I’ve been on Twitter for several years now. At first I didn’t get it and it seemed rather an exercise in futility. Over the years, I’ve changed my tune quite a bit and now I’m a daily user with nearly 20,000 (!) tweets to my name and nearly 3000 followers. Recently, I’ve changed up how I use Twitter and if you’re a writer, I think the method may be of use to you.
Even as early as six months ago I was frustrated with my timeline. As someone who follows a lot of writers, I tend to see a lot of “BUY MY BOOK” tweets. Well, I few months ago I decided to light a candle instead of cursing the darkness. I started Re-Tweeting a lot of these folks. I fact I started retweeting a lot of things in my timeline. The response has been astounding. I now get several new followers every day, I am mentioned on Follow Fridays (#FF) more than I could possibly ever respond to and I have built some very cool relationships with other writers. I purchase a lot of their e-books that interest me and I’m genuinely happy to help promote their work.
In essence, when I changed my mindset, I changed my world. It feels great to help these wonderful folks and when I finally get on the writing bandwagon again, I know that I can count on the support of the folks that I have been helping. Pretty cool stuff. Also, I can’t help but think that maybe, just maybe, I’m interacting with the next James Pattterson or Stephen King. You never know.
So, my advice to writers is to get active on Twitter. Grow your followers organically. Engage. Interact and retweet your compadres working in the trenches the same as you. Check back and let us know how Twitter is working for ya.
Of course, a follow at www.twitter.com/GeorgeAngus would be very cool.
I can attest to what you’re saying–was very pleased to see you retweet yesterday. And, though I frequent your blog, I make sure to come quickly in return for your thoughtfulness.
We are community and sharing really does help all of us. I love the idea of ‘changing mindset’. It’s so simple yet we often fail to do do so.
Thank you for being the kind of nice guy you are!
Walker Thornton´s last [type] ..Should You Give Your Work Away? The Free Sample Debate
Walker, you are indeed a loyal friend and exactly the kind of person I want to be surrounded by. I appreciate your thoughtful words and look forward to our continued writing experiences!
George
I love Twitter! You make a good point about the need to move away from a strictly broadcast mindset to one of sharing and community.
Also, the #FollowFriday madness does wonders for your Klout score.
Cheers!
Tammi Kibler´s last [type] ..Doesn’t Suck Doesn’t Cut It When Striving for Excellence
Tammi,
Sorry for the delayed response, my blog decided to stop notifying me of comments.
Ya know, I need to check into the Klout thing. I’ve never done it but I’m interested.
George
Hi George! I actually love using twitter and I think there are a lot of people who are even addicted to it and cannot live without it.. Some of these are the celebrities that wanted to keep in touch with their fans..
Meygan´s last [type] ..Protein Benefits
George, I’m glad I caught this post! As you were my feature for #FF today. I choose one person to feature per week and your retweets and cool attitude has earned one so quickly after our mutual follows recently.
I’m doing much the same thing personally. I just started the RTs though, adding them to buffer once every couple of days. That way I have a guaranteed four posts per day, but I’m not held back from doing more if a link or a comment catches my eye.
With that said, I’m also cutting back on my Twitter browsing. I have a few search terms and hashtags setup in tabs on Hootsuite, after that, I’m off to do more writing. Speaking of which…
Thanks for being a quick friend, and I’m sure we can continue this trend!
-Aric
J. Aric Keith´s last [type] ..The Shadow Armies
Aric,
Thanks for all the support and coming by with your comment. I’m looking forward to continuing the trend. I’m having a great time on Twitter right now, in no small part due to the great folks I’m connecting with.
George
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