This post is going to show you how to become a Twitter super snooper. If you disagree with these practices, please look away now.

But for the rest of you, pull your chair closer and listen up…

If you want to spy on other Twitter users to help build a network of business contacts, let us introduce you to a powerful service over at www.TweetStats.com

Step 1

Head over to www.TweetStats.com and enter your Twitter username. This will present you with a range of graphs allowing you to see how you use Twitter, including when you post, how you post, who you post to etc etc. And clicking the “Tweet Cloud” tab at the top of the page allows you to see which words and subjects appear most often in your tweets.

That’s pretty cool, but I expect you already know most of that stuff.

However, I reckon the most perceptive among you know what’s coming next…

Step 2

Now you know how the tool works, you can use it to check the stats for any Twitter user (insert evil laugh here).

Look up your friends, family, colleagues, competitors, industry leaders, ex-spouse. Find out who they speak to, what they speak about and when. Use this info to build up a complete profile of anyone who uses Twitter.

Step 3

Once you’ve got over the novelty of being able to snoop on your friends, consider how you could use this to strengthen your Twitter network. Here are a few examples;

Number One: Timing

Let’s say you want to use Twitter to catch the attention of a leading figure in your industry. Top Twitter users receive hundreds or even thousands of tweets, @replies and DMs every day. So even if you send them a message, they may not notice it or have time to reply.

However, a quick look at Tweetstats will show you which day they’re most active on Twitter and which part of the day they post most messages. Using this info will allow you to send your message on the exact day, at the exact time calculated to increase the chances of them seeing it.

Number Two: Language

Use the Tweet Cloud function to look at the words they prefer to use and incorporate some of them into your message. This will subconsciously make them more receptive to your message as they will feel that you are on the same wavelength.

Number Three: Infiltration

If you want to get in contact with a leading figure in your niche, you can use Tweetstats to muscle into their own mini community and attract their attention.

First, find out who they send most @ replies to. This will give you a clue regarding the most trusted people in their Twitter community. Select 5-6 of these people, visit their profiles and find something to start an interaction with them. In many situations this will be easy as they will belong to the same industry.

Do whatever you can to converse back and forth in public (using @ replies) with this small group of people. When you eventually send a message to the person that you initially wanted to contact, they will be more likely to notice it because they will  have noticed your username (either consciously or subconsciously) several times before in timeline of his/her Twitter friends. Think of it as gaining trust/recognition by association.

Get creative, work out how to use this Twitter spy tool to your advantage. Occasionally you’ll gain an insight into the Twitter lives of other people that will help you to build lasting business relationships.

Would you be comfortable using these techniques, or do you think that social media spying has gone too far? Let us know what you think. Likewise, if you think of any additional ways to use Tweetstats we’d love to hear from you.