Any marketer who is at least half-way decent knows that a "Double Opt-In" prospect is infinitely more valuable than a "Single Opt-In" prospect. On twitter this is no different.  This post describes how and why to turn every single follower you/your brand/your business generates from here on out into a "Double Opt-In" prospect.

If you are unfamiliar with the concept of "Opt-In" Prospects:

• A "Single Opt-In" prospect is someone who essentially seeks out you/your brand/your product (through various possible methods i.e.- Survey, Phone Call, or signing up for information on a website).  They are essentially saying "I'm interested in your product" through one set of actions.

• A "Double Opt-In" prospect is someone who is required to take additional steps beyond the first "Opt-In" to engage with you.  For example, many websites that offer users custom logins often require the user to click on a "verification" email.

The reason for this is simple.  If you have a group of people who had to take action twice, odds that they really, REALLY, are interested in your product.  One "Opt-In" could be out of curiosity (or even a mistake!) but prospects who 'confirm' their desire to engage with youa second time are no accident, and are infinitely more valuable than any other form of prospect.

So what is the best way to generate "Double Opt-In" prospects with your followers on twitter?  The short answer is to actually give a damn about the people who follow you. 

Where most marketers fail on twitter:

Too many marketers settle for the "Single Opt-In" prospect.  See below,  these are real Direct Messages I received immediately after following people on twitter, with zero direct communication before hand:

You do not build a quality group of twitter followers by tweeting crap like 3 out of the 4 of these first Direct Messages did, you do it by listening.

Still not convinced?  Think of if it as if it were a phone call.  If I gave you my number would you call me up, right away, with a recorded message about shit you are trying to sell?  Are you kidding me!?!?  If you are using an auto responder you are not an entrepreneur, you are not an effective marketer, you are a spammer.

So what does a "Double Opt-In" look like on twitter?

Creating a "Double Opt-In" prospect on twitter is not too difficult.  It does require a bit more work, but the result is your followers (read: database/prospect list) actually have value.  There are literally thousands of twitter profiles that will simply, unquestioningly, and blindly follow you just to increase their own ranking, but if you think for one second that this increases your value and is not a waste of your time to purse you are just spinning your wheels.

So when it comes to twitter:

• The first "Opt-In" occurs when  the user "follows" you. 

• The second "Opt-In" comes from engaging in actual conversation, and sharing about what you do without posting links (unless they ask for them), and caring about who is following you. 

This way, the people who seek you out actually care about your product.  In addition, you actually build potentially meaningful relationships with some incredible people.  Follow this simple process and you will turn every single follower you/your brand/your business generates from here on out into a "Double Opt-In" prospect.

What do you think?  Are you a spammer?  Do you agree with this post? Do you have a more effective way to engage prospects on twitter?  We want to hear about it.  Leave a comment in the section below and lets start a discussion.

t(h)ink on.