Sometimes in life and on Twitter we get so wrapped up in our own little world that we forget that what our tweet stream is saying to other people. When was the last time you went to your “profile” page - the one that other people see - and checked out what your twitter stream says about you?
I was recently unfollowed by someone I admired, one of the big dogs on twitter and at first I just assumed it was either a Twitter Karma Snafu (which does happen) or he was just following people back anymore . It never occurred to me that he actually chose to unfollow me conciously. Yes, I guess I am that self absorbed. Anyway, I caught a tweet of his that said something to the effect that he followed everyone back unless they were extremists or spammers and it made me wonder - “Wow, does he think I am an extreme spammer?” So I tweeted and asked “everyone except me?”
I was surprised 1) that he responded at all 2) at his actual response. Unknowingly, I was giving the impression to others that all I care about is numbers. Numbers of followers, numbers of sales, etc. This is a huge turn off to me and I am embarrassed that I fell into that category in others eyes.
I recently wrote an eBook about Twitter for Newbies, this was my first solo project in many many years and I have been focused on so much on it’s success that I forgot what I taught in the book about branding and relationship building. I have been tweeting about my grades on twitter.grader and twittercounter and it sounded as if I thought they were some kind of trophy, even though what I really thought was that I was adding credibility to my book and followers with high grades and large numbers of new followers each day.
The amazing thing was that I actually got feedback from someone and not just a boat load of unfollows or bans. You see this is exactly what seperates Twitter and all social media from traditional Marketing, where you hope that if you throw enough crap against the wall that something will stick. Twitter really IS about relationships, for those that want long term success. That’s what I teach and what I seek out.
Check your own profile - read your own tweet stream from an objective point of view. Are you adding value to the timeline of those following you? Are most of your tweets about yourself, your product, your grades, your your your? As I state in the book, and as I should know myself - your tweets should only be about 5% about yourself.
Whats my motivation for posting this? I hope that newbies will learn from my mistake of tweeting too much about my numbers and two that the more “seasoned” or “elite” will consider giving good feedback newbies when they ask for it like Mr. Big Dog did for me today. I am happy to say that after our conversation he did surprise me with a follow and a follow friday shout out, and for that I am very thankful. Not because it adds another follower to my list but it is very important to me how the brand of The Fairy Pond is veiwed by my peers and mentors. I have not mentioned him by name on purpose - I feel if he wants to share this story, that is his choice, not mine to make for him.
Tweeting is not my life or where I find value in my self but my reputation on Twitter is very valuable to me and I hope to have a long successful run. Your feedback is appreciated and encouraged
