How to Use Twitter to Dramatically Grow Your Writing Fan Base
A baby boomer asks questions and gets answers.
Here are important questions I’ve recently been asked about using Twitter to grow my writing platform from a boomer. He wanted to know how to use Twitter to help promote his Medium articles and stories. Below are my answers. I hope it can help other boomers, generation X -ers and millennials, as well. Sorry Gen Z, I can’t help you, as you are much better than I at this game.
I just want to point out that I am happy to help a ballsy boomer brave Twitter and any social media jungle in general. I can’t imagine how complicated some of the world’s new witchy, techy ways must seem.
Boomer Questions
“I have some questions that may sound dumb because I belong to the boomer generation. “Anyway, when people say they promote their Medium articles on Twitter, do they mean…
1) Do they mean they just log into their Twitter account and start tweeting that they have written a new article-and post the link?
2) I have a Twitter account with just about 10 followers, so when I Tweet, who exactly is going to see it. Is it just my 10 followers or the whole Twitter universe?
3) Considering the fact that only 140 characters are allowed, What can I do if the number of characters together with the link I want to post are more than 140 characters?
4) Is there a special hashtag (#) already set up by some Medium members for promoting Medium articles on Twitter that I may join? Join like we join the Medium Facebook groups?
Sorry to ask what seem like dumb questions. I never really enjoyed Twitter until I read an article that says it can be useful.”
My Answers
Sir, I just want to let you know that none of these are dumb questions, which is why I decided to make a medium post about it. There must be others who have the same questions!
- 1. You can simply Tweet the link to your article, but make sure you use relevant hashtags so that you can be found! Hashtags are the # “pound” sign.
- 2. Only your followers will see your Tweet if you don’t use relevant hashtags. Hashtags are topics and are searchable. This is how people find things on Twitter.
Join the Twitter writing community by following #writerscommunity, #writingcommunity, #writerslift, #amwriting, and #writers hashtags. There are more, but these are the main hashtags off the top of my head. If you put one or more of these hashtags in your profile description it’s easier to visit the hashtags (and people that post things using these hashtags) because you already have the hashtags handy and linkable.
Follow as many people at a time as you can that are writers. The #writerslift (writer’s lift) posts are for other writers to connect, follow and share each other’s profiles and work. Hashtags are important to get found on the Twitter platform.
The @ symbol before someone’s Twitter name is their Twitter handle and is how you send a Tweet (tag) to someone. If you “tag” someone in a tweet it will show up in their notifications. When you see a list of @ names in a Tweet, that person is taking part in a tag game. These tag games are a great way to get new followers and promote a hashtag or link to your work that will be shared back and forth.
I don’t worry too much about what I’m Tweeting on Twitter as long as it’s not derogatory in some way. No one cares what you Tweet. I see some feeler, writer-types taking their time to thoughtfully construct tweets, which is great if you are using the platform as a writing exercise.
Just remember no-one really cares about what you Tweet unless you get famous. You Tweet, and then poof, seconds later the world has moved on. You have seconds to catch someone’s attention. So don’t think about it too much. Get on Twitter, get your promotional work done and then get off, quickly, before you get sucked it.
To promote your work, try other social media networks as well. LinkedIn is a great place for writers to share their work. I also use Pinterest for my article and various blogs promotion. I try to stay off Instagram and Facebook as much as possible. As a recovering social media addict, I find going on Instagram and Facebook to be high-risk because of how easy it is to get high and distracted by scrolling on those platforms. I try not to do anything that will take me away from my actual work. This is what works for me.
Things to remember
You can only follow about 30 people at a time before Twitter gives you a time-out for 5–10 minutes, then you can follow more people. I try to follow everyone who is active in the #writerslift hashtag because I know they will probably follow me back.
Always follow back everyone that follows you. Many people will do the same for you -- if they are active on Twitter (within the last few weeks). How do you know they are active on Twitter and a fellow writer? They are actively posting in the hashtags I mentioned above.
When building your writing platform, be careful what you Tweet from your pen name accounts. You don’t want to ostracize yourself by Tweeting polarizing subject matter. It’s probably not a good idea to take part in any political discussions, for example. I have another, secret Twitter account set up just in case I feel the need to take part in some ridiculous Twitter war. I’m probably just arguing with bots, anyway.
- 3. I get a LOT of “traffic” (visits) from Twitter to my Medium articles. I have 10 active Twitter accounts — one main account and nine others with various made-up pen names and profiles. It’s a pain to manage all of them, but I have them all on my iPhone where I just switch between profiles.
I try to tweet out other writers’ work and partake in the tagging “#writerslift” games. That way I am helping promote the people that promote me. We are all promoting each other together. The goal is to build your Twitter following (along with the rest of your writer’s platform) so that you can build your fan base. The bigger your social media following, the bigger your fan base which translates to more readers of your work.
Your “writers platform” is your social media fan base, email list and website following. The bigger your writers platform, the more your writing will be read (and the more money you can make.) The great thing about the digital internet age is that you don’t have to hire and pay big bucks to a publicity agent and firm to build your celebrity and fanbase. You can now do that for FREE yourself from the comfort of your smartphone or laptop. You can even pay your grandkid to do it for you. Better to pay your grandkid to do it for you.
- 4. Twitter has upped its character limit to 280-characters for all Tweets. Images and videos don’t take away from this limit, so you’re free to write great Tweets and add a GIF, link or picture if you want. You can shorten your links by using a link shortening service like https://bitly.com/ so that you have more room to write your tweet, but it’s not necessary. If you Tweet directly from Twitter it will let you know if you are at your character limit. Be careful if you send a Tweet from the Medium Twitter portal used to Tweet out your article link because it may cut off your article link if you add too much in the description. I’ve had this happen. You can check by going to Twitter and clicking on your article link to make sure it works.
Spend some time on Twitter and you’ll figure it out. Honestly, I hate wasting my time on Twitter, but I get so much traffic from Twitter to my articles that it’s worth it. It’s really easy to get sucked into time-wasting Twitter browsing, so be careful. Social media is addicting for a reason. You get a dopamine hit to the pleasure center in your brain when you get a “follow” or a “share” on social media. This is why so many people are addicted to their smartphones.
I try to only do my Twitter work when I’m stretching in yoga poses so I can get two things done at a time. I probably look ridiculous at the gym, but I don’t care. I should pay a teenager to do my social media work for me, but I’m doing it myself because I’m not rich yet. It’s really just part of building my writer’s platform. Think of growing and using social media as a way to grow your writers platform the same way as you would think about growing and maintaining a garden as a source of food.
Smedian has something great called “Signal” that will auto-tweet your Medium articles for you. I use it on each of my Twitter profiles. I love it. It saves me a bunch of time and it shows me how much traffic I get to my articles from twitter- it’s a lot! Here is my affiliate link to Smedian Signal if you’re interested. Best of luck!
Katherine T. Hoppe is an author, artist, intuitive, and Founder/CEO of Sacred Hologram INC., SuperSuccess4U.com (and countless other niche websites), is the editor of White Rabbit Blogging Secrets, and Remote Viewing Community Magazine: Explore the woo. She received a few degrees after studying journalism, art, business, and law, and is a part-time Hollywood actress.
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