http://blog.lucaslshaffer.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/multi.jpg”>In the age of the http://standandstretch.com/2010/05/is-twitter-doomed/” target=”_blank” rel=”nofollow”>auto-tweet and the fact there are http://mashable.com/2010/06/08/twitter-hits-2-billion-tweets-per-month/” target=”_blank” rel=”nofollow”>2 billion tweets a month, I consistently engage users who have a line, or two, drawn in the sand. They make bold statements about what twitter ‘should’ be used for and how it’s utilized the best. I say, twitter is what you want it to be. Most of us already manage multiple accounts and it’s not impossible to see the advantage of separating your personal identity from promotional traffic. http://www.chrisbrogan.com/” target=”_blank” rel=”nofollow”>Chris Brogan recently made this same move separating his blog roll posts to @broganmedia which allowed him to engage his users with @chrisbrogan. Smart move. With all the tools available, having multiple twitter accounts (non-client) should be a standard practice for any seasoned twitterer.
Yes, you follow some greats. The best twitter proponents are already linked to one account and you don’t want to have to follow and follow to build each account the same way. I understand you put a lot of work harvesting your following from the flock but what if you could possibly better serve them. Here are 3 ways to find out if you could benefit from setting up multiple twitter accounts.
Promotional Tweets
You are guilty. You plug every event, every conference, every new gadget and your followers love you for it. So, why are you informing your audience you are ‘tired and going to bed’? I’d bet they only want links to the iPhone 4 review and not links to your newest picture of your ‘cute’ puppy or a foursquare check-in. Fail. If you have developed a following of understanding, supportive users then consider yourself lucky. However, there’s a good chance you only know a small percentage of your followers. And they just don’t care. In this case, your promotional tweets need a new home. Start a new account and plug away…leave the ‘morning coffee’ comments to a personal account.
Engaging Tweets
Yes! Finally, I had a follower RT my tweet (and I don’t even know who they are). Mentions and replies begin and you are now locked in twitversation and you are building relationships! Wonderful! Don’t tread on your friendly followers with continual feed links and promo tweets. I believe the one way to lose value as a twitterer is to tweet irrelevant crap by the crap-load. I understand you can engage the user and make conversation but why are you shoveling links on tech news in my face, too. Unfollow. Your personal account can be best for engaging people. I go for the avatars that have ‘real’ names instead of cool nickname that I don’t get. These ‘real’ people put their name on the line and have brought me value from experience. Removing your personal news from your other accounts and centralizing it into a new account can be liberating as you no longer question the post about a killer salmon fillet you had with dinner. You might even decide to make it private. Hmmm…
Link Tweets
While reading up on http://twitter.grader.com/” target=”_blank” rel=”nofollow”>twittergrader, I stumbled upon a a algorithmic parameter that decreases your score and it was linking, or use of links in tweets. If all of your tweets contain links then you are probably pretty boring. Just kidding! lol Well, actually, you ARE scored lower on twittergrader because you are considered a RSS feed and less a real person. Even http://klout.com/” target=”_blank” rel=”nofollow”>klout grades you by your number of links you post. You can go from Networker to Chatterbox, or vice versa, by simple changes to your link habits. If you find yourself putting more links into your tweets than anything else, then you should probably create a new account to shelter this generous nature and occasionally offer your engaging friends and promotional followers a taste.
Are there more scenarios where you could use even more accounts? Sure. But these are the most common among my network. In many cases, the networking ability you can create within your own accounts can hint at a bigger sense of authority for the owner. Also, your accounts can bleed over to each other and blend into a conglomerate of tweets making you appear more important than just one busy account…
The number of followers has never been a gauge of total network worth. It’s all about content. If you make yourself decide on what you want to gain from your experience with twitter, then you can profoundly integrate this method to better serve you and your followers.
I’ll follow that.
nice post. thanks.
nice post. thanks.