I have a little beef to pick with the Twitterverse. I enjoy popping on there once in awhile to talk with people about common interests, but there are a few things that make me raise my eyebrows specifically about people who are hawking their wares or promoting their business on there, as I am. I fully expect to get a piano dropped on my head for saying this, but…it needs to be said. Some of those things would be:
1. “Thanks for following me! Check out my last 20 tweets!” And then when you do, you see a plethora of tweets from that person thanking a host of other people.
Thanking people for joining your brood of followers comes across oddly. Do you thank a new friend for being your friend the moment you become buddies? I suspect not. The same can be said for thanking followers on Twitter.
2. Not engaging with others. Communication is a two-way street. It comes across as narcissistic when all your tweets (triple emphasis on all) are you just saying stuff to whoever is following you without you commenting back to followers on things they say.
Imagine for a moment that you’re giving a speech. Your audience is staring at you rather robotically and in all the moments where you’d expect some clapping or engagement of some kind, they just keep staring at you. That’s how you come across if all you’re tweeting is about your latest and greatest items you’re hawking or what you’ve been up to. Engage with others. It’s called “social media” for a reason!
3. Etsy, Etsy, Etsy! And that’s all you talk about. When I scroll your twitter page to the bottom and every single post from you is a link to your Etsy page and what you’re selling, I’m wondering if you’ve missed the mark on what Twitter is all about. Listen, many people are on Twitter to sell stuff. I get it. Me too. I’m selling my website, my brand, my patterns, my videos, etc. But if every post you put out is about what you’re selling, frankly, people aren’t going to be interested in what you have to say. You’d be better off with a newsletter, a one-way communication device to tell the world about what’s new in your Etsy store.
How about enlightening people with your witty humor or the great trip you just took? Knowing more about the person behind the cool art glass bowls or knitted dog sweaters adds authenticity to you and what you’re selling.
4. “Social Media Expert!” Or Guru. Or Junkie. Or Master. Or…I’ve stopped reading your bio when I hit any of those words above. I suspect that 5% of my followers are spam followed by another 5% of self-proclaimed “social media experts.” With a following of over 1400 people, that would mean approximately 70 of them are experts in socializing online in a business sense (really?). When I read the tweets of these so-called “experts,” I just see a lot of white noise: pointless comments to garner more followers based on overuse of keywords instead of authentic conversation about topics of interest. Additionally, if you’re calling yourself an “expert” in this area, I wonder, “How come you follow more people than you have following yourself?” Either way, I’m not following you.
OK, you’re dying to drop an anvil on my head à la Road Runner/Wile e Coyote style for saying all this. Go for it! MEEP, MEEP!
Oh my gosh, I so agree with everything you have written here and it could also apply to Facebook pages! I have made it a point recently to not just post new Etsy items in my shop to my Facebook page, but to also link my blog posts and post whatever else I might find interesting. It is nice to have people like your page, but if all you are doing on your page is just thanking them for liking you or posting shop items, then why would they bother coming back?
No anvil from me!
Patti, with Facebook pages, I try to post about all things crochet, not just my own stuff. If I see interesting things that are crochet/knit related and I want to see what people think about it, I post. I’ve promoted other peoples wares too without being prompted to do so. I just say what I think is new and cool.