How many of you have noticed that every once in a while the number of followers you have seems to drop? Every now and again, this seemed to be occurring with our account too, but we were never 100% sure until ....
One day, Tweeting along, I was enlightened by a Tweeting Twitter member regarding a tool called Qwitter. Curiosity getting the best of us, we enlisted Qwitter's services. For those of you who are not yet familiar with this tool, check it out (http://useqwitter.com). You now can find out who stopped following you and what Tweet sealed your fate. For the faint of heart, don't forget, ignorance can be bliss. If you tend to be a bit revengeful, stay away from this tool!
So, today we were having a successful day with new Twitter members adding us to their follow column. Sure enough, the Blackberry began singing it's familiar new email alert tune, and with pride, I picked up the Blackberry. I'm sure we've picked up another follower .... yep, we did. Email sender, Twitter. Wait, is that a "Q" in front of Twitter? It is, the email sender is Qwitter, not Twitter. What? Adding insult to injury, we not only lost one member, we lost two!
How can this happen? Why were we rejected? Thanks to Qwitter, we drilled down into the issue and determine that the following conversation was the culprit. This was the final dagger in assumingly, yet unknowingly, a fractured relationship.
Tweet to PropertyQwest (in regards to the operations of our real estate investment company and where we invest):
"Gotcha, that must be pretty exciting to be all over the country. Is their a lot of travel then scoping out deals?"
Our response:
"No, not a lot. We try to build teams that we can intrinsically trust. Management from afar! Definitely pros and cons."
Excuse me? Did we say something wrong? Apparently, we must have considering we lost two followers on the same comment. What gives?
To be honest, we've got no clue. However, there are some important lessons to keep in mind:
- Needless to say, watch what you say. There's a big audience and the word spreads quickly (good and bad)!
- Develop a thick skin as you may not always be able to comprehend why you've lost a follower. In fact, you may have lost a follower simply because they've discovered that they don't want to read your endless Real Estate Tweets, perhaps they like the Green Bay Packers rather than the San Francisco 49ers, or perhaps they don't want to hear that you're on your way to the gym. This list could go on and on!
- Take Qwitter with a grain of salt. If you pay it any mind, simply evaluate the circumstances in which you lost a follower in case unknowingly there's something that you're doing that may be causing you to lose followers. After all, these are potential business relationships that we're trying to develop and nurture. Perhaps your approach is the wrong approach. If it is, you need to know.
Again, take Qwitter with a grain of salt! Instead of developing a complex, use this tool to your advantage. But, keep in mind much of what you do with this tool will ultimately lead to guesswork, as in most circumstances it will not be evidently clear as to why you've lost a follower. If you're that heartbroken or if you find yourself developing a complex .... seek counseling!
