If you are not using Twitter to expand your business, you are leaving money on the table! The power of Twitter is not self-evident, nor is it an intuitive vehicle. For example, when you first go there, it looks like a superficial and stupid waste of time. For instance, who cares what I ate for lunch? But Twitter creates REAL business results, in real time. If you have resisted getting involved on Twitter, you are not alone. I’d like to address the top three complaints/concerns I hear most often, and I encourage you to jump in. The water’s fine!
1. Aren’t only teens, celebrities, and marketers on Twitter? NOPE! You can find CEOs, authors, spiritual leaders, PR experts, marketing experts, thought leaders and subject matter experts galore, lots of Government folks (@GovTwit) and lists of coaches can be found in a couple places I’ve stumbled upon so far: http://twitterpacks.pbworks.com/COACHING
http://www.michellemacphearson.com/master-list-of-coaches-on-twitter/
2. Isn’t it just a waste of time? I already spend too much time dealing with my email as it is! There are lots of ways to automate various features of your twitter experience and connect it to other social networks you use so that you can establish and maintain a valuable social media presence without a huge time commitment. For starters, Twitter provides “the opportunity to create an incredible resource of up-to-date, accurate, informative, and inspiring information” according to the Peer Resources Network Bulletin. But here are a couple of my favorite third-party apps and tools for hooking everything up in a circuit that saves you time and increases your visibility:
a) if you blog, set up Twitterfeed so that every time you post a blog post, it will automatically post a link to Twitter.
b) Go into Facebook, Linked In, and Plaxo and find in each platform where you can add Apps (applications). Set up your Twitter account in each one, so that every time you post something on Twitter it appears on all your other social networks as an update. This is particularly handy if you have different people in each network, as you can reach everyone at once.
c) if you don’t want to set up what I described above, you always have the option of setting up a free Ping account, which allows you to select all your favorite social networks and post your update once, on your Ping dashboard, and they will post it simultaneously to all your networks for you.
3. Isn’t it just a set of superficial connections and constant interruptions distracting me from focusing on what’s really important in my business? Not at all! A few key mindsets to embrace for success on Twitter, and (really all social media), are:
- It’s a party where I can meet interesting people, be of service, and make a difference.
- It’s a huge party…everyone is in the room, but I’m not going to talk to everyone at once.
- It’s a real-time, streaming conversation from the comfort of my home, office, or handheld smartphone device.
- It’s a river and I can watch it flow by, or I can dip as much of myself in the river as I want to for as long as I want to.
- Don’t ask “how can I make money on Twitter?”, ask instead “How can I connect with folks and make a difference? How can I be of service? How can I contribute?”
- Yes, it’s a constant stream of conversation, however you have the power to turn it off anytime you want to focus on other strategic endeavors.