New to Twitter? Hints on finding Interesting People who will Follow You Back

We all start with Zero Twitter followers.

I've been on Twitter almost from the beginning, and have been helping others professionally for several years now.

My personal Twitter following is just over 250,000. Follow me at @TomHall. I follow everyone back.

I started growing my account to impress potential clients.

Just like you, I started with Zero.

As a rule we start our Twitter experience by following important influencers in our lives, be it the President, @LadyGaGa or @CNN.

None of them will ever follow you back. Ever.

Then you follow the real people in your life.

Hopefully, they will follow you back. Hopefully.

Okay, now what?

It depends on your goals.

Are you here to "check out Twitter," for work, or to have some fun and/or create a virtual social life?

If it's just to check it out, you can follow up to 2,000 people (that's the maximum Twitter allows for new accounts. More on this in future Blogs), and then sit back and let the world, news, and #Hashtags flow by.

But if you are here for a social experience or work, you need to get people to notice you and follow your Twitter feed.

So how the heck do you do that?

Job One: Add a photo to your account & write a short Bio.

No one follows or takes seriously the "Twitter Egg" photo you get when you sign up. Honestly, if you can't commit to a photo, any photo, how can you expect others to commit to following you?

Done. Now what?

It's just like elementary school. Find people doing what you like to do, introduce yourself, and then join in. 

Step One: Follow people following important people and causes you find interesting. Check their Twitter Bio's. What a person says about themselves says volumes about their Twitter personality. So does the photo they pick.

Step Two: Follow people who comment on interesting Tweets.

Step Three: Comment on their comments. It can be as simple as saying you agree, or you can go into detail why.

Step Four: "ReTweet" Tweets of people who interest you. Nothing gets the attention of a person on Twitter faster then ReTweeting them. (Note: this does not apply to Famous people or anyone who is "Verified")

Step Five: Start a dialogue with them. Important reminder: everyone can see your Tweets. Even if they are not following you.

Step Six: Post interesting Tweets.

I agree. That's easier said then done. 

Here are some basic rules for Tweeting:

1. Keep it simple

2. Keep it short

You only have 140 characters - 120 if you include a photo.

3. Include a photo

Studies show (yes there are studies) that a Tweet is 80% more interesting with a photo. Why? Because they catch the casual viewers eye. Simple as that. That photo also helps you get your message across.

4. Never Ever Ever Ever be Sarcastic

When you are looking a person in the eye, in your home, sarcastic remarks can go horribly wrong. Times that by a factor of 10 on Twitter. Nearly every Celebrity that has lost a Million Dollar Contract or Job, because of a Tweet, has done so due to a casual sarcastic remark. Don't expect your audience to understand what you meant. Because they won't. Guaranteed.

If you follow these simple rules, you will quickly gain dozens and dozens of followers, new friends, and/or potential clients. I did it. So can you!

Check back here for info on next steps.

Feel free to drop me a note on Twitter at @TomHall.

Happy Tweeting!

Tom

Tom Hall is the CEO of The Maverick Group, a Santa Monica based New Media Consulting firm. 

Tom's clients include Entertainers, CEO's, and Thought Leaders.

Everyone Wants Real Twitter Followers but No One Tells You How...

Do you need Twitter followers who are real people, and are interested in your story or product?

Have no idea how to find them?

That's what we do.

I'll get right to the point:

We find people who are interested in your message or what you are selling, and let them know you exist.

The process is very similar to the advertising industry's. First, we identify your goals for your Twitter account. Personal, business, or a combination, and what you would like to accomplish in the short and long term. How they integrate with your overall social media strategy and personal, company or product goals.

One of our clients, an international labor union leader, had the goal to increase his awareness with government and elected officials and the media, so that he and his union would have a bigger impact on the political stage. We implemented our strategy which included starting his Twitter account, growing it in six months to 75,000 followers, helping him with how and what to tweet for the highest impact. He is now being followed, and retweeted by Senators, the press, the White House Press Secretary, the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Labor, along with other labor leaders across the world. He also receives direct messages and communicates with his followers in a way that he would never have been able to do without Twitter. It took a bit of work but we got it done.

An Advertising CEO wanted 2,000 followers BEFORE his first Tweet, which would be sent out in less than a month. That was a bit complicated since tweeting attracts followers, but we also got it done. Now only a few months later that client has 10,000 followers.

​One of Forbes 2014 Top 50​​ CMO's​​ hired us to create his personal Twitter following from Day One. He now has 10's of thousands of CEO's, CFO's, CMO's, industry leaders, and journalists following him.​ And his Mom, of course.

A movie critic/entertainment business client was becoming stagnant -- he was getting less work, and his listener-ship was falling on his main radio show. We used Twitter to increase his visibility in strategic areas and in 60 days, he received five completely new entertainment contracts/shows that he had never been offered in the past. Since then, his awareness is up, his ratings are up, his Q is up and he continues to get into meetings and get new projects. Our client recently broke 65,000 Twitter followers after just 9 months.

The next step is to identify the targets of your Tweets in broad strokes.

This can be current and/or future clients, industries, interests like motorcycles, geography, demographics, click throughs to your website, where ever the client's priorities lead us. Most people have a number of targets, based on their goals. We are also willing to change mid-stride. It's not rocket science. Priorities can and will change. And the nature of new media is flexibility.

One of the keys to the way this works, is that you follow all your Twitter Followers back. Only celebrities and rock stars can afford not to follow people back. For them it is a sign of status. A status many of us wish for. If you aren't willing to follow people back, I can't help you.

The reality is that no one "needs" to follow you. You have to form a bond with your Twitter Followers. They have to trust you and your information. The simplest form of showing that trust is to care enough about your Twitter Followers to hear what they have to say.

So how do we build your Twitter following? It is a bit science, a bit art, hard work, and a lot of experience.

We find people on Twitter who meet your unique set of criteria, we follow them, and if they don't follow back, we un-follow and find new followers. Wash, Rinse, Repeat. The tactics change a bit as we reach Twitter milestones and our client's milestones.

Our team does this by using existing public software, proprietary software we created, reading individual bio's & tweets, and hard won instinct. We literally scan every possible follower's account, and push a button to follow them. It can't be done with software alone. The final arbitrator of whom to follow is one of our highly trained associates, based on the strategies that we develop for each of our clients.

We will find "real people" interested in your work or message. We Never "Buy" Followers -- We "Earn" them. And it is a very labor intensive process.

If your goal is to create large numbers of Twitter followers, and it doesn't matter who they are, if they are real or not, or if they are even listening to you -- we are NOT the company for you. We build a fan base that will interact, and has a propensity to be interested in you and your message. To Like, ReTweet, and/or click on links.

That's not to say you won't end up with tens of thousands of followers. The difference is that the "Custom Twitter Fan Base" we create for you -- will be real people interested in your ideas and musings. When you Tweet something, it should be ReTweeted or commented on by your followers.

Finally, we help you tweet more efficiently and effectively. You have made a career communicating ideas to people. We show you how to maximize it on Twitter. The use of #HashTags to target your message is an important part of this. Time of day, number of Tweets per day, and the number of characters used are also factors. And how to use a combination of the information you want to communicate along with information that your targets want to engage with and hear.

In many cases, we even do the Tweeting for clients. Sometimes to help them create a voice on Twitter, or to supplement their content. We develop and execute their new media strategy.

We are proud to say that we specialize in working with "Verified" Twitter accounts. A​ Verified​ TV ​Producer with 600 followers 2 months later had 15,000 industry followers. An Entertainment Executive's Twitter following grew by an astonishing 10,000 followers in just 30 days.​ She now has nearly 30,000 followers.​​ ​We helped an Actor with a Verified account grow from 6,000 followers to 10,000​ ​in​ just​ 7 days. His fans wanted to follow him -- they just didn't know he was on Twitter.​ ​All on strategy, all on point. Being "Verified" is Twitter gold!

Please note: We can NOT get you "Verified". That is up to you.

How much do our services cost?

Our services are a lot more cost effective than Twitter's "Promoted Ads" (cost of $0.50​ ​to $3 per click), and more efficient in building a following based on your strategy. While not inexpensive, we are very cost effective.

Tweet me at @TomHall​ ​or email me at TomTheMaverick@gmail.com​ ​for the details and costs based on your goals!

Happy Tweeting!

Tom Hall is the CEO of The Maverick Group, a Santa Monica based New Media Consulting firm

Beginings

Welcome to my Blog:  Musings of a Twitter Master


Hi my name is @TomHall, a self proclaimed #TwitterMaster.

I have been on Twitter since June of 2008, and have over 250,000 followers.

I've written ten's of thousands of Micro-Blogs for clients and myself, but this is my first venture into personal Mega-Blogging.

In the course of my work, I have written speeches, press releases, newspaper and magazine articles, opinion pieces, strategic briefs, resumes, biographies (both short and long), obituaries, brochures, TV & Radio commercials, business & political campaign proposals, end of action reports, even Billboards, and a bit of Fiction.

But I have already mentioned Press Releases.

Since this Blog is for my own amusement and a casual Twitter teaching tool, I hope you don't mind that my use of grammar will also be casual.

Not that I plan on doing much swearing (I can already foresee it's use and usefulness), I just don't see the point of writing in full poetic proses.

You will also note that I love to Capitalize words I think are important. I also will start a new paragraph for no apparent reason.

Strange I know, but these are habits I'm not ready to break.


What is the Point of this Blog:

1.  To teach you what I've learned about Twitter.

2.  Answer your Questions about Twitter.

3.  To talk about Twitter features, and how I use them.

4.  Chat about the fun and frustrations of Twitter.

5.  Recommendations on writing the Perfect Tweet.

6.  What it's like to run dozens of client's Twitter accounts.

7.  The Ups and Downs of doing Business on Twitter.

8.  What my Twitter Business is and why you should employ my Team.

9.  What third party tools I have used, and my opinion on their usefulness.

10.  My life.

I'm looking forward to getting started!

Find me on Twitter at @TomHall

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