Have you ever Tweeted a professional blogger, did they reply?
I have tweeted a few top bloggers and been snubbed.
I expect to be snubbed from stalking a celeb but when you’re generally interested and follow a blogger who inspires you, to be ignored leaves you feeling a nobody.
It seems their thousands of followers somehow gives them a big head and they get a little too big for their boots.
Little measly old me with a few thousands followers, is not worth replying too.
I don’t like rudeness, I believe that every follow on Twitter is a compliment and when one of your followers asks you a direct question, you should at least take the time to reply, if it’s nonsense or an insult of course ignore, but if its someone who reads your blog and wants to learn from you, because they feel you are the best, then I feel you should reply.
I have made both friends and contacts thanks to Twitter, my blog traffic has increased thanks to my loyal followers and they are the ones who go on to share my blog posts with their own followers.
A little story;
I can’t quite remember how I was introduced to Erik Deckers but I became a follower and he followed back.
My Bio reads; The Shocking Yet Inspiring Mum Who Blogs About Taboo & Stigma. Online Agony Aunt & A Voice For Others. Did I Mention The 6 Kids & Bipolar? *Follow At Own Risk*
His Bio reads; Professional writer, business owner, social media consultant, speaker, humor columnist. Co-author, Branding Yourself & No Bullshit Social Media.
I recommend you follow him by the way
As you can see he looks and sounds professional, while I look like a rather nutty person, yet when I asked for blogging help, he responded.
He didn’t think “that’s not worth my time”, instead he offered constructive advice and even went on to write a blog post to answer my question further.
Erik now stands out to me on Twitter. I am interested to know what he is currently writing about. I have found him a helpful resource and when others ask me blogging questions I send them in his direction.
I have just completed reading Erik’s book that he wrote with Kyle Lacy; Branding Yourself. Not a book I would have ran out to buy, yet it’s one I would now recommend to other bloggers who are trying to make a name for themselves and stand out from the crowd. I have learned a lot from it.
I have tweeted Darren Rose in the past, more than once and asked a question, sadly he never replied. I used to read his blog at least weekly. I don’t really bother now. It’s not because he ignored me or because he isn’t good at what he does, he’s a great blogger who does inspire me yet I have met others who write around the same topic as him, that are more involved with taking the time to actually have a conversation with you. Those are the ones who stand out more to me, it makes them more appealing.
I understand with a following like Darren has that responding to every individual tweet would be near impossible with a Twitter following of 185,814, yet I wonder how many loyal followers he loses because of this?
I would much rather go to someone I know will respond than someone who ignores, the same goes for when I recommend others to follow someone.
I was reading Darrens Problogger blog the other week and saw he was hosting a competition to win a set of his own books, I am mommy blogger not a pro blogger and winning books rather than having to pay for them is a bonus to me, so I entered.
I didn’t win, but I did meet some new contacts and read some of the other entries. I also admit I did a little dance when I saw Darren had linked back to my own blog. You can read my How To entry post to learn more about that.
I wanted to thank Darren for doing the competition and for all he has taught me about blogging, yet knew it would be a wasted tweet.
The moral of the story is easy; each of your followers makes you who you are. If all your Twitter followers suddenly stopped following you, would you still be as successful?
Not every Tweeter is spam or a nobody, some are like me, inspired by what you do and would really appreciate a simple tweet back. This is what Darren Rowse could learn from Erik Deckers.
Can anyone relate?
