Kasper's Ramblings from Kasper Beaumont

Using Twitter lists to auto retweet #SocialMediaTips #Twitter

2/25/2017

Ok, so by now you should have created an eye-catching Twitter profile pic and name, and chosen some tweeps to follow. Last article we created Twitter lists for retweeting. If you're not up to speed, please read my earlier articles first:
Getting started on Twitter
Hashtags - friend or foe?
Who to follow on Twitter
Twitter follows - are you a wolf or a sheep?
Is auto-retweeting for you?

Remember that we have carefully selected those we are going to retweet by studying their tweet and retweet histories to ensure the content is suitable for our public profile by being entertaining or informative.
Alrighty, now we're going to jump straight into using those lists you have created to auto retweet via a platform such as Roundteam. Feel free to shop around and find the best website and plan (free or paid) to meet your needs.
When you go onto your chosen site and create a profile, you are asked to nominate lists to retweet. Be advised that you can actually use other tweeps' lists if they are made public.
First step, enter each of your lists and decide how many tweets to auto retweet per day or per hour. This can be different for each list.
Criteria you can choose to include in your schedule includes:

keywords to include
keywords to avoid
do you wish to retweet retweets or mentions?
how many #hashtags or @tweeps can be included in the tweets
you can avoid certain URLs, #hashtags or @tweeps
you can seek preferred URLs, #hashtags or @Tweeps
time between retweets

There really is a plethora of variables, so have a good look before you commit to a plan and check how the retweets appear to unsure you are happy with the result.
Remember that Twitter can be a great marketing tool, so be careful to ensure you have created the right feel to suit your profile. Many tweeps will reward a retweet with a retweet from them, and likewise with a mention or promotion of their own content.
Happy tweeting,
cheers, Kasper

Next time: Meaningful content on Twitter

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Is auto-retweeting for you? #SocialMediaTips #Twitter #Retweeting

2/25/2017

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Ok, so by now you should have created an eye-catching Twitter profile pic and name, and chosen some tweeps to follow. If not, please read my earlier articles first:
Getting started on Twitter
Hashtags - friend or foe?
Who to follow on Twitter
Twitter follows - are you a wolf or a sheep?
The next step is retweeting informative and entertaining content to network with the right kinds of tweeps and building your brand or Twitter persona.

OK, so now you have some choices to make:

Do I care what I am retweeting? (I really hope you answer yes to that).
What sort of content matches or enhances my own profile? Is there a certain age group or interest group you wish to follow you? For me the answer would be fantasy, medieval and scifi pictures and information and also other authors. No doubt you have your own areas of interest. Basically you need to be retweeting things that would interest you to follow your profile as it were.
Should I auto-retweet to save myself hours per week of finding appropriate content? If your answer is yes, then read on...

I use an auto-retweet program called Roundteam. Trust me there are plenty of options around for retweeting. Note that there are free and paid options, so it's best to look around to find what suits your needs.
Choosing who to retweet can depend on not only content that appeals to you, but you may wish to retweet those who retweet you. I do this and I do a check every few months to check they still retweet me too. It's amazing how many tweeps are consistent for months, then change their habits.
To set up auto retweeting, you need to create Twitter lists. I have several list, some public and some private. It has taken me years to develop these lists, so I do keep some information to myself. Of course if you are retweeting all you fave football team's tweets, then that may not require privacy. Creating a list involves going to your own profile and clicking 'create a list.' Once you have named your list, then go to a profile and click the cog symbol next to the 'follow' button.
You can make lists of similar types of tweeps (eg: my Fantasy Sci-Fi Network) list, or your lists could be based on other criteria such as how often they tweet (eg: tweeps who post frequently in one list and more seldom in another.)
One thing to be mindful of is not to add too many tweeps to one list. Remember that the more people in a list, the less each will be retweeted.
Okay, I'll let you go and make some lists and I'll be back next time with tips for using those lists.

Next article: Using lists to auto retweet

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Twitter follows - are you a wolf or a sheep? #SocialMediaTips

9/4/2016

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It's a minefield out there, trying to navigate your way between tweeps (Twitter users) who follow back without a second thought, and others who are so selective you must practically complete an entrance exam before they follow you back. This may include clicking on a Truetwit link, which is generally the sign of a Twitter newbie, not an experienced tweep. More here.
I quickly sort tweeps into categories in my own mind.

There are the wolves, who follow thousands of folks per week and unfollow them just as quickly.
Another type are the sheep who appear to follow everyone including the obvious 'buy 5K followers' or the 'hey big boy, look at my boobs and follow this link to my porn page' type. More fool them, for they lose the respect of real tweeps. It's not the number of followers you have which is important, it is how actively they engage with you that counts.
There are also tweeps I refer to as the owls, who check a follower's profile, retweet history and topics of interest before following. I try my best to be an owl, as it saves a lot of work in the long run.
One program I have found useful is Crowdfire (www.crowdfireapp.com). This enables you to see who has followed you, who has unfollowed you, and you can copy the followers of tweeps you respect. I have found this quite a useful tool.
Just remember to have a look at each profile before following and try to avoid the wolf-in-sheep's-clothing types.

Next time on Social Media Tips I'll talk about Auto-retweeting.
Kasper is on Twitter as @KasperBeaumont

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Who to follow on Twitter #SocialMediaTips

7/2/2016

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So ... you have created a bright and colourful Twitter profile with a great pic; eye-catching wallpaper and an engaging bio. What do we need next? Gain some followers ... right-o.
What should we look for in potential followers? Firstly, you need to look at who is your target audience. For me it is readers and YA peeps. Do I want BDSM and erotica? No thanks. I don't want to scare away my readers by retweeting the more niche genres.

Also, there are millions of 'Buy Twitter followers here' profiles. Are they likely to be your target market? Probably not.
How about those in languages you don't speak? Hmm ... if you don't understand them, then they probably won't be chatting with you.
Some profiles have just a name and Twitter handle but no picture, wallpaper or bio. I tend to avoid these, because we don't know anything about these 'eggs.' (The egg is the default picture when you haven't uploaded one.)
Remember that engagement is the key, so try to pick tweeps who follow a large number of profiles themselves and also those who retweet and comment on other tweets.
My advice would be to be the kind of tweep you wish to follow. I do this by RTing others and replying to interesting tweets and to folks who engage with me.
What do you look for in a tweep?
Kasper is on Twitter as @KasperBeaumont

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Hashtags - friend or foe? Social Media tips part 1 #TwitterSmarter

4/2/2016

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Twitter logo. No permission sought, but I hope they love my article promoting them.

Hi folks, my friend Lorraine from the Writers' Grapevine newsletter has commissioned me to produce a series of articles on the use of social media. Here is the first one - 'Hashtags: friend or foe?'
Let's have a think about how and why hashtags were created. For those new to the concept, hashtags are created by placing the '#' symbols in front of a group of letters.
Hashtags were first used on Twitter for ease of finding tweets with similar content such as #holidays, #Easter, #amreading and #sale.

It is easy to see how these hashtags make it easy to find what tweeps (Twitter users) are looking for in a hurry. The tweets are created and move down the page so quickly that without hashtags you may miss important tweets relating to your topic of interest.
When looking at your Twitter page, the most frequently-used tweets of the moment are displayed on the right, such as breaking news around the world, Donald Trump's toupee and Halle Berry posting a naked photo on Instagram. I like to look at these regularly to find out what is the big news on Twitter.
I tend to use hashtags from groups that I am in such as the Fantasy Sci-Fi Network #FSFNet, #ASMSG and #SciFiRTG. The groups you will join depend on your interests. I am a fantasy author, so I gravitate to like-minded (ie: weird hehe) individuals. These type of hashtags help promote the members of the group and increase your retweets and visibility together.
Other hashtags you can use are ones about a theme such as: #sale #Easter #fantasy. These are the ones that tweeps type in to look up tweets about that topic.
Remember that the goal of a tweet is to entertain / inform and most-importantly to engage. Also with a limited character count in a tweet, the less characters you can use, the more you have for other content.
As with anything in this world, a medium amount of use is good and it is very possible to go over the top with hashtag use. Hashtags come out in a different colour and make reading the tweet more difficult. The general industry consensus is that 3 is the upper limit for using hashtags. Many tweeps, myself included, will not retweet a tweet which exceeds 3 hashtags because these are seen as spam and inferior-quality tweets.
An example of overuse of hashtags: "Keep #pushing! Then hire an #editor. ;) #amwriting #amreading #amediting #Writegoal #WordCount"

Can you see how it fails to entertain or inform? It is just saying 'buy my service.'
Here is a better example: "Happy birthday Alijandra Have a fantastic day from the Fantasy Sci-Fi Network #FSFNet #birthday @AMogilner"

See how this one sends a message and can still be easily found using a hashtag.

Another issue with hashtags is when they appear for no particular reason, such as #noparticularreason #didntwanttogetoutofbedtoday #whatamigoingtowear. Can you see a practical use for these hashtags? How likely are they to be searched and to increase your social media reach? The answer is 'not likely.' They are usually just difficult to read and annoying and most experienced tweeters will ignore them.

Lastly, is there a place for hashtags on Facebook? Maybe. In my experience I have not seen them used appropriately, but there is potential for it. The usual ones I see on FB are by non-tweeters and they fall into the #toohardtodecipher category, which means that most people skim over and ignore them.
If you use a well-known hashtag such as #CharlieHebdo, you may get some traction if people see or search for it.
Twitter and FB are such different entities that different strategies are required for success.

Twitter logo. No permission sought, but I hope they love my article promoting them.

Note: Kasper Beaumont is the author of the Hunters of Reloria book series and has an engaged Twitter following of over 16,000 tweeps and last month had over 428,000 tweet impressions. The opinions expressed in this article are Kasper's own. You can find Kasper on Twitter at https://twitter.com/KasperBeaumont.

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Using Twitter lists to auto retweet #SocialMediaTips #Twitter

Is auto-retweeting for you? #SocialMediaTips #Twitter #Retweeting

Twitter follows - are you a wolf or a sheep? #SocialMediaTips

Who to follow on Twitter #SocialMediaTips

Hashtags - friend or foe? Social Media tips part 1 #TwitterSmarter

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