I'm all about branding and making sure all my basis are covered when it comes to exposure online. Twitter is one of the best ways to grow your audience and be actively tweeting your latest posts, thoughts and connecting with other people.
One of the problems with Twitter is that it can take a while to get the necessary exposure for your account and have hundred or even thousands of followers listening to what you have to say. Twitter is actually a lot like blogging in the aspect that you must build up your following and have an audience that is listening to what you have to say.
I'll be the first to admit that I have pretty much ignored social media for the past several years. It wasn't til about two years ago that I tried to start using Facebook more, then around mid last year I started getting more active with my Twitter account.
A few months ago I finally changed my Twitter account from @moneyreign to @zacjohnson, which not only totally make sense but also helps my branding and allows people to find me easier.
Right now I'm sitting at over 21,000 Twitter followers, but I could probably be over 100,000 if I was actively growing out my account over the past several years.
My Experiment with Twiends is Working Well!
I'm sure many of you have already heard of (or using) the service called Twiends.com. It's a free service that is a great way to gain exposure for your Twitter account and getting interested users to start following you. You can also use the service to start finding and following other interesting accounts as well.
Here's a look at what Twiends looks like when you first login.
The concept behind Twiends is very simple and effective.
Twiends allows people to join their site for free (now with several million users) and once they are setup with an account they will get some “seeds”. “Seeds” are used as their method for getting people to follow other people through their service. If you follow other users on Twiends they will get more seeds, then you can use these same seeds to get more exposure and followers for your Twitter account.
Recommended Reading: Twitter Power 3.0: How to Dominate Your Market One Tweet at a Time
It's also important to note that Twiends does not sell followers, they only offer exposure. This is important because it's up to other users to follow other Twitter members, which means they are real and the quality is there.
So how the heck did I get 19,345 seeds in my account you might be asking? Simple… I am using their VIP program that allows me to purchase more seeds and exposure through their site. I've listed a few of their different packages below.
You don't need to buy seeds through Twiends, but it will make the process a lot faster. The good thing is that their seed purchase packages come in all sizes, so anyone would be able to test their results and see if it's worth it. The more seeds you buy, the lower the average price of a seed will cost.
My Twitter Growth Over Time
The best way to tell if a service is working is by being able to measure results. TwitterCounter.com allows you to plug in your Twitter account and see your growth over the past several days, weeks or months.
I've been using Twiends for the past year now and you can see quite the steady increase of followers as a result of their site. I'm also giving out 10 seeds for every new follower. This is the most that you can offer through Twiends.
You can also see your own set of Twiends stats when you are logged into their site. In addition to Twiends I've been testing a few other sites for increasing my Twitter following, but none of them have had the same quality of success.
Tips for Increasing Your Twitter Following
Anyone can increase their Twitter following through the use of Twiends, but keeping your Twitter followers is another mission in itself. It's easy for someone to join Twiends and follow your account and get a few seeds from it, but if you aren't providing any value then they are going to unfollow you right away.
Here are some tips to use when focusing on your Twitter account.
- Have a quality photo of yourself and a customer Twitter background. This will make you more interesting and more likely that you aren't a fake bot account.
- Don't buy Twitter followers from other services online. These are usually garbage and fake accounts just to inflate your numbers.
- Send out Tweets often, but don't go crazy. With many people following hundreds of users it's easy for your Tweets to get lost in the mix.
- Tweet real content and not just your most recent blog posts. Mix your Tweets up with real content, questions, thoughts and also respond to others.
- Replying to other people's questions and comments through Twitter is a great way to gain extra exposure for your account.
Follow these tips and be sure to sign up to Twiends.com and watch your Twitter following grow through out the year!