Back in March, I asked: Are You Automating Too Much Of Your Blog? Unfortunately, I’ve seen a lot of this recently. The main culprits are:
- Tweet Old Post.
- MyLikes Network.
- Running multiple syndication plugins.
What can you do to keep these tools at bay?
Tweet Old Post
This plugin is good, but should be used with care. I’ve seen a lot of people turning it on and letting it do its stuff. The benefit of Tweet Old Post is that it can get people looking at your older posts, not just the newest ones.
Where it falls down is when you don’t configure it properly – or you set it up in a way that annoys people. If posts go out too often, or time-sensitive posts keep going out well past their usefulness date, or you automatically prefix your tweets with “Pls RT” regardless of what they are – you may do more harm than good.
I suggest moving irrelevant posts into a category and excluding that category from Tweet Old Post; alternatively, if you have posts that simply aren’t worth reading anymore, just delete the posts.
MyLikes Network
A few of my Twitter friends have started using this as a way to earn from sponsored tweets. I haven’t used the service, so can’t comment on whether it’s any good.
However, I do think that Twitter users are a lot less worth following if 90-95% of their posts are ads. This isn’t the fault of the ad network – it’s down to users to actually post things on Twitter.
I can see how a popular account with plenty of non-sponsored tweets could be a great place for the occasional ad. But it simply doesn’t work when the person hardly posts at all.
Then again, how many people will notice if every post from a specific user is sponsored? Maybe if they only follow a small number of people, or the user posts loads of ads in one go, or the follower has a good memory. Even then, how many people will unfollow?
However, if your profile is obviously nothing but ads, not many people will follow in the first place. So bear that in mind.
Running multiple syndication plugins
It’s great to have your posts posted to Twitter as soon as they hit your blog. But be careful: it’s possible to use more than one plugin that will do this, and you may end up flooding your followers.
I’ve seen 3 or 4 posts go out in quick succession, promoting a blogger’s new post. I try to let people know when this happens.
Prevention is better than cure, though. It’s not a bad idea to set up auto-posting if you remember that you’ve done it, if you can configure it properly, and if you know how to switch it off. Otherwise, when the “next big thing” comes onto the horizon, you’ll start doubling up on your promotion.
Even with just one plugin, is every post worth sharing? Why not tweet your best posts manually, and avoid sharing every link as a matter of course?
Over to You
What do you think? Do you have any plugins on autopilot? How do you promote your blog on Twitter?
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I’ve tried to avoid duplication, and tried to pick the methods that work best (and look best) to me. When I publish a blog post, it automatically posts to Twitter using the Feedburner socialize function. On Facebook, I use Networked Blogs, which picks up the new post on its own. For older posts, on the rare occasion I tweet or post on FB about them, it’s a manual process because I want it to be relevant.
Hi Kirsten – thanks for the comment.
I also use Networked Blogs on Facebook. I tweet most of my posts manually, shortly after I publish them. I also +1 my posts (again manually) if I think they’re worth sharing.
Some automated tweets can be annoying.
Tweet Old Post: I clicked a link recently about Entrecard being sold. It turned out to be a post from 2009 about Ziprunner. Also I didn’t read your list of top commenters in September 2009, why would I want to read it now? I’ve unfollowed a couple of people for constantly flooding my timeline with old posts.
MyLikes (also Magpie, Sponsored Tweets, etc): I’ve unfollowed 20-30 people for tweeting too many ads. They’re the twitter equivalent of paid posts. Ads shouldn’t be disguised as content. I only tolerate sponsored tweets from a couple of people.
Hi John – thanks for the comment.
I agree – I see plenty of retweeted posts that are no longer relevant. Maybe we should link a few people to this post? Would it make any difference?