J.R. Farr - Keep it real.

Twitter is about to “Cash In” all their Traffic

Have you seen Twitters new homepage? They just released it a few days ago. After one glance at Twitters new homepage, are you still thinking Twitter won’t find a way to make money?

Twitter has slowly been expanding their real time search functionality (search.twitter.com) and continues to make it more apparent to their users. The most recent is when they added the search box to the sidebar.

I think eventually, this sidebar will become a “Sponsored Results” section. And as an paid search advertiser myself, I would be a fool to not want to buy paid search ads on Twitter.

That’s exactly what Twitter is going to do.

Get ready for the new Google Adwords. Maybe Twitter Tweetwords

It’s time to give away a few tips and tricks on how to get more Twitter followers. I mean c’mon, who doesn’t like more Twitter followers right?

The more Twitter followers you have, the more leverage you have to promote your brand or website. Before I list these 10 tips, just think about how important Twitter is when it comes to promoting your brand. It’s not hard to imagine that if you offer some type of value to people, naturally your Twitter followers will climb in a short amount of time.

Think about having 500 followers. You simply leave a quick “tweet” about a new post you wrote on your blog. You just advertised to 500 unique visitors for free! There’s also a good chance that a few of your followers will “re-tweet” your message to all of their followers as well!

The moral of my ramblings… Don’t underestimate the power of Twitter!

10 Ways to Get More Twitter Followers

1. Be Social: Be active with your followers – Reply to them, comment on what they’re doing.
2. Be Smart about who you Follow: Follow people with a large number of Followers and reply to them. Your replies will be in front of thousands of followers. Don’t follow someone just because they have a lot followers, be sure they are of interest to you as well.
3. Blog Posts: Have a blog? Guest posting on a blog? At the end of each post, ask people to follow you with a link to your Twitter profile.
4. Email Signature: Promote your Twitter account in your email signature.
5. Forums: When posting on forums, leave your Twitter profile with your signature on your threads.
6. Activity: Twitter more Often. When you use Twitter more people will find you through Twitter search.
7. Promote: Create a Twitter badge on your site promoting your Twitter profile.
8. Facebook: Facebook has an application that includes your Twitter updates. Add that application to your profile.
9. Other Social Networks: Add your Twitter Profile to all of your other social network profiles.
10. Acknowledgment: When you get a new follower send them a direct message and say “Thanks for Following.” They’ll be more likely to be an active follower and tell their fellow friends to follow you as well.

Does anyone else have any other tips on how to get more Twitter Followers?

This is just too funny not to share with all of the million’s of people that read this blog

Yep, it’s time… I’ve had enough of this and since this is my personal site I can pretty much say whatever’s on my mind.

This is what really busting my chops… over the last few months Twitter has hit mainstream and it’s off the chain. Along with Twitter, there’s also Facebook, YouTube and every other social network out there that are growing bigger and bigger everyday. This is all fine and dandy but now we’ve got every person on Twitter claiming they’re social media expert. Really? You’re kidding me right? So after a few months of “tweeting your tweets” and setting up a Facebook account you’re now a Social Media expert!?

I’m no expert that’s for sure and I’ve got plenty of learning to do still. If you want to see an expert in Social Media go read Chris Brogans’ blog.

Maybe I’m being a bit too harsh but if you agree with me can you let me know so I don’t think I’m crazy.

For some strange and unknown reason the peeps and Twitter have more then one search function for Twitter. It almost seems that Twitter has neglected to fix one of the search tools too. I guess the other one is cooler.

The “Twitter Search” I am refering to today is the one you’ll find at the footer of Twitter. Also know as “search.twitter.com” If it happens to be your first time using search.twitter you’ll see why they have neglected to fix the other search tool.

Twitter Search isn’t only used to Increase Followers

Some of you might be surprised that Twitter Search has more benefits then increasing your followers. Most are guilty for it but it seems like more and more people will follow you to get the follow back. In the past week I have had a handful of new followers and when I go to look at their profile I see something like this:

“lgkajlsdkjrlkeja” is now following you!

562 Following, 28 Follwers, & 2 Updates.

I mean following someone for the simple reason that they have something in common with you would just be insane right? (Insert Sarcasim). Wrong. Think about this. No matter what interests you have, what industry you work in or even what your favorite baseball team is (*Cough* Boston Red Sox) there are people on Twitter that have more in common with you then you think.

Use Twitter Search to Leverage “Trending” Topics

This can be very helpful to find up to date information on any specific topic. The best part about using Twitter Search to do it, is you’ll see hundreds and thousands of different views on the subject. It’s not like you get the story from a single persons opinion. You can spend 5-10 minutes learning the details of the story and create your own point of view.

Also, depending on what type of work your involved in this can get you a head start. Maybe you’re a blogger wanting to publish a new post about this topic, an affiliate marketer wanting to see trends, or whatever the case may be I think you get my point.

Follow fellow Twitterers with your Same Interests

Here’s what I find powerful about Twitter. I live and breath anything online – marketing, blogging, design, etc. I follow people on Twitter that are complete geniuses about my industry and they openly share their knowledge. I can’t even count how many times a new app has come out or someone reviewed a new keyword tool and I was lucky enough to come across it before a big majority of people do.

Also, when following and be followed by people with your interests you help each other. I know I find myself asking for feedback or advice and I’ll get instant responses. The same works on the flip side. The point of Twitter is to be social, so be sure to return the favor and in the end, everyone is happy.

Twitter is Valuable

Use Twitter to your advantage. Find people with your interests, create and build relationships and be the biggest sponge you can be because there’s no shortage of valuable information from this awesome community.

Call me crazy but this is what I think, do you Agree or Disagree?