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| via google pictures |
If you get on twitter without having a goal (what you hope to achieve with it) it would be like jumping on a bus (any bus) just because it is going somewhere you don't know. It is imperative you set up a goal before signing up on twitter. (I did not, when I first signed up on twitter July 2010 and now I have lots of spam trailing my tail ~ subject for another day)
To find great people to follow on twitter you have to do the following
Set up your twitter Objective
You would have to provide answer to the question, ‘why do I want to be on twitter?’
I signed onto twitter May 31, 2010 out of curiosity, I just wanted to explore and have fun, since all the cool people seem to be using twitter. As soon as I signed on, I found it too cumbersome to use.
My twitter goal has since then been realigned. My twitter goal is;
- To connect with great folks who love mobile technology, Digital marketing and adventurers.
- To share awesome contents with a growing community of Mobile phone lovers, users of social media tools and services
- To promote my personal brand as a Digital Media Communicator
After setting up my twitter objective/goal, I went on to use it as my search criteria
Use Search twitter search tools
One excellent tool available for use is at twitter search. Let us take one of my objectives as a case study, mobile technology. I could select one phrase ‘mobile web’ and insert it into the search box, as illustrated below.
Sort through the search result, read the tweets and check the people behind the tweet. Click on their username and search their twitter stream or time line. If what they say about your chosen content (mobile web) is awesome, you can go ahead and click ‘follow.’
One more thing to do after following that great tweep is to search through their follow list, the people they are following, you may just want to follow some great people in their network.
Use hashtag (#) search for key words or category.
When you visit blogs or websites, you would notice the different categories of contents on the blog, they call it tags. The hashtags on twitter works in the same manner. Examples of hashtags are; #memeburn #awesomeadventurer #mwc #digiman #Nokia #Microsoft #gramys #travel #socialMedia #fashion #quote #movies #blogs etc.
Follow hash tags during events.
Right now the Mobile World Conference is going on at Barcelona, Spain. If you follow the hash tag #mwc, (which you can search for by using twitter search), you can see tweets from people who are on ground at the event who might be great to follow.
Don’t be in a hurry.
If you are in a hurry to create a list of people you want to follow, you might stuff your time line with junk and stuffs you don’t need. Treat your time line like your living room. Imagine inviting someone you don’t want to see to your living room. Take your time, and you will benefit from following great people.
These are not points I copied from a blog post or from a book about how twitter works. They are points I have used in gaining great contents and connections that serve me well. I got a contribution from Michelle Corsano (@mcorsano) who is a Prof. of Marketing Technology in the University of Toronto, Canada. Such could be the benefits you get from following great people.
Next week I would share with you, how I have been able to get the people following me, not a huge list, but it is growing and it is meeting my needs. (check back next week Wednesday).
(UPDATED; An event happed in Tampa Florida< that gave me great insight into branding using social media, that is what you would be reading)
(UPDATED; An event happed in Tampa Florida< that gave me great insight into branding using social media, that is what you would be reading)
What methods have you used to follow awesome people that have enriched your time line?
You can help increase the list I created above here. I would love to hear from you. Kindly use the comment box below.
Follow me on twitter (@JesseOguns) if you like the content. You can also share it by using the retweet button.
Nice post. When i joined twitter sometime ago in 2009, my major goal was to have fun & interact with people. Overtime i've found twitter to be a very interesting & educative tool.
I search for people to follow....
-Using their username or email address.
-Going through my friends and followers timeline
-Using hashtags, e.g i wanted live updates of the egyptian revolution, so i searched twitter using #Egypt hashtag. I was able to connect with 5 journalists who were covering the Egyptian revolution live
-I follow young professionals like you, enterpreneurs, students, few celebrities and people who spice up their tweets with humour.
-If a particular twitter handle keeps popping up on my timeline, i go ahead and follow the person
#ThatIsAll
@Iniobong,
I agree with you twitter is an educative tool.
That was great; connecting with The Journalist popping live update on their twitter stream. Even on the road without cable you can get rich feeds of how things are happening as they are happening.
Thanks for sharing :)
Ini has said it all! I'll just add this:
I love music a lot. So i also follow artistes to get links and download their tracks the moment they release it.
Twitter's just too nice and powerful. Hooked a friend up wit a modelling job via twitter.
Jenuwa,
That's so cool, hooking a friend up with a modelling job. Twitter must have made it easier for you to get access to some of this artiste.
I also remember, how I hooked a friend up to do a graphics designing job all the way from Nigeria to Australia. He got the job, did it and delivered it.
Thanks for your contribution.
Good advice to have an objective, Jesse. Twitter can be a huge time gobbler if you don't have a goal in mind. Granted, some people might have that kind of spare time, but most people don't.
Twitter can be an amazing tool to help grow your network and help market yourself. Sounds as though you've learned the benefits very quickly. That will, undoubtedly, serve you very well.
Amber @WordsDoneWrite
Hi Amber,
You right on spot Amber, as twitter said - Helping you build business networks. I agree with that too. Many come on board due to the buzz. A guide is there a good tool for them.
You broke a smile on my cheek ;-) Thanks