How to Network Using Twitter

Last week, Sydney from Her Unusual Journey released part 1 of our Networking on Twitter collab! Sydney shared her top five tips for getting out there and making yourself known on twitter (you can check out her seven tips here!) Now, this week, we’re going to uncover just a little bit more and share a few more secrets for how to network using Twitter.

I’ve been using Twitter for blogging since I started, and it truly has been a game changer. Twitter is the second source of all of my blog traffic (you can find out how I do that here!) next to Pinterest! Twitter is a great social media platform in the sense that it’s sarcastic, witty and all around very social! People are quick to support, quick to lend a hand and love spreading the love (it’s so easy to hit that RT button!)

Related Post: How to Use Twitter to Boost Your Blog Traffic

Now, before you dive into these secrets, I recommend checking out Sydney’s post first! That way you’ll have the complete tried and true list of secrets to get you out there and networking on Twitter! (Hey, Sydney and I met on Twitter so we must have some idea of what we’re talking about!) You can check out Sydney’s post here, and then check out the list below! Let’s uncover the top tips and tricks for making friends and learning how to network using Twitter!

Why Twitter for Blogging?

It’s no secret Twitter is a busy place! There are so many different social circles, niches and threads flying around it can be hard to keep track of. I highly recommend if you’re new to blogging you check out Twitter to get yourself started! The Twitter blogging community gladly welcomes new people, is super supportive and are a great sounding board for when you’re stuck! I’ve met all of my fav blogging besties through Twitter, and I continue to meet new people each day who share the same blogging ideals as me!

How to Network Using Twitter

Staying Relevant

Twitter is a big open sea, and it’s SO easy to get lost in there! If you only end up tweeting once a day, your followers may miss it! If you want to get out there and make yourself stay somewhat relevant, it’s important to tweet a minimum of 5-10 tweets a day!

A lot of people on twitter have thousands and thousands of followers, and it can be hard to keep track of! I personally have made friends with people I always saw on my timeline, and naturally we fell into a friendship after responding to each other’s tweets, liking back and forth, and re-tweeting!

Scheduling Tweets

To add on to staying relevant, if you find you have a hard time getting on Twitter and making yourself relevant, I suggest scheduling tweets! Now I personally only schedule tweets for my blog posts to get tweeted behind the scenes throughout the day. That way I don’t have to worry about continuously tweeting my blog posts in addition to whatever else I’m thinking about in that given moment!

My rule of thumb is I don’t schedule any tweets that I’m asking for a call to action (more on that later) or thoughts I genuinely have. I save those for real time tweets, and let my blog posts go out in the background! I recommend the Hootsuite app as it allows you to schedule unlimited tweets without costing you!

Related Post: 5 Things You Can Schedule to Make Blogging That Much Easier

Genuinely Engage

When I first started out I was guilty of this, but I would use Twitter to participate on threads and then basically vacate the Twitter scene. TERRIBLE idea. Not only did I miss out on all the buzz that was going on with Twitter, but I actually was hurting my credibility. Why? Because at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if your blog has a million and a half views per day, if you don’t have people who trust you, interact with you, and genuinely believe in you/participate with your content, those million and a half views don’t matter.

Having readers who actually love your content, feel like they can relate to you, and who aren’t afraid to approach you with questions and comments is the key to having a successful blog. It’s SO easy to get wrapped up in the numbers when you first start, but again, hear me out. Quality over quantity. Yes, having decent traffic is definitely important when you start monetizing and applying for affiliate and ad programs, but if you have people who stop by your blog once, and never again, that’s not going to help once you do start monetizing.

Don’t be afraid to genuinely engage with followers, make connections, and get to know your audience! There are so many people on Twitter that I feel like are my actual friends! Making real connections with people will keep them coming back to actually want to read your content (I have a whole list of blogs I routinely visit and half of them I met through connecting on Twitter!).

Be You

It sounds a little cheesy, but your vibe really does attract your tribe. Who you are as a person shines through your tweets, and that will attract people that want to follow you to you! At the end of the day, as long as you’re staying true to yourself, being authentically you and sharing your unique perspective, you will never have a problem attracting people. People like genuine people, and will be drawn to your authenticity. Forget about the numbers and be who you are.

Things to Avoid

Naturally, there are some things you want to avoid when getting out there and networking on Twitter. These are simple rules of etiquette and manners, and aren’t hard to implement. Remember, Twitter is a social media and that allows some people to hide behind a screen, but berating, bullying and downright degrading people is never okay.

Never Engaging/Not Sharing the Love

Ignoring people honestly won’t get you very far. People will tire quickly when they tweet at you and never receive a response. People are social creatures and like interaction! Make sure you interact! (Plus you’re never too cool to re-tweet a tweet you really liked!)

Automated Messages, Spammy Messages, and Unsolicited Pictures

Automated messages are a little cringey to read, and quite frankly I don’t respond when I get them. Scroll back up to being genuine and see why I don’t enjoy them! (Especially when I get ones that do not pertain to me in any way!) Unsolicited pictures speak for themselves. It’s not okay to drop inappropriate pictures into people’s DMs!

Rude, Derogatory, Racist or Bullying Comments

Again, it’s never okay to full out unleash these kinds of comments to someone, whether it’s in their personal messages or directly @ them. Not okay. Simply because you’re hiding behind a screen doesn’t give you the right to say these things, and hopefully you would never say them in person. Simply unfollow someone if you no longer enjoy their content, and report them if you have any issues with the way they address you/interact with you.

Follow/Unfollow Game

I hate to break it to you, but if you’re in the business of blogging and social media and see it as a numbers game, you’ve already lost. It’s better to have 100 engaged, genuine followers than 1000 people who don’t care what you have to say. Following to unfollow is annoying and spammy, and people don’t appreciate it. Again, genuine human connections trump numbers EVERY SINGLE TIME!

One Last Thing

I truly hope you’ve enjoyed learning how to network using Twitter! I’ve been chatting with Sydney ever since I started Twitter for my blog, and I’m so happy I finally got to do a collab post! Again, you can share the love and check out her blog post here (and definitely every other post because they’re all on point!) and don’t be afraid to check out other bloggers and give them a chance! Make new friends, get out there and be who you are!