Six More Twitter Tips for Writers: Brown-nosing, Apps Update

This article discusses: how to use Twitter for online brown-nosing, the .@ command, plus a slick tool for analyzing followers (followerwonk) and new limitations to an old favorite tool (manageflitter).

Note: If you're as confused by Twitter terminology and features as I was, see this simple -- I hope -- Twitter glossary I created.

I) Twitter Brown-Nosing

Twitter includes several features that allow you to get someone's attention even if they're not following you.

1) Use the @ to include someone's Twitter handle in a Tweet.

For example, in this Tweet, I'm flattering Author Who Can Help Me.

He could see this Tweet in his list of Mentions, under his @Connect menu, whether or not he is following me. Depending on his settings, he may also receive an e-mail letting him know that's he's been mentioned. In addition, people who follow both of us on Twitter will see this.

2) Use .@ to shoot this Tweet to your Followers and further flatter your subject.

Adding the "." in front of @Authorwhocanhelpme means that all my followers -- including those who are not following Author Who Can Help Me will see this Tweet. This is another way of adding content to my Twitter stream and boosting Author Who Can Help Me's reach on Twitter.

3) Retweet Tweets from Author Who Can Help Me   

If I'm following Author Who Can Help Me, I can also Retweet his posts to my followers and he will know that I've mentioned him. 

Notes: Yes, these three tips are Twitter crapshoots.
- If your target is very popular, they may not check their Mentions.
- But, if your target is a Twitter addict, they may have all Mentions forwarded to their e-mail.
- I have received thank-yous from popular folks for Retweeting a popular person's posts.

4) For More on Online Stalking...

This is an old, but great article on techniques and strategies for engaging others to help boost your Web traffic and online presence: Stalking for Links

II) Tools Update

1) Followerwonk

The free version of this tool supplies some useful data on your followers. I'd read somewhere that the best time to Tweet was before and after work. The Followerwonk chart below shows that most of my followers are checking Twitter during work or on their lunch breaks (if they're on the East Coast). Time to readjust my posting strategy?

2) ManageFlitter

This was a great tool for finding and dumping up to 100 people a day who were not following you back. A graphical feature allowed you to click and dump quickly. But recent changes to the tool, mean that you have to manually click each person you want to ditch. Bummer.

More Social Media Tips ... and Caveats

- Blogging Tips for Writers: 5 Ways to Boost Traffic 

 

- Self-Promotion for Writers: Dump Social Media, Embrace E-mail 

 

- Nine More Twitter Tips for Writers Confounded by Twitter

 

Just for Fun

 

 Top Secret Work Habits of the Successful Novelist

 

Art at top of blog: By Paola peralta (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

 

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More Blogging Tips for Writers: 5 Ways to Boost Traffic

 

Here are five tricks for boosting traffic to your blog. The tricks include simple ways to use keywords to entice Google into sending folks to your posts. This article is intended for writers with basic to intermediate computer skills.

Make Friends with Google by Adding Keywords

 

Google is a very big and powerful company. If you are nice to Google, it will send Web surfers to your blog. Be nice by sprinkling a few Google-friendly search terms, known as keywords, around your blog.

Keywords are words that people commonly use to search for Web articles about a certain topic. This Loneliest Planet blog is about book marketing and self-promotion for writers,  But are those the words -- the keywords -- other people most commonly use to search for those topics?

Four Ways to Find Keywords

1) Type your topic into Google's search box and it will show you a list of popular related terms that people are searching on.*

*Note: I swiped this tip from the good folks over at The Book Designer.

2) Use keywords being employed by popular sites and books on topics similar to yours. Here's how:

- Go to the keywords tool on a Web site called Abakus.

- Enter the url of the other popular site you whose keywords you want to copy.

*Notes: The site's instructions are in German -- don't panic! Just pop the url into the top box on the site. The results will be in English as in this example.

*This tip swiped from an excellent book called "Online Book Marketing" by Lorraine Phillips

3) Check your Web analytics tool to see which keywords people are already using to get to your site. The screenshot below shows common search terms people are using to find my comedy site called. "Chronic Single."

4) If you still have the energy, enter the keywords you've collected from the steps above into Google's Keyword Tool. This tool will list other popular words and phrases as well as how often people used them in searches. In general, you want use the most popular words.


A Word about Keywords for Fiction

My novel-in-progress is about a a chronically single guy who takes a trip around the world looking for the woman of his dreams. The book also includes some funny sex scenes. So, my book covers at least four topics: world travel, dating, chronically single people, and erotica. I could use those words to start my search for keywords.

 

How to Use Your New Keywords 

 

- Use the word or words in your title, first paragraph, and labels of blog posts.
- If you're using Blogger, use the keywords in the description of your blog, 

- Use the keywords in your social media profiles.
- Feel free to use more than one keyword; singular/plurals.
- Don’t over do it! Use the same word up to three times in article. (once is better than nothing.) 

- If you pack your blog with keywords, not only will it read like it written by an idiot, you may piss off Google and hurt your blog traffic.

Can't Get Enough on Keywords? Check out:

 

Keywords Basics: A great article by the folks at Bookdesigner.com

 

Keywords for Beginners: Funny, useful article on my first encounter with SEO and keywords. 

A blog written for keywords geeks: SEO Moz



Art Attribution for top image:

By EFF (Own work) [CC-BY-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
 

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