Have you ever considered why Seth Godin does not follow anyone on Twitter or Tweets save for sending out his blog posts via @ThisisSethsBlog? Having now sent 1048 Tweets/blog posts, he has managed to build a follower base in excess of 88,000.
[The only exception that I recall where he did Tweet live was at the launch of the Domino project.]
One of the reasons why Seth may not Tweet is because he feels his blog says everything. Or it could be, on a more mundane level, that he is so busy creating Art that he doesn’t have time. Or, and I suspect this is more likely the case, that once he unleashes the Hydra of Twitter that the resistance [aka the Lizard Brain] will take hold.
We all have different reasons for engagement on Twitter:
- Enjoying the conversation;
- To follow people or subject areas of interest;
- To grow a follower base to connect and share with;
- To sell to [yes there is nothing wrong with selling as long as you make that absolutely clear];
- To support a cause or charity.
But ultimately it is a personal choice.
Twitter is enjoying spectacular growth and there is no sign of that abating, and if you are hoping to connect with a Tribe then your chances of successfully doing so will no doubt be in the ascendancy.
But don’t forget one key message: you have to earn the attention of your followers, fans or sneezers. And you need to be comfortable that your engagement on Twitter is succeeding in this aim. This is a point that David Meerman Scott has repeatedly made.
I think the lesson that we can all take from Seth is that you don’t have to spend all your waking hours on Twitter to be successful. Indeed if you follow someone like Timothy Ferriss the author of the two best selling books The 4-Hour Work Week and the 4-Hour Body, he usually sends no more that 1 or 2 Tweets per day which are also replicated on Facebook, and then he is nearly always sharing something – he doesn’t just send his blog posts every time. Oh and when I last looked he had 256,000 + followers.
Now you may be thinking that you have to publish a book (or two) if you want to get to this exulted level, but I don’t think that is an essential ingredient to success. Again, I think it is all about the quality and depth of the engagement.
Perhaps the way to grow your base is to establish a Go To blog and make sure that you produce the most remarkable and valuable content that you can. If you don’t like the idea of blogging every day like Seth and Chris Brogan then aim for once a week and make sure you hit the sweet spot of your market.
Will I continue to follow Seth because he doesn’t Tweet? You bet. Not only do I get to read his blog and ReTweet that from time to time, but maybe one day he may just decide to break the mould and open himself up to a bit of live engagement.
~ JS ~