How to Get Twitter Followers the Right Way

10. "The best way to make a friend is be a friend."

If you want others to follow you, unless you're a twilebrity, you're going to need to be a good follower yourself. Follow others who are in some way similar to you; maybe they live near you, have the same interests as you or are of the same political affiliation as you. Then build a good relationship by retweeting their best Tweets and @-replying to them when they say something interesting.

9. Be Somebody

You don't need to be famous or even tech-savvy to gain followers on Twitter, but you do need to be obviously a real person worth knowing. Make sure to fill out your bio, including your homepage link. The link can go to your AC contributor page, your personal blog or even another social networking profile, as long as it's something that anyone can view in order to learn more about you. Have an appealing avatar, preferably a closeup of your face (or at least a face--some people have a legitimate need to stay anonymous online) that shows some aspect of your personality. For extra credit, make a custom Twitter background, or at least find an interesting free Twitter background.

8. Links, Links, Links!

Link to your Twitter page wherever and whenever you can. Were you just quoted for an article on a top blog? Ask them to link your name to your Twitter profile. You can link to your Twitter page from your AC contributor page, your Facebook, Myspace, Linkedin and more. Don't forget about your personal blog.

7. Share Things People Want to See

When you share something great, not only will you please your existing followers, you'll also likely get retweets, leading to new followers. This is especially important since Twitter dumbed down replies, meaning now people following your followers but not following you won't see others' replies to you. It's no longer enough to just engage in interesting and genuine conversation. Retweets are critical.

6. Hash it Out

When you tweet about a particular subject, don't forget the hashtag! Using hashtags allows Twitter users with similar interests to easily find you and your Tweets. Useful hashtags are simple, concise and relevant to a topic others with Tweet about. Examples: #parenting #obama #autism #healthcare #tea #dogs

5. Engage Face-to-Face

If there's a Tweetup (Twitter Meetup) near you, go! Bring some business cards with your name and Twitter login printed on them. Meet other Tweeple and exchange cards with them. Talk to the organizers and volunteer to help staff the sign-in booth at the next event. If you have specialized social media knowledge (and I mean if you actually have this kind of knowledge, not think you can fake it really well) you may be able to offer to give a presentation at a future event or social media conference. If you befriend influential people in your local social media community and are genuinely helpful to them, they'll be helpful to you in more ways than just helping you get followers on Twitter.

4. Let Others Do the Work of Finding People to Follow For You

Don't just follow a bunch of people who will definitely follow you back. Sure, you can follow a few of those folks just to boost your numbers, if you really want to, but many of them will be low-quality feeds with an auto-follow program enabled. Instead, look for people who share something with you that will make them likely not just to follow you back, but to engage with you. You can use TweepML to search for people by keyword. Try your city, state and areas of interest. Start by following List One and List Two of AC Twitter Challenge entrants! You can also creatively use Google to search for independently created lists. You might search for "Writers on Twitter," for example.

3. Make a List of Your Own Favorites

Create a TweepML list for people in your area, fellow freelance writers, stay-at-home moms... anything that makes you interested in following someone can make a good TweepML list. Tweet about your list and leave a note on the list suggesting that anyone who feels they should be added should message you on Twitter. Keep Tweeting regularly about your list, but not more than once a day. Any more is spammy.

2. Take Advantage of Serendipity

If you happen to be in the right place at the right time to share something with Twitter that few other people in the world can share, don't let that opportunity pass you by! Live-Tweet important events that you attend. If you see a celebrity doing something funny or embarrassing in public, take a TwitPic and Tweet it out to your network. If you witness a breaking news event, Tweet about it and tag others in your network or reporters on Twitter who might be interested. If you happen to be the first primary source Tweeting about a significant event, you could gain hundreds of interested followers.

1. Give Something Away

People love free stuff. If they didn't, we wouldn't have hundreds of amazing entries in the AC Twitter Challenge! You can start a contest of your own. No need to give away something big, but it should be related to what you tweet about. Do you write about beauty on AC and Tweet about your favorite articles? Give away a makeup starter kit with a few of your favorite products. More into politics? No problem--give away shirts with your favorite political slogan. Post the official rules somewhere reliable. Make sure the requirements to enter include following you and retweeting a message about the contest, at the very least. Or, you could promise to give a prize to a random follower once you reach a particular number.