Download it tomorrow!

Welcome to a special preview of my new E-book, The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Twitter Success. Due to the overwhelming response I received from my article, of the same name, it prompted me to put this together. It’s a labor of love and I poured a lot of information that will benefit beginners and advanced users alike. You’ll  be able to download it free of charge tomorrow morning.

This portion comes from the third chapter entitled, “My Twitter Success Story.”

3 Steps to Cultivating a Quality Twitter Community

My blog, The Success Center has grown tremendously since I re-launched it on June 15, 2009 (it was originally a WordPress.com blog). Take a look at its stats according to Alexa (the web information company) below.

The Success Center's Alexa Rankings

Other than my hard work, blood, sweat, and tears I owe a part of the site’s success to my Twitter community. I actually joined Twitter in January 2009 and didn’t use it much until I started my blog. Since then the traffic, readership, community, and relationships built have been incredible.

According to my Google Analytics account, Twitter is my #2 referrer of traffic second to Stumbleupon. However, I know for a fact that Twitter is my #1 referrer of quality traffic. Look at the screen-shot below and let’s break it down.

Referral Statistics

First, you’ll notice Stumbleupon as sending me the most visits with 1,599. However, look at the average time those visitors spent on my site, only 8 seconds! With a bounce rate of almost 87% (a bounce rate is how frequently people leave your site or when they “bounce” on to their next web destination).

Google Analytics

Now, look at the average time people from Twitter stayed on my site and how low the bounce rate is in the screenshot above. See the difference?

“A quality Twitter community will generate quality traffic to your blog or website.”

What’s a quality Twitter community?

These are the people that consistently retweet you, answer your questions, share your posts, participate in your Twitter activities, and present the most value to your Twitter stream.

Out of the 200 or so people that I follow, I know that all of them are a part of my quality Twitter community. I don’t follow them just for the heck of it and they don’t follow me just because I followed them back.

How Do You Cultivate a Quality Community?

• First, you have to understand why your followers follow you. Do you present something valuable to them in their stream? Are they actively following or just following in the hopes of getting you to follow back?
• Second, you have to create a valuable Twitter presence. Do so by engaging with others, sharing good content, and by being personable (that means you are approachable and down-to-earth).
• Third, you have to be consistent in the presence you portray. Don’t share for a straight week and then fall off for a month. Don’t hold Twitter church only to let curse words fly out of your stream on your off days.

Create your own Twitter success story by sharing the stories of your followers. Every tweet in your stream is only a part a story your followers are trying to tell. By engaging with them you can better assist them in telling that story. This is the ultimate key in cultivating a quality community on Twitter. What ways are you cultivating a quality community following on Twitter? Share your thoughts below.

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