The #1 Secret to Follow Friday Success

Have you ever been the lucky recipient of a #followfriday or #ff from a friend on Twitter?

It’s a fantastic feeling when someone goes out of their way to recognize you as a resource for fantastic insight and connection on Twitter. Recognition for being someone worth following is fantastic for those trying to figure out the point of Twitter.

But, the common practice for a typical #followfriday tweet is to pack as many of your favorite followers into 140 as possible. While this strategy is fantastic for pinging people in your network to let them know you’re thinking of them, it also can appear cheap and potentially a small off putting if the group of folks you include don’t have much in common.

Now, it’s rare that folks are really offended by being included in a #followfriday. Most do in fact like to be included and recognized in some way by their followers. Some may even get a few new followers because of the referral.

As with most situations in life, but, #followfriday offers people the opportunity to cut through the noise with valuable tweets that make signal and meaning for folks.

The #1 Secret to Follow Friday Success
Something folks like even more than simply having their Twitter handle included in a mass #ff tweet is when someone devotes an entire tweet to something they specifically peg as a reason to follow somebody.

By taking an extra five minutes to break apart your #ff tweets and doing individual #ff tweets instead, you’re showing your followers that you value something specific about what they’re doing. It’s another level of respect you’re paying forward to the folks you value in your Twitter stream.

Rules
1) Use the entire 120 or so characters (How to Get Retweeted – The Formula) to describe something specific and incredible about the people whose tweets you value the most. For my handle (@dayneshuda) I can get away with leaving 15 characters available.

2) Include #ff

3) Include a Website (preferably the actual URL vs. a shortened version…for branding)

4) Give a specific reason for people to follow

Examples

Problogger Follow Friday

Lara Kulpa Follow Friday

Benefits of Going the Extra Mile
I’ve been trying to do this each Friday (although I do miss some) for some of my favorite folks on Twitter and the response has been wonderful and more than I could have imagined.

The folks that I highlight in detailed #followfridays are generally very thankful to be highlighted in a specific way. They seem to appreciate that someone takes the time to recognize their hard work in a field or for being a fantastic friend and someone worth following because of their personality.

Sometimes in response (but never expected) folks have responded with similar, detailed tweets about me. It’s a nice small bonus for making the gesture.

What about your #ff experiences?

Do you leave detailed #ff tweets or the more well loved styled #ff tweets?

What are some pros and cons of each?

Related articles on Twitip

#followfriday Revolution

Did @PhilBaumann Just Save Follow Friday?

Follow Friday; Too Much of a Excellent Thing?