It’s true…hot chicks are always going to have more Twitter followers than you, but…it doesn’t matter because 1/2 of them aren’t even real and the other 1/2 just have a bunch of worthless followers.
You see it all the time. Some hot chick avatar has 75,000+ followers but they are following 82,000+ and you say to yourself, “man…I wish I had that many followers. I am going to do whatever I can to get them.” I am here to tell you that you should much rather have your 1,000 or even 100 followers rather than their 75,000+ that they spam on a regular basis.
In today’s social media environment, there seems to be an obsession to race to the highest number. Whether it be Twitter followers, RSS feed subscribers or pageviews, aspiring bloggers and social media gurus are all watching stats closely to see where they stand. If you have some successful history in blogging/social media, you already know there is a numbers game and the more you have…the more you typically make. But…the really experienced know that the numbers game is about QUALITY more than it is about quantity.
In the pursuit of stat racing, many aspiring entrepreneurs take the road too much traveled of lowering themselves to sleazy tactics in the attempt to attract more followers or subscribers. They throw up controversial blog posts in the interest of viral spreading instead of quality content. They put up pictures of barely dressed women in their avatars and posts. They even go as far to try to call out other successful entrepreneurs to try to attract attention. If they are trying to use sleazy tactics like putting a hot chick as their avatar, they do not know the first thing about making money online and their business is failing before they even get started.
It’s Not A Race and Quality Matters More Than Quantity
I don’t know about you, but when I build up my online businesses, I do not want a bunch of dirty old men on my lists. I want targeted leads that actually want to digest what I have to say. While there is something to the whole “social proof” theory (more people sign up when they see a big stat…wish it wasn’t true but it is), I would much rather have 1,000 highly targeted followers/leads than 100,000 that are just random.
When you are seeking out new subscribers, followers or new visitors to your blogs and social media outlets, the #1 goal should be finding quality, targeted eyes not just a mass quantity.
How To Find Quality, Targeted Leads and Subscribers
So…we know you need to have better followers and subscribers than the internet marketing hot chick, so where do we find these targeted leads? The #1 way I have found to grow my online real estates is simple.
Find where your potential new visitors are hanging out and bring them back to your blogs, Twitter account, Facebook fan pages, etc.
New followers and subscribers are not going to magically find you online. The “build it and they will come” theory to online growth never held true so it is not going to work for you. If you really want to grow your blog and business online, you are going to have to actively search out new visitors and find a way to get them on your pages. Here are a couple of examples to get you started.
- Actively Guest Post On Popular Blogs In Your Niche – One of the most popular ways to attract new readers is to guest post on other blogs. This theory works incredibly well in niches that have active bloggers. If you are in a niche that does not have a strong blogging community, you are going to have to look to other outlets to pull new readers in.
- Build Up Online Forum Profiles – Online forums are still the #1 place for dedicated online obsessed to exert their passions and share them with others. For every niche that you would want to blog about, there are a ton of active forums that you can participate in. However, forum communities are extremely sensitive to spam, so becoming a valuable member of the community is essential before you start pushing your content.
- SEO Targeted Content – In my biking niche, I rely on Google and other search engines to deliver a large portion of my new leads. By doing keyword research with Google Adwords and writing SEO optimized articles using Scribe, I can bring in a massive amount of targeted, new visitors a day. While building up a blog with strong SEO presence can take time, it is still the #1 way to pull in new visitors. For beginning blogs, focusing on long tail keyword strings can bring you in some early success when you can’t compete with the older, larger sites on high competition keywords in the beginning.
- Use Your Search Functions – Within Twitter, Facebook and other social media outlets, there is always a search function that allows you to find targeted leads. While this may not be the most efficient way to get a large number at once, they are highly targeted. By finding out which hash tags your audience is using in Twitter and which Fan Pages they are following on Facebook, you can open your blog and social media accounts to an entirely new audience.
- Interact and Communicate – Blogging and social media is still a people business. Interact and talk with as many people in your niche as you can. Those friendships that you grow over time will help you grow your business exponentially.
It isn’t rocket science. The more you try to cheat the system and employ tactics that you think are going to get you drastic results with 1/2 the work, them more you are setting yourself up for failure. Just remember, the fake hot chick on Twitter is going to act like they are making butt loads online…but in reality…their un-targeted leads are not making them a thing. Focus on quality and the results will be bigger than you would have ever imagined.
Model photo by Mike__G
14 comments
Hey Robb,
I have the same views as you, and this thing was bugging me. Hell, I actually read in a Twitter ‘guide/ebook’ that female accounts get more followers, so make a female account. I strongly disagreed with this advice. If your online presence is fake, then there is no good associated with it and you are not going to be able to make ‘customers’.
“I would much rather have 1,000 highly targeted followers/leads than 100,000 that are just random.”
Exactly Robb. I strongly agree with this too. Right now I have few followers as I do not blindly follow everyone back. It’s all about relevant followers!
“When you are seeking out new subscribers, followers or new visitors to your blogs and social media outlets, the #1 goal should be finding quality, targeted eyes not just a mass quantity.”
This is spot on and this is what will help build your business. Not the other way around.
Kindest,
Nabeel
If you have to stoop as low as to create fake accounts, then you are deciding to cross over that line into sleaziness in my opinion. I think you should disagree with that strongly (like you did). It always surprises me how people can make recommendations like that. Who honestly wants to base their entire business model on a bunch of fake principles?! What happens when the house of cards falls down? Keeping honest is the only way to fly.
I’m intrigued by these people who follow thousands and thousands of people and have thousands and thousands of followers. How do they build relationships with those people when there’s so many tweets to sort through. I can barely keep up with the 2,000 targeted followers that I have.
I keep forgetting about hanging out on the forums. Guest posting has gone well, but I think I’ve effectively covered a good chunk of my niche.
Forums have been a huge part of Bike198.com over the years. In that niche, people just prefer to communicate there instead of in blog comments. It’s all about finding out where your readers are talking and then providing that resource.
I am with you on the thousands of followers thing…I had to clean out my Twitter account drastically one day just to clear out the noise.
I think your article is great and I agree with you. I really wanted to say that the post title is awesome.
Thanks Bryan…the title just came to me during a road bike ride actually!
I agree, this silly following people just to rack up numbers is a waste of time. There is no true relationship with the vast majority of those Twitter followers, although many great connections have been a result of meeting on Twitter. But for the most part, we’re just numbers on a list.
There is this misconception that large numbers expand your reach and your Tweets cover more territory, but if most of those folks aren’t really engaged with you, that Tweet blows by like a leaf in the wind.
When I first started blogging I made the rookie mistake of spending too much time building Twitter followers, but soon realized that few real relationships resulted from the effort.
As you’ve pointed out, take quality over quantity.
Jimi
I think everyone goes through a “must get as many followers as possible” phase at some point in time. While there are some positives that go along with that…the time vs. benefit factor is extremely low in comparison with other content and promotion methods. Twitter is a great resource for communication and promotion when done correctly, but…you are right…a list of a bunch of worthless followers isn’t going to get you anywhere anyway.
Man I couldn’t reply to this fast enough..lol
Ok as fas as having a huge following being a waste of time,, that is crazy.. it doesn’t matter if you have 500 followers or 50,000 followers, you still will not be able to build relationships with everyone of them.
Twitter is a tool.. you need to use it that way, build a following them build a relationship/community around as many as you can.
Saying you don’t want more followers on Twitter is like saying “ok I don’t want any more readers of my blog” it.s crazy.
You build your blog to drive HUGE traffic, right? And you know you need to build relationships with them to keep them as long term readers right? Now are you able to build a relationship with your 5000,10000, or 30,0000 visitors a month? Hell Now, yet you still want that traffic right?
Twitter is the same way… you bring in targeted followers that like what you do.. you build relationships with as many as you can, and hope to make them a blog reader.
Whats better, getting 20 new followers a week and trying to get 2-3 to become readers, or is it better to add 500 a week and try to make 20-5- new readers?
Twitter if done right is a huge communication and marketing tool.. I have seen people with 100,000 followers yet cant get 10 RTs on a new post,, and I have seen people with 3000 followers that get 100 RTs.
Oh and just because you have only 2000 “targeted” followers doesnt mean they are “really” targeted and responsive.
Focus on the relationships on as many as you can, and not focus so much on the numbers, big or small.
Rob this is the longest comment I ever left..haha
Damn John! That is the longest comment I have ever seen you write!
IMO…you are dead on with a lot of what you say. I would much rather have 100,000 targeted followers than 10 for sure! I think the problem comes in with allocation of resources. Some bloggers spend WAY too much time worrying about how many followers they have than creating engaging, quality content that will grow their blogs (and followers at the same time).
In the end, it is a numbers game and we have to make sure we are getting our content in front of as many eyes as possible.
You’re right on with this. I turn down any and all requests to follow me (since I locked my twitter) if the follower/following numbers aren’t similar and seemingly manageable. Prior to when I had locked it I would routinely look at my new followers and often not follow back if they were uninteresting and/or did not engage me first. I prefer my twitter to be a series of conversations not just random bits of the English Language slammed together 140 characters or less at a time.
I accept your opinion Robb,providing quality is more than quantity.
[…] Hot Chicks Are Always Going To Have More Twitter Followers Than You by Robb Sutton at Blogging […]
Only blind people think Twitter is important…