Posted on September 01, 2011 by @mqtodd

Committing fully to being active on Twitter is crucial to giving you exposure on the Social Web. I found that the dynamics of Twitter are such that you are able grow your exposure very quickly, yet still organically.

Over the past 7 months I tried my best to fully explore Twitter’s potential and here are the 4 most important steps that helped me succeed.

1.) Use Every Chance To Help And Connect With Others

Succeeding on Twitter is largely bound to being able to connect and help people in the same space as you. The idea that this is a collaborative and not a competitive space is crucial. You will find really quickly that Twitter users are in general very helpful. Giving back and supporting others with similar interest has give us the best return. Here are a few pointers to make this happen:

• Use InboxQ to search for people asking questions that you might be able to answer. In my case, I am getting questions daily asking for help with “Twitter Tools ”, “Twitter Tips” and “Startups”. The App will then search relevant questions you can answer from the Twituniverse, containing these terms . It is a great way to connect with more people, that are also relevant to your interests.
• Join Twitterchats to create tighter relationships with people and learn faster about your niche. There are a few chats that I love participating in, the top ones being #EavChat, #ToolsChat and #SMManners. They are very relevant for our business and help me a great deal to get more out of Twitter in a short space of time.
• Retweet differently and mention authors as often as you can. The best way to do a retweet I found is to put the “RT @username” at the end, so you will end up with this:

3 Tips To Increase Clicks On Your Tweets By 200% twrt.me/ahug7t RT @MQTodd

This allows you to give better value to your followers, but still gives credit to the initial Tweeter.

Outcome: Be well connected and respected as a helpful Tweeter

2.) Tweet Often And Only The Best Content You Can Find

There was some excellent research conducted from Dan Zarrella, explaining why you should Tweet more frequently to get the most out of Twitter. In addition to this, we did some more research and found that Tweeting frequently can increase clicks on Tweets by up to 200%.

The Tool I am using for this is Buffer in connection with TweetDeck/HootSuite. Buffer, as reviewed here a few days ago, makes frequent Tweeting at optimal times super simple. With the browser extension you can add Tweets from any website with one click.

When tweeting often it is of course crucial that you only Tweet the best and highest quality content. Here it helps to look at the content thoughtleaders in your niche are Tweeting. By simply Tweeting every Mashable article, it will be difficult to succeed and establish your own voice and authority.

Outcome: Be the best source of content for your followers

3.) Minimize Time Spent, But Don’t Trade Off On Engagement

Most of us can’t afford to spend hours and hours on Twitter and Facebook every day. Finding a workflow which gives us the highest return, yet doesn’t trade off on being lively and engaged on Twitter is crucial.

What has worked best for me is that every day I spend 10 minutes finding the best posts for Twitter Tips and posts and drop them into my Buffer. This will provide that throughout the whole day I will have a constant stream of great content for my followers.

Additionally, I would spend about 10 minutes in the morning and 10 more minutes in the evening replying and engaging with my followers. I would answer questions to Tweets, thank people for retweets and check in with friends.

This strategy only costs me about 20-30 minutes every day, yet still allows me to get all the most important things done.

Outcome: Be frequently active on Twitter and grow your following with very little time spent.

4.) Keep Track Of Your Impact On Twitter

Of course, at the end of the day, it is crucial whether all your efforts, however focused, actually give you a return. Fortunately, there exist a ton of great tools out there which help you to understand whether your Twitter strategy is actually working the way you expected it.

Here are a few tools that help me a lot to understand the ROI of my Twitter efforts:

• TwentyFeet : This App analyzes your Twitter account as a whole. It helps you learn about the number of weekly retweets, follower gains or losses and changes in mentions of you and your brand.
• Commun.it : This App helps you to keep track of your network, telling you whom you have engaged with the most. It helps me a great deal to find out who has mentioned our brand and whom I should be speaking to more.
• Klout and Buffer : Finally I am using Klout and Buffer to learn about changes in my score, the number of clicks on my links and number of individual retweets and reach of Tweets.

Outcome: Be well informed about all your actions and act on them to improve your future Tweeting.

I hope these 4 steps help you too with your Tweeting efforts. For us, they paid off tremendously. I am honoured to be connected to top peers in the field such as Michael Q Todd @MQTodd Calvin Lee @mayhemstudios Dave Larsen @tweetsmarter@NealSchaffer @askaaronlee and many others. Thank you Michael for the chance to write this guest post.

Do you think these steps to take can be helpful for you too?

Leo Widrich,

About Leo: Hi I am Leo and this is my first guest post on here. I am the co-founder of a Twitter scheduling and sharing tool. I have not been on Twitter that long but have been learning fast from the best. Hit me up @leowid anytime.

Posted by @mqtodd

Hi I am Michael. Why am I excited about Social Media? I believe the internet will save the planet by spreading and enhancing environmental consciousness , breaking down national borders and conflicting interests and bringing economic parity.

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