Automating Twitter: Introduction (Part 1)

Thanks for revisiting my Blog. Please feel free to comment. In fact, I insist you take the time to leave me a positive comment, or even a constructive comment. -- Your Friend Dave Perry

Automating Twitter: Introduction

This series of blog posts are meant to be a starting point for building a targeted Twitter following that you will be able to market to. Each of the services mentioned have their own operating instructions so I have not included the step by step instructions here.

I have also not included instructions for marketing to a Twitter list. This is a discussion for another time. Your first priority is to begin building a targeted list of followers on Twitter. As in most mass marketing, you will only see results when you are able to reach a large group of people with your message. Your list should be over 500 people before you begin marketing to the list.

Note: If using internet tools scares you I would recommend subscribing to an excellent training service called Lynda.com. This service provides the best and most comprehensive video training available on the web today. The best part is the subscription price is only $25/month. You will be able to study topics such as Twitter, Google Search, Wordpress Blogging, Blogger, Google Docs, Microsoft Office applications and a host of other software.

Another excellent resource that I would highly recommend is Twitter Traffic Machine. This short video course outlines step by step how to set up an automated Twitter account.

Twitter Definitions:

Follower – An individual that has followed you.

Following – A person you have followed.

Friend - A person who you have followed and they have followed you.

Tweet – A 140 character twitter message.

Updates – The number of Tweets you have made.

Timeline – Twitter’s list of current Tweets. These are always listed on your Home page.

Twitter users are identified by @username. My name is @DBPerry

I can view a Twitter site by going to http://Twitter.com/username You can visit me at http://Twitter.com/DBPerry.

For a short video explaining Twitter go HERE.

For additional definitions go to http://twittonary.com/

Cautions:

You need to use the automated techniques with caution. Twitter will cancel your account if you do the following too aggressively.

1. Add too many followers too quickly. 100 a day or if you have more than 2000 followers, 10% more than you have followers.
2. Do NOT Spam your followers. To many automated tweets too often will get you banned. Or at the very least have people stop listening to you.
3. Twitter is a “social” media site. You will need to socialize. Automation can help you build a large following but it can’t socialize for you. Only you can do that.

Every Twitter campaign has the following elements:

1. Twitter Setup
2. Create Content
3. Follow Interesting People
4. House Keeping

Part 2 will outline the critical factors you need to consider when you set up your Twitter account. Getting it set up correctly is the first step towards a successful Twitter campaign.

[If you would like to see specific video instructions for setting up a Twitter account and automating it, purchase Twitter Traffic Machine. It will be the best $27 you will spend this week.]

I would appreciate any feedback you can give me regarding the usefulness of this blog post. If there are any omissions or errors, or if you are left with a burning question, please leave a reply below. I am also interested to hear about your experiences on Twitter - good or bad. Please leave a comment below. If you have found it useful, then please bookmark it on Digg or your favourite bookmark site.

Dave Perry

Follow Me on Twitter: @DBPerry

Technorati Tags: automate twitter, social media marketing, Twitter

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