Twitter is about building relationships, if you go back to the 50′s and 60′s it was all about relationships. Twitter has brought back this avenue of business building, but it doesn’t happen overnight.
When you look at the phrase “Social Media” most people look at the second word “Media” to build their opinion and this is backwards. Small businesses look at the media aspect and believe this what should be evaluated in hope to leverage it for sales. The problem is Twitter is social – not media. Social = building lasting relationships. In business lasting relationships = long term repeat customers and referrals.
Use these 7 tips to get your business started on Twitter:
- Be sure to create a complete twitter profile. Take your time with your Twitter profile, be sure to add a picture, your name, information about you and your company. You have to remember that people want to know things about the people they are following.
- Follow others. A good place to start is to look for others in your local area who share the same interests as you do, as you follow people, many will follow you back.
- Keep your ears open and Listen. look at what others are saying, a piece of advice would be to look what others are saying and how they are using Twitter.
- Don’t sit on the sidelines – JUMP IN! Don’t discouraged or intimidated when you start using Twitter, there is a reason some of the biggest corporations are using Twitter as the foundation of their social media strategy. The key is to get involved, engage and tweet it up.
- It isn’t a monologue. This isn’t a commerical, it’s a conversation.
- Don’t be one dimensional. Basically, you are a person – don’t always speak as your business. People don’t get emotionally attached to your business, but the person that makes the business go.
- Don’t sell to hard. Focus on engaging, be natural with your product or service
Think of Twitter as a cocktail party, build conversations and relationships and the business will come.