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Great post – thanks for writing/sharing! Good tips that I’ll pick up on 🙂
ReplyThank you, Amanda! I’m happy to share what drives me crazy…anytime! :))
ReplyStill not getting your idea on links. There’s nothing wrong with posting links. Take a look at my Tweets. Maybe 75 percent of them are links to stories, websites, photographs that illustrate what I’m saying or are something worth visiting or reading.
Twitter only gives you 140 characters. If I can offer value in that space I will, but often, that message will be something like, “This word is perfectly explained here…”
Perhaps your negative association with links is the way so many authors use them to hawk their wares. Well, I just unfollow anybody who does that.
The real problem for twitterers is spamming. Spamming happens when you deluge my feed with 20 retweets from someone you like. You think this is flattering your friend and it will make me want to follow him or her. It doesn’t. It makes me hate you.
Then there’s the “look at my trophy on favstar” tweet. Instant unfollow. Same with subtweets, partial conversations, or any deep meta. Such things should be prefaced with a @ or DM, but not broadcast to all your followers. Always think: “Am I adding value?”
ReplyI apologize if I’m not clear enough here. I think we’re on the same page, to be honest.
My point is that if your links solely promote only your own stuff (as seen with many authors or Twitter newbies), that’s when it can get annoying. I also post a ton of links on my streams — I’m not in any way anti-link. I’m anti ‘only promoting myself constantly with links.’ Zarrella’s data shows that streams with more links have more followers — but it’s ‘interesting’ content, not constant self-promo.
And thank you for stressing value: that’s key.
ReplyTotally agree with you on all counts. Writers can and should promote themselves, using each channel – web, FB, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, Pinterest – for the purpose each is best at. Each has a particular function. Love your work, Rachel.
Reply[…] On the social media front, Will Richardson describes making peace with blogging fear; Jade Varden has Goodreads tips for self-published authors, although they’re good for all, really; while Rachel Thompson tells us how to tweet without becoming an annoying spammer. […]
ReplyI think this is a great site which every self-marketing author should read – ideally before they start tweeting! I also like Rachel’s helpfully empathetic approach.
ReplyThank you, Phil! I appreciate your kind comments. I’m happy to share what I’ve learned — I suppose that’s where the empathetic approach comes from. I don’t want people to make the mistakes I have or have seen multiple times. 🙂
Reply[…] How To Tweet Without Being An Annoying Spammer […]
ReplyGood post, Rachel. I pretty much agree with all your conclusions, and wrote about finding a tweeting balance in the past, too.
Generally, I use Buffer to schedule around six links per day: three from others, and three from my blog, but never Amazon links unless I’ve just launched/running a giveaway or something.
The rest of the time, I log in to be social. Sharing general (but not TOO general) thoughts, interacting with others, etc. Seems to be a balance that is working for me so far.
Thanks again for a great post!
Ryan Casey
ReplyThank you, Ryan. I like Buffer, I just wish they’d add on Pinterest or at least, G+. People like to be in different places, and it’s limiting to only be on Twitter, FB, and LinkedIn for people who prefer a more visual medium. That said, I do like the convenience.
Hootsuite now has an autoscheduler tool which is great!
ReplyEnjoyed this; it enlivened a rainy bus ride! So can I use you as an agony auntie? Here’s how it would go:
Dear Rachel,
I have a mutual follow on Twitter. When she posts in her own right it is fine, I have time for her tweets. Trouble is, late at night, when the kids are in bed, she goes berserk and RTs her whole day’s feed, around 2am, so when I wake the next day and tune in to read stuff from people who give me inspiration, I have this huge trough of swill to wade through. What should I do? DM her to complain? Or be ruthless and unfollow?
Yrs, Not Tweeting but Drowning
That can be annoying. There is a MUTE button on several apps (ie, Echofon) where you don’t have to unfollow her, she just disappears from your home stream. That’s a more discreet way of ignoring :). (If she happens to DM you, you will get it.)
Try that!
Reply[…] How To Tweet Without Being An Annoying Spammer […]
Reply[…] How To Tweet Without Being An Annoying Spammer […]
ReplyAre you spamming? You might be. Great #socialmedia advice from @BadRedheadMedia: http://t.co/NM52fPhD
Reply[…] How To Tweet Without Being An Annoying Spammer […]
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ReplyAre we there yet? Are we there yet? RT @billhengst: How To Tweet Without Being An Annoying Spammer http://t.co/2xVpCHA3
Reply[…] Edit: If you don’t want the lesson to end here—if you’re all, no, we need more lesson!—then check out this blog post from Bad Redhead Media: https://badredheadmedia.com/2012/08/03/how-to-tweet-without-being-an-annoying-spammer/ […]
ReplyGreat article. This is a constant battle for me. As an author, I naturally follow and am followed by lots of other authors. But I don’t want to bombard them with news about my book releases and signing events, they aren’t my target audience.
I do agree with you about partial automation. There’s nothing worse than seeing sales or humor messages during times of tragic events. I don’t get why people don’t check in when something awful happens and delete their scheduled posts.
Thanks, Michelle! and yes, I agree with you. I pulled all my posts on that day we heard about the horros of Sandy Hook. People must be aware.
I’ve recently had a bit of trouble w/ Pluggio (normally terrific) w/ some older election week posts showing up. It’s kind of amazing how quickly news fades! I deleted all those posts but they keep showing up like a bad penny — and I’m doing everything I can! Sometimes we just can’t control everything. Darn it.
ReplyHow to tweet without being an annoying spammer. http://t.co/8JwbJ3UK
ReplySounds like a reasonable conclusion. I find sharing unique photos, quotes, information about a particular few subjects that tie to your topics are a great way to connect with the proper audience without ‘selling’ them anything. Then when you do share a promo (say, once every other day at most) people don’t find it off putting.
Reply[…] which seems unusual some days. Now, I’m not saying to entirely stop putting out links, but adding in some tweets without links makes your Tweetstream […]
Reply[…] which seems unusual some days. Now, I’m not saying to entirely stop putting out links, but adding in some tweets without links makes your Tweetstream […]
Reply[…] How To Tweet Without Being An Annoying Spammer […]
Reply[…] How To Tweet Without Being An Annoying Spammer […]
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