Are You Using Twitter for Business?
| Posted in Social Networking, Twitter | Posted on 11-02-2011
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Now there’s a simple question. Are you? Because, if you are not using Twitter for business, you really should consider it.
Think about it…
There are 200 million people on Twitter. It’s the #10 most visited website in the world. If you are not using Twitter to build your network marketing business you are really missing out on a great marketing tool that could help you get more leads.
Remember, the more fishing poles you have in the water the more fish you will catch.
Just in case of the very unlikely event that you don’t know what I am talking about. Twitter is a free micro-blogging platform that lets you quickly share information in 140 characters or less.
While you can tweet (share information) about your company or products I would recommend that you build a relationship with people first and then keep promoting your products or services to a minimum. Because, Twitter is first and foremost a social media tool just like Facebook.
But first things first – Setting up your Twitter profile
If you are using Twitter for business, your profile should look very professional. It’s best to use your real name if it is available or a variation of it when you set up your profile. Write a short bio about yourself, make it fun and personal, so people can learn a bit more about you and include a link to your website. (Tip: Twitter displays only 17 characters of your website. The rest is not visible to your visitors. So in order to show as much of your website address as possible omit the “www.” Example: http://yourwebsite.com)
What should I tweet about?
Always share value first. A good example would be inspiring quotes. Send these in the morning. People like to start their day on an uplifting and positive note. By the way, quotes get high re-tweets too. You can also share links to great websites, marketing tools or techniques that have worked for you or your own blog posts.
Share engaging tweets. Questions work very well to engage your followers. Ask for book recommendations or the latest movie reviews. If you need help with your business ask questions about that. Start a discussion about something. Make it interesting and fun.
Remember that only 10% – 15% of your audience will be online at any given time. For example if you tweeted your blog post in the morning, send it again in the afternoon as many of your followers may have missed it. Choosing different headlines may get you more click throughs.
Stand out from the crowd by re-tweeting other people’s content. This is not only a nice gesture but also helps in building relationships with other networkers. Remember the 140 characters limit. So to make it easier for other people to re-tweet your content, keep your message under 120 characters. That way people can include your name as the original author.
Apropos name … putting the@ symbol in front of a name alerts that person that you are directly talking to him or her.
Whom should I follow on Twitter?
Follow people in your niche, your company, and/or leaders that you look up to and want to learn from. If you follow people with larger followings your follower count will jump up as well if they re-tweet your content. Think quality before quantity though. It’s better to follow and be followed by 500 quality people than 5000 who have absolutely nothing to do with your niche or industry. A great tool to find people in your niche, even locally in your neighborhood is Twellow.com
Some of the benefits of using Twitter for business.
Keep up with the latest news in your niche. Monitor what is being said about your company, products or people you know. Meet like-minded people and share ideas and build a relationship of know, like and trust.
You can also link up your Twitter account with Facebook, LinkedIn and Plaxo just to name a few for updates and additional exposure.
Do you see the advantages of using Twitter for business?
If you have not been using Twitter for business so far I highly recommend incorporating it in your marketing strategies because you can generate and endless flood of quality prospects for your business for free.
To Your Success,
Ilka Flood
The Enlightened Networker
P.S. If you are using Twitter as one of your marketing tools please share your experience with us in the comments below. This is a Do-Follow blog so you will get some link juice back.
P.P.S. If you found value in this post, please share it with your friends on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thank You!
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Hey Ilka,
a very good article about Twitter for business!
I think it is an absolute must have for any business online.
Let´s tweet
Volker
[Reply]
Ilka Flood Reply:
February 11th, 2011 at 12:56 pm
Hey Volker,
I totally agree, it’s an absolute must. If you leave out Twitter you are leaving a big piece of your marketing pie for someone else to eat. The competition isn’t sleeping.
Thanks for stopping by and “happy tweeting!”
Ilka
[Reply]
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Volker Schaefer, Volker Schaefer, Volker Schaefer, fury, Ilka Flood and others. Ilka Flood said: Are You Using Twitter for Business? http://enlightenednetworker.com/1783/twitter-business/ [...]
Hey Ilka, Twitter is a MUST have for business! Okay, granted it may depend on the industry or niche but I think any business can find great use with Twitter.
Since I’ve started using Twitter more heavily, I’ve done more engagement, met so many new wonderful people, and have been able to share my content to others more easily and quickly – which ultimately results in more business right?! Of course!
Thanks for the link to the Twitter training. I know some folks who could use it
See ya in tweetland!
Kesha
Kesha Brown invites you to read..Online Reputation Management- Part III – Must See Monitoring Tools
[Reply]
Ilka Flood Reply:
February 11th, 2011 at 2:13 pm
Hi Kesha,
Absolutely! Twitter is a HUGE part of marketing your business online.
I have to admit, at first I got lost in all the chatter, missing tweets, replies and updates, etc. But once I got the hang of it (and with the help of HootSuite) I started having a lot of fun.
And you’re right, you get to meet some really cool people,…like yourself
Sweet tweets!
Ilka
[Reply]
Twitter: luckyoliver70
said on 11-02-2011
Hi Ilka,
great article. I agree that we should consider value first. I can confirm that inspirational quotes get quite a few quotes while I wouldn’t post the same blog post within a short period of time, that means less than 36 hours.
Thanks for sharing your insights.
Take care
Oliver
Oliver Tausend invites you to read..Oliver Tausend’s Blog Goes Mobile
[Reply]
Ilka Flood Reply:
February 11th, 2011 at 4:50 pm
Hi Oliver,
Vielen Dank! Thank you!
Absolutely! I remember re-tweeting some of your great quotes before. Quotes always brighten my day so I assume it will do the same for other people.
Have a great weekend!
Ilka
[Reply]
Hi! I have been using twitter as a recruiting tool and I love it. Twellow.com is a wonderful tool as well! I increased my usuage signficantly when I started using hootsuite. It is so much more managable and I don’t have to worry about missing anything or wasting time clicking around. I go around advocating twitter to those who don’t all the time. All I need now is to start a blog…
[Reply]
Ilka Flood Reply:
February 11th, 2011 at 5:10 pm
Hi Caitlin,
I agree, it’s a great recruiting tool. The gentleman featured on the webinar (I shared the link above) recruited a 1 million dollar earner from Twitter. I should be so lucky, (big smile.) Of course it’s all about the relationships you build with your prospects.
Thanks for stopping by! It’s great to meet you and make sure you come back when you have your blog up.
All the best,
Ilka
[Reply]
Twitter: marcus_baker
said on 12-02-2011
Hi Ilka,
I love your Twitter tips, thank you.
I think one of the biggest mistakes I made at first and I see many others make is that of not targeting followers very narrowly by niche and even micro niche.
Twitter is a powerful tool when you can reach your target audience effectively and not just blindly hope your tweets are reaching some interested parties in amongst the masses.
Have an awesome weekend.
~Marcus
Marcus Baker invites you to read..How do Others See Your Blog
[Reply]
Ilka Flood Reply:
February 12th, 2011 at 10:56 am
Hi Marcus,
Very good point! I made the same mistake in the beginning. I know better now
Narrowing down followers to your specific target market or niche is much more effective. Then again, isn’t that the same way with any marketing strategy?
Thank you for your great feedback and have an awesome weekend too!
Ilka
[Reply]
Hi Ilka, thank you for the tutorials on using Twitter. When I signed up with it a couple of years ago I was so ignorant. I followed this person and that. Eventually, I gave up. But now you gave me a very legitimate reason to give it another try.
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[Reply]
Ilka Flood Reply:
February 14th, 2011 at 7:54 pm
Hi Anne,
I’m glad I could inspire you to give Twitter another try. Come back and share your experience, okay?
Best to you,
Ilka
[Reply]
Anne Sales Reply:
February 17th, 2011 at 4:03 pm
I’ve made a new twitter account. Will connect wit you when everything is ready.
Anne Sales invites you to read..GotoMeeting Promo Code
[Reply]
Bjorn Lestrud Reply:
February 18th, 2011 at 5:50 pm
Anne, one thing to keep in mind is that Twitter is great, but it is just a tool. In order to be successful you need to be very disciplined with your approach. Good luck to you!
Twitter: MavisNong
said on 13-02-2011
Hi Ilka,
This a great post on how to use Twitter for your business. I agree, quotes are very popular on Twitter.
You’re right about retweeting other people’s content as well, otherwise you’d be seen as self-serving and be ignored
Vielen Dank, Ilka!
Mavis
Mavis Nong invites you to read..Is Your Blog Repelling or Attracting Visitors It’s Time For Reality Check…
[Reply]
Ilka Flood Reply:
February 14th, 2011 at 1:02 pm
Hi Mavis,
Thanks for your great comment! And yes, definitely, re-tweeting not only makes things vital but also shows that you care for others success as well and not just your own.
Thanks for the “German touch,” I loved it! ♥
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Ilka
[Reply]
Definitely getting into the Twitter side of business. I’ve been thinking about automating the whole process. Is HootSuite the best there is?
Thanks for Twellow.com, too. I didn’t know about that site!
Delena
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[Reply]
Ilka Flood Reply:
February 14th, 2011 at 12:58 pm
Hi Delena,
I have used Tweetdeck in the past and although I liked it basically HootSuite does the same thing with the big difference that it is web based and accessible from anywhere and on any computer and I don’t have to download any software.
Hope this helps you.
Have a great week!
Ilka
[Reply]
Twitter: growwithstacy
said on 14-02-2011
Hi Ilka,
Thanks for sharing such a great post on how twitter can be useful! I dabbled with twitter for a long time and I feel like I’m really just starting to get the hang of it recently.
Have a great day!
Stacy
Stacy invites you to read..Feeling Lonely On Facebook
[Reply]
Ilka Flood Reply:
February 14th, 2011 at 7:55 pm
Hi Stacy,
Yes, it takes a while to get on the right track with Twitter. I certainly made my share of mistakes as well. But I’ve found it to be a great tool to connect with people so I wouldn’t want to miss it anymore.
Be blessed,
Ilka
[Reply]
Twitter: PakistanHotline
said on 15-02-2011
Hi Ilka,
Twitter is a Must Tool for any Online Business. I have just started use of Twitter as a promotional tool for my blog.
Your statement, the more fishing poles you have in the water the more fish you will catch, is very much inspiring to start Twitter for Business.
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[Reply]
Ilka Flood Reply:
February 15th, 2011 at 10:34 am
Hi Nazim,
Glad I could inspire you to use Twitter for your business. It’s an absolute awesome tool to use to connect with your customers and prospects.
All the best,
Ilka
[Reply]
Thanks for the twitter tutorial!
Very usefull, especially for me who I am new to it. I really have to dig into it and exploit it in the best possible way.
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[Reply]
Ilka Flood Reply:
February 18th, 2011 at 3:11 pm
Hi Steven,
Once you add twitter to your toolbox of marketing strategies you’ll never want to miss it again.
To your success!
Ilka
[Reply]
In my opinion, Twitter is like Facebook. It do good to brand a business but not good as tool to sell. It is because people twitting for information and news — not to buy something.
Dana invites you to read..More Knowing The Cell Phone Connectivity Terms More
[Reply]
Ilka Flood Reply:
February 18th, 2011 at 3:14 pm
Hi Dana,
I happen to agree. It’s first and foremost a social media tool. Great for branding and relationship building.
All the best,
Ilka
[Reply]
Definitely using it Ilka. Especially to promote content I feel is worthy of others needing to hear about (like this one as an example).
The beauty of Twitter is if just one person sees and shares that with their center of influence, you instantly gain some exposure you wouldn’t have otherwise had.
Thanks for sharing this and have a great weekend,
Jerome Ratliff
Jerome Ratliff invites you to read..The “ONLY” Reason Why People Fail at Network Marketing
[Reply]
Ilka Flood Reply:
February 18th, 2011 at 3:19 pm
Hey Jerome,
Nice to see you back here and thank you for your kind words
Absolutely! Good content can go viral on twitter in no time at all. That’s why it’s important to always share good content.
You have an awesome weekend too!
Ilka
[Reply]
Hi Ilka,
These are short, concise and powerful tweeting tips! By bringing value to the table you can become an influential tweeters.
Great note of being a frequent RTer; sharing is caring on twitter too.
Thanks for sharing
RB
Ryan Biddulph invites you to read..Network Marketing – Take Your Gloves Off- Tyson!
[Reply]
Ilka Flood Reply:
February 24th, 2011 at 11:19 am
Hi Ryan,
Glad you liked my tips
And absolutely, retweeting is giving! We have a saying in German “Giving is more blissful than taking.”
Not only are you sharing someone’s great information, but you may be blessing someone that needed it.
Have a great week!
Ilka
[Reply]