I strongly believe that this strategy wins, but it’s not a faceless one; it is still the end user-friendly and provides lots of value and not self-promotion.
Hope you get to Twitter soon while it’s still a viable traffic generation venue!
Hi Ana,
What are friends for unless you can use them !?
Quantity all the way - to the bank!
You can see what sort of friends (?) I’ve had most of my life.
Friends are not really friends just because you call them that, Stephen.
The best relationships I’ve built were all through my blog and never on social media. So definitely - social media power is in numbers.
Ana
Quantity. You get results faster
I am with you, Edwin.
You’ve been MIA for a while; how’s business going?
Awesome! I recently switched to WordPress. Things are going pretty good
Edwin´s last blog ..How To Create A Restore Point
About time - glad to hear that!
Hi Ana - So, at some point you have an auto-tweet that encourages followers to come and comment on your blog? You lost me there a little, but your process sounds intriguing. Also - you “unfollow” people you are following? Doesn’t make a lot of sense - but I think I follow you (haha) - Thanks!
Kent
I send all my new followers a direct message, not a tweet, that encourages them to come and promote themselves on my blog. I do it automatically as soon as someone new starts following me - very hands off.
As far as unfollowing is concerned: when I follow a number of people, some of them will choose to follow me back. But some of them won’t. So it’s important to unfollow those who do not follow you to be able to continue acquiring more followers.
Makes sense?
I really must try your way of doing things on Twitter, like many I have been disappointed by the number of people coming through from Twitter to my blog, I have never put out more than 2 tweets at the same time
Maybe that reflects in the relative amount of time I now devote to it
Thanks for sharing Tony
Tony Clingan´s last blog ..“Are You Setting Trends Or Building Timeless Value”
That’s one thing I’ve learned about Twitter, Tony - from personal experience: taking your time to network there simply doesn’t pay off in terms of time you need to spend doing it and the traffic you’ll get in return.
I would recommend going the quantity way to anyone you would like to generate any traffic from Twitter.
Hey Ana,
I have TweetAdder installed on my computer, I really need to figure it out and get cracking with it
I recently wrote a post inviting people to promote their blogs and businesses on my blog, so I could use this on Twitter
Thanks for sharing these tips, Ana.
All the best,
Mavis
Mavis Nong @ Free Marketing Training´s last blog ..How To Make Your Blog Posts Go Viral Effortlessly
I saw that post, Mavis, and at first thought that that’s why you created it.
But now that you have it, you have another use for it!
No transcript? I have a slow connection here so I can’t watch the video. If you couldn’t provide a transcript this time, I hope you consider it next time.
Bilal Kamoon´s last blog ..4 Reasons You Should Start Your Own Blog
Good point, Bilal - I was in a bit of a rush this time, but I know it’s good to have.
Ana
Agreed! Never really “got” the whole networking on Twitter thing, and never really connected with very many folks. I spend my limited twitter time tweeting posts that I find to be beneficial, and also promoting my recent posts with a catchy headline. However, love your “baiting” approach — need to research that more. Will also check out the software - 3000 per day is impressive!
Best,
Scott
P.S. Yes, I changed my blog theme …
Scott@Self Improvement Tips´s last blog ..Quote of the Day – Continuous Personal Growth
I don’t think many of us “get” networking on Twitter, Scott. This approach has worked so well for me; I do hope you give it a shot.
Ana
Hello Ana!
I can’t believe I haven’t explored your site until now. I work closely with Tia and she’s mentioned you many times before, but somehow I only found myself here this morning!
Anyway, I love your video and I your content here is very insightful. I haven’t approached using twitter in such a strategic manner. These suggestions are fantastic. I’m going to test them.
I will definitely be talking more about what you are doing here. I also want to commend you for acknowledging your faith so boldly here. I too am devoted to Christ and love to see him lifted up. Thank you!
Marlee´s last blog ..A Yoga Inspired Online Business Tip for Women Entrepreneurs
Such a pleasure to meet a sister in Christ, Marlee!
I have utmost respect for Tia and glad you finally made it over to my blog.
I really think I found a sweet spot in Twitter traffic generation; really hope you give this a shot.
Ana
Hi Ana,
Currently I’m using twitter feed. I was recently wondering to myself weather or not it is useful. It has it’s pluses and minuses. This software you recomemd truly does give twitter a human touch.
Terry Conti
Terry Conti´s last blog ..Free Traffic
I didn’t think you could use Twitterfeed to follow people on Twitter, Terry…
I’ve loved Twitter for what it’s done for my blog even though I hate networking there.
Interesting tips Ana. For me I follow everyone back that follows me, and keep a very specific ratio of friends/followers. I too am going to quantity in a way, and then I use lists to ensure I can network easier with certain people.
Robert Dempsey´s last blog ..3 Fast And Cheap Ways To Increase Website Conversion Rates
I actually don’t follow anyone back, Robert, since that easily eats up your daily “ration”.
I too use a method to track my quality followers - I actually have a separate “quality only” account for that.
Ana
I personally use Hootsuite to release my post. I try to set the release times to match the times that are most likely to get retweeted.
TweetAdder does have that feature as well, but that’s not why you should use it. It’s the ability to follow and unfollow people that gets you the numbers and the traffic you need.
That’s the direction I’m heading for on Twitter. More Followers! That’s the best way to get results. I was doing a ton of promotion on there to get followers but I started slacking off and lost a ton of followers. But I’m back!
Kevin´s last blog ..The Only 7 Methods Of Making Money With Any Website or Blog
I am with you, Kevin - I am going back to numbers. It worked before, I am sure it’ll be much better again.
Good to see you back; missed you for a while!
Twitter is definitely the numbers game! If I hadn’t slacked off then I would’ve had way more followers now. I lost about 600+ followers
That’s what I get for not using it for 2 months. I’m probably going for TweetAdder also to triple my efforts. I really like that product but I never made a decision to buy.
Great to be back
Kevin
Kevin´s last blog ..The Only 7 Methods Of Making Money With Any Website or Blog
By viewing your whole video I can give the twitter the name of “hub” that plays important role in the network. Without hub you can enlarge your network.
Hello Basam:
I am not agree with your comment because in twitter there are many spammers followers available so how you say that twitter plays a important role in network.yesterday I read one article about “Spammer Follower” in Twitter that mean users miss used the twitter website.
Regards
Roses Mark
Facebook Applications´s last blog ..Win a Free iPad – Sweepstakes
Never have been lucky with generating any traffic with twitter. I heard there are a lot of bots now.
Brian´s last blog ..How to Treat a Migraine Headache – Reduce Head Pain
There were lots of bots quite a while ago, Brian. That’s why I said it’s extremely important to move your new followers over to your blog - that’s the only way to get any use out of Twitter.
Hi Anna,
nice video i have been wondering which automation twitter software to use with my 5 accounts.
thanks
Brian
Brian, if you watch the video or read the post, you’ll have your answer.
Ana,
I was wondering about Twitter for a while now. In 3 months I have only gained 300 followers and I have noticed that the more followers the more hits I get to my site, not much though. I know I need in the 10 thousands to get any great traffic to my site.
And it makes so much sense that I would need to network via my own blog than through Twitter. Once I get the readers on my blog I can get them to stay. Networking on Twitter only gets me to converse on Twitter and gives my blog very little benefits.
Great advice. And it was nice seeing you in a video. I love when bloggers put a face to the blog.
Allie´s last blog ..Categories and Tags- Help Readers Navigate Your Blog
Hi, Allie - so good to see your face back on my blog!
If you let your Twitter account grow “naturally”, it won’t get far - you are learning it already.
Taking Twitter by numbers is exactly what I did to grow TGC when I had no traffic whatsoever, so I know it works beautifully.
Hey Ana, sure makes sense. But I can’t see me going through all that automation cause I am soooo against it.
I was thinking about the page to promote other people for a while, this is just a push forward for me to do it.
I have multiple accounts on Twitter but all of them are created for a website they “belong to”.
I will have to think about this and “edit the strategy” to go with my “anti-automated” using of Twitter.
But you did give me some great ideas. And it was nice seeing you with your coffee again
Brankica@How to blog like a star´s last blog ..Human spammer How to lose reputation as a blogger and get banned the easy way
I can theoretically understand your distaste for automation, Brankica.
However, here’s the way I look at it.
I’d rather catch all those Twitter newbies before they have time to get into trouble and bring them back to my blog, where they’ll get solid internet marketing strategies and not have any products shoved down their throats.
Plus, this is a business decision. I need traffic and Twitter provides tons of it. I can’t do it all by hand. What I can do by hand is respond to all the comments and emails I get. So once those Twitter followers migrate to my blog, I am all theirs.
I totally agree with you. And I just decided to give that MarketMeSuite a test drive (after getting a subtle link in the newsletter, thanks). And you know what? I have no idea how to use this thing, lol.
I decided to both agree with you and agree with me, so I created a new account to test your strategy. You see I am learning
Brankica Underwood´s last blog ..Brand your blog and yourself now
Did I mention that I still keep one “quality-only” account, Brankica?
That’s the account I stay in touch with you via.
So I am not all for quantity only.
But glad to hear you got MMS - I love it and use it daily. It does take some getting used to, I am still discovering some cool features. One of my favorites is setting up automatic feed publishing for some of the blogs I like. That way I tweet even when I am not around.
You’ll get the hang of it!
Seems I got some beta version, won’t upload feeds, can’t get half of the stuff to work. Hope to be able to get the old version or something.
And wanted to add that I am keeping my LiveUrLove account totally human, and gonna test the others
Thanks for the great tip!
I just downloaded the new version - excited to sink my teeth into it, since this is the one that’s supposed to do some sort of FB signature as well.
Haven’t done much with it yet though; will let you know if I am having similar problems.
Well put!
This all makes great sense, Ana. Thanks for the post.
I especially like the tweet in blocks idea. I can see the value of doing that, especially as the last thing of the day. That way your last comment before calling it a night is a tweet to your own blog.
Thanks,
Peggy
Peggy Baron´s last blog ..How to Write a Search Optimized Blog Post by doing it Backwards
Tweeting in blocks is something I’ve used for a long time and definitely always worked great for me, Peggy.
Actually you can make the last tweet in every blog a tweet to your own blog, not just the last block of the day.
Hi Ana,
Ok, so I thought that twitter was cracking down on automated things like tweet adder so I’d been steering clear of it. I love your idea of a page for your followers to come and share about their blogs and businesses! Very clever idea!
Great tips!
Heather
Heather C Stephens´s last blog ..3 Secrets to Overcoming Obstacles and Turning Teams into Fulfilled Dreams
Not that I know of, Heather - as long as you stay within allowed Twitter limits, TweetAdder is just fine.
Yes, promotion page is brilliant - I saw someone else do it and obviously adopted it for my blog. Works great!
Ana
Well, getting traffic from the same people is quite understandable because those who see your tweets are those who follow you and if you don’t gather new followers (just like you said, the key is the bulk, although big numbers might have a lower quality, in terms of visitors and their interests, is much more likely to get new readers and maybe sales by exposing your website to new visits).
I guess it’s just the way twitter was build, to bring people with the same interest together, but also giving the choice of who to listen.
Twitter can generate some great traffic, but you have to always look for new followers in order to be “profitable” (as in new readers, leads, sales). I don’t know how targeted can automatically obtained followers be, especially those that follow you if you follow them.
I know that social media is certainly something that can bring lots of traffic, but I just suck at it
).
I know that there are lots of strategies, from getting thousands of followers(that aren’t really targeted and you may be only tweeting to a mob of uninterested people, but because of the big numbers might get you more new visits and benefits.) to having only a couple of hundred followers that you interact with, visit your blog daily and you know are interested in what you have to offer.
I wish you best of luck with your new strategy
. Please let us know the results.
Alex@Jocuri´s last blog ..Motociclete Curse
Let me start with this, Alex: you are not following untargeted followers.
There are many ways to get the followers that might actually be very interested in what you have to offer, and that’s the first step to a successful and TARGETED Twitter traffic.
The second point I wanted to make is the fact that I know it works, since that exactly how I built up my readership when I had no visitors.
Hope you might venture to try it someday, Alex.
Hi Ana,
This really does make a lot of sense. Ultimately this is why it is good to have regular campaigns to add new Twitter followers.
Twitter is still a big source of good traffic for bizchickblogs.com, especially now that the reader base has changed some. I think a lot of it has to do with B2B vs D2C. B2B people are at a disadvantage with Twitter, because everyone is using it to push, rather than pull. But with D2C, you have a lot of people who are not necessarily just trying to get traffic (because they have no website). So they become great sources, at least for me.
Tia´s last blog ..Important Info About RSS Feeds at bizchickblogscom
Interesting point about D2C, Tia (direct to consumer for those who might not know).
I suppose it all depends who your target audience is and can see how Twitter might be even more beneficial of a strategy for blogs like yours.
And you are right: whatever your niche, anyone could always use a fresh pair of eyes.
Have a blessed weekend!
Hi Ana, this is interesting. I didn’t know that Twitter allowed us to use these types of automated following tools. Thanks for clearing that up for me. Btw - how can I participate in your Sunday Morning Coffee in real-time? I plan to join you this weekend.
Thanks Ana.
Ileane´s last blog ..The Best Chrome Extensions to use with New Twitter
Yes, Twitter allows too much automation; that’s why we have all the bots overtaking our time lines.
Glad you asked, Ileane - all you do is show up at my fan page at http://www.facebook.com/trafficgenerationcafe at 10 am EST and click on “Shows” tab to watch the show. You can also log in to chat.
See you there!
Thanks for the insight, Ana. I gotta tell you, your video proved to be my exception - when I go to a webpage or blog and the first thing that happens is a vid opens requiring me to hang for however many minutes I hit *close*.
But because you are so trustworthy and constantly deliver help to others I even put on my headphones and watched the video.
I wrote a blog piece entitled ‘I Can’t Tell You How to be Social . .’ where I examine both sides of the numbers/social/friend issue. I’m not trying to plug myself here, I’m mentioning it because I could see the ‘social only’s’ quickly forming little cliques. “I only talk to or follow [whatever] and delete everyone else”, blah blah blah. And exactly as you say, that doesn’t put new eyes on your blog.
The flip [good] side is that being very careful to not sound like a commercial, out of the blue I’ve gotten some very well know, heavy hitters following me. So that phase of networking is working great! And yes, branding is hard!!
I equate using Twitter as stepping out onto the freeway and trying to get your message heard over all the honking horns. After your review of Lisa’s Blog I started pointing my comments to more LOA blogs. (They could use your help, Ana).
Now I’ll implement your multiple account, bulk postings and ramp up my automation a little more to get eyes to my blog. I remember my excitement when I received your ‘promote yourself’ message. That was very generous.
I’ll pass that generosity along from here on.
Thank you, Ana! I truly appreciate all you do to help others.
I love your analogy of Twitter being like a freeway - very true, Gibson.
I normally don’t do video posts, but wanted to try something different this time. I think it worked out well.
I actually understand both sides of the coin as far as quantity and quality are concerned.
I still firmly believe that quantity is what will get you the traffic you need - that’s why I have 5 Twitter accounts. However, I also have one more Twitter account, which I maintain for quality only. I follow very few people there - only the ones that I want to network with.
So I do it both ways.
I always love your insightful comments, Gibson - just love the fact that you seem to give my posts a lot of thought before you comment. I greatly appreciate it and hope it’s noticed by my readers as well.
By the way, I’d love to have the link to the post you mentioned.
Ana
Thanks fer askin’, Ana! Here’s the link to ‘I Can’t Tell You How To Be Social, I Can Only Tell You To Be Yourself’:
http://www.gibsongoff-theenlightenedtraveler.com/?p=18
I’m working on the whole ‘slug’ thingy (by your direction) but it’s quirky. Can’t get WP or the plug-in to work right. But enough of that! Hope you enjoy the read, and I’d appreciate any and all feedback.
~Gib
Your slug was the first thing I noticed when I saw the link, Gibson.
Definitely need to fix it; sorry to hear you are having problems with it.
I am off to check out your post.
I agree with Sheila here. This is indeed a great piece of advice on using the Twitter the right way.
Even though I believe quality always is more important that quantity; I really like your approach of gaining on that quantity and then worrying about the quality.
Tweet in a groups of 4 to create that tweet block; Agreed Ana.
Thanks for the awesome advice.
Adam Paudyal @ endeavor online´s last blog ..Smart Goal Setting- The Paradox Behind Your Online And Offline Success
You are very welcome, Adam.
Again, I am not against quality, I just think that quantity give you better results traffic-wise.
Ana:
I am SO glad you did this! I have had issue with Twitter due to the fact that the traffic I get is from people I have already networked with…just like you said. And no matter how many times I try and configure the “right” tweet time, it ends up getting buried anyways. The one thing I can say is that I do the blocks like you mention.
I have to say that I have even considered dumping Twitter altogether….(20 people just faceplanted their keyboards)…but I am going to give this action plan a whirl. I have a couple Twitter accounts but have not really focused on all of them, so maybe my issue has been user error!
In analyzing my Google Analytics, Twitter is number 6 for me, so I can attempt to move that up!
Love the video!
Lisa
Lisa@ blog building basics´s last blog ..Internet Marketing- Hey Yo- You Talkin’ To Me
I think this has a great potential, Lisa.
If you manage to automate most of this, create several account and just keep following more people, it just might be the Twitter breakthrough you need.
The most important issue is to find a way to entice them to come to your blog with the perfect DM.
Ana,
This is one some of the best Twitter advice I have read. This is just the opposite of what I have been doing but it makes total sense. Sense I am always look for ways to make things better I will be giving this a go. (Love the invite benefit page!)
Hope organic traffic is now your #1 traffic source.
Sheila Atwood@newbielifeline.com´s last blog ..Put Your Self In The Drivers Seat Start Your Own PLR Bussiness
I am just starting to convert back to my old Twitter habits, Sheila, but I know it’ll work much better for my traffic generation - based on my past experience.
Let me know how it goes!
The tip is probably useful short-term, but it brings up a problem that makes me sad.
With the ever-growing competition for the number of posts and share of attention on Twitter, there are two possible outcomes coming closer every day:
a) Twitter becomes an unreadable pile of garbage with 1000 posts / min
b) Twitter implements strict posting limits, making it uncomfortable for casual users.
I wonder if there is any way to keep it sane long-term.
Val @ Web Tracking Guide´s last blog ..72 Ways to Boost Your Online Profits
Ahhhh… Don’t be sad, Val.
You use Twitter while it works and stop using it when it stops working. That simple.
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