#FollowFriday – No.1 Biggest Mistake People are Making
Every Friday you will see all over Twitter – #FF or #FollowFriday. Follow Friday is used for people to recommend other twitter users that they think people should be following. To participate in this, all you need to do is put that person’s username and #FF or #FollowFriday in the tweet somewhere.
A common mistake that people make is to just put loads of usernames in a tweet and tweet that out. It looks something like this –
I do not think this is using the #FF concept to the greatest advantage. I never follow any of the people on the list when I see those kinds of posts. It is nice that someone would put you, or me, in such a post, but I it does not yield many extra followers.
What works much better is if you say why you might want to follow those people –
Examples:
Looking for other writers to network with – you should follow …
Interested in social media – check out ….
Needing to work on your relationship…
At least then the names have some context and you can check them out if their area of expertise is of interest to you.
Here are some great examples that I found on Twitter:
Dan @DanCitizen does a great job of recommending 4 people and telling you why you should follow them.
Nancy @MiriamHospital also does a great job and she makes use of a hash tag also.
The guys from Whitehead and Aldrich @WA_Accountants have promoted only one person in their #FF shoutout. But you can clearly see why they have recommended them, and if I was in need of a bookkeeper I would definitely check them out.
Awww – this one I just thought was really sweet as Michael @michael_schlact sent out a #FF for his wife.
That should give you some ideas of different ways you can promote people on #FF without just adding a whole lot of names to a tweet.
If you are looking for a tool to help you, check out Follow Friday Helper. It shows you a long list of people you may want to recommend, based on the interactions you have had with them on twitter. Very handy little tool!
Love to see you on Twitter – you can find me at www.twitter.com/staceylmyers.
How are you using Follow Friday to recommend people or gain more followers?
Leave your comments below!!
Stacey is a coach, trainer and speaker who supports Authors and Aspiring Authors create an online presence through WordPress and Social Media training. Stacey's hands-on style, supportive nature and extensive knowledge make her the perfect go-to resource.
Fab! Thanks Stacey – for a Twitter probationer, this is really helpful!
Hey Debbie,
I am glad you found it helpful,
Stacey
I gave up on #FF because I wasn’t gaining followers from it. I am definitely going to try this next Friday.
Thanks for the comment, Tony.
I am glad you are going to give it another go!
Stacey
Truly helpful Stacy. I tend to look for those who are in my niche and with whom I would like to be in contact with. I have more recently been reevaluating my followers to see who has offered more interesting tweets and links that I might be interested in. I might add a few new people and try them out to see if we can help each other or not, but if nothing there is no real interaction, I certainly so not recommend them to others and will most likely stop following.
The tip that you have shared here will be a great help in targeting my #FF in a much more productive way. Thank you for sharing this!
Hi Rusty,
I am glad you found it useful. I like your approach,
Stacey
Stacy, I love this tip…thanks for demistifying #FF for me. So many people use it to tout their friends, I think–without giving that reason why. I have tried to do this, but also have lumped people together too often and will make a better effort to do less “lumping”, lol.
I have the same dilema as Rusty and find Twitter difficult to get much interaction other than the initial follow, thank you. I’ll keep following you and learn. Thanks again. ~Pam
Hi Pam,
I completely understand what you are saying. Are you reaching out to people? Sharing other people’s content?
These were two things that made a difference for me. The other thing I did was started promoting other people as well. I work with authors and aspiring authors, so I would find an author and do a little tweet about their book, that kind of thing.
I see you are a Realtor, are there complimentary services that you could do a little plug for – house cleaners, gardeners, a florist so they can have flowers in the house when prospects visit – that kind of thing.
I hope that has been of some help!
Stacey
I’m a relatively new tweeter. I used #ff incorrectly, as you described. I did list favorite people to follow because they have been the most helpful. Now I see I was doing them a disservice by not telling why they should be followed. Thanks for the tip.
Hi Richard,
We all start somewhere and we have all done it, that is for sure!
Happy #FF,
Stacey
For me it isn’t the numbers, but the quality… I only follow people who really interest me and connect with what we are about. The East Grinstead Writers’ Club. We could have had thousands of followers; but its not about that – it must be worthwhile. My boyfriend and I, block quite a lot of folks who just follow anybody!
Oh, these are great tips. I see far too many folks making the BIG mistake. (I’m guilty, too.) But… Will remember this for future Fridays.