15 ways to attract Twitter followers

People often ask, “Why isn’t anyone listening to me on Twitter?”

The reality is that unless you have a huge personal brand elsewhere—because you’re a celebrity, politician or spokesperson for something important—no one is waiting for your tweets. Not even your mother.

You need to build your Twitter following and get people to listen to you. Here are 15 recommendations to help you build your following:

1. Have a photograph. Show that you’re a real person that people want to connect with—not an egghead.

2. Provide biographical information. Let others know who you are and what you’re interested in. Add a quirky personal fact.

3. Listen to the conversation. Spend some time watching how people engage on Twitter and what people respond to. Avoid trivial, banal chatter—what you had for breakfast—and updates, such as the places you go. Avoid anything else that’s focused on you.

4. Learn the Twitter lingo. Twitter’s biggest challenge is that it has a language of its own. This means don’t auto-dm people that follow you.