I’m afraid I’ve a confession to make…
Hi. Around this time last year I told you that I was going to focus entirely on ONE new strategy to bring in visitors. I said I was going to remain focused on that strategy for a considerable length of time in order to determine whether it's any good or not.
So, what strategy did I focus on?
Twitter.
Yep, I decided I was going to dedicate considerable efforts to determining whether Twitter can REALLY be used to send targeted visitors to a website.
And now the confession bit…
Despite my initial enthusiasm (because I got a few hundred followers pretty fast), I quickly lost interest in the whole project.
Basically, every time I tweeted something, I would get zero, or one, or two, or (miracle of miracles!) maybe three clicks, and then… nothing.
Sure, if I had ten times more followers, then 1 or 2 would become 10 or 20.
But, to be quite frank about it, I couldn't be bothered.
The truth is…
I'm not a big Twitter fan. Not at all. I just don't get it. I see no value in it at all. I thinks it's something the world could REALLY live without.
BUT…
It's there whether we like it or not. And, it would seem, a LOT of people do like it.
SO…
I've decided to give it another go.
I've created a new Twitter account that's focused on promoting TotalResale.com and other resale rights products. (The account is at twitter.com/total_resale).
But this time, I'm approaching the task equipped with the proper tools.
And, so far, the results are much more promising.
I've built up quite a lot of followers in a short space of time. I'm at almost 1,700 and growing pretty fast. And, depending on what I tweet, I'm getting decent click-thrus (up to 20 or so at a time).
Now, considering how quick/easy/cheap it is to tweet, getting a decent — and ever-increasing — number of visitors, is suddenly looking feasible.
I'm still only getting 'warmed up' and I've quite a bit of learning to do in terms of what to tweet and when to tweet it.
I'm working on learning those things this week.
Unlike last year, (when I just let my efforts fizzle out before they really got started), this year I AM going to keep you informed on progress so that you can see for yourself whether it's worth focusing on Twitter yourself.
In the meantime, if you just want to get started right now, there's a terrific new ebook from Kevin Riley that outlines a very good strategy for a successful assault on Twitter.
You can check it out (and see the video), here:http://www.ebooktimes.com/tvm_2601
Okay, that's it for now. Happy Tweeting! (Or grumpy and reluctant Tweeting even.)
If you have any comments or suggestions about this, please hit the link below and leave a message. (If you include your URL, you'll get a nice backlink to your site.)
All the best,
Michael
January 28th, 2010 at 11:16 pm
Michael,
Thanks for sharing your experience with Twitter.
IMO, Twitter is great for getting the news out quickly and gathering free market intel. I have built up a following of over 2,900 in less than 8 months and I do get a healthy number of clicks. However, I find most are what I call “curious clicks.” The jury is still out on the real business value of those clicks.
That’s my 2 cents worth.
Keep us updated on how Twitter works out for you the second time around.
January 28th, 2010 at 11:22 pm
Added you to my Follow list - like you, I haven’t seen much benefit from my couple of twitter posts each week - so I’ll follow the progress of your more focused approach
January 28th, 2010 at 11:23 pm
Great blog post. I’ve been struggling with Twitter myself, but am determined to keep at it until I have 50,000 followers. I have a bit to go, since I have less than 1000 now. But, we all need goals, don’t we? I will check out Kevin’s new toolkit. I’m open to any and all shortcuts.
Keep up the great blog posts.
January 28th, 2010 at 11:31 pm
Hi Michael.
I am a Twitterer and have noticed a HUGE shift from being an IM’ers domain to be more of a Social network type site. It’s largely inhabited by Facebookers and MySpacers, chasing the opportunity to ‘hook up’ and chat with the celebrities.
Last time I checked, out of the 20+ million registered users, I was ranked at number 501. I do everything manually and try to interact with as many followers as I can. I regularly delete those who have followed me and the only Tweets they post are automated and are advertising something.
If used correctly, Twitter can be an awesome means to stay in touch with customers/future customers and friends, both new and established, from all over the world. I would recommend you stick with it for at least another 6 months and see what results you achieve with your ‘experiment.’
January 29th, 2010 at 10:42 am
Hi Michael
I can understand your frustration with twitter but in my own experience it has resulted in traffic and some GREAT connections to potential partners.
It is a great source of info/research but you have to have a balance between self promotion and sharing interesting stuff or connecting at a social level.
It isn’t all about the numbers [I have over 12,000 followers] it’s about trying to connect with individuals. After all it is called SOCIAL networking!!
January 29th, 2010 at 12:55 pm
I jumped on the Twitter bandwagon last year as it seemed the thing to do as everyone from the little guy to huge corporations were getting involved.
However, I have concerns over the time required to successfully use Twitter as I get the impression you have to be checking for activity all the time and be responive in real-time.
I am aware of automation tools, but I would feel like I was somehow cheating other Twitter users if I used them.
January 30th, 2010 at 12:29 am
Mike,
i haven’t noticed what John has, i still see twitter as a pitch fest.
i tweet anywhere from 10-30 tweets per day and have a following of 23k+.
i used software to get there and i’m sure a lot of others have as well.
if u or others want an affiliate link,…just let me no : )
…..but it’s like a dead list based on my awstats. I should have 1000’s of visits 2 my sites but w/out tweeting it’s about 100+.
And that includes SEO via blog plugins eg.seismic
I read a stat on twitter that stated there was a low retention rate…….i think that is true.
i think fb + myspace may very well b a better use of time…….yet i’m still adding tweeks 2 my sites….so….i’ll see.
But, i’m definitely working on fb + myspace.
Since u + others are reading my words + u have a blog w/in ur marketing arsenal i would recommend ping.fm + onlywire 2 help u.
if u don’t no what those are ur doing urself a dis-service.
cheers,
-steve
ps…..i like 2 abbreviate : )