My friend Jan asked me yesterday to elaborate a little more on Twitter—mostly how to make connections to share her blog posts with a wider audience of readers.
So let’s say you’re on Twitter. You have a handful of followers and you are interested in promoting your blog posts or maybe a book.
First of all, you need more followers. How do you do that?
I think the best way is to steadily increase the number of people that you’re following. And you’re probably going to want to target readers and other writers.
There are different places you can find writers on Twitter.
Here are some good places to check out:
You could hang out or possibly even be the moderator for a write chat:
Check out this article for write chat info
…I’ve copy/pasted the schedule from the post below. And this article has more in-depth info.
By using hashtags (the pound symbol), you can access conversations on Twitter that revolve around a specific theme. How do you get there? You look on the right hand side of your Twitter home page and you’ll see a search box with a magnifying glass next to it. Type in one of the hashtags below and click the magnifying glass, and you’ll be taken to a page that shows everyone’s tweets on that subject. You’ll be able to see conversations between different parties there, even if you don’t follow the persons involved.
Chats that go on every day (schedule courtesy of Inky Girl)
, #writegoal
, #writingparty
plus others (see hashtag list below)
SATURDAYS: #ScreenwritingSaturday
SUNDAYS: #writechat
, #scriptchat
, #storycraft
MONDAYS: #litchat
, #journchat
, #ThrillerChat
, #pblitchat
TUESDAYS: #kidlitchat
, #poettues
, #FaithLitChat
,
WEDNESDAYS: #litchat
, #memoirchat
, #wnw
, #yalitchat
THURSDAYS: #bookmarket
, #JournalChat
, #poetry
, #dnchat
, #kidlitart
, #scribechat
FRIDAYS: #followreader
, #fridayflash
, #litchat
, #scifichat
, #StoryFriday
You can also tag your tweets with hashtags to pick up followers. These are some popular ones (courtesy of Bubble Cow):
- #pubtip
- #nanowrimo
- #writegoal
- #wrotetoday
- #amwriting
- #wip
- #authors
- #amediting
- #publishing
- #writer
- #writetip
- #queryfail
- #queryquotes
- #kidlitchat
- #yalit
- #pblitchat
- #askagent
- #weblit
- #webseries
- #hashtagstory
- #writer
- #selfpublishing
- #blackthoughts
- #heyhey
- #whitethoughts
Meryl’s Notes also had some good ideas about writer-uses for Twitter. In fact, she dreamed up 50 uses of Twitter for writers.
I’d also recommend participating in #FF and #WW (writer Wednesday). There’s also some that do #MM (mystery Monday). I loved doing #FF, but now I have so many followers that the last time I did FF I got some negative feedback for spamming…it was just pages of return follows that I’d tweeted. So I’m going to have to think of some new way to participate.
If you like, you can also go to my profile page at @elizabethscraig and click on my followers and raid that list. Most of them are writers, readers, or other industry-related folks. Then you can click “follow” on each individual person. You might want to build your list up slowly. Not every person will follow you back. You can use a program like “Friend or Follow” to see who isn’t following you…and unfollow them, in return. There’s no need to have a Twitter relationship that’s a one-way street.
When you have your followers, you’ve got people to promote to, but also to share information with and network with. You could try different kinds of tweets, so you’re not just promoting your blog or book. Try retweeting others’ posts, sharing interesting links, tweeting about something interesting you heard about, etc.
What if you’re completely stumped by Twitter? My friend Krista Davis wrote a great couple of posts—a Twitter 101 and Twitter 202 that can help get you up to speed.
I’ll admit to using Twitter in a peculiar way. I have a good number of followers, but I pay very little attention to my Twitter feed. If someone sends something directly to me (an @ message), then I respond back to them with a DM (direct message)….because I’m trying to keep my profile page completely link-related. All my conversations take place through DM.
Following my Twitter feed would be totally overwhelming to me–seeing 3400 feeds update just makes me feel a little like I’ve got ADHD. Following fewer people would make it easier to read the feed…or else, use the TweetDeck to organize the folks you follow—you can organize the Tweeters by category or by your favorites.
Am I still getting something out of the Twitter experience? Definitely. But for me, it’s all about off-feed conversations and sharing resources and information, and networking. Still, I’ve made some good friends on Twitter and really enjoy the conversations we’ve had.
Hope this helps, y’all. Twitter does have a little bit of a learning curve, but one you get it, it’s pretty basic. And there’s a lot of great information you can get there. If you have any questions, let me know—if I don’t know the answer, I can find it.
I’ve been slowly building up my Twitter usage. My biggest problem is that I don’t want to follow people who tweet fifty times an hour, because they push everybody else’s tweets off the page.
Some heavy tweeters are useful though, and I’ll subscribe. If they are in between, I’ll bookmark their profile so I can just go in and look at their tweets without getting them mixed up in the rest.
Very helpful information. I’ve neglected Twitter lately and need to get back.
Mason
Thoughts in Progress
Elizabeth – Thanks for these useful ideas! I’m really glad I’ve developed myself on Twitter; I find it a very easy and convenient way to be in touch with folks from all over the world.
I’ve also found that feeding my blog posts to Twitter is an effective tool. I use Twitterfeed for that, and I”m glad that I do.
At first I was completely against Twitter. I thought it was ridiculous. A few letters and symbols to impart some stranger’s feelings? Congressmen tweeting from the Senate floor while the President is talking? Nothing but another generation of rude.
Now, I am lucky enough to follow people like you, Elizabeth–people who send interesting links and quotes–stuff that I actually want to read!
Thanks for these tips, oh Master Tweeter. Lots to click on!
Michele
SouthernCityMysteries
I’ll have to tell my writer friend about these tips! Harvee
My Sunday Salon
Yikes! With so many new things to learn I hardly have time to age. lol
(It’s my fairy tale and I’ll write the way I want!)
Thanks, Elizabeth.
Maribeth
Giggles and Guns
I’ve been on twitter for a year and have “met” some of the most wonderful people in the writing/book promotion industry there, but I had no idea about some of those hashtags. Thank you for the extensive list! Now I can meet more :)
@hfaesy
Great advice from one of the queens of Twitter! We love your Tweets and are always anxious to see what great information you have found for us. One of the main points of Twitter success is being useful. You have that nailed!
Another great post, Elizabeth! Thanks.
Martina & Marissa
Fabulous post. I started off strong on Twitter, but have slacked off to the point that I tweet about once a day. Your tips may just get me back on! Thanks.
Helen
Straight From Hel
I think retweeting someone’s blog is the best thing we can do for each other. Of course, the blog has to have something of substance. I won’t retweet just to help someone out. But I do for the good blogs.
And I also include #blog to my Twitter posts.
This blog is a keeper. Thanks for orghainizing and sharing this information. I’m going to tweet it right now.
Stephen Tremp
Thanks for the plug, Elizabeth! : )
I wanted to mention that one of the best ways to get followers is to retweet. It only takes one click, so it’s very easy to do. People love being retweeted because it means their tweets are spreading to other people.
And Daring Novelist, get TweetDeck. That way you can follow the conversations and people who interest you.
~ Krista
This is fantastic! Twitter still drives me crazy, but maybe if I get more organized with it, I’ll understand it better.
Thank you a thousand times for this; I am a serious Luddite, and though I’ve semi-figured out how to use Facebook and Linked-In over the last 10 months, Twitter has remained an absolute mystery. Your post has helped enormously. Thanks again.
I really need to start a Twitter account – thanks, this will help!
You post a lot, but not too much, and every post is useful.
I know that there is a culture on Twitter that sees it as an idle chat medium, and more power to them, but I’m just not interested in clogging my day trying to keep up with somebody’s workout at the gym, and their walk home, and what they saw on the way, and….
The Daring Novelist–And that’s something I’ve considered, too. I tweet at least one tweet an hour–I’ve tried to spread them out with the SocialOomph website so that it’s not too overwhelming.But I definitely see folks RTing my tweets who aren’t followers…I know that they’ve bookmarked me. Which is great, too! And I don’t blame them at all…it can be a lot.
Book Dilettante–Thanks so much!
Maribeth–I think I’ll be happy to age another 10 years, then I’d like to join you in that fairy tale, too!
May 23, 2010 8:17 AM
Heather–Thanks! Have fun. :)
Mason–Good luck with it!
Margot–I think having a feed from a blog can be a really good tool. The feed that I was using usually pulled my first sentence, though, and sometimes my first post sentence is kind of random! I need to explore other feed tools.
Michele–I started Tweeting with exactly the same feelings. All I’d heard about was the celebrity aspect of Twitter. But there’s a whole other side and so much useful information to tap into.
Adventures in Children’s Publishing–Thank you! And you do the same with your blog. It’s true–being helpful and sharing good content is really the best way to network with social media.
Helen–Hope it helps. :)
Stephen–Thanks so much!
Krista–That’s a wonderful point. If you retweet others’ posts you’re not only linking to an interesting resource, but you’re also helping the person who originally tweeted the info.
Diane–For me, just not worrying about the feed was huge.
Paula–I’m so glad it helped. :)
Alex–Good luck with it!
My biggest problem is time. Most the peole I talk to are most active when I’m calling it quits or haven’t yet woken up – down side of living on the other side of the world of most people.
thank you thank you thank you – this all made sense and now I’m going to try SOME of it. I’m going to put myself on a program of slowly increasing both twitter trafic and blog traffic. I just didn’t know how to go about it and now I do!
Thanks for all the helpful tips and links. I am still trying to figure out how to use Twitter to promote without the “in your face” type of promo that turns people off.
I do try to Tweet several times a day and usually am Tweeting about a helpful blog that I have read.
God, I love you. (Is that weird?) ;)
Daring Novelist–Thanks. :) I think if someone just has 30 or so people they follow and they follow me then my feed will completely dominate…I can see the downside of that, so I’m trying to spread it out.
Yes, *definitely*, there are people tweeting about their breakfasts on Twitter. Bleh. And who has time for that? Unless it’s something really good AND they have a recipe to share. :)
Cassandra–It’s a problem, but I’ve seen Twitter get a lot more global than it has been. I try to schedule tweets (using SocialOomph) during different times of the day to maximize the connections I can make in other time zones.
Jan–You are so welcome! Hope it helps.
Maryann–I think you’ve got the right idea. You’re being helpful and useful and not only working on self-promo. I’m *definitely* promoting my blog, the Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen blog, etc–but I think folks don’t mind because the links are mixed in with other helpful content. :)
Rebecca–I love you, too! :) Now go forth and tweet!
I’d kind of like to reach more readers than other writers.
Sue–And that’s something I’ve thought about, too. But I think it sort of works this way–if you build your platform, they will come. :)
I think about JA Konrath. He’s completely built his growing empire (and I’m starting to think he’s taking over the world) by his blog and networking with other writers.
Believe me, I’ve thought the same things. But…it does seem to work out.
This really helped me out. Thanks for summing it up so well. I’ll be sure to share the link with others and visit again for a reminder. Have a great night. :)
Tweetdeck keeps me tweeting :) I just glance at my main stream if something catches my eye, but then I have special streams set up for crit buddies, writer friends, #amwriting (where I have met a lot of followers) and other topics of interest. It definitely makes twitter workable with a large number of followers!
Thanks for the list of hashtags. I was wondering where to find them.