Bootstrap Business Blog Blitz Quick Questions Vol 6



Keep asking your questions on social media, digital marketing, entrepreneurship, SEO, social selling, lean startups, frugal finances, and any other topic you can think of. I'll keep answering! Enjoy my latest installment of Bootstrap Business Blog Blitz: 

Why do random popular people with a blue check mark after their name follow me on Twitter?

Most likely these verified accounts are following you automatically based on keywords or hashtags in your Twitter profile or tweets. It could also be because of your following or retweeting behavior. Sometimes they indiscriminately and automatically follow accounts that don’t even meet these criteria hoping to get followbacks. Occasionally a verified account will follow you because I’ve opened many business and personal accounts over the years and within the first day I had a couple random verified accounts follow me. They clearly didn’t know me or had any interest in what I was tweeting. 

The majority of true industry leaders or celebrities don’t engage in this type of mass following or automated following behavior, as it makes them look less exclusive and also most likely a violation of Twitter’s terms and conditions. The accounts that do this are usually lower to mid-tier verified accounts trying to actively grow followers and the exposure, impressions, favorites, retweets, website traffic, revenue, etc that comes along with it.

Why aren't people liking my Instagram posts? I get a decent amount of likes but my friends get about 4x more than me.

Your engagement rate on Instagram is pretty good by regular standards so it could depend on the quality of your followers vs those of your friends. Besides increasing the quality of your posts, being more consistent and selective can always help out. A great way to increase engagement is to ask a question in your post or request feedback. You can also start adding relevant hashtags to your posts which is almost guaranteed to get you more Likes but could potentially make your post look spammy if used in excess. Also, nearly every social network has exaggerated impression statistics, including Facebook which owns Instagram. The 300–400 impressions might be accurate or it could be incredibly inflated. For better or for worse, there will always be plenty of people that view your posts on any social network but will never like or comment. And while Likes are important, they shouldn’t be the absolute endgame of any personal or business account.

How do you remove spam on Facebook?

That’s a very broad topic but the best way to get rid of spam, especially the kind that you see in your news feed, is to report it. Click on the top right hand corner of any post to click on Report and then determine what category the violating post fits under. If the post fits that category choose it and click “Submit To Facebook” for a decision within 24–48 hours usually. The same process will apply for a fake Facebook profile. You can then follow it up with a quick block. If you simply want to stop seeing repetitive posts or ads in your newsfeed, but want to remain liking that page or staying friends with that profile, just click Unfollow to that page or person.

Why doesn't Twitter verify Julian Assange's personal profile?

Many people have been speculating about this one, especially after the verified WikiLeaks account tweeted about it. I do know that if there is a slight chance it could be someone else at the keyboard, they’ll opt not to verify an account. I’m not sure if their thinking could be that his new personal account and the Wikileaks account are being managed by one of his associates in his name. If it is in fact him tweeting, I would be surprised if his account is still not verified by the end of the month. Overall though it is pretty ludicrous that one of the most influential figures in journalism and politics (especially on Twitter) isn’t verified when some nobody who came in 12th place in *insert lame reality or contest show here* is verified immediately.

How long will it take to create a good Twitter profile?

Your Twitter profile is very important but it should be a relatively quick process compared to your tweets, retweets, replies, and other engagement. As I mention in my popular blog post 12 Reasons Nobody Reads Your Tweets, there are some basics necessary for a good profile. 

- Professional and/or unique high resolution profile picture 

- Unique and high resolution header image 

- Link to your primary website or main social media page 

- Location or related information in that section 

- Profile description rich in keywords, accurate but enticing information, hashtags if needed, and secondary links / usernames on another social networks. Not all of these apply or there may not be room for all of these but the more of these you can include the better it will be for you most likely. 

- It’s also useful to include a link to your Periscope account (which is visible on desktop version and doesn’t count as your main link) and to pin a very important tweet to the top of your account. 

From there it’s all about creating great content, growing your brand, and engaging with other relevant accounts. Best of luck.


Thanks for reading this installment of Bootstrap Business Blog Blitz Quick Questions! Keep asking your questions and I'll keep answering! 





I hope you enjoyed the latest installment of Bootstrap Business answering your questions.  

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Published by Michael J Schiemer
Owner of Bootstrap Business
Money - Marketing - Motivation
Digital Marketing | SEO | Social Media
Mike Schiemer Builds Better Business

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