Feb 1, 2022
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Anyone willing to write but doesn't have confident enough what to write, connect with the effervescent diary, an online platform for writers for you.
Twitter Advice: Following vs. Followers
You have two different numbers on Twitter to show how many users you connect with: Following (those you follow), and Followers (those who follow you, but who you don't necessarily follow back).
Anyone who continues to follow you without a follow back is known as a "Fan." It seems obvious you want as many fans as possible. The fewer you follow, the less cluttered your Twitter feed is and the more powerful a celebrity you become. And that might make sense if your name is Stephen King or Norman Reedus, but I have a pretty good hunch that if you're reading this article, you're NOT that famous. Not yet, anyway.
Here's why letting your numbers get out of whack is a bad idea:
If you're Following far less than your number of Followers, it creates an exclusionary state: an atmosphere of intimidation. People may be hurt if you don't follow back, or they may choose never to follow you at all since the likelihood of a follow back seems low.
If you are an author, artist, band, filmmaker, or other content creator, then you do not want to let your Following vs. Followers numbers get too far apart in the early stages of your career. Until that moment when you become "too big to fail," you require as much support from other Twitter users as possible.
Check your ego at the door and realize that you need these people far more than they need you.
I would say that for most people, a reasonable number of Following vs. Followers would be 500-2,000 less than however many currently follow you. Go much further than that and you are going to start turning people off who feel they have no chance of getting a follow back.
Remember, Twitter is about social networking and if you're doing anything that limits people's ability to connect with you in the way they want to connect, you're damaging your brand and your platform.
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Further Reading on My Blog
The #1 Book You Need To Grow Your Author Platform
3 Easy Steps to Build Your Author Platform, Part 1
3 Easy Steps to Build Your Author Platform, Part 2
4 Rules of Marketing for Writers
16 Ways To Spot and Avoid Spambots on Twitter
18 Free Writer Promotion Sites and Apps
The Biggest Mistake Horror Fans Make On Twitter
Get More Twitter Followers #1: Shout-Outs
Get More Twitter Followers #2: Writer Wednesday
Get More Twitter Followers #3: Follow Friday
Get More Twitter Followers #4: Retweets
Get More Twitter Followers #5: Terror Tuesday
Gratitude Marketing in Social Media
How To Create A Killer Twitter Profile: Part 1
How To Write A Killer Twitter Profile: Part 2
How To Get Guaranteed Retweets On Twitter
How To Market Poetry On Twitter
Key Times To Tweet and Trending Hashtags
Ping Your Blog To Increase Web Traffic
Protect Your Twitter Account From Hackers
Retweet Tip For More Twitter Followers
Terror Tuesday: The Hashtag That Wouldn’t Die!
Twitter Advice: Following vs. Followers
Twitter Advice for Writers: Retweets from Hell
Twitter and Blog Advice for Authors, Part 1
Twitter and Blog Advice for Authors, Part 2
The Worst Twitter Mistake Writers Make
3 Easy Steps to Build Your Author Platform: Part 1
Leverage. We've all heard the word, but what is it? You might think of it in vague terms as a scary word used by sinister men in boardrooms, but it's actually a skill all writers need to be successful.
"Leverage means taking what works and moving the value into something else that's different (yet connected) to the previous idea."
—Chris Brogan and Julien Smith, Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust
We're writers. We write. Fiction or Non-, long or short, it's all the same. We begin with one skill set: our passion for writing books. That's an awesome place to start because it creates our primary product—but it's not enough.
Harnessing the Power of Social Media
Now we know how leverage works, it's time to apply it in 3 easy steps:
To be a successful author, you must leverage your skill for writing books to writing for social media (such as blogging and tweeting). Doing this builds your author platform, which grabs more fans and sells more books.
Each new project is another opportunity to leverage yourself. You'll put your existing skill sets (as an author, blogger, tweeter, etc.) to work, ensuring your next project is a hit, and the one after that.
Every time you need to switch gears (say, changing genres, using a new but-not-so-secret pen name, or jumping categories from fiction to non-fiction or YA to adult), that involves leveraging too.
Let's go back to Chris Brogan and Julien Smith's Trust Agents for an example:
"Celebrities use leverage all the time. Robert Downey Jr. staged one of the biggest comebacks in entertainment history with his role as Tony Stark in the 2008 hit, Iron Man . . . He went right from that film to the reasonably successful Tropic Thunder, then to The Soloist, and on to Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes."
The authors go on to say that:
"The star's success in one film can be leveraged to land another, which shows his consistent star power, which in turn allows him even further leverage. He withdraws some equity from the roles he's successfully completed and utilizes it in future products."
If you've done the work and established yourself as a proven "thought leader" in your industry (another reason to use social media), then the transition should be far easier and your success more certain. Not every project will be a hit, of course, but it doesn't need to be—as long as you're doing good work and stay focused on the positive.
Go easy on yourself. You can't build your platform overnight. Keep writing, keep blogging and tweeting. Keep adding value to your brand. Remember, YOU are the only limit to what you can achieve!
Did you enjoy this article? Join my mailing list for more writing tips!
Click Here To Read Part 2: How much are you allowed to talk about yourself while building your author platform?
Further Reading On My Blog
The #1 Book You Need To Grow Your Author Platform
3 Easy Steps to Build Your Author Platform, Part 1
3 Easy Steps to Build Your Author Platform, Part 2
4 Rules of Marketing for Writers
16 Ways To Spot and Avoid Spambots on Twitter
18 Free Writer Promotion Sites and Apps
The Biggest Mistake Horror Fans Make On Twitter
Get More Twitter Followers #1: Shout-Outs
Get More Twitter Followers #2: Writer Wednesday
Get More Twitter Followers #3: Follow Friday
Get More Twitter Followers #4: Retweets
Get More Twitter Followers #5: Terror Tuesday
Gratitude Marketing in Social Media
How To Create A Killer Twitter Profile: Part 1
How To Write A Killer Twitter Profile: Part 2
How To Get Guaranteed Retweets On Twitter
How To Market Poetry On Twitter
Key Times To Tweet and Trending Hashtags
Ping Your Blog To Increase Web Traffic
Protect Your Twitter Account From Hackers
Retweet Tip For More Twitter Followers
Terror Tuesday: The Hashtag That Wouldn’t Die!
Twitter Advice: Following vs. Followers
Twitter Advice for Writers: Retweets from Hell
Twitter and Blog Advice for Authors, Part 1
Twitter and Blog Advice for Authors, Part 2
The Worst Twitter Mistake Writers Make