Steve Doocy discusses with Greg Gutfeld and other guests how a man at a pizza restaurant in Scranton, Pennslyvania left a $3,000 tip and is now being sued for refusing to pay it on “Gutfeld!”
STEVE DOOCY:Well, I do know if you write. If you write, essentially, it’s a check for $3,000 to a waitress. And you write tips for Jesus. You put Jesus, and then you defraud. I mean, that’s just an easy pass trip to hell. If you ask me. Hmm. But ultimately, unless this guy goes ahead and makes good on it, I think you should call your buddy Nancy Grace, and she should get after him. Next thing you know, she’ll be interviewing, you know, former roommates, people who knew him before when he took the evil turn.
This is a question that comes up a lot in my interviews, most recently with a young reporter while discussing the actions of Operation Pineapple Express and other volunteer groups during the botched August 2021, evacuation of Kabul.
I was floored. How could these people not know why Afghanistan mattered so much to all of these veterans?
How do you explain this deadly lack of understanding to generations who weren’t born yet or were too young to understand what was happening? Or to those who were there, but have simply forgotten?
How can you make them understand that history is about to repeat itself, but it doesn’t have to be that way?
There is a generation of Americans that can never forget the images burned into their minds of planes striking the Twin Towers and the Pentagon. The worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil, killed 2,977 people, and for the veterans, it was personal. It happened while they stood vigil. American warriors, eyes narrowed and fixed on the smoldering rubble displayed on the television, made a single, silent vow “never again on my watch.” 800,000 American warriors would deploy to Afghanistan, sacrificing youth, marriages, limbs, mental health, and in some cases, their very lives.
America built relationships and made promises during those two decades of war.
Al Qaeda’s attack was largely due to bad U.S. ground intelligence and the inability of a partner force to counter them in their unrestricted planning and preparation. To prevent this from happening ever again, our combat veterans and civilians built partnerships with Afghan police, soldiers, nonprofits, Afghan schools, and a myriad of other organizations. America asked the people of Afghanistan to stand up, reach for freedom, and oppose oppression in all its forms. Like proud parents, we assured them they could be whatever they wanted to be, and we would be there by their sides.
Then, in August 2021, we left. We broke those promises, squandered those relationships, and handed control back to the very oppressors we fought against 20 years before.
Why can’t veterans forget?
Veterans know something most Americans don’t. The enemy gets a vote in what happens next. The United States might be done with al Qaeda and ISIS, but they aren’t done with us. This enemy will follow us home.
There is credible evidence that al Qaeda is fully re-constituting right now. Foreign fighters from Syria, Iraq, North Africa, and even Southeast Asia are openly training on former Afghan Army bases in Kandahar and Helmand. The Taliban are fully accommodating and have gone so far as to issue visas to al Qaeda members that allow them to move freely throughout the country in clear violation of the Doha Agreement.
Additionally, Iran and al Qaeda have set sectarian differences aside and are cooperating to foment disruption in the Middle East. According to numerous Afghan Special Operations Forces, this al Qaeda is a younger, more capable force. ISIS-K is also in play.
There is an unthinkable yet highly possible scenario in how all this plays out. It’s not a stretch to imagine that America’s enemies will launch another catastrophic attack on the homeland. Out of the ashes emerges a freshly mobilized U.S. blinded by revenge and short-term memory toward “bringing justice to the evildoers.” Backed by American citizens, young warriors will load up again on C-17 cargo planes and fly back into the graveyard of empires to exact justice.
But this time it will be different.
Instead of Northern Alliance resistance allies waiting on the ground to receive and work with our troops, there will be thousands of forlorn, pissed-off former Afghan commandos who are well-trained and well-equipped in U.S. tactics and gear. They have been co-opted by al Qaeda after watching their children starve, salivating for revenge over unkept promises.
This September 11th, Americans should demand change and accountability from their government. It’s not too late to protect our homeland if we act now.
The U.S. government must resume all sanctions on the Taliban and stop all aid. Credible sources tell us that millions of dollars in humanitarian aid is not getting to its intended victims.
The government must assume the care and management of Afghan special operations partner forces and other at-risk, high-impact Afghan security officials from veteran groups.
And the government must support the Afghan National Resistance Front, which is the legitimate Afghan Government. They are the best option for standing against terrorism emanating from Afghanistan.
Even if America doesn’t pull its head out of the sand, veterans won’t stop trying to intervene in this impending disaster because they know what’s at stake. Without immediate action, the next 9-11 Commission testimony is practically writing itself.
But how? Why? In this article, we’ll go over how I became one and how to become an influencer in your own field.
1. Start by Becoming an Influencer in a Niche Field
Most great influencers start as a microinfluencer, a person on social media with roughly 10,000-50,000 followers. In a pinch, think of them as having a larger following than your average person, but less than a celebrity or established influencer. This is great because it allows you to start building a dedicated following and see what type of content works for you on a smaller scale.
With this said, though, even if you have a decent size following, you want to always establish credibility with the audience. Micro influencers can extend powerful word of mouth to small groups. As you start out as a micro influencer you’ll develop expertise in your niche. They don’t have the followings of a Kardashian, but they’re more affordable and can still reach enough people to make a difference in product sales.
I started in the trenches of SEO before learning content marketing, conversion rate optimization, influencer marketing, social media marketing, and more. I worked hard. to get to nearly 432K Twitter followers.
One day you might get to 400K + followers too; but to become an influencer, you have to start with one.
Start as the expert among your friends and peers.
Work toward being the expert in your city and state.
Then become an influencer from there.
2. Create a Content Strategy
Once you have a niche, it’s time to build your content strategy. Content strategy can be a vague concept, but for the purposes of this post, we mean things like publishing cadence, tone and voice of the author, and content elements (text, graphs, etc.).
For my content strategy, I have strict goals I set for myself to create a set amount of social posts on each network while maintaining blog quality and working on side projects. I also made sure I use the same conversational tone and voice in my content (can you tell?)
Not terribly hard right?
Once you’re armed with this information, you can select your channels.
3. Select Your Channels
There’s no wrong answer for which social channels to be on and avoid.
Facebook is the most popular, with 94% of marketers using Facebook worldwide as of January 2020, followed by LinkedIn with 76%.
Facebook is by far the most popular, with almost 75% market share in 2022. But that dropped from 65% in 2015, and other social channels still have validity.
While I enjoy my time on certain channels more than others, I don’t play favorites when engaging with my audiences.
I do my best to show up everywhere.
My page gets a ton of traffic and has a great conversion rate.
Where you can network with Justine Ezarik is at technology trade shows like CES, the Webby Awards, the Streamys, and several other events. You can follow her social accounts to see which events she attends.
Event marketing is a big trend and being able to boast influencer attendance is huge.
Why not make it a priority for marketing yourself?
Get off the couch, get out the house, and get to major events related to your niche. Or, even easier, attend online events, which are becoming more popular in the post-COVID world.
You can start your search at the Trade Show News Network for listings of trade shows around the world in every industry.
5. Participate in Off-site Forums
Becoming a popular social media influencer does have its advantages. For example, in 2020, the most popular YouTubers earn more than a billion dollars a year from advertisements and sponsorships.
Not all of us can be that lucky. The rest of us have to venture outside social media and participate in forums, comment wells, and other online discussions so we can boost our following.
Every discussion you can be a part of online enhances your reputation, influence, and connections.
6. Create a Website or Blog
Conversations don’t end on social media.
You’ll always have more to say than can fit in a tweet or Instagram post as a social media influencer.
With a website or blog, you have a place to direct your social followers as you gain them.
Be prepared to lead your followers into your well-designed conversion funnel by building out your blogging content strategy. Start with including a link to your blog in your social media posts. A link to your website or blog can actually increase your audience engagement on social media.
And it goes without saying the longer blog content needs to provide even more value than a social post to get clicks.
7. Provide Value to the Conversation
If you’re not providing value to the conversation, you’ll never reach the ears of anyone influential.
When trying to become an influencer, remember you need to be the person people are talking to each other about.
If you can impress people enough with your knowledge and conversational value, they’ll sell everybody else on you.
Then they’ll tell two friends, and so on…until you become an influencer!
8. Stay Ahead of Current Events
There are two types of content, evergreen and topical.
Evergreen content stays forever relevant, such as an article about a historical event.
Topical content is hot right now, but will soon be forgotten. Basically, everything happening today.
When writing a blog post, I’d stay as evergreen as possible since you don’t want to have to update your content constantly. But on social media, staying informed about current events is the key to being shared.
Every year since 2003, Starbucks has been able to rally up customers for their seasonal drink. For example, in 2021 they expanded the offering of the beloved Pumpkin Spice Latte to stores in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. They were able to expand customer reach and created a quiz to strengthen their #PSLlovers community.
Using this seasonal tradition with user-generated content created a brand win for Starbucks by appealing to customer loyalty through a festive time of year.
Staying topical is how you go viral on social media.
You can use tools to stay on top of social media trends. You can also set a Google News alert to monitor the entire Internet for specific keywords and phrases.
Do what you have to do to stay current.
9. Understand All Channels
Even if you don’t use a particular social media channel, if you want to become an influencer it’s still important to understand who does.
I’m not a big user of Snapchat, for example, but I understand its 250 million+ (mostly younger) users can’t be ignored.
TikTok may not be for you, but the platform has doubled it’s worldwide users between 2019 and 2021. It’s also the most engaging channel of all the popular platforms today. So, if you’re looking to build a community, the numbers don’t lie – it makes the most sense for you to build a following there. Because the demographics of who uses each channel are so varied, each social network requires a different strategy.
For example, here is a chart showing best practices for posts you can share on each channel during the Holiday season:
While minor, these differences make a world of difference in determining whether you’re a hero or a zero in your industry.
This type of chart helps you prepare posts to schedule in advance.
10. Stay Authentic and On-Brand
Going back to the Super Bowl, it’s an interesting event. Why? Because brands have made the commercials as anticipated as the actual game. Many come through with epic TV spots that tell their brand story.
The takeaway: it’s important to be authentic and stick to your brand voice to become an influencer.
Digital ad spend grew 18% in February 2021 compared to a year prior. TV ad spend declined nearly 27% over the same period.
This means an authentic voice on social media is more critical than an expensive Super Bowl commercial.
If you’ve ever visited my blog or social media profiles, you know I actively respond to comments.
Here’s an example from a recent blog post I promoted on Facebook several years ago.
My followers love to ask me questions and comment on things, and I love to respond.
This is how I built a social community that participates and engages with my content.
When responding, be sure to stay consistent and friendly.
Don’t respond to trolls and other haters, unless you have a great zinger that will help your brand image.
12. Engage with the Community
It’s not enough to simply respond.
To become a social media influencer, you need to start conversations.
Rather than creating content for social media that promotes your brand, create content that actually helps people in your online community. This could include short-from videos, as Lush does frequently on their Instagram and other social channels:
This type of engagement is what social media was designed for.
It’s easy to do on platforms like Twitter where scaling Twitter engagement is the main function of the channel.
And people remain engaged on these platforms.
The more you engage with the community outside of your feed, the further you spread your influence. Don’t just respond to comments on your Facebook page.
Post in groups, post on friend’s pages, and tag other influencers to engage the community.
If you become a person who can actually handle constructive criticism, critics will mold you into a more polished influencer.
Being an influencer isn’t about dictating what people do. It’s about creating a movement, and constructive criticism is essential to that.
Nobody wants to be surrounded by yes men.
Which reminds me…
15. Remain Approachable
Phil DeFranco is one of the most influential YouTube users with his SXEPhil account.
The reason is somewhat because of production values and length of service.
More importantly, however, Phil remains approachable, despite his success.
Tackling topics as diverse as politics, social media, pop culture, and nuances of the YouTube platform itself, Phil maintains an everyman approach.
Never let yourself get so caught up in social media fame that you become a prima donna, disconnected from reality in your ivory tower. If you do, there could be consequences.
The more approachable you are, the more influential you’ll be.
16. Research New Topics Daily
I can’t stress enough how important it is to constantly generate new topic ideas.
It’s harder than it sounds over the long term. That’s why I use Google Alerts.
I can set alerts to deliver to my email anytime my name is mentioned on any frequency I like.
There are a ton of other customization features.
In addition to setting up Google News alerts, pick a handful of publications to stay informed on.
I check blogs like Moz, Entrepreneur, and Hubspot daily to keep ideas for fresh topics in my head.
The more knowledgeable and well-rounded you are, the easier it’ll be to gain influence.
17. Automate Posts
Automation is the latest marketing trend, and it’s easy to see why.
You gain efficiency and speed, along with valuable data.
There are plenty of free tools to automate social media posts and let you schedule your content in advance using content calendars.
This is how professional publishing and social agencies work.
Also, keep in mind blog posts can automatically be set up through the blog CMS to promote on social media channels.
Whatever you use, be sure to automate posts so you have a steady stream of content.
18. Follow Influencers and Give Shout Outs
To be an influencer, you need to know other influencers.
Who you’re following is almost as important as who follows you.
To expand your influence, you need to show people they’re influencing you as well.
On Twitter, there’s a hashtag group called #Teamfollowback that believes in reciprocating every follow.
I don’t go that far, but I do try to follow other influencers to engage their audiences along with mine.
Many social media influencers also love giving shoutouts to followers, fans, and subscribers.
Shoutouts make people feel like they’re personally contributing to the community. They incentivize participation.
And last, but certainly not least, is the data we’ll need to quantify all this work.
19. Quantify Your Efforts With Data
Each social media site will show your impressions and audience engagement numbers.
It’s usually on the front page.
This only shows half the picture of your real influence.
However, with a website and Google Analytics, you can see the rest.
We can tell which social channels are getting clickthroughs to our site and how many people are converting from there.
Once you understand how many posts it takes to generate a conversion, you’ll be able to calculate an ROI for your social media efforts.
This isn’t the only benefit of being an influencer.
Like I said at the beginning, you can influence other influencers and drive the conversation.
Just be sure to use your power for good.
Quick Tips For Influencer Success
Become an Influencer in a Niche Field
Start small; pick a niche topic and become an expert in that. Over time you can expand your influence.
Create a Content Strategy
Decide how often you will post, what your tone will be (casual versus professional, for example), and what elements you’ll use in the content you publish.
Select Your Channels
Decide which social media channels to focus on.
Network Within the Industry
Get to know other experts in your industry by connecting with them on social media and attending industry events.
Participate in Off-site Forums
Expand your reach by participating in forums, comment discussions, and other online discussions.
Create a Website or Blog
Create a blog to give followers a place to get to know you better and to show off your industry expertise. A blog can also give you more engagement data to show marketers who want to pay you for ads and endorsements.
ProvideValue to the Conversation
It’s not enough to just put out content. You need to provide value to your followers by providing content that is new or offers a unique perspective.
Stay Ahead of Current Events
Stay abreast of what’s going on in your field and share about it on your social channels. If people can look to you for breaking news in your industry, it will go a long way towards helping you become an influencer.
Understand all Social Media Channels
Figure out what channels are most relevant to your industry and focus your efforts there.
Stay Authentic and On-Brand
Tell your brand story often to engage and grow your followers.
Respond to Comments
When people comment on your social media or blog posts, take the time to respond. People will be more likely to follow and interact with you if they feel like they know you.
Engage With the Community
Maintain a presence outside of just your own channels. Start conversations, tag other influencers, participate in Facebook groups, etc.
Consistently Publish Fresh Content
Publishing fresh content keeps and grows your follower list and pleases the algorithm gods.
Listen to Criticism
By listening to and incorporating criticism, you can become a better influencer.
Remain Approachable
No matter how big you get, stay humble. Arrogance is a turnoff and could cost you followers and sponsorships.
Research New Topics Daily
The best way to stay on top of industry trends is to set Google alerts. You should also spend time reading industry blogs. If you subscribe to any industry newsletters, spend some time reading those as well.
Automate Posts
Make your life easier by creating your posts in advance and scheduling them to be posted automatically using tools like one of these CRM software platforms.
Follow Influencers and Give Shout Outs
Get noticed by other influencers by following them and tagging them in your posts. If you can gain their trust, they may be willing to reciprocate. This could make some of their followers follow you in turn.
Quantify Your Efforts WithData
Use the analytics tool most social media channels provide to track your followers, engagement, and other data. These figures can help you gain sponsorships since they help prove your influencer status.
FAQs
How many followers do you need to become a social media influencer?
There isn’t an official set number of followers you need to become an influencer. The number of followers you need varies by industry. For example, startup skincare brands can invest in nano or micro influencers because of their tight-knit audience for brand reach. Known athletic brands like Nike can use athlete or celebrity sponsorships as influencers to help gain more brand loyalists for their products.
How much do social media influencers get paid?
The money you make as a social media influencer depends on your industry, how many followers you have, and the terms of your arrangement with the business paying you to promote their product or service.
What qualifies you as a social media influencer?
Most would consider you to be an influencer if you are paid to promote goods or services to your followers.
How can I get more followers so I can become a social media influencer?
A couple of ways to get more followers are to research and use popular and trending hashtags on your posts, seek out a mentor who is already an influencer in your field, start by becoming an influencer in a niche community and expand from there, and taking advantage of the full suite of features different social media platforms offer to maximize your exposure and grow your follower list.
Conclusion
Influencer marketing is the latest trend in digital marketing because social media influencers are now able to quantify their audiences.
What started as a hobby for many has become a big business, and influencers like PewDiePie often outearn celebrities, politicians, and other prominent professionals.
I’m an influencer today, but I wasn’t always.
Everyone starts at square one with no followers and nobody knowing who they are.
It’s the steps you take to build a following that ultimately determine how influential you are.
If you’re interested in growing your brand and want help doing so, reach out. I have a team of experts who can help you reach your influencer goals!
Who are the most influential people in your niche?
Disclosure: This content is reader-supported, which means if you click on some of our links that we may earn a commission.
Making a website has gotten much, much easier over the years. It’s cheaper, faster, and more straightforward than ever before.
But what do you really need to build a website?
A stable internet connection and an hour or two of your time is plenty.
You don’t need any web development experience or tons of money, don’t worry.
In this step-by-step guide, I’ll teach you how to make a website from scratch in just one afternoon. Just follow my tactics below to avoid the mistakes I made when I was starting from ground zero.
Your 2-Minute Cheat Sheet
Here’s your quick-start guide to making a website. This section won’t cover the details–just the crucial steps–each step is broken down in more detail below.
Start by choosing the right web host. We highly recommend Bluehost for speed, reliability, and ease of setup. It only costs a few bucks a month, and it’s got everything you need to make your first website look professional.
Then you’ll need a domain name that represents what your website is going to be all about. A .com domain name is best because it helps you earn brownie points in the eyes of visitors.
One reason I like Bluehost so much is that they throw in a free domain name for the first year. That saves you some cash and the extra step of having to go through a domain registrar.
Once you’ve registered your domain name, choose a content management system or CMS. You can consider WordPress, Joomla, or Drupal, among others.
I like WordPress the best and it’s what I use for my site. If you go with Bluehost, WordPress is a one-click install.
Boom, now you have a version of a website up and running. Congrats!
But you aren’t done yet.
Next on your list would be to market your business. Since branding is crucial today, you need to consider a logo, write your website copy, plan your marketing strategy, and definitely install Google Analytics.
Basically, the exciting stuff that you may know all about already.
Now let’s discuss how to build a website in more detail. Keep reading or jump right to the step you need help with:
Do you remember how your school library had those large categorized bookshelves?
A web hosting company is precisely like that bookshelf, while the library is the internet.
A hosting service provider or a web hosting company stores your website on a server, making everything you put up on your website visible on the internet and your visitors.
These companies offer monthly or annual plans on shared servers, dedicated servers, or virtual private servers, allowing you to choose a plan according to your security and support requirements.
If your website doesn’t collect or store personal or financial data, you can always select the basic plan. So, you don’t have to shell out a lot of money.
But how do you know which web hosting company or service is right for you?
Site Speed
If you want to earn money from your website, you need to get a stable and fast web host.
Fast sites have many things going for them. They rank better, help with SEO, and maximize conversions.
I would 100% recommend Bluehost, as it keeps loading time minimal and short.
That said, we would also advise you to avoid shared hosting or overly cheap services.
Shared hosting means you’ll be sharing your web server with thousands of other sites. In other words, hosting speed will be slow–plus, you may even end up sharing the server with spammy sites, which you may end up with you facing the brunt of Google.
As for skipping cheap hosting services, the rule here is simple: You get what you pay for.
The level of security, speed, and uptime wouldn’t be as great when you pay $5 per month, especially when you compare it to plans costing more than $120 per month.
I’m not telling you to buy the most expensive plan–just avoid the cheapest hosting.
Uptime Dependability
Your web hosting service should always operate properly. Otherwise, no one can access your website.
A good hosting provider provides you an uptime guarantee–something like “We offer a 100% network uptime guarantee” or similar claims.
For instance, if a hosting provider tells you 99% uptime, your site can be down for 3.5 days a year. But providers offering 99.99% or 99.999% will have about one hour and five minutes downtime, respectively.
Look for a provider that offers a guarantee for insurance. If your website goes down, you can be compensated with hosting credits.
Customer Support
You’ll need quick and efficient backup support when technical difficulties arise. Chat, email, or telephone – there are various support methods. In my experience, though, email is the absolute worst. It’s much better to receive support by phone or live chat.
Choose a hosting provider that offers 24/7 support. This way, you’ll be able to get your business back online if something goes wrong within minutes.
You should also check your service level agreement (SLA) to get an idea of the kind of support you’ll receive. Looking at the company’s website will give you an idea about their support team too.
Definitely go with a host that offers you a free trial period–it’s the only way to get a real sense of the service you’re going to get. Even if you don’t need help, hit them up a few times during the first 30 days. See how quickly they get back to you.
If your new host is slow to respond, the quality of service is probably not going to improve. That’s why the free trial is so important. Bluehost lets you cancel for free within the first month if you’re not happy. DreamHost offers a 97-day money-back guarantee.
Scalability
Scalability is vital for two reasons. First, a hosting provider should grow organically with you, enabling you to upgrade when needed. Second, your website should be able to handle massive spikes in visitor numbers.
Consider the following questions to understand whether your web host is flexible:
Will the web host upgrade you from an entry-level shared hosting plan to an intermediate VPS when your visitor numbers reach a certain level without any downtime?
How easy is this upgrade process?
Can the web host support seasonal fluctuations in web traffic seamlessly?
You should aim to get a solution that checks all three boxes.
Visit web hosting forums to learn about other people’s experiences with providers. Then compare services and prices to determine the right plan based on your needs and budget.
With a web host provider in place, you can move on to Step 2.
Step #2: Select a Unique and Relevant Domain Name
Don’t go looking for the perfect domain name–there isn’t one. Some names better than others, but ultimately, it’s a small part of your business. The content of your website remains most important.
A domain name is your website’s address on the internet. Mine is NeilPatel.com, and it reflects my personal brand. Yours can be anything you want it to be, provided it’s related to your business, topics that you want to write about, or your name.
The options are endless!
Following are a few rules of thumb to help you choose the right domain name:
Keep it relevant
Stick to short, memorable names
Avoid numbers
Choose a .com, .org, or .net
Make sure your chosen domain name is available
Find the perfect name is also possible using the following methods:
Method 1 – Brute Force Method
Many have the creativity to come up with the perfect domain name independently. If that’s you, you’ll need a domain name registrar to purchase the domain, and then search the availability of your prospective domain name.
Bluehost is a great place to start, as it gives you a free domain for one year with their hosting plans, and you can search availability.
I’ll also advise you to avoid going for domain names that have hyphens (like neil-patel-marketing.com) even when you get it at a dirt-cheap price. It can get confusing.
Method 2 – Use a Tool
Some of us are not very creative, and that’s okay.
If you get stuck when coming up with a domain name, try using name generators. Just enter one or two keywords, and the generator will look for ways to combine those words into a domain name.
In addition to speed and downtime reliability, Bluehost also allows you to check domain name availability. Visit the sign up now page and enter your domain name in the box, and voila! You’ll have a name.
Bear in mind that your preferred domain name may be unavailable. Try mixing up words, using a thesaurus, or adding a verb if it happens.
After you’ve chosen your domain name, you’ll next need a website building platform.
Step #3: Select a Good Website Building Platform or CMS
A quick Google search about website builders and CMS will leave you overwhelmed with the enormity of options.
CMS stands for Content Management System. It allows you to edit your website within the domain itself, helping you save tons of time and make everything way simpler. Customizing layouts, settings, content, creating new pages and posts, and so on, becomes easier thanks to ready-to-use website templates.
Here are a few options to consider:
WordPress. WordPress is number one when it comes to CMSs. It’s popular, user-friendly, and super easy to use. Moreover, the platform has over 58,000 plugins that allow you to do almost anything you want on your site.
Keep in mind that WordPress.com and WordPress.org aren’t the same. While the former is a third-party site that allows you to create free blogs, the latter enables you to download the WordPress software to install on a website.
Wix. Wix is another website builder that makes things super easy. If you need a site with just a few pages, like restaurants, local businesses, freelancers, or portfolio sites, this could be a great option. Their reliability (99.98% uptime) and security features (like 24/7 managed monitoring and optimization) give you peace of mind, as well.
However, if you want to build a large site, Wix may lack the advanced features required for large amounts of traffic.
Drupal. Drupal is the most advanced website building solution, which is why it has a steeper learning curve. Though when you consider the level of customization it offers, the hard work seems worth it.
While I don’t recommend Drupal for beginners, if advance customization is a priority on your list, this is hands down the best option. You can always hire an expert to learn the ropes of the platform.
You’ll now have a website up and running. All that is left to do is to make it look great.
Step #4: Design Your Website to Make It Look Awesome
For any website builder, you’ll have to install a theme. Themes can be free and paid, but the latter is more professional-looking and gives you more flexibility when customizing your website. They aren’t excessively expensive as well and can be bought for less than $100.
WordPress and Wix have some great free themes, but if you want to try out the premium variety, you can give StudioPress a shot.
Themes are built on the basic CMS but are customizable to give your website a unique look and allow it to function differently. After all, shouldn’t an artist’s website look different from a SaaS or a restaurant?
Visual representation is incredibly important as your visitors judge your website in a fraction of a second based on how it looks. If your site looks obsolete, untrustworthy, or doesn’t match their expectations, your visitors will be gone in seconds.
Luckily, choosing a good theme is easy.
I recommend reading reviews about the themes before choosing and never prioritizing visual appeal over functionality.
Yes, you want your website to look good with all those fancy fonts and colors, but that shouldn’t be at the cost of functionality.
Additionally, you can always change the theme at a later date. Just don’t change it frequently, as it will harm SEO and branding.
Step #5: Protect Your Website by Using a Child Theme
The best way to protect your website is to use a child theme. A child theme is a style sheet stored separately from the rest of your theme’s files on the webserver. Not only will it make your site hard to break, but it even protects you from redoing changes whenever you update a theme.
Keep in mind that different website builders have different names for creating a child theme.
You build a “child theme” in WordPress, but you create a “sub-theme” in Drupal. Also, some websites don’t allow you to create a child theme, but you can always make a duplicate theme to serve as back up, as in Joomla.
Step #6: Configure Your Website and Add Relevant Content
At this point, you’re done with most of the technical part and can now finally focus on the more interesting things.
Start by setting up navigation to make it easier for visitors to know what your website is all about and grant them easy access to different parts of your website. Choose a couple of colors to represent your site without going overboard.
For instance, I chose orange and white.
Organize, separate, and highlight the important areas of your website to make it eye-catching and clear. You can also install plugins to help your website function smoothly.
Here is a quick checklist of things you need to start marketing your business, especially if you want to earn money from the website:
Get a logo. This will represent your brand, so be very careful here.
Write your website copy, including the home page, About Me page, and other basic pages.
Install Google Analytics code to your website to keep track of visitors.
Start planning your marketing strategy to figure out your visitor’s likes and dislikes.
As for the last pointer, you’ll have to understand online marketing, content marketing, and the often neglected link building to gain visibility, generate leads, and achieve your business goals from your website.
Conclusion
Making a website does have its fair share of struggles, but the more experience you gain, the better you’ll become, and the easier it’ll be.
While we’ve covered all the necessary details for building your first website, if you find yourself getting stuck anywhere, you can turn to Google or YouTube to solve your problem.
Trust me, there are tutorials for almost everything out there on the internet.
Choosing a web host and CMS, designing your website, and marketing is just the tip of the iceberg. You can’t expect overnight success, but was just a bit of patience, you’ll see real progress.
You may think applying for a business loan is simply a matter of filling out the application. In truth, it’s more involved than that. In fact, there are many factors in the process that can affect your chances of approval. Some of these factors you cannot control, some you can. Knowing how to handle what you can control will help lead to easy business loan approval.
Easy Business Loan Approval: Questions to Ask Yourself Before You Apply
Before you apply, you need to ask yourself the following questions:
What kind of loan do you need?
How do you plan to use the funds?
What type of lender will you use?
Do you even qualify for a business loan?
Are there other funding options that will work better right now?
Can you afford a business loan?
Now, don’t just ask and answer these questions passively in your head. In contrast, be intentional. The answers will help you apply for the right loan for your business. Truly, this is a huge part of increasing the chances of easy business loan approval.
5 Tips for Easy Business Loan Approval
Once you know the answers to these questions, use these tips to ensure you have the best approval chances possible.
Tip #1: Make Sure Your Business is Set Up to Be Fundable
Really, everything from your business name and contact information to your business website plays a role. Surprisingly, even small details that seem inconsequential can cause a loan application to be delayed or denied altogether.
For example, your business needs its own phone number, and toll free is best. Then, list it in the 411 directory. Also, make sure your business address is a physical address where you can receive mail. Don’t use a P.O. Box or UPS box. Virtual addresses are okay, but some lenders will not accept them. If you run your business from home, you can use your home address.
You also need an EIN, and your business needs to be incorporated. A dedicated business bank account is a must as well. Furthermore, make sure you have all the necessary licenses to operate legally at all levels-federal, state, and local.
If you already have a business website, it needs to be professional. Even more important, make sure it is user friendly and well put together. If a lender sees a poorly put together website, it will not look good. Also, your business email address should have the same URL as your business website. Do not use free hosting services or free email services.
Tip# 2: Consider Collateral Options and Personal Guarantees
Of course, sufficient collateral is one of the best ways to get easy business loan approval. It reduces lender risk, which is one of a lender’s main objectives. Lack of collateral doesn’t necessarily mean denial, but having collateral definitely increases approval chances.
If you have good personal credit, a personal guarantee will for sure improve approval chances. Most traditional lenders will require it anyway. Still, you can sometimes reduce lender reliance on a personal guarantee if you have good business credit.
Tip 3# Evaluate and Improve Business Credit
If you have set up your business to be fundable, you already have a head start on this. To begin building business credit, you need accounts in your business name reporting to the business credit reporting agencies.
Before you can start, you need to get a D-U-N-S number from Dun & Bradstreet. Then, start working with starter vendors to get accounts reporting. This process takes time, so if you do not already have established business credit, and you need a loan now, you may have to rely on collateral and a personal guarantee to get you there.
Still, building business credit is wise, and it’s never too late to start.
Tip# 4: Research Lenders and Products
There are many types of loans and lenders. You need to know which ones will work best for you and your situation. The truth is, applying for the right product for your business, from the right lender, at the right time, will go a long way toward easy business loan approval.
Types of Business Loans: Traditional Term Loans
With a traditional lender term loan, you are almost always going to have to give a personal guarantee. If your personal credit score isn’t good, approval is unlikely. Of course, strong collateral can help with that.
So, what kind of personal credit score do you need to have in order to qualify for a traditional term loan? For most, a FICO of 750 is good. Sometimes, you can get approval with a score of 700+. Yet, the terms will not be as favorable.
If you have really great business credit, your lender might be more inclined to be a little more flexible. However, your personal credit score will still weigh heavily on the terms and interest rate.
Types of Business Loans: SBA Loans
These are traditional bank loans, but they have a guarantee from the federal government. The Small Business Administration, or SBA, works with lenders to offer small businesses funding solutions that borrowers may not be able to get based on their own credit history.
Because of the government guarantee, lenders can be more flexible with credit score requirements. It is possible to get an SBA microloan with a personal credit score between 620 and 640. The trade-off is that the SBA loan application process is lengthy.
Types of Business Loans: Lines of Credit
This is revolving credit, like a credit card. Rates are typically much better than a credit card however. For these, the application and approval process is similar to that of a traditional term loan.
Types of Business Loans: Non-Traditional Lenders
These are lenders other than traditional banks and credit unions that offer term loans and lines of credit. Generally, they offer more flexible approval requirements and a much faster application process. Typically, you can apply online and get approval in as little as 24 hours. Better yet, funds may be in your account within 24 to 48 hours after approval.
These can work well if your personal credit isn’t terrible and you need funding quickly. Additionally. they may be a good option if your NAICS code is high risk.
Knowing the different options, and what is required by each for approval, will help you choose the options that will work best for your needs and that you are most likely to be approved for.
Tip #5: Have a Workable, Professional Business Plan
For easy approval, you have to convince lenders that your business will be a good investment. It’s best to hire professional writers and researchers to help you write your business plan. If you can’t, there are plenty of free resources online to help with a business plan, including templates.
A well put together business plan should include the following:
An Executive Summary
Description
Strategies
Market Analysis
Analysis of audience
Competitive Analysis
Plan for Design and Development
Plan for Operation and Management
Financials
How to Get Easy Approval for a Business Loan
The simplest way to ensure you can easily get the funding you need for your business is to build strong business fundability. To do that, you need to set up your business with a fundable foundation and begin building business credit, among other things.
A business credit specialist can help you assess your current fundability, and guide you through the steps needed to improve it, if necessary. They can also help you find the best financing options for your business based on your current fundability. Get a free consultation today.
Do business credit cards affect personal credit? They can, and in fact most do. But, they don’t have to. There are steps you can take to make sure they don’t. The key is to build your business credit score, and choose the right business credit cards.
Do Business Credit Cards Affect Personal Credit? It Depends
If you are asking yourself “Do business credit cards affect personal credit?” you are obviously trying to fund a business. And yes, most high limit business credit cards report to your consumer credit report. In fact, some report to both your personal credit and your consumer credit. There are even some business cards that will report negative payment information, but will not report anything if the account is in good standing. If you are trying to keep your business accounts from affecting your personal credit score, you need cards that will not report to personal credit bureaus.
Do Business Credit Cards Affect Personal Credit? Does it Even Matter?
Yes, it matters. Here’s why. You know that if an account, business or personal, is not in good standing, it can be detrimental to your personal credit if reported. Yet, did you know that even if an account is in good standing, it is possible that it may still damage personal credit.
This is due to one of the fundamental differences in business credit vs. personal credit. Your personal credit score is affected by your debt-to-credit ratio. That’s a measure of how much debt you have, relative to how much credit you have available. A high debt-to-credit ratio can negatively impact your personal credit score. This is further complicated by the fact that many business credit cards stay at or near their limit, even if you are making regular payments. It is a function of the fact that business expenses are typically much higher than personal expenses.
As a result, if those accounts are on your personal report, they can bring your credit score down even if they are not delinquent. The question then becomes, how do you make sure this doesn’t happen? There are two key parts to this.
Do Business Credit Cards Affect Personal Credit? Make Sure They Don’t
First, if you are getting business credit cards with a personal guarantee, you have to make sure they will not report to your personal credit report. There are a handful that will not, even though they do ask for a personal guarantee. It is important to note that a personal guarantee means there will be a personal credit check. That will create an inquiry that may affect your personal credit for a bit. However, if the account does not report payment information to your personal credit report, the impact will be minimal.
A Few Examples of Business Credit Cards that Will Not Report to Personal Credit
If you have bad personal credit, the Wells Fargo Business Secured Credit Card is a good option.
You can get approved with a credit score as low as 580 currently, but that can change of course.
You do have to make at least a $500 deposit. Also, they do not report to consumer credit agencies, but they DO report to Dun & Bradstreet. That is, assuming you have your D-U-N-S number.
That means it can help you build business credit even with a bad personal credit score. They also report to the Small Business Finance Exchange. While the SBFE does not issue credit reports, they do share information with certain lenders, vendors, and credit agencies.
Wells Fargo will review your account periodically, and they may move you up to an unsecured account if you are eligible, based on a number of factors, including FICO.
If you have good credit, you have even more options for credit cards that will not report to personal credit. A few include:
CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Mastercard®
Costco Anywhere Visa® Business Card (have to be a Costco member)
Wells Fargo Business Platinum Credit Card
Remember, even though these cards do not report to your personal credit report, they do require a personal guarantee. That means they will do a personal credit check, and that inquiry will affect your score for a bit.
Do Business Credit Cards Affect Personal Credit? Business Credit Cards That Will Not Affect Personal Credit Scores Without a Personal Guarantee
Using a personal guarantee to begin building your credit portfolio is okay to start with. The goal, however, is to get as much as you can without a personal guarantee. To do this, you need to lay the groundwork before you apply for any cards. After all, they cannot report to your business credit profile if there is not one to report to.
Do Business Credit Cards Affect Personal Credit? They Do if You Do Not Establish a Business Credit Profile
In contrast to a personal credit profile, you have to intentionally build a business credit profile. While a personal credit builds passively, business credit scores do not. With consumer credit, all you have to do is get credit accounts and they almost all end up on your consumer credit report.
How Do You Establish a Business Credit Profile?
First, you have your business up to be fundable. This includes a number of factors, some of which include:
A business name that does not indicate you are in a high risk industry
You can get your EIN on the IRS website for free, and apply for the D-U-N-S number on the Dun & Bradstreet website, also for free. This is vital, because if you do not have that D-U-N-S number, accounts will not be able to report your payments to Dun & Bradstreet, because you will not have a profile there for them to report to.
The EIN is what you will use when you apply for business credit instead of your social security number. You may have to provide your SSN for identification purposes, but it will not be used to determine approval. This is one way you ensure your business credit accounts are not reporting to your personal credit report.
Do Business Credit Cards Affect Personal Credit? How to Get Business Credit Cards That Do Not Affect Personal Credit
Once your business is set up in the right way so that you have a business credit profile, you need accounts that report to that profile. However, if you start applying for high limit credit cards using your business credit profile right away, you are going to get denied.
You have to find accounts that will extend credit to your business without any sort of credit check. You don’t yet have a business credit score, and you are trying to avoid personal credit all together. To do this, you start with starter vendors.
These are accounts that will extend net terms and report payments, but they will approve you based on factors other than your credit score. These factors may include time in business, revenue, average balance in your business bank account, or other factors.
How to Find Starter Vendors
The trick is, these types of vendors are not easy to find. They do not advertise themselves as “starter vendors.” They do not make it easy to find out whether or not they report payments to business credit profiles. Business owners need help finding this information.
Here are a few options to get you started:
Grainger
Uline
Marathon
Still, you need more accounts than this reporting before you can build a strong enough business credit score to apply for higher limit accounts.
Do Business Credit Cards Affect Personal Credit? They Don’t Have To
How to Build a Strong Business Credit Portfolio With Minimal Effect on Personal Credit
The secret to building a strong business credit profile as fast as possible and with minimal effect on your personal credit, is to work with a business credit expert. A business credit expert makes this whole process faster and easier.
They can help ensure you have your business set up the right way, and guide you toward those starter vendor accounts that will help you initially build your business credit score. They will help you know when you have enough accounts reporting to start applying for higher limit accounts and be approved.
In addition, our business credit experts have the knowledge and expertise to help you find the best accounts to flesh out your business credit portfolio. There is more to this than just building strong business credit with accounts that report. An expert can guide you toward the best vendor accounts for your specific business, whether they report or not.
The best way to start this process with no risk is to have a free consultation with a business credit expert. They can help you figure out where you stand now, and where you need to start so that you can build your business credit portfolio in the most effective and efficient way possible.
There’s another reason Twitter is so attractive to marketers, and that’s because it gives you 100 percent reach.
However, there’s a caveat.
When you post to Twitter, your tweets are only seen by your followers or when your tweets are shared with others’ Twitter followers.
You have 100 percent reach only with your followers and their followers.
This means 100 percent reach on Twitter doesn’t matter if there aren’t people seeing your content.
According to recent research, 74 percent of the people who follow small and medium businesses on Twitter are following these businesses because they want updates on future products.
Additionally, nearly half of those who follow brands and businesses are more likely to visit those companies’ websites.
So your Twitter followers will often become people who visit your website and invest in your brand through purchases.
Fortunately, I can help you get followers quickly and effectively.
How to Get Twitter Followers Fast
Now that you know why Twitter followers matter, let’s talk about how to get them. Keep in mind, quality is always better than quantity. 100K followers is great — but not if they don’t care about your business.
1. Optimize Your Twitter Profileto Attract Twitter Followers
For all the power you stand to gain by using Twitter for your business, not having a professional, up-to-date profile can be a major turn-off to prospective followers.
So one of the first steps on the road to amassing tons of followers is to make sure your Twitter profile rocks.
Your profile picture is the centerpiece of your Twitter profile.
It’s the part of your Twitter profile people probably notice and look at first.
Aside from your username, it’s the one profile element that doesn’t just appear on your profile. It’ll show next to your tweet in the other users’ feeds when you post.
So, choose a photo that’s appropriate for your business or brand.
Whether you’re using a professional photo of yourself or your brand’s logo, you want to make sure that the most important elements appear toward the center of the image.
Due to the circular format, anything that appears toward the edges of your profile photo won’t show on your profile.
It’s even a good idea to resize your image. Although you can upload higher-res files, your profile image doesn’t need to be any bigger than a 400px by 400px square.
Here are some examples of how these profile image best practices can be implemented:
Bitfinex — a cryptocurrency exchange company — uses their logo for their profile image.
Similarly, you can see New York Magazine’s iconic logo as the profile pic used for their Twitter account.
However, Virgin Group founder and colorful businessperson Richard Branson uses a photo of himself. The photo looks professional yet casual and relatable.
Not only is this smart for promotional purposes, but it also helps people make stronger associations between your brand and logo.
Your profile photo should draw attention because it will be the identity that your followers will come to see behind all the content you post on Twitter.
Using a branded logo as a profile image, like Louis Vuitton, is an easy and quick way to get followers to recognize your posts instantly.
Beyond the profile photo, there’s the ‘Bio.’
This is the area of your Twitter profile where you provide a little — just 160 characters in total — information about your brand or business.
As you can see, the goal of your profile is to give a prospective follower an idea of (a) what your business is and (b) what they can expect by becoming a follower.
There’s another reason why your bio is important: it’s searchable.
Of course, you’ll want to include all the essential info, such as your website, location, and possibly a phone number.
You’ll want to include keywords that are relevant to your brand or company in your bio.
If you have trouble finding the right image with the appropriate dimensions, use a tool like Canva to create your own header image for free online.
Besides being free, Canva also offers tons of templates.
Now that you’ve spent some time ironing it out, your profile will leave a strong impression on visitors who view your profile, making them much more likely to follow you.
2. Engage With Your Twitter Followers
Although your follower count is a convenient metric, many social media marketers have begun putting more stock into engagement than followers.
In fact, Socialbakers account manager Jeraldine Tan actually considers follower growth an outdated metric.
“It is extremely important for brands to stop looking at outdated metrics like fan growth,” Jeraldine said in an article posted on LinkedIn.
“The overall fans number doesn’t matter if the audience isn’t consuming your content.”
So if you have a million Twitter followers but your posts get zero engagement, what are those followers really worth?
According to Incite’s data, there’s no correlation between the number of followers and engagement, meaning that more followers doesn’t mean more engagement.
But when followers interact with and share your content on Twitter, their followers see that engagement and often become curious. The engagement serves almost as an endorsement.
So engagement does lead to increased reach and visibility, which, in turn, yields more followers.
If you really want to grow your Twitter audience, you should be actively engaging back with them.
Responding to the comments and mentions of your followers reinforces their engagement and makes them more inclined to engage with you in the future.
Engaging with your audience yields more tangible results, too.
According to data from Sprout Social, 48 percent of social media users cite responsiveness as the top characteristic that prompts audiences to purchase from a brand or company.
Fortunately, engaging with your Twitter audience is easy to do and something you can start doing right away.
There are three main strategies for actively engaging with your audience:
Responding is certainly the simplest and easiest of these strategies, but it’s also effective.
It’s as simple as this:
When a user tweets to you or comments on one of your tweets, respond.
The acknowledgment will give them a sense of validation.
If you can make the exchange memorable in some way, they may actively seek out your content in the future. So don’t be afraid to show a little personality.
Don’t just respond to other people’s comments — pay attention to your own tags as well. Responses like these build good will and increase your reach on Twitter.
Respond to Direct Messagesfrom Twitter Followers
Take the time to respond to direct messages. Today, customers expect brands to monitor their social platforms.
A lot of big brands and companies are finding success with DMs, including 1-800-FLOWERS and T-Mobile.
2. Host or Engage With Twitter Chats to Increase Twitter Followers
Twitter chats are live conversations that use a specific hashtag. They function sort of like a chat room, but are visible to a wider audience due to the use of the hashtag.
According to CoSchedule, you should post curated content — quotes and retweets — three to seven times per day. Including your own original content, it should be about 15 tweets daily.
Do you have time to sit on Twitter 24 hours per day to make sure you’ve got awesome tweets going out at all the right times? Probabley not.
That’s where your routine can be a life-saver.
The best way to create your Twitter routine is to create separate daily, weekly, and monthly routines.
Automate and schedule out your posts in advance with a tool like IFTTT.
Your daily Twitter routine should consist of things like following and unfollowing other users, replying to DMs and mentions, and responding to comments on your tweets.
On a weekly basis, you should focus on broader and more long-term aspects of your marketing strategy.
Your monthly routine should include things that could result in big payoffs down the road.
As such, it largely includes networking with industry influencers, which tends to increase your Twitter reach and visibility.
4. Plan and Schedule Tour Tweets
Compared to a non-chronological network like Facebook, the time of day you post on Twitter matters.
If your tweets are posted when your followers aren’t on the platform, those tweets won’t be seen, and less visibility means less engagement, less traffic, fewer followers.
The logical solution to this problem is to post when the most users are on the platform.
Sprout Social compiled data and found that average global engagement on Twitter is highest on Tuesday between 9 AM and 1 PM, Wednesday between 9 AM and 3 PM, Thursdays between 1 and 11 AM, and Fridays from 9 to 10 AM.
The problem is you’ve got a lot of other tweets to compete with during those times.
Optimal performance on Twitter means knowing your audience and knowing when you can reach them.
Twitter gives you an audience overview right inside the Twitter platform. With this information, you can tailor your content to your audience’s demographics and interests.
Just go to analytics.twitter.com for information about your audience, including what topics they’re into, what type of consumers they are, and even the wireless carriers they’re using.
With this information, you can choose the best times to tweet to your audience for optimal engagement and reach.
From this point, you can proceed in one of two ways:
You can make sure your daily Twitter routine coincides with your audience’s most active time of day, or you can schedule your tweets to post during that time.
Just know that you need a constant flow of content posting to Twitter, and the best resources to make that happen are readily-available data and possibly a tweet-scheduling app.
5. Make Sure There’s Value in Your Tweets
Twitter marketing is like any other type of marketing in that you’ll experience the greatest success with high-quality content.
Of course, this is another reason why knowing your audience is important.
You gain a better sense of what they find valuable and can personalize your content accordingly.
6. Pick the Right Tweet to Pin to Your Profile
Pinning a tweet is like putting a spotlight on that tweet, calling the attention of anyone who visits your Twitter profile.
There are a couple of ways you can approach choosing the right tweet to pin to your profile.
The first strategy is to pin a tweet that has performed particularly well.
If it gained lots of attention from your followers when you initially posted it, the tweet will probably appeal to others who are visiting your profile.
It will certainly get more views and is likely to get more likes, comments, and shares as well.
Since new tweets push older tweets further down in your timeline, your newer followers are unlikely to ever see your best ones.
Pinning a tweet that was well-received by your followers will ensure that profile visitors and potential followers get to see it, too.
It’s also common to pin a tweet that highlights a temporary promotion or an upcoming event that your business is involved with.
When the promotion or event is over, you simply unpin the tweet and pin a new tweet for your next one.
Another strategy for choosing the right tweet to pin is to pick a tweet that promotes your business or brand.
In effect, it’s actually someone else’s promotion of your brand or business, but you’re pinning it to highlight the value that others have placed on what your brand offers.
Much like a job interview or a business pitch, a pinned tweet gives you a small opening to make a big impression.
7. Link to your Twitter Account on Your Website and Other Social Media Profiles
It may seem counterproductive to be diverting traffic from your website to your Twitter profile.
After all, don’t you want traffic going to your website so they can make a purchase?
But surveys show your social media profiles are just as effective for content marketing as your own website.
This makes a lot of sense.
So to a large degree, sending traffic to your website actually gives you more opportunities for conversion.
Of course, you don’t want to simply drop a raw link into the body of your website.
Instead, you should link to your Twitter profile in a way that’s a bit more professional.
It could be as simple as attaching the link to an icon.
Simply go to publish.twitter.com where you’ll find options to embed a grid, tweet, timeline, or a button.
All you need to do is copy the link you want to use and paste it into the prompt at the top of the page.
Similarly, you should link to your Twitter profile on other social media.
For example, Facebook gives you the option to include your Twitter username in a specific section of the ‘About’ section on your Page.
It gives any of your Facebook followers who also happen to use Twitter the ability to access your Twitter profile easily.
Because if you have people following you on other social networks, there’s a good chance that any of them using Twitter would want to follow you on that platform, too.
Gain Twitter Followers FAQs
What does my Twitter profile need to increase followers?
Make sure all available fields are completed, like your URL, name, and bio. Include applicable keywords or hashtags in your bio to get found by people searching.
How can I engage with my Twitter followers?
Engagement leads to increased reach and visibility, so be sure to answer mention tweets, participate in Twitter chats, and reply to tweets from accounts you follow.
How often should I tweet to increase Twitter followers?
Many studies recommend tweeting 5-15 times per day.
What should I tweet about?
Make sure your tweets offer value to your audience, either through knowledge, humor, customer support, and answering questions.
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How to Get 10,000 Twitter Followers Conclusion
Twitter is an international platform with millions of users. It’s just as valuable (if not more valuable) for racking up an audience than sites like Instagram or Facebook.
Getting as many as 10,000 Twitter followers doesn’t have to be hard.
First, you need to optimize your profile. Add a high-quality profile picture, since it’s the first thing people will see when they come across your brand on Twitter.
Complete your bio and don’t forget a header image, too.
Start engaging with your followers by responding to comments, mentions, direct messages, and live chats.
Create a Twitter routine you can stick to. If you aren’t active, your engagement will dip. Make a daily, weekly, or monthly Twitter schedule.
Make sure that what you’re sharing is valuable. Share interactive content, like a poll, quiz, or infographic for best results.
Pin a relevant tweet to your profile. If you have an ongoing promotion or upcoming event, tweet about it and pin it to the top of your page.
Finally, be sure to link your Twitter account to your website and on your other social profiles for maximum exposure.
Each of these steps will result in substantial growth but put them together, and you are likely to see some pretty phenomenal gains.
What are your favorite Twitter follower growth hacks?
According to Smart Insights, 45 percent of companies don’t have a clearly defined digital marketing strategy; 17 percent of companies have a digital marketing strategy in place, but it’s separate from their marketing plan. This means 62 percent of companies are unprepared. They don’t have the strategy, tactics, or tools they need to market their …
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