On Twitter, Quality — Not Quantity — Is Key

You hear about Twitter every day, but aren't at all sure what it can for your business. We know Twitter can be used to quickly spread news and information about your business — and to deepen ties with existing customers. Bizmore Bizzies Award winner Humphry Slocombe, a small ice cream parlor in San Francisco, built a huge following on Twitter thanks to the unique "voice" of co-owner Sean Vahey, who "tweets" fans about new flavors and specials.

So how do you build a following? Twitter allows you to follow up to 2,000 people. So, if you're just getting starated, use the Twitter Find People search to find authors, experts and businesses that you find interesting. According to Tweeting Points, if you follow 2,000 people, at least 200 should follow you back.

But don't just go for numbers. As Scott Wilder, former general manager of Intuit's Small Business Online Communities, said in our recent Social Media 101 webinar, it's the quality, not quantity of your Twitter followers that really matters. Twitter followers are part of your social network and can help bolster your reputation. Conversely, the wrong kind of followers (e.g., porn producers and spammers) can hurt your brand.

Gina Zane, for example, recently noticed that some of her Twitter followers were not the kind of followers she was hoping to attract. The owner of GZM Accounting Software Solutions says that, for inexplicable reasons, she started drawing very “disturbed individuals and the porno crowd." Janet Fogarty, who coaches CEOs through Vistage International, a private association of about 14,000 top execs from around the world, has encountered the same problem and advises weeding out unsavory followers once a week.

Here are two ways to do that:

• Configure Twitter to send you an alert email every time someone starts following you. You can do this by logging in to Twitter and clicking on Settings, then Notices. Check the box next to Email when someone starts following me.
• As noted above, Tweeting Points statistics show that if you follow 2,000 people, at least 200 should follow you back. After about a week, weed your list. Try using a tool like Refollow; it will show you which people you’re following are following you back. Trim your list, add more followers, repeat.

Sure, it takes work to monitor and maintain your Twitter followers. But in the end, you'll get a better return on your efforts.