3 Weeks After Adding 1300 Followers on Twitter, I’ve Added Over 700 More

About a month ago, I wrote a blog titled: How I Gained 1300 Writer Followers In 2 Weeks On Twitter. I was surprised that the article took off as quickly as it did. And that it was read as much as it has been, so far.

This isn’t because I thought it wasn’t a good article. I just didn’t anticipate that so many other Medium writers would be into Twitter that much. After all, I allowed my Twitter to sit mostly dormant for 12 of the 13 years I’d had it.

Once I really committed to making this blog become big and hopefully one day, very successful, I realized I should revisit Twitter and some other sites in an effort to gain a larger following. The more people I could lead to Medium to read my blogs, the more income I’d be able to make.

It’s been almost three weeks since I wrote that article. Here are four things that have happened and that I’ve learned about the process since then. I hope you find these helpful!

1. Adding the Maximum Number of Followers Daily Isn’t the Best Strategy

I have to admit, I’m not the most patient person. I discovered the little trick I mentioned in the first article, about being able to add 10 similar Twitter people at a time with a push of a button (often writers) once you follow a writer.

Those added up quickly and it was easy to do that close to 40 times before hitting the maximum number of people you could follow in 24 hours. Then I’d wait 24 hours, and once I was able to follow again, I’d repeat this.

I realized that it didn’t take long to hit the maximum number of followers Twitter would allow me to follow. When you’ve followed 5000 and only about 1000 or so follow you back, you’re not able to follow more writers until your ratio increases.

Again, as I mentioned in the first article, it took me two full days to unfollow the ones who hadn’t followed me back. About 75–80% didn’t follow me back. So it still added a large number of followers for me, but it created a huge task, the deleting of the other non-followers.

In the three weeks since I posted my first article, I’ve still added over 700 new followers, and I’ve done it more organically. It’s been easier to get 700 new followers in three weeks than it was to gain 1300 in the two weeks prior. I’ll explain how this was done here in a bit.

2. It’s Advantageous (and fun!) To Interact With Your Twitter Followers

When I first started adding writers and others like crazy, it was all I could focus on. I tried to answer back any direct questions or requests, but admittedly, I likely did a poor job of being welcoming to my page or creating value in it.

After unfollowing about 3500 of the people who didn’t follow me back, once my ratio was fixed to its current level, I had more time to enjoy Twitter. I could post my new blogs, and even had time to post some funny status update tweets and memes.

People love to laugh. People don’t necessarily love to read just any ol’ link to a writer’s blog or article that they come across. By entertaining more of your Twitter followers with humor, they are more likely to actually read your writing, if you’re not posting links to it constantly.

It’s also good to converse with a follower if they comment on your tweet. I realize that many people only have so many hours in a day to accomplish all they’re trying to do, but it only takes a few seconds to banter back and forth with your followers, as you’re able to.

I feel that it’s important to like your followers’ posts. Their jokes, memes, and writing updates. Retweeting someone’s tweet is a nice way to show that you care about their interests. Nobody wants to follow a one-sided friend.

3. The Beauty of the Writer’s Lift and Follow Back Tweets

I quickly learned about a couple of helpful things in the past three weeks on Twitter. Both of these are designed to help you gain more followers but do require somewhat of a little etiquette about them.

A Writer’s Lift is something I started seeing right away. Various Twitter users would make a post and include the hashtag #writerslift, along with a number of other hashtags. Hashtags allow others to see your posts easier and more frequently, I highly recommend you use them on most posts.

I decided to comment on a few Writer’s Lift posts and it was cool. I’d follow any writer that I saw on the post that I hadn’t yet followed, and most who were on the WL would follow me back. That’s the point of it: Follow someone else, they follow you back, post a link to your work, site, etc. Retweet a post from anyone who retweets one of yours.

A Follow-for-Follow post is pretty similar to a Writer’s Lift. In fact, you may see the verbiage for both used in the same tweet. Simar to the WL, a FFF asks you to follow the person making the post and those who comment on it, with the idea that once you do this, they will follow you back.

It’s all about writers helping other writers. The more you give, the more you receive back. I feel that this is the main reason I’ve gained 700 followers in three weeks.

I haven’t had to indiscriminately mass-follow everyone I came across like I originally was doing. This is certainly due in part to participating in and starting a couple of my own Writer’s Lifts and Follow-for-Follow posts.

Again, about the etiquette involved with Writer’s Lifts and Follow-for-Follow posts: Don’t do them constantly. Less is more with this technique. I had one of them go really big and of course, I tried to repeat it too often, and too soon. I think I was posting them daily for a few days.

It quickly became less and less effective. It’s far better to post a lot of funny stuff, a few articles or blogs, and just a couple of Writer’s Lifts or Follow-for-Follow posts a week. It’s also good to post an interesting or funny pic when you do WL and FFF posts. Something that helps catch the interest of other Twitter users.

4. Comment On Your Largest Followers' Posts

I get excited about every new follower that follows me. I gladly and immediately follow them back. I recommend that you visit each new follower’s page, and like something of theirs right away.

Occasionally, I’ll get a BIG follower to follow me. Meaning, they have a lot of followers. I’ve had a number of new followers that have over 50, 60, or 70,000 followers. A handful with over 100,000 followers have followed me.

It’s important to interact with as many Twitter followers as you can. It’s a being a good neighbor and a respectful person. However, be sure you’re interacting with your large followers, as well. Any time you comment on one of their posts, you are being seen by a larger than average audience.

If you notice that these big followers post a fair amount of Writer’s Lifts or Follow-for-Follow posts, take advantage! Their generosity and kindness in helping people with smaller followings should be appreciated. Take the help when it’s offered, and return the favor.

Just because they are big, it doesn’t mean they wouldn’t love to be liked, commented on, or retweeted. Treat big and small followers alike in the way you’d want to be treated. We all win if we pay it forward.

Final Thoughts On My Past Three Weeks On Twitter:

Since gaining the 1300 followers I did in the first two weeks, and now gaining 700 more in the three weeks after that, I feel as though I’ve learned a lot.

Twitter has become even more fun despite gaining fewer followers in a bit longer of a period than I initially did. The quality of time spent on the platform has been far better than those first two weeks. I’ll gladly accept gaining a 2000 follower increase in five weeks, any time.

I plan to keep actively engaging with Twitter. Their algorithm seems far more favorable than Facebook’s, in terms of any given post going viral. When you have a really funny status update or meme hit big, it can reach over 100,000 people, easily. This lends itself to many new followers, and more people seeing your writing.

Follow these steps, have fun with it, and please let me know you you’d like any additional information or pointers. After all, writers who help other writers make everyone feel good and feel successful. &:^)