If you’re like me, you get a lot of unrelated people following you on Twitter. Restaurants in cities you don’t live in, people in other industries, kids…it’s annoying and the equivalent of spam. I don’t follow back everyone. I look for people that I can help, or who can help me. Here’s how you can figure out who those people are.
Work with what you’ve got: followers
When looking at your Following list (which you should do several times a week if you’re heavy on Twitter), look at each person who recently followed you. Scan their profile and their tweets and determine if it’s a good fit. If their Twitter stream consists of them posting their own link over and over again, I move on. If they seem to be engaging in dialogue with others, even if it doesn’t relate completely to my field, I’ll follow back. But if I see the words MLM, make money fast, I just added 455 followers…I run for the border.
I judge a book by its cover. I do. And on Twitter, if your profile page has you pointing at me or holding up lots of money, I’m not interested in what you’re selling.
Finding new contacts
Once you’ve gone through your Following list, you’ll want to add others to follow. Use the Twitter search bar and search for keywords you’re interested in. This might be your industry (for me, marketing, PR, social media, etc) or a hobby you’re interested in. Or your location. Find the people that are talking about these keywords and follow them. Feel free to jump into a conversation that interests you. That’s what Twitter is for.
Grow your list
For me, Twitter is about expanding my reach to an ever-increasing audience. That means a relevant audience. The more people I can help with my marketing wisdom, the better I feel. And hey, if it turns into sales or speaking engagements, so much the better. Work to grow your list smartly. Don’t just add people just because you can, because this won’t get you anywhere.
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Susan Payton is the Marketing Eggspert, and owner of 
Interesting article and to the point, thanks.
Hey Susan,
People have their criteria to choose to do whatever suits them. If they stick to one community of get followers in thousands, its their call. Somehow, I am at loss to find out what is your objective behind this criteria?
Hey Susan,
People have their criteria to choose to do whatever suits them. If they stick to one community of get followers in thousands, its their call. Somehow, I am at loss to find out what is your objective behind this criteria?
CMIIW, ok?