You never know where you will find inspiration, in fact your followers on Twitter can be a great source of wisdom, knowledge and inspiration. One day I decided to look at my list of followers and tweets in my stream, I wasn’t sure what I was looking for but I knew I was looking for something. @ambercadabra shared this bit of wisdom which inspired me to write this blog post.
“Focus on who you follow rather than who follows you. You can’t force others’ attention, but you can choose where you spend yours.”
This is is one of the many reasons I love Twitter for moments of genius like Ambers. Twitter gives us the ability to be connected to people like never before and also gives unprecedented access into the lives of your fellow tweeters so why not take advantage of this and build your very own network of people who can teach, inspire, a share remarkable content with the community. Just as you will be seeking out quality people and experts to fill your stream, other people will also begin to seek you out.
Do not just tweet for the sake of tweeting, especially if you use Twitter for business, have a purpose. Be personable while being professional and use your 140 characters wisely. We are judged by the company we keep and Twitter is no exception. Check out Twitter Grader measures the power, reach and authority of a twitter account. In other words, when you tweet, what kind of an impact do you have? If you have people with a high Twitter Grade following you, it counts more than those with a low Twitter Grade following you. So remember quality counts.
Start by cleaning up the list of people that you follow and who follow you this can be a tedious task especially if you have a lot of followers and also follow a lot of people. I use Twitter Karma it shows me who I follow, who follows me, and by clicking on their profile I can learn more about them. If you find that the people that you follow do not bring value to your stream or share great content, it is time to stop the relationship. Search for people to follow who are movers, shakers and experts in your industry or a related field.
Keep in mind that many people on Twitter may not follow you back right away or follow you at all. Why should they? Have you given them a reason to? Give them a reason!
I am interested to hear your thoughts.