Although I was very proud to be at 8900 followers, I seemed
to have been stuck there for months and months.
Still utilizing all my Twitter tools and such, I found myself in a
rut.
So I observed some of my most loyal followers to see if they
were suffering from the same malaise.
What I found was that I had missed the boat on a very valuable tool:
Giving others a shout out
I mean, I had been doing that before, so it wasn’t anything
new to me. But what I learned is the
frequency of shout-outs versus all other posts, including your own book plugs makes a significant difference.
The most successful Twitter followers appeared to be doing
shout outs around fifty percent more than their own book plugs.
So I tried it.
I began scheduling my Tweets, using Hootsuite, approximately
every half hour. I would pop in all my
own book plugs for the day first, using the auto schedule feature, and then I
would create book and author shout-outs for my followers and insert them.
What happened was extreme.
Within one and a half weeks, I was up over 150
followers. And on some days I had so
many retweets and book shout-outs from others, I almost couldn’t keep up with
them.
If you need some examples of things to post for others, here
are a few samples of actual Tweets that I send regularly:
KEEPING KYLEE is Book Two in the TEXAS BOYS FALLING FAST
series! Available now from @JanRomes
It's a must read! http://ow.ly/zm2tk
@AJWaines is a psychological thriller writer, #author of THE
EVIL BENEATH a spine-tingling thriller that I loved! http://ow.ly/zQiz9
and for something a little different:
For spine-tingling thrillers, see @JohnDolanAuthor and pick
up EVERYONE BURNS, HUNGRY GHOSTS or THE POISON TREE http://ow.ly/z8zVG
I also placed in my profile blurb that I support those who
support me, which has helped. And don't forget to say thank you when someone retweets you if you don't have time to create a shout-out. Last, make sure to engage with your followers. If someone tweets you directly, respond to them!
If you need more direction on Twitter use, and some help with how to schedule posts and create shout-outs on Hootsuite and/or Buffer, please pick up this handy-dandy book loaded with simple tips and tricks to get you going!
One other way to get more followers and more eyes on you is
to do guest posts. If anyone is
interested in having me guest post on their blog, or guest posting on mine,
please feel free to contact me.
COMING SOON! My next release NO THANKS, MOMMY, I PEED YESTERDAY a funny kid-style memoir! For a free sneak peak, click here!
To subscribe to my monthly newsletter for free, click here. You get a free copy of my romantic suspense BLESSED AND BETRAYED, plus news on discounts, freebies and new releases!
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After reading your post I immediately went to follow you on Twitter and discovered you don't have a "follow" button on your blog. I'll try to find you anyway, but it might be a nice addition to your site. Just a thought, take it or leave it.
ReplyDeleteI just checked Twitter-- I'm already following you!
DeleteThanks, Sue! I'm new to blogger so I'll update this site accordingly!
DeleteI agree with some of this, ie guest posts, interaction, and the convenience of occasional scheduling if you're very busy, but I do think you can run the risk of being one of those profiles that is forever churning out promotional tweets. Some people have been running the same tweets for me for over six months - it's nice of them to do it in the first place so I don't like to suggest that this can actually be detrimental; I think they need changing at least once a month. I get about 60 new followers per DAY - and I've never scheduled a tweet. If I want to help promote someone else, I will do a tweet and keep it in my 'favourites', so that I have the link, and copy and paste it occasionally, or change the wording. I do realise that is more time consuming and not everyone has the time to do that, but even spending half an hour once every few days is better than constant scheduling, I think.
ReplyDeleteWhen I started Twitter I used to thank people for RTs, but I then learned that no-one wants this, they'd rather have an RT back and don't want their 'notifications' clogged up with people saying 'thanks for the RT'. Now, the only people who I thank are those selfless souls who just RT people because they're generous with their time and have nothing they want promoting 'in return' :^D I know lots of people have differing opinions, though, I do realise that!