How can I get more targeted followers for my business for free on Twitter?

[faithfulfeet867]

Everywhere I look on Twitter, everyone's got 1000's of followers. I own a small mom and pop type business and I want to start building an online customer base. A business friend who uses Twitter and Facebook said I needed to get on both.

[lexx]

Hi Jenny,

if you really want to make Twitter valuable, you'll need to find existing and possible customers. The best way to do this is to use twitter.search.com. I work for a digital marketing group, so my business is obviously a bit different to yours but the methods I use should still be useful.

Think about what sort of things people who can use your business will be talking about -I always try to find people asking quaestions I can help with: As an example, let's say you have a lawnmower company and want to find people you can sell to.

Go to twitter.search.com and type in a search - you'll want to use phrases like "How do i", " help" " advice" and (of course) "lawnmowers". Twitter search understands some search terms (I've posted a link at the bottom that explains all this) so your search should look something like this:
Lawn, Mower "lawnmowers" help, OR anyone, OR suggest, OR need, OR how ? -http

(the -http bit will get rid of anyone else posting links to their own business)

hit 'enter' and you'll find people asking for help - you might also want to enter your town name to find local business.

As well as practical things like that, try looking up your competitors and seeing who is following them, as well as local groups that might need your services. Always try to offer extra value, so for instance you might offer exclusive coupons through Twitter or customer service.

I hope that's helpful - feel free to ask me if you need more specific help

Best,

Matt

[Brenda Wealthy]

Use retweet.it

It is a great way to add a lot of followers in a short amount of time.

[The sandman]

You can build your following on Twitter by using the Twitter search facility and searching by keyword, addin the people who you think might be interested in your product. The problem with this method it it takes time and as an Internet Marketer, time is something you don't want to waste.

I'd recommend everytime that you invest in a Twitter Adder, it's a necessity, especially when you are managing several thousand followers. I'm nearing 15000 followers at the moment and I need software to manage my followers.

You can get a good Twitter Adder for less than $20, there's an example of one such application in the resource box below.

At the end of the day, don't make your job harder by looking for a free option, when you can purchase a good adder for next to nothing.

Hope this helps

[Quency Jones]

Hey Jenny,

Twitter like other social networking websites are very useful to stay in contact with your existing customers and get new ones. One of the best ways to get new business is through a positive referral. Imagine every client you have telling just 5 of their friends about your business, and sharing how great of a service or product you have. This one way to tap into the power of Twitter and similar sites.

Some businesses even use software programs to help automate the process of managing their profiles. A friend of mine who now runs their own business told me about one such program called tweet adder. He said it's a very powerful Twitter management tool that he was able to use to add literally a few 1000 followers, for his specific business in the same town he's in.
He was able to search by location and keyword for twitter users that he knew could use his product when they were ready, and was able to gain a customer base that way. He said he was able to contribute 30-40 customers that found him through his Twitter page! I think you can get the program he used, Tweet Adder, for free from the website below this answer.

But the most important key is to stay focused and get highly targeted customers for your business, so they end up using your company when they need your product or service. If they know about your business, and have heard good things from other people, they will use you when they are ready.

[Issa]

Simple: You got to build your brand and social proof first...then, you engage your followers through meaningful interaction and sharing quality content. You can be smart, witty or funny so long as you follow the golden rules on Twitter, without spamming. Many businesses made the mistake of going only after numbers; they fail to convert these followers to brand advocates or buying customers.