Your comments are so interesting to me, especially that Twitter is beginning to flatten, and I didn’t know about that…did you read it somewhere?

I also like your thought that many people test things, and then abandon them as the “site de jour”..that’s a good one Karl. I agree. I speak at many large conferences and often someone will say “I’ll try that marketing idea, Lois.”

When they say ‘try”…I know they’re never going to do anything. The beauty of any marketing program is that people who stick with it almost always succeed. They need to test, get rid of losers, roll out with winners…and keep positive about the outcome.

I agree too about Facebook. Where do I find you on Twitter, Karl. Thanks! You made my day.

As for me, I’ve delved into all conflicting “how tos” regarding Twitter and dont’ really know what to think. Go after quality. Go after quantity. Hard sell. Soft sell. Don’t sell. Ugh!

So now I’m doing my own thing. I’ve got several accounts for several different niches, and I’m taking different approaches with them all.

One thing I’ve noted recently is that Twitter itself took action by introducing the 2000 Follows limit. For those that don’t know… once you hit 2000 Follows, you can only send new Follows (if you’re playing the Follow/Followback game) at a max of 10% of your current Followers. So, if you’ve got 500 Followers, you can add at most 50 more. While it’s still theoretically possible to build up a lot of Followers using the Follow/Followback strategy, it will now take a lot longer to do. Months instead of days. And this probably a good thing.

Of course, there’s the ongoing debate — quantity of Followers vs. quality — so for those who are not concerned about numbers this new limit may not matter.

Twitter introduced the 2000 limit to stop all the Follow scripts that were giving people 10K+ Followers virtually overnight. Of course, the whole notion of following that many people is absurd. At best we will actually actively follow a handful of people. So, Twitter has dealt a serious body-blow to this strategy (not to mention reducing the exponentially expanding load on it’s servers).

And while I’m very jealous of those who managed to build huge follower bases using the Follow/Followback game, I suppose for all of us it will be better in the long run. It may not eliminate spammers entirely, but it will sure put a big dent in their activities.

I’m still not convinced that Twitter really sells anything directly, despite all the hoopla and claims from various people trying to sell “Twit-rich” schemes.

I seem to be getting steady growth just providing good content (though don’t tell anyone, I DO use some automation tools, too). I don’t do any “hard” selling. In fact, for the most part I’m micro-blogging and providing info. In time (theoretically) some of my Followers should eventually convert into leads and/or customers.

I’ve only been doing the active Twitter thing for a short time now, as part of an integrated marketing strategy. It’s really too soon to draw any definitive conclusions. We all want instant gratification in our marketing, but the reality is that you only get that “instant” gratification when you’ve built up to having traction/momentum (and/or you’ve “bought” your way there with advertising). So, insofar as my “Twitter experiment” goes, time will tell and we shall see…

One other thing….

Twitter is beginning to “mature,” and for the first time since it’s introduction, it’s growth has begun to plane. This may be due to a variety of factors, including the novelty wearing off and some of the new rules.

But I also think it has to do with human nature. Being effective with Twitter requires constant and steady WORK. It takes effort and dedication, not to mention thought, creativity and energy.

Let’s be frank… how many people who got into Twitter because it was the “site de jour” are really going to do all this and stick with it? It’s pretty clear to me, unless I’m really missing something big, that just throwing up a Twitter account and putting a few tweets out there is NOT going to sell anything!

It might irritate the hell out of your new Followers, though. So, IMHO, most will lose interest in regular Tweeting (if not Twitter entirely) and go back to whatever it was they were doing pre-Twitter…

I think, for day to day networking, most people find Facebook easier and even “better” in many ways. It certainly doesn’t require the same degree of “maintenance.” Of course, Facebook has the most confusing interface ever invented by man… but that’s another story.

Thanks for the comment,
Skeeter