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Reid Carr is a social media expert.
Crafting a growing tweet feed is similar to choreographing a dance or producing a show. If you don’t do it right, your audience will let you know by walking out on your show.
Perhaps your audience will go along with a stumble, but if performers are out of place or doing the wrong things, then people will take off.
Now, there are productions for mass appeal and then there are those that are more niche. The same goes for Twitterers.
Some people’s messages appeal to a wide variety of followers due to the type of content they produce while others are only intended to reach a very small audience, yet are no less relevant to that group.
I have already recommended that you at least get in the game on Twitter and perhaps you’re ready to post at this point because you’ve gotten a sense of your voice.
The next step, I recommend, is to sign up for Qwitter (www.qwitter.com). This service tells you when people opt to stop following you; it provides you with an alert email.
Knowing who is leaving you is sometimes more powerful than knowing who is following you.
I have had a couple of mass exoduses from my followers and after the second set of departures, I started to hone my stream.
I realized that my persona and why people follow me is because they’re interested in me in my role as Red Door’s president. So, if I provide anything promotional from my personal or philanthropic side people don’t want to hear it.
Specifically, I tweeted that people should consider supporting Rotary’s plan to globally eradicate polio. I got dumped in a big way. I doubt that people have issue with the cause itself. Rather, they don’t want to hear me ask for their support of a personal cause.
My advice: evaluate your role to your followers and stay consistent with that should you wish to grow your base.
Know this: Many people re-tweeted my request. While it didn’t resonate with everyone it inspired some to perpetuate my message to their followers.
Posts that are the most polarizing turn off some yet vigorously inspire others. Know who you are to others, be true to that vision and you’ll get stronger and loyal followers.
You don’t have to placate the crowd by gingerly tiptoeing down the middle; you may orchestrate a niche, inspired following which grows more rapidly than a “safe” one.
Find your voice, but to your followers be a leader in what you communicate.
Reid Carr is president of Red Door Interactive, which specializes in Internet presence management. Follow him on LinkedIn or Twitter.
Tags: SDNN
Comment by: Gadeyne Posted: July 3, 2009, 9:36 am
http://www.qwitter.com is not qwitter’s domain name, their domain name is http://useqwitter.com/