So you’ve amassed a small army of followers on Twitter. Congratulations! I know this can sometimes be hard work, but with consistent effort you now see how it can pay off.

And now you’re following a bunch of people. Your Twitter feed is starting to look like the mall at holiday time, packed with information going in all kinds of directions and you aren’t even sure when to be looking for.

Twitter lists can change all that.

Today I want to teach you how to use Twitter to your advantage in creating and maintaining relationships, becoming visible to influencers, and for finding research that is like gold.

All by creating lists!

THE SOONER YOU DO THIS THE EASIER IT IS. Sorry for shouting, but you’ll thank me!

Creating Twitter Lists

Create a list by logging into your Twitter account, head to your profile page and click lists. Then click create list. From there you will name your list, write a short description so you know exactly what this list is about, and be careful to mark it appropriately private or public. Be sure to click save when you are done!

Why private or public?  Well think if you start to see followers or Twitter influences who you would love to target as clients. They tweet in your circles, maybe on the fringes, but you know it would be a great match. One of the lists I advocate everyone to have is a Potential Clients list. But let’s be honest do you really want someone to see you’ve added them to the list “Potential Clients”?  Probably not.

So pick private or public setting carefully and thoughtfully. Mine are all private.

Public lists can be:

• handy information and resources for your followers to have
• showcases for the clients that already work with you as a portfolio of sorts
• a nice way to shout out to local businesses that you support – online and off

Here is a handy list 🙂 of some possible lists for you:

• media outlets
• current clients
• potential clients
• your town/local area businesses
• influencers
• friends and family
•  your networking group

Now that you have some list ideas let’s add some people!

First follow the steps above to create each list.  Next start adding people. To do that click the gear icon on their profile, select add or remove from lists.  The great thing about lists you don’t need to be following a user to add them to your list!  A pop-up will appear displaying your lists you created in step one. Put a check mark next to the list (or lists) you would like to add this person to (or uncheck to remove them).

So do you know if YOU are on anyone else’s list?  To check just head to your lists page (under the gear icon) and click member of and find out!

[Tweet “7 Twitter lists to create and how to use them to your advantage.”]

Using Twitter Lists To Your Advantage

The final step is using these lists to your advantage.  Once you have a nice list started it’s time to use the insights you can gain.

For your list of Media Outlets: Is there a trending piece of media that one or more of these outlets is posting about? Time to hop on that bandwagon! Share their story, use their hashtag, favorite it and comment. Be timely and present and watch as other people start watching YOU.

For your list of Current Clients: Talk about who you have done business with! Share their stories and their tweets as well. Showcase your portfolio by tweeting about your list to the right influential (read prospective client) person. Keep your clients loyal and even happier as you share their news. Can you tweet about a before and after? Use this list as a testimonial tree and harvest from it when you can.

For your list of Potential Clients: We discussed why this should be private so keep a low profile here. But slowly watch and learn about what these prospects need the most, listen to what their pain points are, figure out how you can help them the best and when you finally DO reach out to them, it will be a slam dunk of success because they will realize you have their best interests at heart and best solutions ready.

For your list of Your Town/Local Area: Is there a possible partnership amongst this group? Could you team up with a local biz you love to frequent to offer a workshop at their venue? Start by talking about them in your own feed, re-tweeting and sharing their news, and voila! Might just be the ticket to free frozen yogurt for the rest of your life! (And who wouldn’t want that?)

For your list of Influencers: Ok these are your “big ticket” folks. The ones you want to get in front of so you can get in front of Their people, that massive list of Their people. These influencers are the ones who just by association will make your name stand out and your expert status cemented in place. This list is important so dream big! What do you do with this pot of gold of a list? You engage them. You re-tweet, you favorite, you mention, you comment, you share. Just get in front of them over and over again in a way that shows your respect and authentic interest in what they do and who they are, and then sit back and wait for the magic to happen!

For your list of Friends and Family: Don’t forget these people whatever you do! These are the people who had your back when you first started with followers numbering in the single digits. This is the list that will ALWAYS respond to your tweets with a favorite, re-tweet and a share. This is the list to just stay present and enjoy the people you care about and who care about YOU.

Finally for your list of Your Networking Group: This list is direct access to people who understand what you are doing, why you are doing it, and want to help. They deserve it in return so keep track of those you can share and favorite as well as times you can ask for help. With this group you share a common vision, value, and sometimes common situation in business so you are sure to get good feedback, helpful shares, and most of all honest answers to your questions when you need!

Now what?  Now, when you log into Twitter, you can head straight to your lists.  When you do that, you’ll see only the posts shared by the people in that list.  It makes it really easy to share and engage with their content, which is why you’re using Twitter in the first place, right?

So you have some work to do! Not sure where to start or which list to build first? Connect with me here in my LinkedIn group where we talk about just this very thing!

Looking forward to “seeing” you online!