It was with anticipation I awoke at 6:30am on 17th March 2011, today was to be the day. My number of followers on Twitter had reached 999 and today I was going to hit the dizzy heights of 1000 followers.

But do the numbers really matter?

In his book Crush It, Gary Vaynerchuck laments how the number of people following you on Twitter or Fans you have on Facebook are inconsequential compared with the way in which you connect with them. It’s a hard habit to get away from though as we are brought up to think bigger is better and even Gary got caught up in it on Facebook when he was chasing his book up the Amazon sales charts.

So, even when we know we are not supposed to, and know it really doesn’t matter, the numbers call to us like Homer’s Sirens of the Sea.

Enjoy the numbers for sure but be certain to:

1. Connect for the right reasons.
2. Take part in the conversation.
3. Help others get where they want to go.
4. Take part regularly.
5. Add value with your perspective.
6. Say thank you, often.

Following these six steps will ensure the numbers look after themselves. You will grow a strong community around you whatever the size which will payback many times over.

Have I reached a thousand yet?;)