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I will assume that because you are reading this, you see there may be value in Twitter (congratulations)
Who is using Twitter?
There are executives, blue collar workers, celebrities, teachers, moms, dads, subject matter experts, and just about every other type of person / demographic using Twitter.
Why is Twitter important?
Because it answers a critical question… “What are you thinking about Right Now!”
When people answer this question, they are giving insights to services and people they may need. I like to think of this as a very proactive way to find new clients or support existing ones.
Let’s talk about an example
Someone updates their Twitter account with the following update:
“Dang, just got in a wreck”
I now know this person may need the following services very soon:
- Mechanic
- Car dealer
- Auto painter
- Lawyer
- Insurance help
- Rental car
Think about your business? What typically lends to needing your products or services? What may they update their status with that could tip you off?
How do I contact them?
That is the tricky part. If you rush out and say something to the extent of “hey buy my services” you could turn them off. The best approach is to have a page on your site that offers assistance – imagine if you sent the above person a link to your site that had a list of helpful resources (perhaps several mechanics, dealers and other people you recommend they use for any of their needs) … who do you think that person will use for the service that you sell? There are, of course, many ways to contact them but that is one method.
How do I find people on Twitter?
One easy way is to visit: http://search.twitter.com/advanced
From there you can find some people talking about the topic. Try doing a search for “got in a wreck” and see if you could identify anyone that may need those services. Twitter even allows you to specify a location.
What else can you talk about?
We generally follow the 80/20 rule. About 80% of the time we share information that our customer base will find helpful or entertaining. Then about 20% of the time we use it to promote our client. This way we are contributing more helpful information than requests for business.
What else can you do with Twitter?
- Follow your competitors and learn from them
- Follow your customers and listen for opportunities to help them
- Build more back links to your site, helps with SEO
- Meet new people
- Learn more about your industry by following experts
Many of the methods I mentioned here for searching and finding followers are very manual, there are some tools that can help you organize and find people as well. I recommend checking out TweetDeck for managing your account. Perform a Google search for some tools to help you find people.
Look I know we are busy and there are certainly fears about what to post and when to do it but this is simply to big to pass up. So let me give you some support and say that you can do this (or hire someone to do it for you, I know a good company if you’re interested) and you need to do this. I, personally, have gained business accounts, new friends, and learned more about my industry through Twitter. Get started today.
Parting tip
If you haven’t already selected a Twitter name, when doing so try to make it short and incorporate your business name and your name in it. Typically strictly a business name does not get as many followers. For example, my account is atomicjackie. Follow me on Twitter here: http://twitter.com/atomicjackie
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