A little bit of me wonders how this was even possible. I almost always have something to do for my brand. Whether I am writing a blog post or editing a video for one of my training courses, I usually end up with a full plate.
Then I decided to see what I could add to that full plate without it breaking. After I surpassed 200,000 Twitter followers on my main account, one new Twitter account was born and another Twitter account was revived.
I tried creating multiple Twitter accounts a few years ago and seeing how that would work out. The full plate couldn’t hold the load and shattered into several pieces, but regardless, here I was giving it a second try. Maybe it was the stubbornness of an entrepreneur speaking to me. Maybe it was the hope that my full plate bulked up at that point.
It turns out my plate did bulk up. I found the ability to manage all three of my Twitter accounts and do all of the activities that I do each day. In just one month after the experiment, my two accounts combined had 3,000 Twitter followers. The best part is that the accounts continue to grow and have an impact on my brand.
While I saw my Twitter audience grow because of this new experiment, I also learned some lessons along the way that impacted me from an entrepreneurial standpoint. These are the lessons that I learned:
Always Look For A Quicker, Better Way To Get The Same Things Done
The main reason I couldn’t manage multiple accounts the first time was because I had to constantly log into and out of each of the Twitter accounts and apply the same process for various tools that I use to grow my audience. I saw it as nonsense and believed that if I wanted to manage multiple Twitter accounts, I would have to hire people.
When I made my second approach, I looked for easier ways to get the same things done. One of the biggest problems I experienced was constantly logging into and out of the accounts, so I needed one platform that would allow me to use all of the accounts at the same time without logging into and out of each one. HootSuite became that platform. I always used it for scheduling tweets, but I didn’t use its dashboard and other capabilities as much.
I also knew that constantly tweeting for all of my accounts would be a challenge. One of the most significant differences between the first attempt and the second attempt was HootSuite Pro, and in particular, the bulk scheduler. The bulk scheduler allows me to schedule a day’s worth of tweets in just six clicks. It takes me longer to schedule my tweets since I have to schedule tweets for multiple accounts, but the difference isn’t dramatic. It takes 10 minutes to schedule my tweets for multiple accounts instead of five minutes for one account.
Bulk scheduling all of my tweets only takes 10 minutes. If I were to manually schedule my tweets, it would easily take four hours to schedule a day’s worth of tweets. This one strategy allows me to save almost 30 hours of my time every week.
How I Have Applied This Lesson Elsewhere
Ever since I learned this lesson, I have been creating more rubrics for sending emails. One of the problems I come across with sending dozens of emails is the time commitment. Whether for an interview or a guest blogging opportunity, it takes time to craft a unique email each time. Now, I use a rubric that acts as my go-to email that I send to people. An email rubric looks like this:
Hello {Name},
My name is Marc Guberti and {appropriate credentials}. I was wondering if you needed a {something I know very well} expert on your next podcast episode.
{Closing}
I haven’t used this rubric for any of my emails. This was just an off-the-cuff rubric to demonstrate what I mean. If I send an email asking to be on someone’s podcast, it would be easier for me to use a rubric like this since I know what I am going to write in advance. The rubric allows me to email more people and develop meaningful relationships in a time effective manner.
Mastery Before Expansion
When I first tried managing multiple Twitter accounts, my strategy was not as sophisticated as it is now. I was gaining anywhere from 20-40 daily Twitter followers on my main account, and it took me a long time to gain all of those followers for one account.
When I first implemented this strategy, I did not fully understand what I was doing. I waited until I got 200,000 Twitter followers before I gave it a second go. At that point, growing my Twitter audience was much easier, so now that I knew what I was doing, expanding made more sense.
Many people insist on creating social media accounts on every social network known to mankind, but this is not an effective practice for social media domination. Each social network has its own learning curve similarly to each language. If you focus on learning one language, you could master that language in a few years. If you try to learn 10 languages at the same time, it would be more difficult to master each of those languages in a few years. Social networks work in the same way.
However, once you master one social network, it becomes increasingly easier to master other social networks. Once you know what you are doing on one social network, it is okay to then expand into another social network, or create a second account on the same social network.
How I Have Applied This Lesson Elsewhere
I used to release numerous products every month, but I started to realize that just because I was creating more products did not mean I was accumulating more revenue. Regardless of how many products I created, the same products were bringing in most of my sales. Creating numerous products every month wasn’t dramatically changing my results. The solution was to create fewer products, and in exchange, make them more in-depth—the same strategy I followed for my blog (I went from writing two short blog posts every day to writing three lengthy, in-depth blog posts every week).
Now that I don’t spend as much time creating products with rapidly approaching deadlines, I have found more time to promote my blog by writing guest posts and taking a closer look at my social media strategy. This blog does get hundreds of thousands of visitors every year, but more traffic never hurts 🙂
Always Experiment
Creating all of these Twitter accounts was an experiment. I wanted to see what results it would bring for my brand and if I could actually manage several Twitter accounts. I was not sure what to expect, but in the end, I got a good result.
The key to mastering something is to always experiment with it, and no matter how successful you become in a certain area, there is always room for experimentation. If you stick with something long enough, you will master all of the basics. Mastering all of the basics allows you to grow, but once you master the basics, next-level growth requires mastery of advanced techniques. While some advanced techniques are buried deep within training courses or books, discovering other advanced techniques requires exploring unchartered territory.
Creating multiple Twitter accounts and using them to grow your brand isn’t exactly an unchartered practice. Mashable and The Huffington Post do it well. However, few experts talk about creating multiple Twitter accounts and using those accounts to promote your brand. There was only one way for me to discover whether creating multiple Twitter accounts would have a positive impact on my brand. Actually getting started.
How I Have Applied This Lesson Elsewhere
I can’t possibly discuss all of the experiments I have conducted for my brand for the pure reason that I can’t remember them all. I must have conducted hundreds of different experiments to determine what leads to more blog traffic, how one goes about getting more Twitter followers and engagement, how the length of a YouTube video affects engagement, and other experiments.
I always experimented with my brand before creating my other Twitter accounts, but now that I have more time available to promote my blog, I am doing more experimenting. I have been experimenting with guest posts and more podcast interview requests with great success. I look forward to see where all of my experimentations take me in part because I know that all of my experimentations will lead me to other experimentations. The experimenting never stops.
In Conclusion
Creating multiple Twitter accounts is a highly advanced technique that you should only attempt once you have mastered the platform. After a rough go the first time, I was excited but anxious to try it again. Part of the anxiety was telling everyone that one of my new accounts would get 10,000 Twitter followers by the end of the year (it’s making steady progress), but the biggest reason I felt anxious was because it was new.
We like to keep things the way they are, but where’s the fun in stagnancy? I decided to give it a try, and if I had to do it again, I wouldn’t turn back.
What are your thoughts about creating multiple Twitter accounts? Are you at that stage yet or do you believe you need more time? Which lesson was your favorite? What lessons have you learned throughout your journey? Please share your thoughts and advice below.
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