Twitter is a great tool for networking, connecting with friends, getting on your soapbox – whatever floats your boat. Lately, I’ve been getting a lot of notices that folks have decided to follow me which always makes me smile…until I look at their profile. I think that people follow me for one (or a combination) of three reasons:
- They are trying to beef up their Twitter stats.
- They are hoping that I will reciprocate and follow them.
- They genuinely care about what I have to say.
Here are five ways to ensure that I DON’T follow you on Twitter.
- What’s In a Name? - If you don’t tell me your name or use a fake name, I will not follow you. Would you walk up to someone in-person and not tell them your name?
- Location, Location, Location – It gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling to know where someone is from, particularly if they are local to me. If you can’t be bothered to tell me where you are, I don’t really care who you are. I do give folks with iPhones the benefit of the doubt as the location is listed as longitude and latitude. I am in Bentonville, VA if you can’t figure out my coordinates. (Bentonville is right outside of Front Royal for those who care).
- No Website – In this day and age, everyone has a website of some kind. List your website, blog, Facebook page…something so that I can find out more about you if I choose to. No website tells me that you really don’t care about the people you are connecting with.
- Who Are You? - You get 140 characters to tell me about yourself and more importantly, why I should follow you. Use them. When I read your bio I should immediately think, “Hey! We both love dogs!” or “He’s into social media – I may learn something!” If you won’t tell me something about you, why would I want to follow you?
- Every Picture Tells a Story, Don’t it? – Please use a profile photo of you. I want to know what you look like should I ever run into you on the street. I recently switched out my biz head shot for a more personable photo as I realized that that’s what I wanted to see from everyone else. If your profile is representing your company, I understand the need to use your logo. But, for the most part, I want to see YOU!
If you enjoy my topics, feel free to follow me on Twitter! I can’t wait to see YOUR profile! =)
