Pixelrage.net

Twitter is one of those things I participate in just because I like the technology itself. According to Pear Analytics, under 6% of all Tweets are self-promotional, or are shilling some kind of service. I seem to get the most of this minority though, and it’s really annoying. It’s also a surefire way to convince me not to follow you, or to un-follow you.

It’s not just me, though – who the hell wants to receive a direct message from a new Twitter follower (aka., stranger who you know nothing about/knows nothing about you), pushing some kind of sales talk and shortened URL that’s probably affiliate-loaded?

Here are just a few new ones I’ve gotten in the past few days:

“Check this NEW amazing WordPress plugin! http://tiny.cc/whatever” – Great, thanks – let me guess, the instant I click that, it will drop an affiliate cookie and point to a premium WordPress plugin site? Gotcha. Delete. NEXT!

“Businesses are run by numbers. If you don’t know what yours are or what they mean you’re flying blind. Do you know how to get insight?” – I don’t really know what the point of this was, but it sounds like some generic sentence that is sent to everyone that’s hinting at how he’s a business tip blogger. It’s not personal, so I don’t connect with it. At least he didn’t throw some kind of wacky link in there.

“Thanks for following — thought we might share a common passion for LinkedIn? Watch my free video here: http://2we.it/whatever” – Once again, here’s someone who doesn’t know me, who is shilling a link. Instead of stopping after “…LinkedIn?” and prompting me to (maybe) send a reply back to her, she ruined it by shilling a video. I don’t like that, so, I didn’t click it. I do happen to be on LinkedIn and enjoy the site, but I could have not been interested at all…she didn’t know that.

Here’s a message that was done right:

“Hey, thanks for the follow. I’d love to learn more about you – send me a DM anytime.” – This COULD have potentially been a generic line he throws out at everyone, but it’s a good effort. It’s non-threatening and friendly. I wound up clicking on to his profile, and found out that he’s also an internet marketer with a well-done Twitter account and a very healthy number of followers.

Twitter can be as annoying as spam email. If you’re looking to get new followers, don’t be a spammer. Nobody cares about your home business, your products or your affiliate links. They don’t even care about your opinions…yet. Give them a reason to. Be friendly and personal, not generic and salesy. Otherwise, you’ll lose what could have been another follower and networking contact.

Twitter is a word-of-mouth marketing (that is, if you’re using it for marketing purposes at all) and relationship-building tool. Think about when you bought something, like a new digital remote control. Then, a few months later, your friend emails you: “I’d really love to get one of those digital-style remotes.” So, you send over a link to Amazon.com pointing to the one you bought, and he buys it because he trusts your judgment. This is the magic of referrals. If you had sent that same link to some stranger, there’s no doubt that they would question your authority on the subject. Point in case!