Twitter Enlightenment for Business Owners

by Elliott Kosmicki

You’re confused and I know it. The increase in questions I’ve been getting lately from small or home business owners confused about how to tackle the Twitter service is astounding.

I’m sensing that the crossover from Twitter being a “geek-only” tool and then partially spread into the mainstream has started to hit full-throttle into individuals and businesses who have heard of Twitter, but have finally bit the bullet to try and figure out how they should be using it too.

They sign up, post their first Tweet (something like “Figuring out this Twitter thing,” and that’s where they hit the wall.

Some questions that first cross their minds:

- Isn’t this the same as Facebook updates (if they indeed are using Facebook already)?
- Am I supposed to be just Tweeting everything I do all day?
- If so, how is that helpful?
- I’m worried about spamming people asking them to buy stuff from me!
- Who do I follow?
- How in the world do I get people to follow me?
- Wait a minute, why would someone want to follow me?

These are all good questions. Let’s take a look at where Twitter came from and what it is, how some people use it, how you can use it, and why you would even want to use it. We’ll even throw in some etiquette lessons.

My hope is that some part of my opinion about this strikes a chord with you, the light will go on upstairs, and you’ll be able to have a great new tool for online networking.

What Is Twitter?

At the most simple level, Twitter is what people see it as initially – a simple status update service. This was how it was initially used by all members at launch. I was member number two-thousand-something and remember stopping using it almost right away because it seemed like such a waste of time.

On a deeper level, Twitter is a learning tool, a sharing platform, and a networking system beyond any other online tool I’ve used – and I’ve used them all… it’s what I do! I’ve “met” more amazing people on Twitter than on any other web site combined!

So, on the deepest of levels, I would describe Twitter as a customizable personal network. Customizable because you have so much control over people you reach out to and who reaches out to you. The power of immediate interaction with like-minded individuals is life-altering when used and developed correctly.

How You Should Use Twitter

Because we’re addressing small and home businesses here, we’ll focus on great ways you can use Twitter for your business. Here’s an excerpt of one of the many emails I received last week asking about Twitter for business:

“I want to figure out how to use twitter to my favor – business wise. I saw [your article] on the huge amount of choices one had and another list that was even longer. I need someone to walk me through getting it all together before I make a mess.

I asked another site for help and the gal told me NO business stuff on Twitter, but I know that isn’t so. I’m not after spamming for sure.” – Myra

Myra obviously isn’t alone. You want to be able to take advantage of new web tools like Twitter, but don’t know how to start using it, and don’t want to come off as someone who just pukes “buy my stuff” all over the place.

As a business owner, you should be looking at Twitter simply as a networking tool. There ARE ways you can use it for promotion, such as for a live coupon feed, sale-of-the-day, etc. However, you should only be using it this way if you already have a customer base you can direct to it – places like Amazon do this very effectively. You should NEVER use your feed to simply have a running promotion of all your products and services.

Networking on Twitter

So if the small and home business owner should be treating Twitter as a networking tool – how do you go about that? The quick and fast answer is A) by helping people and B) by having patience.

Your Purpose

First of all, you need a purpose. This purpose should relate to a skill or knowledge that you have that other people can benefit from. For instance, if you’re a Realtor, you could present yourself as someone who can answer home-buying questions. If you’re an accountant, you could offer simple tax advice. Cole REIT uses its feed to keep their audiences current on issues affecting Non-Traded REITs. What do your customers care about?

By creating your purpose, you can then enter your 160-character self-description in a way that shows that you’re there to support the community – not sell to them. Your Tweets will now also reflect your purpose – the links and quotes you share, the help you provide – will all come back to your purpose.

The website you list on Twitter should be your own web page or blog. A MySpace or Facebook page does not build trust with someone. Having your web site listed there should be a way for people to find out more about what you do once they’re interested in your description.

Remember, selling never happens before trust is built!

Search for People

There are a lot of services out there to find like-minded people on Twitter, but in my experience, the fastest way is by using Twitter Search. Simple type in a keyword of someone you’d have similar interests in. If you don’t know who that is, then you might be in trouble…

Who is your customer? Do you have a description of your customer written down? There are probably many different molds, but having those personas clearly defined will tell you what you’re customers are interested in. Try searching for those things and start following people who look interesting to you.

Note: Do NOT follow everyone who follows you! Only follow people who fit the criteria you define as a someone you could learn from or find interesting.

Join the Conversation

Once you’ve found people you find interesting (start with 20-30), you can start joining-in. Reply to people who ask questions when you know the answer. If someone says something interesting, forward (or Re-Tweet) their Tweet.

Another great way to build rapport with your future audience, is to promote others. If you see someone interesting, Tweet why you think so – they’ll appreciate and remember you for it!

Your Followers Will Come

It may not happen overnight, but if you use Twitter on a regular basis, people will start to find you. If you’ve defined a helpful purpose and displayed that properly in your description, when people click-through to your page it will be clear to them if you’re a fit.

Remember to mention your Twitter name whenever you comment on blogs or forums. It’s also nice to add it into your email signature since so many people are now familiar with, or at least have heard of, Twitter.

Patience

Patience is key, as none of this happens over night. Even though my followers grow by about 10-20 per day now, it only started taking off quickly after I started writing regularly for Mashable. People saw what I was knowledgeable about, and they were interested too – so they followed me. It takes time though.

I know there will be a ton of questions, so if you think it can’t be answered in one sentence – try contacting me here instead. Otherwise, let me know your thoughts or feelings on using Twitter!


Filed under: Networking,Social Media and tagged with: , , , , , , .

  • http://www.annetteaaronevents.com Annette Aaron

    For weeks I’ve been trying to find exactly what you just tweeted. I’m not a newbie – I’m a fetus!

    Thanks.
    Annette Aaron
    “creating a personality with food”

  • http://www.annetteaaronevents.com Annette Aaron

    For weeks I’ve been trying to find exactly what you just tweeted. I’m not a newbie – I’m a fetus!

    Thanks.
    Annette Aaron
    “creating a personality with food”

  • http://Www.BarackEverything.com Darryl Farmer

    This was a great breakfast! I ate well and now I’m ready for lunch! And like Annette said, I’m a starving fetus!!
    Darryl Farmer

  • http://Www.BarackEverything.com Darryl Farmer

    This was a great breakfast! I ate well and now I’m ready for lunch! And like Annette said, I’m a starving fetus!!
    Darryl Farmer

  • http://goodplum.com Elliott

    Annette, that’s hilarious – I love it! Thanks for stopping by!

  • http://goodplum.com Elliott

    Annette, that’s hilarious – I love it! Thanks for stopping by!

  • http://www.TheVCF.com The Virtual Consulting Firm

    Great Article, Elliot! :)

    Thank you for writing and sharing this with all of us! :)

    So …

    How do we get this “Enlightenment” to business owners that may be new online / “newbies”, new to Social Media Marketing and Social Networking and/or may not even yet understand why they need to have their business online and be using all of these resources/tools?

    What do you all think?

    Thank you again for the Great Article, Elliot! :)

    We hope this all helps and Have a Great Day! :)

  • http://www.TheVCF.com The Virtual Consulting Firm

    Great Article, Elliot! :)

    Thank you for writing and sharing this with all of us! :)

    So …

    How do we get this “Enlightenment” to business owners that may be new online / “newbies”, new to Social Media Marketing and Social Networking and/or may not even yet understand why they need to have their business online and be using all of these resources/tools?

    What do you all think?

    Thank you again for the Great Article, Elliot! :)

    We hope this all helps and Have a Great Day! :)

  • http://ecomind-thenewtrend.blogspot.com/ Are Morch

    Great article here Elliot!

    Not sure about the title – Twitter Enlightenment for Business Owners – because this article would be an enlightenment to all Twitters..

    Patience and Persistence combined with all the other steps here is the key – and then when you start see some Twitter spark – you repeat them again.. :)

    Like you I do see a growth of 10 – 20 per day, on good days more.

    How did you prepare yourself for your own growth on Twitter?

    I’m fairly new to Twitter, but I get puzzled when I see some telling they grew between 1000 – 10000 followers in one month after they signed up with Twitter. Starting to get towards 1000 myself, but that is after several months of hard work and learning from tips like yours here. I’m not quit sure if I would been able to take care of 1000 – 10000 followers in a proper way just after one month on Twitter.

    Well, keep up with great articles like this.

    Article is bookmarked and will be tweeted.

    Cheers…

  • http://ecomind-thenewtrend.blogspot.com/ Are Morch

    Great article here Elliot!

    Not sure about the title – Twitter Enlightenment for Business Owners – because this article would be an enlightenment to all Twitters..

    Patience and Persistence combined with all the other steps here is the key – and then when you start see some Twitter spark – you repeat them again.. :)

    Like you I do see a growth of 10 – 20 per day, on good days more.

    How did you prepare yourself for your own growth on Twitter?

    I’m fairly new to Twitter, but I get puzzled when I see some telling they grew between 1000 – 10000 followers in one month after they signed up with Twitter. Starting to get towards 1000 myself, but that is after several months of hard work and learning from tips like yours here. I’m not quit sure if I would been able to take care of 1000 – 10000 followers in a proper way just after one month on Twitter.

    Well, keep up with great articles like this.

    Article is bookmarked and will be tweeted.

    Cheers…

  • http://www.themerrybird.com Kristine

    I just love twitter on a social level. tweeting information and gaining insights others offer is fantastic. But my goal on twitter is to expose my business and gain a customer or two!
    Any suggestions?

  • http://www.themerrybird.com Kristine

    I just love twitter on a social level. tweeting information and gaining insights others offer is fantastic. But my goal on twitter is to expose my business and gain a customer or two!
    Any suggestions?

  • http://businessrebirth.blogspot.com Shallie Bey

    Thanks for this great post. For the past ten days, I have been on a quest to find the most helpful information on how to use Twitter for business. Your suggestions are a real plum, pun seriously intended.

    Shallie Bey
    Smarter Small Business Blog

  • http://www.squidoo.com/Baby-Boomer-Entrepreneurs-Using-Twitter Shallie Bey

    Thanks for this great post. For the past ten days, I have been on a quest to find the most helpful information on how to use Twitter for business. Your suggestions are a real plum, pun seriously intended.

    Shallie Bey
    Smarter Small Business Blog

  • iaaxpage

    Great, felt like you were reading my mind all along the post. Cool stuff.

    Iaax Page

  • http://iaaxpage.wordpress.com iaax Page

    Great, felt like you were reading my mind all along the post. Cool stuff.

    Iaax Page

  • http://protegesapproach.com Scott Lansing

    Great content for beginning Twitter users. I have a couple questions for you:

    1) You mentioned that if you’re in real estate, you can be a resource for people on Twitter, who are interested in buying a home. I completely agree with you because that shows you are contributing to the online community. My uncle is in real estate and wants me to help him incorporate social media into his work. I told him the same thing you said, and he was disuaded into giving advice on Twitter because markets and laws vary from state to state, and giving such advice can breach legal ramifications people have with their own realtors. Any thoughts?

    2) I understand how including your MySpace/Facebook profile as your Web site in your bio makes you seem less credible of a resource, however, my musician friend is interested in using social media to promote his tour, and the MySpace music pages I think are great resources for getting info on your favorite bands. Could this be a decent exception?

  • http://protegesapproach.com Scott Lansing

    Great content for beginning Twitter users. I have a couple questions for you:

    1) You mentioned that if you’re in real estate, you can be a resource for people on Twitter, who are interested in buying a home. I completely agree with you because that shows you are contributing to the online community. My uncle is in real estate and wants me to help him incorporate social media into his work. I told him the same thing you said, and he was disuaded into giving advice on Twitter because markets and laws vary from state to state, and giving such advice can breach legal ramifications people have with their own realtors. Any thoughts?

    2) I understand how including your MySpace/Facebook profile as your Web site in your bio makes you seem less credible of a resource, however, my musician friend is interested in using social media to promote his tour, and the MySpace music pages I think are great resources for getting info on your favorite bands. Could this be a decent exception?

  • http://goodplum.com Elliott

    If someone is seeing 1000+ growth in their first month, they are either using what I would consider to be spamming techniques, or an “event” happened – such as having their twitter user name promoted by a website or another Twitterer who’s already popular.

    Good comment, Are – and thanks!

  • http://goodplum.com Elliott

    Haha… thanks Shallie!

  • http://goodplum.com Elliott

    If someone is seeing 1000+ growth in their first month, they are either using what I would consider to be spamming techniques, or an “event” happened – such as having their twitter user name promoted by a website or another Twitterer who’s already popular.

    Good comment, Are – and thanks!

  • http://goodplum.com Elliott

    Haha… thanks Shallie!

  • http://goodplum.com Elliott

    Kristine –

    My suggestions to you would be to follow the advice in this article and others like it. You WILL gain customers if you use your network properly.

  • http://goodplum.com Elliott

    Kristine –

    My suggestions to you would be to follow the advice in this article and others like it. You WILL gain customers if you use your network properly.

  • http://goodplum.com Elliott

    Scott – Two great points.

    1.) It’s true you don’t want to give hard and fast legal advice, so you need to make sure you leave it up to the receiver if the information is good for them or not.

    2.) Musicians are an entire different ballgame, for sure. A band that has a following (or a product, company, etc) can rely on their Twitter use to be informational – whether it’s a new tour or album release, or any product for that matter. The problem comes when people who have no following to start with think they’ll gain one strictly by promoting to them.

    Take Amazon for instance. They have thousands following their Gold Box account for one reason only – to hear the latest deal as soon as it’s announced!

  • http://goodplum.com Elliott

    Scott – Two great points.

    1.) It’s true you don’t want to give hard and fast legal advice, so you need to make sure you leave it up to the receiver if the information is good for them or not.

    2.) Musicians are an entire different ballgame, for sure. A band that has a following (or a product, company, etc) can rely on their Twitter use to be informational – whether it’s a new tour or album release, or any product for that matter. The problem comes when people who have no following to start with think they’ll gain one strictly by promoting to them.

    Take Amazon for instance. They have thousands following their Gold Box account for one reason only – to hear the latest deal as soon as it’s announced!

  • http://www.greenandcleanmom.org/services Sommer Green & Clean Mom

    Great article! I tell my clients this stuff all the time and I’m so happy to see you write this. Great advice.

  • http://www.greenandcleanmom.org/services Sommer Green & Clean Mom

    Great article! I tell my clients this stuff all the time and I’m so happy to see you write this. Great advice.

  • http://www.thealvaradogroup.com Sara Alvarado

    Thank you Elliott! You are so helpful, so intentional and clear in your writing and have a great gift! Thanks for sharing. There is a lot of information to bite into and it might take me awhile to digest it all. Hopefully I will get it.

  • http://www.thealvaradogroup.com Sara Alvarado

    Thank you Elliott! You are so helpful, so intentional and clear in your writing and have a great gift! Thanks for sharing. There is a lot of information to bite into and it might take me awhile to digest it all. Hopefully I will get it.

  • http://halosecretarialservices.com/blog/2009/03/02/how-twitter-has-helped-my-business/ » How Twitter Has Helped My Business at Halo Secretarial Blog -

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  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1416715556 Christopher Ott

    Elliot,

    Very powerful blog. Even useful to an SMO guy like me.

    Building trust is key

    best,

    Chris O.
    Referral Key
    “Your Trusted Referral Network”
    http://www.referralkey.com/small-business-blog/

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1416715556 Christopher Ott

    Elliot,

    Very powerful blog. Even useful to an SMO guy like me.

    Building trust is key

    best,

    Chris O.
    Referral Key
    “Your Trusted Referral Network”
    http://www.referralkey.com/small-business-blog/

  • http://goodplum.com Elliott

    Testing 3rd level!

  • http://goodplum.com Elliott

    Testing 4th level!

  • http://www.acubliss.ca acubliss

    my good friend Wilmaoliver passed your article on to me… so grateful!

    amazing Elliot !

    Thank you for giving me a true insight into the power of twitter and for your tips!
    i can't thank you enough, your writing skills are much appreciated ; )

    thank you for sharing!

    Best, Shelley

  • http://www.acubliss.ca acubliss

    my good friend Wilmaoliver passed your article on to me… so grateful!

    amazing Elliot !

    Thank you for giving me a true insight into the power of twitter and for your tips!
    i can't thank you enough, your writing skills are much appreciated ; )

    thank you for sharing!

    Best, Shelley

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  • http://www.goblinridge.co.uk Ted Thompson

    Excellent article, very thorough. cheers Ted

  • http://www.goblinridge.co.uk Ted Thompson

    Excellent article, very thorough. cheers Ted