39 thoughts on “What Will You Do For More Followers?”

1. Wow Mitch, straight from the heart there in the video, very well put across and it certainly makes one think and yes I did give myself a little pat on the back 😉 😉

   1. Great Karen, and I’m glad you actually watched it. 😉 Of course, I’m wondering what you’d do.

      1. Hi Mitch sorry for the delayed reply, I won’t do anything for more followers, I do like my followers counts to grow in a organic way, if people want to follow me or my blog etc then that’s great, if they don’t then fair enough.

2. Honestly, I will do anything for some traffic, I have just created my blog a couple of days ago, but it has only 4 views ( and I am afraid I have been at leas 3 of them)

   1. Ninetta, don’t do just anything; once you go down that slope it’s hard to stop. If it’s a brand new blog give it some time to be found, then work your networking and get those visitors. That’s all it takes.

3. Hey Mitch this is a fascinating topic.

   I also agree that Lisa Irby should be on a lot more lists. When you look at all the stuff she’s accomplished, you have to wonder why you don’t see her name around a lot more.

   Now on to the point of the article. When I first started out, I wanted traffic badly and wanted people to see my work. At the time I might have done anything to get it.

   The situation is totally different today. I haven’t “made it” by any means, but I really don’t go after the traffic and views the way you’re “supposed” to or the way that I guess I should.

   If people drop by and read my stuff, that’s great. If they comment, even better. If not I won’t lose any sleep over it.

   Sometimes when you want something so much, it can throw you off your game and you end up not acting like yourself. Any followers you build that way will likely end up being the kind of people you don’t want anyway.

   So as far as I’m concerned I’m just going to do what I do. I’ll just post what I’m interested in when I get around to it. If it doesn’t get a lot of views/comments then so be it.

   Being caught up in the numbers game is something I already did, and I’m glad I grew out of it.

   1. Great stuff John, and I’m with you. That’s why I haven’t automated myself more than just putting out my initial new blog post, which is the only time I might not really be around for all the blogs I put out. I don’t auto DM, don’t use other plugins to post stuff when I’m not around, don’t use services like Visiblii or Hootsuite… it’s all me baby! I want to be seen by everyone as well but I have my limits.

4. The key is in consistency and good discipline. Same apply for brand building. Don’t limit yourself and check all the possible ways of advertising and sooner or later results will come, that’s what I can say.

   1. I can’t argue much with this one Carl, but we both know some people go to extremes in promoting themselves.

      1. Definitely and especially on social networks. Sometimes it is very difficult to hold myself hitting “report SPAM” button. There are 2-3 individuals that I’ve spotted in the last few months and block their entries from displaying.

      2. Well, I notice that spammers are getting through your site again; you just can’t ever stop that stuff.

5. Hey Mitch, I’m not one to worry about the size of my lists and I’m not one to worry about what to do to grow my lists.I certainly won’t automate my posts because as far as I’m concerned it’s not the right thing to do. Why, because people who come to see my blog want to read what I written not what some software has written for me.

   That’s also the reason why I don’t use PLR posts.

   As for those people with huge followers, I’m sure a lot of them are following others in return. I’m not going to do that. I want to follow people I’m interested in and I want people to follow me because they’re interested in what I have to say, not just so I can follow them.

   1. Except for celebrities there is a great correlation between how many followers someone has and how many people they’re following so you’re not wrong on this one. I like the ratio I have right now across the board, as well as knowing that the majority of those people are engaging.

6. I can get more follower on twitter immediately: I can follow others or buy it. And no, I wouldn’t do anything for followers. Better few and to interact with them.

   1. Thanks for your comment Alex; I agree with your stance.

7. Hey Mitch,

   I loved your video – and you’re right, it’s not worth compromising your integrity just for numbers, if you do, those numbers don’t count.

   take care buddy,
   Alan

   1. Thanks Alan. I’m not sure how others feel about it but I just can’t do it, no matter how much it is… well, if it was a billion free and clear; after all, we all have our price. lol

8. Yes, they key is indeed consistency. I really don’t do anything special on Twitter, just the basics. After only three weeks I have like 25 followers, consistently growing. Awesome!

   1. Good going Leon. Talking to people as well will help get those numbers up.

9. For me, I find it hard to get followers on Twitter and attract more likes on Facebook.
   I’ve been working hardly on it and I still don’t get it.
   I hope I could come up for some ideas in the future!

   1. Nicholle, what you find is that if you talk to people others see that and will connect with you at some point. You can also, at least initially, connect with new people on Twitter at least and see how many connect back with you. On Facebook, likes are difficult but putting out stuff your friends will like will eventually get you more likes.

10. Mitch, First time visitor to your blog here. Enjoyed your video. My personal opinion is that the sheer number of followers don’t matter, but quality followers is what you want. That being said, I do think there is some benefit to the first time WOW factor of having a decent number of followers.

    1. Thanks Michael, and I’m glad you enjoyed the video. You’re right, seeing certain numbers associated with your name does make you feel pretty good, but sometimes we have to be ready to keep those things in perspective.

11. I agree that influence is the most important thing in every business. Influence is what brings people to you once and influence is something that keeps them coming back. If you have a powerful influence, people won’t hesitate talking about you to others. This triggers word of mouth- which is the one of the most powerful tools in marketing. Influence also gets you the most loyal of the audience. Your content must be great, you’re also doing everything right, but if there is no influence, the impact will be far lesser.

    1. We’re on the same page in talking about influence Thomas. Still, I’m wondering how far you’d go in trying to attain that influence.

12. Hi Mitch,

    Yes – I know the feeling. Bleeding from your fingertips because you’ve been writing like crazy. Another advantage to having a video on your blog – by the way. And yes – When it comes to followers and the webmaster posting the lists of networks etc and how to achieve more followers – a lot of these people depend on paid followers and automated features of promoting their blog. Some people go for the Push marketing option, and a lot of experienced marketers use the Pull method of marketing. Depending on how desperate you are for high number of followers and the type of marketing and methods you use for driving traffic. Do you rely on white hat for the long run or depend on grey / black hat for the short run.

    1. Good stuff Anton. I truly believe more in the “they’ll find me if I do good” method, and it’s worked for the most part thank goodness. It’s amazing how people find me, and I’m happy that I’ve had the kind of success I’ve had doing it my way, though I need and want more success because, when all is said and done, I’d love for blogging and writing, more for myself, to drive my income, and have my income be astronomical. I’m not willing to do “just anything”, though, and if that ends up keeping me from reaching the heights, well, I just might have to live with that.

13. Oh yeah Mitch, we’re quality commenters alright and I agree with you. I’m not about the numbers, I’m about the relationships. I can’t have relationships with thousands of people. I’ll give it my best shot though.

    I’ve got about 6,000 following me on Twitter now but I’m only following a little over a thousand. I want to make connections and there is no way those people who brag about social proof are having relationships with all those people. Obviously they’re having success with their business so they’re doing something right but I have a feeling it has more to do with their list then the social proof. That’s just my thoughts and I could be wrong of course.

    I enjoyed your video and I definitely agree with you. We appreciate you speaking your mind on any topic. So you just keep up the great work.

    Have an awesome day Mitch!

    ~Adrienne

    1. Thanks Adrienne. You know, if all those people were actually talking to me I’d be connected with them. But I get lots of requests to follow people and when I check them out they either don’t talk to anyone or have a lot of “thanks for the follow” and that’s it. Frankly, no one can make an impression on me if they won’t talk to me. But you’ve probably seen me on Twitter; I talk to people, and if they respond I’ll talk more.

       Other than that, I’ll connect as I wish, hoping to grow but not going out of my way to do any and everything, and we’ll see what happens from that point. Just like you. 🙂

14. Traffic is everything for any website. So you can’t take it lightly. I appreciate your effort to share these useful and honest tips with your audience.

15. Hey Mitch,

    Great insights here. I agree with what you are saying in this video.

    I think your points about blog rank, comments, etc are really on-point. I know that many of the people on the lists have been rallying up support from their friends and friends of friends.

    I like to look at the lists, but I had to get in the game a bit. I found that all though there was some good to focusing on the who’s who stuff, I wasn’t doing ME the way I should. I still have a way to go. I haven’t been blogging very long, right about a year a little later this month…I have a way to go, no doubt, but I agree with what you’re saying. You have to really get in the game and start applying yourself if you want to see any returns, whether it’s returning visitors, or the potential money you could be earning online.

    Great thoughts here!
    Cat

    1. Thanks Cat; you leave great comments!

       Yes, one has to be in the game, and there are many ways of achieving success. It helps when others give you a boost but one can’t sit around waiting for it, and doing artificial things that don’t support who you really are don’t work either. Also, not everything works for everyone, although some things will push everyone in the right direction if they give it a shot.

       So we concentrate on the important stuff, the things we can control, and then we work on the next thing. Hopefully it all works out, but if it doesn’t, we can try again. 🙂

16. I have seen many people trying to get fake likes and followers on their social media accounts. Why is that? Is it done only to show off? Or do they believe these fake people will buy anything from their websites?
    Thanks Mitch for your video. It was good to watch it. Really interesting!

    1. Thanks Martin. Actually, they’re hoping that if others see a lot of people who like them that it’ll encourage other people to like them. Unfortunately sometimes that works, like visiting a site where someone shows a check for $20,000 and later you learn it’s a fake.

17. Mitch, at the 10:10 mark of the video, I believe you said something like, “Get in the game, Stay in the game.”

    There’s the answer, right there. Experiment. Research. Compare. For every Pat Flynn, there’s a Thom Chambers. Between those two extremes are thousands of points of engagement.

    For those who don’t know, Pat Flynn’s strategy is to be everywhere, while Thom Chambers is more minimalist. The only constant in the spectrum SHOULD be great content.

    Cheers,

    Mitch

    1. Thanks Mitch. That’s an interesting gulf between those two and I know I’m somewhere in the middle, though I’m not quite sure which one I’m closer to. Still, one has to be in the game in some fashion in any case.

18. Good video. It’s still a quandary for me at times, but I think I’ve earned every follower that I’ve gotten. I’m certainly not a fan of the automated things or fake followers.

19. You mentioned allot of things that we both know don’t get talked about and I am glad you said it. There are tons of list posts out there and as popular as they are, I always try and mention bloggers that for one are pioneers in my book, but might not be so well-known.

    I don’t care for posts that mention the Chris Brogans and such and I am not saying he isn’t fabulous because he is, but I love seeing people I don’t know and the kind of message I can learn from them too. I always support those that give back and especially those that have given so much to me whether its via support or what they do for their own communities.

    My current list posts features Ms Lisa Irby and she is a true pioneer and she is black. One thing true to my heart because most black bloggers I don’t see get that kind of recognition anyway, but for the ones that do, I still haven’t heard of them either. That’s another subject.

    There is just so many people out there these days trying to do something that some tactics go way beyond what I won’t do myself. Seems like these days some people don’t want to work for anything and expect glory after a few posts. We all start from nothing and you learn over time how to do it right. Buying anything or anyone is asking for trouble and no conversation period. Networking, and educating yourself is where quality fans come from.

    Hardwork, and giving back is what it should be about anyway. Mitch, this was such a heart-felt video and I appreciate you doing what you can ALWAYS for all communities and giving back when you can. Thank you! Excellent post!

    1. Thank you Sonia, and thanks for watching the video along with the post; I know most people don’t watch them. lol As to the rest, I don’t mind certain names always showing up because if you have a top list without those people, it’s kind of a fake list. That being said, there really are a lot of special people who never get props, and I think I’ve done my part to try to bring some of them to the visitors here.

       Still, the overall question of what people will do is an interesting one that I followed up a couple of weeks ago with a post on why I think following big names just to try to get other people to follow you is a failed strategy. Sometimes it’s who you know, but most of the time it’s doing something special that gets you noticed by a big name, to the extent that they want to tell people about you, that works much better.

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