Twitter Tips: Who to Follow & Who to Block

I've been active on Twitter since 2008. When I meet people, they are often surprised at my large twitter following (currently over 192,000 and growing at about 100 new followers a day). If you want this type of audience, it does not happen organically (doing nothing). I've been transparent about my five every day actions that I take on Twitter. Years after creating it, I'm still taking these actions every day and encourage you to do so as well. Several of my authors from Morgan James are following these actions and growing their followers on Twitter. It doesn't consume lots of of my time but it takes consistent effort.

Years ago, I made a decision to follow everyone who follow me—which is a basic of twitter. Some of my friends are amazed that I follow thousands of people—and they can direct message me. Also I include my personal email address in my twitter profile.  It makes me easy to reach and I answer my email. Why? I want to be accessible to people and I want to help as many people as I can with the volumes of information that I have online.

I use the tool Refollow to follow other people's followers—yet I'm not just following anyone. I'm following people who are in my target market (publishing, writing, etc.). This tool only takes a few minutes to use. Yet sometimes I find I'm following people who I don't want to be following. In this article, I'm going to give the details of how I check my followers and then who I block.

Usually about once a day, I click the “home” button on my twitter page and scroll through my twitter feed. As I take a few seconds to scroll through this feed (with hundreds of posts and images), I'm looking for several things. First I'm looking for people who are not tweeting in English. If they are using a different script or language, then I right click, open a new tab for this person. Next I block this person from my twitter feed.

Also I'm looking for porn and foul language (either in text or in images). When I find this type of material, again I right click the name of the person that I'm following (even if it is something they have retweeted), open a new tab for the person, then block them.

If you are not taking these actions, then you are sending a subtle message to others (who you don't want as followers) that they should follow you. I'm looking to continue to grow my followers but I want those followers to be the right type.

My system for social media isn't perfect but I have created a system or a regular pattern of behavior.  I'm always open to learning something different and making modifications.  If you have some idea for me, feel free to comment below or reach out to me and let me know. It is important for everyone to develop your own system and process for handling these details of social media.

I don't waste a lot of time on social media because I don't have that time. The bulk of my day is being an acquisitions editor at Morgan James Publishing. Notice the link on Morgan James which takes you to a two-page information brochure—and notice my work contact information including my phone number is on the second page. Many authors are struggling to find their way in the publishing world and if I can help you, don't hesitate to reach out to me.

Tweetable:

For Twitter, how do you know who to follow and who to block? Insights here from @terrywhalin. (Click to Tweet)

Make Monday November 7th Special

The airwaves are full of Election news pointing for Tuesday, November 8th. You may be wondering what is special about the day before the election—November 7th. Monday is special because it will mark the 98^th  birthday of one of the most admired men in America—Billy Graham.

Because Mr. Graham isn't in the public eye these days I regularly find people who believe he has passed away—but he is alive. Known to some as the spiritual adviser to every president of the United States since Dwight D. Eisenhower, Billy Graham has been an influential person for the political and spiritual life of our country. Ironically he was born the day before the election of our next president.

In celebration of Mr. Graham's birthday, I have been doing several radio interviews about Billy Graham. On Wednesday, I drove to North Denver and was LIVE in the studios of KPOF for the breakfast table with Denise and Gordy talking about Billy Graham for an hour. Our interview was recorded and you can hear the entire interview (just follow this link). I downloaded the interview and stored it on my own website to preserve it.

How can you honor and celebrate Billy Graham's birthday? I normally write these articles for Tuesday but it will be too late for Mr. Graham's birthday. I want to give you several ideas of something practical you can do for this celebration.

1. Retweet this article on your various social media sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Tumbler, Instagram and others. When you post, make sure you use the hashtag #HappyBirthdayBillyGraham.

2. Use the images which I have prepared for you. Studies have shown that a post with an image is more likely to be read and used. It's one of the reasons that I include an image when I post on social media.  I've prepared four different images and use them with your posts.

3. Use my sample posts to wish Mr. Graham a Happy Birthday. Often it is harder to create something original than to modify something that someone else has created.  I encourage you to use these samples and put your own twist on them:

I’m celebrating @BillyGraham’s 98th Birthday #HappyBirthdayBillyGraham

Congratulations @BillyGraham on Your 98th Birthday #HappyBirthdayBillyGraham

#HappyBirthdayBillyGraham Thank you for a life committed to serving others. Congratulations on your 98th birthday

Your 98 years have changed many lives. Thank you, @BillyGraham #HappyBirthdayBillyGraham

4. Encourage others to go to this website where I have the images and samples: http://billygrahambio.com/HappyBirthday.html

None of us this side of Heaven will know about the impact of Billy Graham on our world. I encourage you to take a few minutes to wish Mr. Graham a Happy Birthday but also to pass this information on to others so they too can join in the celebration. As you take action, it will make Monday, November 7th, a special day of celebration.

#HappyBirthdayBillyGraham

Tweetable:

Join the 98th  Birthday Celebration for Billy Graham. Get the details here. (ClickToTweet)

Monday, November 7th  marks the 98th birthday for Billy Graham. Join the celebration. (ClickToTweet)

Tired of the Election News? Focus on something positive. (ClickToTweet)
 

Use Twitter Without Wasting Time

One of my writer friends emailed me this week about his twitter account. He was concerned about losing followers and not increasing his followers without spending lots of time on twitter. I reached out to help him and recommended Tweet Adder. 

Another friend and literary agent, Wendy Lawton wrote her end of the year report card. When it came to twitter, she wrote, “SOCIAL NETWORK: D I have to admit to Twitter fail. I just can’t find the time to do it all. Aaarrrgggh! And I tried Pinterest and Goodreads—so I’d know how they worked—but I had to cry “uncle.” I can’t do my job and keep up with all these opportunities.”

I empathize with this busy literary agent. Each of us have our own daily challenges. Maybe you are trying to create daily time to write and can't seem to find moments to move forward. Maybe you are sending out your latest nonfiction or fiction book and getting regularly rejected. Or maybe you have crafted your materials but can't seem to get them into the hands of agents or editors because of constraints on your time. 

I'm several months into a new job as an acquisitions editor. I'm enjoying it and appreciate the work with authors but it leaves little time for writing—or social media. Yet I must be doing something in this area. If you look at my twitter account, my followers continue to grow and I regularly send out information on twitter and Facebook and LinkedIn. In fact, I'm about to go over 42,000 twitter followers.

I'm going to show you how to use twitter without wasting lots of time on it. First, let's cover some basics about twitter. Do you have your profile set up properly with your photo and your profile? Do you have a background on your twitter page to make an attractive place for others to visit? These steps are simple and something you accomplish one time—yet important. Please look at some of the details that I give in this area through this free handout on social media (on page 2).

For several years I've been using a program called Tweet Adder 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. It is constantly turned on and working. Tweet Adder is designed around the rules of Twitter and will slowly follow people that you have selected to follow (using keywords geared to your particular target audience). If the new follower does not follow you in return, then the program will unfollow these people. This simple process keeps your numbers increasing on twitter.

Also I like that Tweet Adder is not a monthly fee program but has a one-time fee with lifetime updates. On a regular basis, Twitter changes how they operate and Tweet Adder will make the adjustment to their program and issue a new version of it. Then the next time you start the program, it will notice you don't have the latest version and ask if you want to download and update your program (which I do).

You can get a 20% discount on the fee for Tweet Adder if you use this discount code disCouNt20 (yes it is case sensitive) when you check out. 

Other than a tiny bit of time to set up the program and regularly use it, Tweet Adder allows you to use twitter and increase your followers and does not require much of your precious time. I highly recommend this program to everyone who wants to build a presence on twitter.3

Also there are some other tools that you need to use on a consistent basis. It does you little good to be using Tweet Adder on twitter if you aren't posting tweets on a regular basis. I post tweets at least three to seven times scattered throughout the day. You can use a free program like Hootsuite to set up these tweets and they can post during the day. You take 10 to 15 minutes (or less) and set up these posts.

In addition, I recommend you keep a running list of different programs you want to promote on twitter. I have a number of free teleseminars and resources that I've created. I have a little file with these resources and various tweets that I use on a regular basis. I don't have to recreate them but can simply cut and paste and post the tweets. It allows me to use the tools but not spend a great deal of time in the process.

Consistently using twitter doesn't have to consume your life—but like your writing, if you want to grow your presence on twitter, you need to use it on a regular basis.

I hope I've helped you see the value of such tools like Tweet Adder. If you have doubts, I recommend you download the trial version and use it for a few days to see if it will work for your needs.

My Forgotten Twitter Quote

“Terry, your twitter feed gave me the perfect quote for my keynote,” Kathleen Y’baro Turner exclaimed to me this past Saturday morning at First Baptist Church in Houston, Texas.

Kathleen was the keynote lunch speaker at the Texas Christian Writers conference and we were on the faculty together. While setting up our books in the bookstore, she told me about my pointed quote that I put on twitter—yet she did not tell me which quote. As I listened, I wondered, Which quote are you talking about? She left a bit of mystery and didn't tell me the details. Later during her talk, she used my name and included the quotation. When she read it to her audience, I recognized it as something I sent to twitter last week.

Throughout my day, I read articles and other materials about writing and publishing. 

Through Twitter and Facebook, I have an easy way to pass along these articles to others. I see this tool as a wonderful resource. It only takes a few seconds to copy and paste the information into my twitter feed and send it into the marketplace. When I discover value for my own life, I quickly paste it into twitter and send it along for others to read.

Any of my posts to Twitter are automatically pasted into Facebook for an even larger reach. Also I have several places like on my blog and on terrywhalin.com where I have links from my Twitter postings to gain an even larger audience for those postings. If your tweets don't go onto to Twitter, I encourage you to look at the settings in Twitter and make that automatic connection to replicate your tweets on Facebook.

Kathleen as preparing for her keynote message and noticed my quote. “If we wait for the moment when everything, absolutely everything is ready, we shall never begin.— Ivan Turgenev” These words struck a chord with her and she included it in what she told the group in Houston. It was a surprise to me since I barely remembered doing it. When she read it, I recognized it but it wasn't like I labored over this quotation. It was something that flashed across my screen during a day and I shared it to my Twitter followers.

None of us know what simple actions can impact others. What simple actions are you taking today to share information and encouragement with others? It does not have to consume hours of time or attention. It can begin with a simple act on Twitter.