I joined Twitter in January.
I joined because I was feeling pressure to do so from clients, colleagues and well… Anderson Cooper. Every night when watching “AC 360”, the fabulous Mr. Cooper would say, “Follow Me on Twitter!”. I thought, “Why does Andy (my nickname for the handsome-Ms.Vanderbuilt’s-son) want the world to follow him on Twitter? And what is so special about Twitter anyway?”
At first I just didn’t get it.
Then, when someone I really respect and admire, Women for Hire’s Tori Johnson, “followed” me I sat up and paid attention. From then on, it’s been a daily ritual to go to Twitter first thing in the morning and “tweet” a few sentences, and on and off throughout the day.
I’m not going to say I am the pro with Twitter yet, but here are a few things I can tell you right away:
1- Your visibility is limitless. You can literally reach an unlimited amount of viewers. It all depends on how many followers you have. When I first joined, I had no idea how to go about getting more followers. But now it seems like every other post on Twitter is about how to get more followers. I like Mr. Tweet because it picks out 200 potential followers for you and you can pick and choose.
2. You can promote your business. Everyone promotes their business on Twitter. Doing it in moderation is the best choice. I know there are a few that promote endlessly and sometimes it gets to be too much. I mean, how many times can one person tweet about colon cleansing? You would be surprised. Keep it to a few times a day. I try to do a “Tip of the Day” at least once a day. I don’t always get it in there, but try for every day.
3. Creating Relationships Builds your Business. When replying to ‘tweets’ or ‘retweeting‘ someone elses tweet, it creates a relationship with that person and they are more likely to ‘retweet’ something you said, which will increase your visibility. Plus, it’s a great way to gain new business. I’ve gotten quite a few new resume clients since being on Twitter. I’ve also just gotten to know people and created new friendships. Sometimes working in a home-based office can be isolating, so it’s nice to be able to “talk” with other business owners.
This is just the tip of the iceberg on the benefits of Twitter for your small business. There are also lots of different applications to use as well as loads and loads of articles on Google.
Social media is the hottest new trend and one of the fastest ways to build your business. Give Twitter a try. You’ll quickly become addicted. 🙂
Erin Kennedy