The question, “What is a follower worth?” is an interesting academic debate, and has been well covered across the country by marketers trying to be smarter about social media spend and looking to prove the value of their programs. But for most startups, it’s really one step too far. Largely you can build a community of thousands of people engaged in your brand for little to no cost.

Whether you’re already embracing it or just thinking about if you should, here’s some tips from some great local minds to get you started or keep you moving.

1. Links: Put links to your company’s Twitter profile anywhere the business lives online-this could be anywhere from the company blog and website, to the email signatures of employees (employees can include the company Twitter handle as well as their own personal handle). – Katie Cinnamond, Senior Account Executive @LaunchSquad.
2. Add value: Resist the urge to over promote and be sure to create content with real social value that adds to the customer experience. – Stephanie Shore, Vice President @Zipcar.
3. Leverage other channels: Whether it’s Facebook, your own homepage, blast emails and newsletters, or even your email signature, take advantage of the community that’s already engaged with your organization elsewhere to increase your Twitter followers. – Joanna Aven, Assistant Director, Public and Media Relations, Bentley University @bentleyu.
4. Engage: Very few people will bother following anyone on Twitter who just broadcasts messages out.  Unless you’re a mega-celeb like Oprah, you’re better off engaging with the people following you.  We’ve begun asking open ended questions of our followers to encourage more engagement and their responses can be even more valuable than a retweet.  It’s also an opportunity to associate yourself with the topic area more by association. Kevin Micalizzi, Community Manager of Dimdim @dimdim and @kevinmic.
5. Know Your Niche and Speak Up (or Watch and Learn): Once you have a base following, listen to and learn from your community’s movement and interaction. Who are the leaders? What kinds of content are they sharing? And, most importantly, what influencers are following them?  Armed with this information, you can grab the attention of your larger audience through @mentions and RT’s, while deepening your relationship with existing followers  – both have a enormous impact on how many people become aware of your profile. Kimberly Karelis, Senior Account Executive, Text 100 @text100.
6. Get RT: Craft as much value in those 140 characters as you can. If you can describe what you’re posting, express an opinion, have an eloquent viewpoint, you’re likely to get RT’d. Roy Rodenstein Co-founder, Going / Director of Business Planning, AOL @royrod.
7. It’s like golf: “They say when you stand over a golf ball looking to hit a 350 yard drive, the last thing you should actually be thinking about is hitting the ball.  Similar thinking applies to building Twitter traffic – don’t actually think about “getting” traffic. Companies are much better served focusing their energy on how they can “give” relevant information and add value to their followers vs. focusing on building Twitter numbers. Yes, you may want to increase followers, but don’t let that translate into a mindset that drives your actions around “getting” from the Twitter community.  That is not how companies become successful on Twitter. You become successful on Twitter by giving as much as possible. So, take that nice easy swing, give to your community, and you’ll ultimately increase your Twitter followers and not end up standing alone in the deep rough.” Paul Capelli, Vice President of Communicaitons, Staples @staplestweets.

What would you add to the list? Let us know in the comments below.