There are times in your life when you need that extra push, because the road is long and you need to know that you can do it. Twitter in a weird way was a push for me. It gave me inspiration; because it told me what is and is not possible is a matter of perspective.

Say what Andy? I had someone give me an inadvertent push to build my twitter following. I was already using the service when in August, 2009 I crossed 1,000 followers. I had not monetized twitter at all back then, and was not sure whether this would be something worthy of my attention marketing-wise. I did know that there were people out there who I knew that had tens of thousands of followers and I felt that because those people were doing it so could I.

Well, here was the spark! I told a friend about the fact that I just crossed 1,000 followers and he looked at me and said, “Andy that is easy! The challenge is getting past 2,000 followers.” Maybe it was not what he said as much as how he said it. I know having followers is not the only point of twitter. At the same time I know that those with the greatest follower totals were reaping the greatest rewards, because they speak from a position of authority and respect.

This friend, whether intentional or not, disrespected me by the tone of his voice and said that is all you did. The words started to burn inside me, and I knew for no other reason than it would not be acceptable otherwise, I added followers. In less than one month I had more followers than this person, but it was not enough. For me, when someone challenges my worth by what I do, it strikes me to the core and I have to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that I up to their challenge. So I kept going and in the process I have met people on twitter that have changed my life. Thanks for the spark!