While I use my Twitter account primarily to promote my work, share relevant links, and network with other freelancers, the mundane, the personal, and the desperate often sneak in.
But perhaps that’s a good thing.
In comparing follower numbers recently between my personal account (822) and the Tools of Attraction account I’m managing (129), I was forced to consider what I was doing wrong in the latter account:
@stephauteri: RTs relevant tips and links from other tweeps, thereby providing a service to followers. Simply posting links to my own work would make me look like a spammer. Or at least make me seem conceited. I know I’m not the only or best resource on freelancing, and I want my readers/followers to get a glimpse of what else is out there.
At the moment,  I rarely RT other stories in my Tools of Attraction account, instead using it primarily as an RSS feed of the blog itself.
@stephauteri: asks questions of her followers (to varying results), and tries to answer the questions of others. Doing so opens a dialogue between me and my followers, making things more interactive.
There is little interaction going on between toolsofattrctn and its followers, which is something I hope to change in the coming months.
@stephauteri: reveals herself to be an actual human being, going coo-coo when the coffee runs out and gushing about thunder storms and non-credit classes. People have no interest in interacting with a robot. They want to connect with someone who they feel they can empathize with, and who can empathize with them.
On this count, toolsofattrctn has — for the most part — been a Twitter FAIL.
For more information on the right way for businesses and publications to use Twitter, you should definitely check out Diana Vilibert‘s fabulous article in Folio magazine on her experiences running Marie Claire’s Twitter account.
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