Start by following these 30 tips to improve follower number in twitter.com :
1. Remember Why People Follow You- This is the first thing you have to figure out. Unless they’re just desperate for more friends, people usually have a specific reason for following you. If your Twitter account is for professional networking, they most likely want to hear your thoughts on relevant industry topics. In other words, they don’t want to read about you clipping your toenails or getting in a fight with your significant other.
2. Determine Why People Quit You- It’s a sad fact of Twitter life, but people will unfollow you at some point. You need to figure out why they’re doing it. One handy tool for doing this is Qwitter. This will send you an alert letting you know the exact moment someone stops following you. It will show your most recent Tweet with the hopes that will shed some light on the situation. If that doesn’t help, ask yourself if you’re living up to your expectations from tip #1.
3. Interact with Your Followers- Twitter is a social tool. So, you need to be social. Don’t just send one-way Tweets. Interact with the people you’re following. Someone is much less likely to drop you if you engage with them on a regular basis. Remember, social networking is about building connections. The only to build strong connections is to chat it up.
4. Don’t Over Tweet- Maybe I’m being anal, but one of the things that leads me to unfollow someone is when they drop 50 Tweets in the span of a few short minutes. It’s like the guy at the conference who tries to take over the show by asking 10,000 questions. Let everyone share the floor. Tweet your heart out, but just be careful not to overdo it.
5. Don’t Under Tweet Either- If you don’t give your Twitter account any attention, you’re begging to be wiped away when someone starts trimming their following list. It goes back to tip#3—if people don’t know you, they’ll have little problem dropping you like a bad habit. Keep your visibility up by making at least a few quality posts each day.
6. Keep Self-Promotion to a Minimum- Is there anything more disappointing than following a new user only to find that every one of their updates is a link to some crappy blog post they wrote? Even worse is when they constantly Tweet about how great their company is or why you should do business with them. Look, a little self-promotion is expected. But keep it at a minimum. It’s not an infomercial; it’s Twitter.
7. Lend a Helping Hand- Instead of constantly promoting yourself, lend a helping hand to some of your connections on Twitter. If you see somebody wrote a good post, do them the favor of Retweeting it. They’ll be appreciative, and it shows others you aren’t just in it for yourself.
8. Be a Resource- If you really want people to continue following you, make it impossible for them to leave by making high quality updates. Whether this is linking out to a great tool or article or simply giving a thoughtful opinion in a discussion, people won’t stop following someone who’s a great resource.
9. Stop Whining- Here’s a surefire way to start losing followers—constantly complain about your life. One of the best things about working from home is I don’t have to listen to people gripe all day about inconsequential things. No one cares if McDonalds messed up your order or if your boss is a jerk; stop whining!
10. Be Yourself- Yes, this sounds like something out of a cheesy motivational video, but it’s true. People follow you because they care what you think. Just be yourself, and people will respect that. It’s the only way you’ll truly stand out from the masses.
11. Don’t obsessively study guides to using Twitter. (There are a lot.) You’ll drive yourself crazy and waste valuable tweeting time
12. Don’t edit out your tweets about the weather. I talk about the weather a lot. It’s not deliberate, maybe it’s because I live somewhere wild and wet, but it’s a great ice breaker and way to get to know people in other parts of the world
13. Don’t edit out your tweets about what you’re eating. You’re sure to find someone who’s interested in or revolted by your food choice, or needs a translation. (Haggis, neeps and tatties anyone?)
14. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. You don’t need to know it all on Twitter. Ask good questions and you’ll get a flood of witty, helpful responses in return
15. Don’t stick to one time of day. Your Twitter stream will vary according to time zone, who’s awake, what kind of mood they’re in. You too. Experiment and see what suits you best
16. Don’t go so fast you miss your @ replies (replies sent to you). Invest in replying to those who reply to you and you’ll start to make friends, not just pick up followers
17. Don’t follow people you think you ’should’ follow. It’s pretty dull following a whole lot of social media A listers. Twitter’s full of interesting, quirky people. Leave room in your stream for people who aren’t ‘anyone’, just someone.
18. Don’t forget to share pictures. People enjoy clicking on a link to a picture. It’s quick, easy and doesn’t require any mental effort to read another blog post. Plus it’s a great way to share another part of your world.
19. Don’t stick to talking about your core brand. Share something of yourself. Talk about things you’re interested in. You never know where it might lead. Apparently I’m to lead a Twitter class on beginner’s Gaelic. What does this have to with this blog, with Confident Writing, with my professional reputation? Not a lot. With me? Mucho.
20. Don’t worry about the numbers. And don’t tweet about your numbers: it’s really not that interesting to anyone else. Focus on the conversation.
21. Don’t worry about unfollowing people. So what if they’re clocking your clicks with Qwitter? We’re all following and unfollowing all the time. It’s one of the reasons I like it: the realisation that there’s no such thing as Twitter because everyone is enjoying a different conversation with a different pattern of people
22. Don’t worry about leaving Twitter for weeks at a time. ‘Twitter’ won’t care because Twitter doesn’t exist. Most of the 100s of people following you won’t notice either way. Your friends will – and will be glad to see you back.
23. Don’t forget to be yourself, whatever that means
24. Don’t think about the fact that the world can read your Twitter stream. (You have remembered it’s open to all to read haven’t you?) It might just cramp your style
25. Don’t thank your followers for following. I mean really: how much effort does it take me to click a link on your name? I don’t expect thanks for following. And I don’t expect you to mind if I click away later.
26. Don’t reread your own Twitter stream: it might scare you
27. Don’t post your Twitter stream to your blog. Unless you’re stuck in broadcasting mode your stream will make no sense to readers of your blog. It might just make sense to people following your stream, but it really makes no sense at all out of context.
28. Don’t try and follow all the links you find in your stream. It’ll make your head explode. (Apparently Twitter serves up a new post every 2 seconds.)
29. Don’t broadcast all the time. (It’ll sound like you’re not listening.) Or reply all the time. (It’ll baffle the people who follow you.) Or try and find the perfect balance between the two. (You never will.)
30. Don’t follow my rules – or anyone els’es. But you might want to set some of your own. (Mine are: Don’t talk about clients in an identifiable way. Ever. Don’t drink and tweet. Don’t DM anything I couldn’t cope with others reading if something scary happened to the system. Don’t be unkind.)
