What I Learned From Growing A Twitter Account To Over 41,000 Followers

You must be wondering -- "Impossible! How can Michael who doesn't even reply to messages have over 41,000 followers?" 
You are not alone.

Lesson 1: Nothing Personal.
Did you notice the twitter account name, Nigeria Newspapers? It's not a coincidence. It leads us to the first lesson I learned -- It's never about me/you! I have had my own personal twitter account since 2009 and as hard as I tried I never got over 1250 followers. But the impersonal twitter account I created in 2012 has now grown to over 41,100 followers with much less effort than I did to grow my personal twitter account.
It helped me to absorb the fact that taking my personal sentiments out of things I do is often the best way to get results.

Lesson 2: Plug Into A Working System
Before starting the twitter account, I did a small market research. The one thing every Nigerian is passionate about is Nigeria. So I created a twitter account that builds on the passion for Nigeria. I called it "Nigeria Newspapers" and shared news of happenings in Nigeria. And right from day one I was getting RTs and a steadily growing followership. It showed me that it's better to ride with the tide than to swim against it; to find a system that works and plug into it.

Lesson 3: Automate all You Can
What if I tell that for a whole month I might not make a single post on the twitter account and for a whole week I might not even log in to the account? Well, it is the truth. I automated the tweets and even messages I send to new followers. I automated the following of people I consider interesting. I automated everything I could. So while I am busy on other stuff or even sleeping, the twitter account is never inactive. It got me thinking about all the other things in my life I could automate, especially in my business.

Lesson 4: Stick With What Works
Everyday, the twitter account followers are increasing. Sometimes, at the rate of 200 new followers per day. And that is the sweetest part of it all. I don't have to do anything differently or spend any time on Twitter. I can log out for 6 months and still be sure that the account will keep growing at a healthy rate. I have found what works and I am sticking to it. 


And those are the lessons I learned from growing one of my twitter accounts to over 41,000 followers. If you want to verify, the twitter account is @NigeriaDaiily