It seems like every business owner involved with any type of online marketing is on twitter now. Twitter is one of the biggest marketing crazes of 2009. People involved with twitter and other social media sites feel that they are here to stay for a long time. Social media isn’t just some fad that will end next year.
Twitter is a platform where you can connect with hundreds and thousands of people. You tweet back and forth to each other, or just tweet special tidbits to people as you come up with them. You only get 140 characters to tweet, which isn’t much, but it helps to keep your tweets focused and to the point.
Twitter is so successful because it is simple and easy to use. Anyone can use it for any purpose. It’s free and there are many different tools to help you search and find people and topics of interest. Small business owners are finding it to be a great way to draw traffic to their website and find new prospects for their business.
I hear people commenting that they haven’t jumped on the twitter playground yet because they don’t really understand what it is all about.
Twitter is Marketing!! In each and every way, it is all about marketing. Marketing yourself, your business, your brand, who you are, etc.
Think of twitter like going to the playground with your children.
You meet someone new and you introduce yourself. You talk about your kids, your job, what you will be doing later that afternoon. You might swap phone numbers and vow to catch up later for a playdate to get to know each other better.
You see someone there that you know. You strike up a conversation. You offer tidbits of knowledge or gossip. You share war stories about the actions of your children. You share advice on shared struggles and challenges.
This is what twitter is all about, except that twitter is all about you and setting up future connections and prospects (or playdates, if you will).
To help you get the most out of twitter, I have searched the internet for some really good websites and blogs to help you get started tweeting. These websites are full of tips. I recommend you peruse through them. Write down the ones that resonate with you that you want to follow up with.
http://www.bloghighlight.com/50-greatest-twitter-tips-twitter-secrets – simple list to get started with
http://communicatevalue.com/articles/joined-twitter – a simple getting started article
http://twittinsecrets.com – 100 Twitter Secrets. A very comprehensive list of some excellent strategies and tips.
http://www.twellow.com – a great place to search for people to help build up your twitter following (your twitter community)
Now that you have all these secrets, make sure to keep track of the ones you want to try. Start with just a few tips to get started and add new strategies slowly. It’s just like when your child first learned how to swing. She pumped real slow at first, but as she started to gain confidence, she started to pump harder and harder until she was at full swing. You know you’ve got it right when you’re having fun and you just can’t stop. Remember that feeling?
P.S. If you want even more tips and resources about twitter, you can hear about them from Christine Gallagher, in the first issue of this program. http://profitwithpassion.cereuswomen.com
