(Original posting was to Author Central on Facebook but applies to anyone using Twitter.)
I've recently gotten serious about using Twitter as a tool for building relationships with my book followers and fellow authors. Let me share some Twitter tips that I've been learning. Many of you may already know these but thought it may help some folks.
1.Use a program to schedule tweets at different times during the day. I use TweetDeck which schedules up to 50 postings a day. There are other programs out there that you may like better but this is the one I like so far.
2.If you are posting the same tweet multiple times a day make sure you leave 1 or 2 characters free out of the 140 that you are allowed to use. This is why. Twitter does not allow the exact same tweet during the same day. A way to get around this is to put a single space between words as you are scheduling your posting.
2.If you are posting the same tweet multiple times a day make sure you leave 1 or 2 characters free out of the 140 that you are allowed to use. This is why. Twitter does not allow the exact same tweet during the same day. A way to get around this is to put a single space between words as you are scheduling your posting.
Example 1 (9:10am): Follow The G-6 Chronicles on #Facebook and find out what all the buzz is about! http://www.facebook.com/TheG6Chronicles.
Example 2 (10:45am): Follow The G-6 Chronicles on (Extra space) #Facebook and find out what all the buzz is about! http://www.facebook.com/TheG6Chronicles.
3. Retweet others and not just about you and your books/blogs. You will find you get many more followers when you ReTweet (RT) someone's posting.
4. When someone RT (ReTweets) one of your postings, reply with a thank you (TY) and maybe even RT one of their postings. You will gain so many more followers.
5.Make Lists! I am at about 3000 followers so far and it is impossible to keep track of everyone and tweets get lost of the followers I truly want to make a priority. Lists are easy to make. Simply click on the down arrow on the right side of someone's tweet and you'll see add to list as an option. You can create a brand new list here or if you already have one you can add them to it. You find all types of lists related to you under your profile tab.
6. Unfollow people who don't follow you back. The reason for this is because Twitter will flag your account as a spammer if you follow too many people above the amount of people following you. What that ratio is I'm not exactly sure but keep the two numbers within a few hundred of each other. There is an epidemic with people on Twitter that I like to call UWDOG (Unfollowing With Delusions Of Grandeur). This is when people wait for you to follow them back and then they unfollow you in hopes that you will not notice. There are sites to catch these folks. I use who.unfollowed.me.
7. Follow Lists. Another way to get followers is from other people's lists. If they have public lists you'll often find they've already done a lot of the work for you. Many have Follow Back lists of people who actually follow you back. Many lists will be full with 500 people. Search these lists! You will be glad you did. Also many lists are made of people who frequently RT (ReTweet) other people's postings. This is gold! Linda Hawley from Author Central on Facebook also mentioned in a post that to find people on Twitter that fall under your book genre to look up famous authors in your genre. Then follow their followers. This is a great tip for finding new fans of your genre if your an author.
8. Use # for key word searches. By placing # before a word will make your posting listed when people do searches. So if you are posting your #book that is on #Amazon #Kindle you should post it that way. You will attract many more people to follow you when doing this. Genre specific is also a great way to attract attention. Use these (#Fantasy #Romance #Thriller) to attract #bloggers who are looking for new #books to #review.
9. Basic Info. What I mean by this is make sure you have a Photo (do not change it often as it will be your branding to your followers), Profile Bio (What you put in here is the first thing people will see when deciding if they want to follow you.), Color Scheme/Photo (Make sure the color scheme of your profile reflects your genre. IE Bright or shades of red for Romance, Dark or Black for Sci-fi or Fantasy.).
10.Background Photo. On your profile, the right hand side background color is semi transparent. If you use darker shades or black for the background you will make it possible to see a background photo of your book if you choose to make a background photo. You need to fuss with the photo to get it in the right position but I find it cool to see something in the background. Check mine out if you'd like at http://twitter.com/#!/danLcarter.
11. Tweet something personal every once and a while. Maybe a quote or something special that happened with your children this week. People want to know you personally and sharing a little bit about yourself will help with connections. (I need to work on this one myself. =)
That's all I have for you at the moment and I'm sure there are many more tips you all can share that will be helpful to us all.
Blessings,
Dan