30 days ago, I published a post about my Twitter strategy and how I wanted to change it in order to better build my brand. I was finding that many of my interactions were of the automated kind and it wasn’t how I wanted to build my business.

So I threw down a challenge of sorts to see if I could begin using Twitter more effectively to build relationships. Today I want to share what I’ve found.

I can say with all honesty that I did not reach all my goals, but I did put forth much more effort than I previously had. With that being said, here is what I accomplished.

My Stats

Followers

  • Followers on February 27: 940
  • Followers on March 28: 1055
  • Increase: 12%

This number would have been higher if Twitter didn’t decide to suspend a bunch of my egg followers! All in all, I lost over 100, which threw off my stats. Of course, these followers mean nothing, so it wasn’t really a loss.

Traffic

  • Direct visits from Twitter from January 28 to February 27: 344
  • Direct visits from Twitter from February 28 to March 28: 457
  • Increase: 33%

My Tweets Retweeted:

  • Had a 86% increase from February 28 to March 28 over the previous month

Miscellaneous

  • I started a mastermind group and chose the members largely based on the relationships I had built on Twitter
  • I have been contacted by a few well known bloggers who have offered to help me with various projects. It’s been a HUGE help!!!
  • I have been receiving more emails (which I love) from people looking to either share their story or from those looking for help
  • My @Mentions have gone up significantly, indicating more conversations. I actually started counting them manually (because I’m too cheap to pay for a service that will do it for me), but lost interest after 5 minutes.

Tools I’ve Discovered

I love finding new tools for Twitter and there is definitely no shortage of them available!

Here are some of the more interesting ones:

  • Unfollowr: Just follow this Hitler looking dude and you will receive DM’s from time to time telling you who unfollowed you. Many people don’t care, but I find it to be helpful.

  • WhatsMyTwitterAccountWorth.com: Just type in your Twitter ID and you will find out how much your Twitter account is worth. Of course, this is absolutely meaningless because there is no way to tell how that figure is estimated and also because nobody is ever going to buy our Twitter accounts. Kinda fun though!

  • Buffer: Buffer is an application that allows you to store posts in a “buffer” to Tweet at a later time. So as you’re jumping from post to post, you can add the ones that are Tweet worthy to it and they will be sent out according to how you schedule them. That way, your followers don’t get flooded with Tweets. Also, how many times have you forgotten to Tweet a great post? A lot probably. Now, you can just add it with 1 click via the Chrome extension and it’s all set.
  • Tweet Old Post plug in: For months, I was scheduling my tweets manually with HootSuite. This free plug in allows you have your old posts automatically and randomly tweeted at specified time intervals. Although I’m not  a big fan of sending out too many auto tweets, I do think this is a very useful tool for generating interest in older, forgotten posts.

A Few Standout Results From You!

When I wrote my post last month, I had a number of people either leave a comment or email me letting me know they wanted to be a part of this experiment.

Below are few people who made the commitment to using Twitter more effectively and you will see by the results, that they were definitely committed!

Debbie from EuropeanTravelista.com

  • Follower count went from 19 to 264. An increase of 1,289%
  • Her traffic is up over 200%
  • Her comments have increased by almost 340%
  • She has also received two guest post opportunities, which would not have happened otherwise
  • When she started this experiment, she had received 1 Retweet. She now gets multiple per day

What Debbie had to say:

“I would have to say this Twitter Challenge has been very successful for me.  It has taken a lot of time but the payoff is there plus it was fun.

For me, the biggest challenge is getting everything scheduled since I am also still in “the grind” of a full time job.  I will definitely keep on with the Twitter challenge since it can only do good things for my blog.

Thanks, Steve, for issuing this challenge!  I found it to be a fun way to jump in and was just the impetus needed to make me tackle something completely new!”

Kathy from WorkingForWonka.com

  • Follower count went from 6,000 to 6,800. An increase of 80%. Most importantly though, they are quality followers!
  • The quality of her Retweets and @Mentions has increased
  • She has formed new relationships by reaching out to her followers and to those who either sent her a DM, Retweeted her stuff, or @Mentioned her.
  • She even had a chat with Gary Vaynerchuk! I know that it’s not an easy thing to get a response from him. I’ve tried..

What Kathy had to say:

“The bottom line is that Twitter shouldn’t just be about the numbers. Improving the quality of my tweets, my follows and by default my followers, it makes the whole experience more beneficial to everyone. And a lot more fun!”

Adrienne from OnTheRoadLessTaken.blogspot.com

  • Follower count went from 1,439 to 2,160. That’s an increase of 50%
  • Was offered part-time work on a social media project through her connections made on Twitter
  • Getting more @replies and developing more relationships
  • Through her personal interactions, her click rate was higher and the time people spent on her site went from 1:45 to almost 4 minutes

What Adrienne had to say:

“In the last 30 days or so I think the Twitter challenge has been going really well. I started to really focus on this 30 day Twitter challenge and not only have my followers started to steadily increase again but the QUALITY of my interactions and my engaged audience has grown.

My content and links have gotten more clicks and RT’s when I was engaged with an audience before and after the content was posted. The click throughs to my own blog have been higher quality and the length of time that people remain on my blog has steadily increased.

I feel like this means I am reaching more people who are truly interested in my content rather than spamming people and hoping they click on my link even if they quickly disregard the info. Tricking people to go to your site is not high quality traffic.”

Eric from ThinkMarketAct.com
  • Follower count went from from about 100 to 460. An increase of 360%
  • Is now receiving 25% of his blog traffic from Twitter as a result of new interactions
  • Went from virtually no Retweets to getting multiple ones each day
  • Has formed 20-30 relationships with Internet marketers and web designers
  • You can follow him @thinkmarketact

What Eric had to say:

“Because of interacting more on Twitter I have built a couple really good relationships and got a lot of input on my blogs look and feel.

I also have learned more in a month on twitter with reading blog posts recommended by people I trust than I would have if I would of went to the book store all day every day for 2 weeks straight.

I think Twitter is amazing and I don’t know why I did not get it the first 5 times I tried ;-)”

My Takeaways

This has been an awesome month for me as well as for those who took part in this experiment. I’ve made some great new connections and have been focusing on making friends instead of contacts.

Here of some of my takeaways from this past month:

  • Don’t get too caught up in the numbers. It’s tempting to focus on all the statistics ( I love the analytics), which I point out in this post, but the real value is in the quality, not quantity.
  • Focus outward. Spend twice as much time promoting other peoples content as your own. It works.
  • Try to actually help people. Answer questions you see posted, take an interest in someone’s story, share your knowledge. You’ll be amazed at what can come from this approach.
  • Follow up. When someone takes the time to send you a personal message, answer them! Personally, I like to visit the blog of everyone who sends me a message. If I like what they are doing, I will send them an email letting them know that. Believe me, this is very
    powerful!

I want to thank everyone who joined me over the last 30 days and I hope you all continue what you’re doing. It’s clearly working for you!

See you on Twitter….

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