My name is Morgan!...And I want to rock your social media world! ;) I LOVE what I do and I want to instill that same passion into YOU and your BUSINESS! 
How To Grow Your Twitter Following Organically
Everyone is on the hunt to figure out how to grow their Twitter followers fast and furiously.
The other day Ann Tran posted: How I Gained Over a Quarter Million Followers Organically and it was like reading my own blog post because our views are identical.
So I thought I'd share my experience and views with Twitter to shed some light on how you can gain Twitter followers without using any drastic tactics.
First, I've had my Twitter account since 2007 and when I first started it, it was just for personal use. In fact, I thought Twitter was pretty stupid when I first joined. But my friend convinced me and so I spent the next several months just @'ing her back and forth the whole time.
My Twitter has changed focus a few times, depending on what my goals were at the time. However, now that I'm older and wiser, my Twitter has a purpose, but through the past 5 years, I've built it up to over 3,000 followers. I know, it doesn't sound like a lot, especially since I've been on it for 5 years.
BUT, I didn't actually start caring about getting Twitter followers until about a couple years ago when I decided to become an entrepreneur.
Second, I have never bought Twitter followers. I have never used nor paid a program to get me followers, either. I have gotten all of my followers organically just by interacting in the communities and following people that I find interesting and who I hope will find me interesting.
I don't believe in using software or programs to find followers that are NOT targeted and who DON'T care about who you are or what you do.
Now I get a consistent stream of new followers each day because I'm out there getting involved.
Does it take time? Yeah, it sure does. But it's worth every minute to be able to personally engage with peeps and build that solid community.
You want RT's? You want engagement? You want people to notice you as an expert in your field? Then you're better off finding people who are actually interested in what you do, instead of just a bunch of random people who are only following you to get a follow back or because they're apart of some #followback association or whatever.
Third, I get involved in exchange communities and general communities such as Triberr, JustRetweet & Twellow to exchange tweets organically and to find interesting people that you may never have known without joining these communities.
Forth, I'm also apart of Bloggers.com, SmallBizBonFire, Social Media Examiner's Networking Club and so much more. I try to get involved in groups, sites and forums that are within my field.
Fifth, I comment on a lot of blogs, so I'm always out there engaging.
Sixth, I guest post on a lot of other blogs. This can help reach an audience that you may never would have had access to without posting on that other blog.
Seventh, I get involved in Twitter Chats. These can be a great way to gain new followers right away who are targeted and you know will be interesting because you're interacting with them in the Twitter Chat. I've been apart of three this week alone and have gained about 20 new followers from them. That doesn't sound like a lot, but 20 targeted followers is better than zero, right? 
I know I talk about Twitter a lot, but it's because so many people struggle with Twitter more than any other network.
I am working on that Twitter course that I mentioned a while ago but I'm taking my time so that it can be perfect and packed full of info for y'all.
So I'd like to open up the conversation to YOU.
What about Twitter are you struggling with?
With 11+ years of internet marketing experience, Morgan started Sociable Boost to help small businesses create social, engaging & actionable strategies! Morgan is passionate about what she does and hopes to instill that same passion into YOU!
Hi Morgan,
Thank you so much for these great tips on how to increase your twitter followers organically, specially the exchange communities and twitter chat. It’s really important to have organic followers as those are your real fans and friends whom are interested in your content and retweeting your tweets, they help also increase your link click conversion rate for twitter.
ICCIEV recently posted..6 Open Secrets of a Clickbank Millionaire
Hiya!
You are spot on! Organic followers will be far more interested in you than a bot or someone who is paid to follow you. And you’re also right, they do help to increase your link click conversion.
Thanks for the comment!
Awesome points Morgan. I have written a couple of articles on buying Twitter followers. It amazes me how many scams there are out there promising Twitter followers. Not only are these Twitter followers probably not interested in your posts, they are probably bots. There is no way to promise Twitter followers like these people do unless they either pay people to follow their “customers” or they create bots to follow them. I suspect they are too cheap to give you the quality service of finding real people who have no interest in your service.
Your comments about building organically are dead on. I am going to start paricipating in tweet chats to help as well. I agree with all your points, but might also add running contests and offering something for others. You may not get be able to buy loyal Twitter followers, but you can give to the community to earn some loyal followers who will be there for you every step of the way
Kalen recently posted..5 of this Week’s Best Internet Marketing Posts!
Hey Kalen!
It really is quite shocking how many people are not only offering a service to get “10,000″ followers or whatever for a particular price, but that they’re actually staying in business! It saddens me actually to know that people are actually getting ripped off but they probably just don’t know that it’s wrong to begin with. :/
Tweet Chats are pretty amazing! The more you participate, the more you’re known as an expert and the more your opinion is valued and thus, more Twitter followers since there are always new people joining in on the chats.
Creating contests is a good idea, too! I haven’t done one yet but I know many people who have and they do work. However, you really want to be careful with the type of contest you do. You still want to build that community that will be engaged even after the contest, while at the same time giving something in return.
Thanks for the comment!
Thanks Morgan! Some great suggestions and strategies here – some of which are very new to me!
I was like you use to be once too! Before I fell in love with Twitter I thought it stupid, a waste of time. Now, I find it fabulous! I’ve made tons of great business connections on it and have some real relationships with terrific people whom I enjoy supporting and encouraging!
I suppose I don’t “struggle” with anything Twitter related, but I am interested in growing my followers with real, valuable people. This takes a while, I know, but I challenge myself each week to give myself a goal of how many people to connect with and interesting people to follow – in hopes that they will find me interesting and want to follow me back!
Thanks for this great post!
Melissa Agnes recently posted..5 Mistakes to Avoid in a Social Media Crisis
Hi Melissa!
You inspired this post, so thank you for that!
I think of a lot of people think Twitter is stupid at first, it can take some time to warm up to, that’s for sure!
I LOVE that you make a goal each week to connect with new people! If more people made goals like that, then they wouldn’t be struggling as much with finding new peeps to engage with. Love it!
Thanks for the comment.
Morgan, it’s like to took everything that I was thinking about Twitter and wrote it into a marvelous blog post! Anyone that’s looking into building a great Twitter follower would be wise to follow your tips.
I started my account mid-2009 and it was very much like yours as first – a series of @mentions to my one friend that convinced me to sign up. I didn’t start using it as a networking/business tool until about eight months ago. At that point, I had maybe 150 followers. Now I have over 500. It’s not a number in the hundred thousands to brag about, but I’m pretty proud of it. I actually talk to these people and they all found me interesting enough to follow. I think my 500 followers are worth far more than #teamfollowback’s 75,000.
tl;dr version: I agree.
My next step is to join some Twitter chats! I see them on my feed a lot, and I think it’s time to pay attention.
Mandy Kilinskis recently posted..3 Fun Team-Building Exercises to Energize Your Employees
Hi Mandy!
Wow, thank you so much for the compliment.
I’m so glad this has helped you as that’s my ultimate goal!
I love that you mentioned that even though you have a small following, you talk to those people on a regular basis because that’s what it’s all about; creating relationships! And it sounds like you’ve got an amazing strategy. You’re not worried about numbers, you’re worried about creating that awesome community. Love it.
LOL, so funny you mentioned #teamfollowback’s 75,000. Haha. It’s so true, though. I’d much rather have targeted individuals that I can talk to on a regular basis instead of a bunch of people who just want to raise their numbers.
Yes! Join Twitter Chats!
If you ever have any additional questions about Twitter Chats, ask me and I’ll be happy to answer. 
Thank you for the comment!
Great article, Morgan. Twitter continues to baffle me as a means of communicating, since I need more characters to communicate. Steve Martin makes it work, but he’s a genius.
My engagement usually begins on sites that I like — Twitter is a means to not lose a smart, entertaining, informative writer. When people follow me on Twitter, I follow back, unless they look totally spammy, or not spammy enough (if you know what I mean –I’m looking for interesting people 
) Your number of Twitter followers is huge! You must see an unending flow of material. I can’t keep up with all the reading and I have only 300.
Astro Gremlin recently posted..Their Shoes
Hi Astro!
If you ever have any Twitter questions, let me know.
It does take a while to build up that audience, but even if you have 300 people following you, as long as you’re keeping actively engaged, you should be doing just fine!
Thanks for the comment!