Written by Phyllis Zimbler Miller, Twitter Marketing Expert

Finding people to follow on Twitter can be undertaken in numerous ways.  When you first join Twitter you are prompted with “See if your friends are on Twitter”.  And you can check Gmail, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail, and MSN email accounts.

I would suggest you skip this step when you first join because you don’t yet have anything in your profile.  You really don’t want people to look at your profile while it’s still empty.  If you want to use this feature, plan to do it after you’ve gotten your profile optimized.

How to Find People on Twitter by Using the “Find People” Tab

Twitter provides you with four ways to find people to follow through this tab:

1. “Find on Twitter” option allows you to search by username or by first and last name.
2. “Find on other networks” is the same email address option you were offered when you first joined.
3. “Invite by email” allows you to send invites to people not yet on Twitter.
4. “Suggested users” recommends people for you to follow.

How to Find People on Twitter by Using the Search Field

This option is on the sidebar of your Twitter home page and is a search function in which you can type keywords.  If you type in bookmarketing, for example, you will get the most recent tweets mentioning bookmarketing.

You can also use http://search.twitter.com for the same type of search, and there’s an advanced search option.

How to Find People on Twitter by Using Third-Party Applications

There are several third-party applications that allow you to find people to follow.  Here are a few:

• http://tweetbeep.com – functions like Google alerts.  You put in keywords you want tracked and you are alerted when tweets mention these keywords.  You then click on who sent the tweets and decide if you want to follow that person.  (This is my favorite.)

Here are three applications described by Steve Weber in his new book Twitter Marketing:  Promote Yourself and Your Business on Earth’s Hottest Social Network:

• Directory of book trade people compiled by @JenniferTribe – http://www.highspotinc.com/blog/2008/12/a-directory-of-book-trade-people-on-twitter/
  
• Top business executives on Twitter – http://exectweets.com.
• http://wefollow.com – directory organized by interests.

There’s also the directory of book authors on Twitter compiled by @Jennifer Tribe – http://www.highspotinc.com/blog/2009/02/a-directory-of-authors-on-twitter/

Other Ways to Find People to Follow on Twitter

Another good way is to take part in tweetchats (tweetchat.com) on subjects that interest you.  As you take part in the chat, you’ll find people also participating who you want to follow.  (Tweetchats take place in real time – sort of like a giant cocktail conversation with everyone speaking to everyone at once.)

Then there’s the method of following the people who are being followed by the people you’re interested in.  In other words, when you follow someone who interests you, go to that person’s profile page and see who that person is following.  Click on those people and see if you want to follow them.

Or if someone you are following retweets something of interest from someone you are not following, click through to that person’s profile and decide if you want to follow him/her.

In conclusion, figuring out who you want to follow on Twitter is somewhat like a treasure hunt.  You are always keeping your eye out for the gold of people who you want to follow because their interests mesh with yours.

The beauty of Twitter – when you find people you want to follow, you do not have to ask permission to connect, as you do on LinkedIn, or permission to be friends, as you do on Facebook.  You just click follow.  (And if you change your mind later, you can simply choose unfollow.)

© 2009 Miller Mosaic, LLC