When you come to Twitter platform as a novice, you will find that everything is easy-going. You will get alert about a follower – perhaps you would also respond by following the person in return. Of course, you would certainly need some tweets in your stream. After a while, you will start being choosy about who follows you – you will start scrutinizing their profiles and most current tweets. Eventually, you will resort to the secret ratio which everyone is aware of (although they may or may not realize it) to assess who is worth following: ‘Followers vs. ‘Following’.

When someone is following less people and has more people following him or her instead, such person is possibly worth following. On the other hand, when people are following more people and have less people following them, then the reverse is likely to be the case.

Here’s the reason why this would work, so the email alert that pops up when you have a follower, brings this info to the front and center. Following their profile image, here are the contents of these emails;

1. How many people that are following the user
2. The count (number of tweets made)
3. How many people the user is following

In a situation where number 1 is greater than number 3 (which we could term ‘positive ratio’), it may be worthwhile clicking through the individual’s profile. If the difference between number 1 and number 3 is much – invariably, such users are worth looking at (at least). On the other hand, if number 3 is much greater than number 1 (which is termed negative ratio), it is most likely that such users are spamming, or are marketers. A case of close to ‘even ratio’ implies that such persons could be considered – on a case-by-case basis.

However, exceptions to the cases always exist. For instance, going on a user-by-user basis, users would have friends whose ratios are negative – but they don’t mind following them, not bothering about the negative ratio. Nevertheless, going by the large-scale basis, if you are having multiple requests which you need to sort through, the system works in a desirable manner.

Here’s the fact; although majority of the people are aware to an extent that these ratios exist, they prefer not to talk about them – their reason being that it tends to be contrary to the basic modus operandi of social networking; the notion that when you become someone’s follower, whether or not you admit it, you would desire that they follow you in return. Well, thanks to Twitter’s asymmetric social graph, things do not work that way on Twitter platform quite often.

This is hence the reason for Twitter ecosystem that features more negative ratio users when compared to the regular norm in social networking sites. And you know that no one wants to hear that they are not unique and admirable snowflake – so, it is understandable if some people pick offence at this post. Well, that doesn’t change the fact.

The conclusion of the matter is that, it does not make much sense following thousands of people. From experience, it is usually spammers or marketers that indulge in massive following. Let me quickly say that this rule may not apply to new users who are trying to build following – thus the ratio factor may not apply at this stage.

Needless to say, you would possibly need more Twitter followers to boost traffic or enhance business opportunities. Well, you have your reasons.

The term ‘Organic’ is an important phrase in this article. Organic result is very healthy and desirable. For instance, in a search, organic result pays off well than paid results. With inbound marketing, your results are enhanced, compared to pushing sales and chasing business – you also feel peace within.

You should carry on this mentality to the Twitter platform. Although this would take a longer time, but you will achieve a firm and valuable following that grows naturally with the right foundation.

Looking for a way to grow your Twitter following organically? Here are valuable tips:

• Understand your niche
  This is simply paying attention and having understanding about the mode of your community’s movement on Twitter. Find out who the real leaders are, the type of content that is being shared, the widely sought-after blogs and the rest. Work out ways you can be an active participant, add value and enhance the present conversation. In essence, see how you can outdo the leaders and direct the attention to yourself.

• Be Creative/Resourceful
  No doubts, it helps to share less of your content and more of others’ – but most importantly, the content you share should be the ones that are most valuable and most relevant to your network – it is not enough throwing in links just because they look like what is obtainable in your niche. When you constantly post valuable stuff, it would generate a lot of retweets and make you an authority in your network.

• Create Content that Users would Love to Share
  Before you create any content, consider if the content would be appealing to people, to the extent that they would want to share it in their own network. When your posts are insightful and bring solution to issues in your industry, people would not hesitate to share such posts since they are also working towards being resourceful in their own network. And, if rockstars in your market niche happen to be the ones sharing your posts, such posts can travel like wildfire! Those who share your content would ultimately become your followers and even ‘list’ you sometimes.

• Stay Focused on Your Field
  You will only be constituting a nuisance by dabbling into a field you have little or no knowledge about. Remain in your field where you can add value to others in your niche using your expertise. You can minimally retweet what another field’s tweeter posts; anything contrary can make you lose your credibility and the high esteem people have already conferred to you, and they may start ignoring your tweets – so stay in your field.

• Be a Smart Follower – Follow Less
  You will not go far by indulging in random following – it doesn’t matter whether all you are trying to do is to point some traffic back to your webpage – these people couldn’t hold you in high esteem. The right thing to do is to spot the right persons, lay your hands on existing conversations, and provide answers to questions raised. Even though the process appears slow, it would eventually connect you with the right people.

Other organic ways to acquire quality Twitter following include engaging in conversations, managing your tweets effectively, email signatures, offline promotion, inviting people to follow you on your blog and avoiding auto-responders.

To get more innovative with Tweeter in 2011, these top tweeting tips will be very helpful.

• Embark on Networks Expansion
  On Twitter platform, you can be part of topic groups that are relevant to your career and business, and you can gain useful information by scanning the tweets of others. You will also attract new customers as well as prospective business partners. Carry out a search on keywords that are relevant to your offering on Twitter Search and follow the users subsequently.

• Place Emphasis on Your Tweets
  On Twitter platform, you can use 140 characters to share the latest events as well as news associated with your business. Set up a Twitter feed specifically for alerting customers of new products.

• Make Yourself Credible
  One of the ways to do this is to create awareness of your free seminars, workshops or web meetings (if you do such), and inform people when the event is kicking off, how to be a participant and also be part of those who will tweet it.

• Share Info on Twitter
  You can use Twitter to drive traffic to your webpages. You can also embark on information sharing, particularly info that your prospects as well as employers would find relevant. This will enhance your credibility as well.

• Freebies, Deals and Promotions
  Give out something to the people following you on Twitter. This will serve as incentive. Consider things like discounts, free coupons, samples and package deals. This helps to make your offerings popular

• Handle Complaints Competently
  When you openly accept and respond to customer’s complaints appropriately, your reputation would be boosted.

• Interact with Your Competitors
  You can follow up your competitors’ tweets to know how to strategize and stay ahead of them.

• Build Brand Loyalty
  Some of your followers on Twitter are prospects, thus it is necessary to tactfully make them conversant with your products. You can do this by being active participant in conversations and tweets.

• Set up a Local Tweetup
  On Twitter platform, you can put meetups together. Simply send a message to let the participants know the place and time of the meeting.

Implementing these top tweeting tips will help you achieve meaningful and result oriented outcome with Tweeter networking.