Let me first start off by saying that I believe Twitter as a marketing medium is over-rated. In fact, I believe that this whole social media thing as a marketing machine is also over-rated.
Sure there are individuals who have made good fortunes using social media, but I believe that there are only just a few who have.
I prefer to stick with paid traffic. It is a proven model with predictable results.
You can still get decent results with Twitter, but not worth spending more than a few minutes a day on increasing your Twitter following.
With that said, here is my gigantic list of 50 ways to get more Twitter followers:
1. Place your Twitter name on all your web sites
Make sure you place your Twitter name on all your web sites above the fold. Placing it above the fold makes sure that your Twitter name is seen. A simple “follow me on Twitter” button should do the job.
2. Place your Twitter name in your forum signature
If you participate in forums that are related to the topic of your Twitter account, you can gain a lot of new followers. The key is to offer good value in your forum posts and people will recognize you as an authority on the subject.
3. Twitter name in all your ebooks
If you create ebooks or special reports, place your twitter name just below your name on the cover or inside of the ebook or report.
4. Twitter name in all your video presentations
Before your video presentations start, make sure to include a quick screenshot of your Twitter name. Ask people to follow you.
5. Twitter name in your YouTube account
You have control over the background in your YouTube account, so use it wisely by including your Twitter name on the left side panel.
6. Twitter name in your email signatures
Every email you send out including any in an autoresponder sequence should have your Twitter name. Try to encourage people to follow you by including something like “Follow me on Twitter…”
7. Retweet good content
If you retweet good content, people will see that and want to follow you.
8. Promise to donate
Do a fundraiser and people like to contribute to a good cause. You could simple say that for ever new follower you get that week, you will donate $1 per new follower to a worthy cause.
9. Ask followers to retweet
Ask your followers to retweet any of your really good tweets. This will get you *viral* exposure and more people will hear about you.
10. Twitter name on your business card
Twitter promotion doesn’t have to be limited to the online world. Include your Twitter name right on your business card.
11. Rent a billboard
If you are really ambitious, rent a billboard with your Twitter name and give people a reason to follow you. (i.e. Want Hot Stock Tips? Follow Me At @stocktips)
12. Promise A Prize
Promise people who follow you a chance to win a prize. I did
this once and quickly gained hundreds if new followers. Make
sure you deliver on your promise of a prize.
13. Fill out your bio so people know who you are
This can be crucial to gaining more followers because people like to see your bio and who you are. You should include your web site so people can visit and see what you offer them
14. Place a hash tag in your Twitter posts
Hash tags (#) with a topic name after the hash tag can help people find your tweets through trending topics, groups and Twitter’s search function.
15. Tweet cool pictures
People like to see cool and interesting pictures. Tweet some interesting pictures and it will get retweeted.
16. Tweet at peak times
Tweet when most people are online checking their Twitter account. This will help ensure that your tweets are seen and not lost in the hundreds of tweets that some of your followers might get in just a few hours.
17. Follow people in your industry
Follow people in your industry because users sometimes go through the list of followers of that particular person and will come across your profile
18. Ask people to follow you
This is obvious. Just ask people to follow you. You will be surprised how many people you can get to follow you by just blatantly asking. If you have an existing email list, let people know that you have a Twitter account now.
19. Break news faster than anyone else
If you can break news faster than most people, you will get a lot of followers because they want to get the news first.
20. Participate in trending topics
Trending topics get a lot of exposure so participating in a trending topic can get you a lot of exposure.
21. Buy an existing twitter account
Do what Google does when it wants a bigger share of the market. Buy up competitors. Find a related Twitter account and see the person is willing to sell it.
22. Run a poll
People love to fill out surveys and polls. Start a poll on a relevant topic and engage your followers.
23. Buy PPV traffic
You could buy PPV traffic and bid on your competitor’s Twitter accounts. I know, kinda sneaky eh?
24. Engage Other Twitters With Huge Followings
If you can engage other Twitter users who have a huge following and start a conversation, this can get you a large amount of exposure if they respond to you in their Twitter account.
25. Tattoo your Twitter name on your forehead
You could use a temporary tattoo and attend a major convention related to your topic. I have seen weirder things.
26. Do Media Buys
Buy banner space with your Twitter name in the banner and a compelling reason to have people follow you (i.e. Want to learn how to talk to hot women? Follow me @flirtygirl)
27. Use a tweet button on your blog posts
There are dozens of WordPress plugins that will allow you to place a tweet button on all your articles. Make it easy for your readers to tweet your blog posts.
28. Create an attractive Twitter background
People are attracted to Twitter followers who have attractive backgrounds. Create one, it really is not that hard.
29. Pick a Twitter name this is easy to remember
Pick a name that people can easily remember. Especially if you are doing any offline marketing. Make a memorable name makes it easier for people to find and follow you on Twitter.
30. Ask questions
Ask questions in your tweets. This will help engage your followers and get other people to follow up who also want to reply.
31. Bribe people
Give away an incentive to have people follow you. There are Twitter autoresponder services that can deliver an email to your new follower with the incentive that you promised.
32. Tweet Often
Your Twitter account is like a radio station. You need to be on the “air” on a regular basis. The more you tweet, the better chance you have of your tweets being seen my non-followers.
33. Word of mouth
Tell your friends and relatives to follow you on Twitter.
34. Use Twitter in your blog comments
When replying to posts on other people’s blogs, leave your Twitter name in your reply.
35. Talk to your followers
Answer back to people who tweet at you. People will see that you are receptive to questions and dialogue and will be more likely to follow you.
36. Don’t tweet about stupid thing
Nobody cares that you ate a peanut butter sandwich three minutes ago unless you are Beyonce. Keep your tweets useful and it will attract more followers.
37. Don’t tweet overdose
Don’t tweet 300 times a day because it will clog up the screens of your Twitter followers and is sure to be turn off.
38. Show some personality
Show your followers that you have a personality. People are attracted to people that they feel comfortable with. Share some thing about you personal life. Come across as a real person.
39. Add yourself to Twitter directories
There are directories like JustTweetIt where you can add your Twitter profile and get more followers.
40. Write articles and place your Twitter name
Write articles on your topic of interest and place your Twitter name in the resource box. Submit these articles to places like EzineArticles.com and GoArticles.com
41. Use Twitter for your customer support
If you create a Twitter account solely for customer support, your customers will be forced to follow you.
42. Place your Twitter name on on all your social networks
Facebook, MySpace, Orbit and the dozens of other social networking sites where you may have an account.
43. Leverage major events
Create an account related to a major event such as an election and attract a lot of new followers (i.e. presidential election)
44. Ask blog readers to Digg your blog post
If you can get to the top of Digg, that will get you a lot of attention and more followers.
45. Incorporate Twitter into your product launches
Product launches garner a lot of attention so constantly reminding prospects about your Twitter account during the launch sequence will help you get new followers.
46. Do a Twitter exchange
Do promotional tweets about other Twitter accounts. Kind of like a ezine ad swap.
47. Be funny
Laughter is the best medicine. Inject humour into your tweets once in a while and gain new followers.
48. Cross Tweet
If you have multiple Twitter accounts, cross-tweet about each one and get more followers on each account.
49. Ask Lady Gaga to tell all her followers to follow you
Well she does have the biggest Twitter following now. This one in my opinion is a long shot.
50. Create a list like this and ask people to retweet about it. 😉
Feel free to add more ways to get Twitter follower in the comments below. Also please retweet this post. Ah come on, you did know that I was going to ask, right?
Take care!
Gauher Chaudhry
