Twiitter Gently
One of the first things you will encounter when you join Twitter is the self-serving tweeter who bombards followers with sales pitches ten times a day. A real turn-off for the whole platform.
No one likes to be sold. Especially in matters of faith.
Your tweets should be a gentle and welcome presence in your followers’ online life.
My early experience on Twitter was negative. I followed a couple of local people I know. Every time I opened my Twitter account there was a sea of invitations to seminars from these two people. No business tips. No inspiration. I stopped opening my Twitter account. I’m still working to overcome that aversion.
Approach Twitter with the intention of helping other people. Ask yourself what kind of message you would welcome. Peruse the messages of the people Twitter forced you to follow to get going. Which are fun and helpful? Which are shamelessly self-promotional.
I followed National Geographic as a neo-Twitter user. They don’t overdo it and their tweets link to fascinating articles that have impacted my thinking.
Inc., on the other hand, bombarded me with pop-up ads—so many that I wanted to quit the whole program. I couldn’t even see what they were about for all the ads. I will be glad to “unfollow” them, no matter how great they may be.
Some others have linked me to blogs that have been inspiring, providing plenty of fuel for my own writing. I will enjoy following them and when the relationship is built, I may do business with them.
Use your experience to imagine how your tweets will be received. If you don’t care about your readers beyond the numbers, if you don’t mind tricking and manipulating them, then copy the techniques of those that treat their followers as targets. If you want to build long-term relationships that are two-way, craft your tweets to enrich the lives of your followers — not your pocketbook.