This is our fourth lesson in a series of five lessons on Using Social Media for Business.
In our first lesson we looked at using social media for business in general. In the subsequent lessons, we zeroed in on the big four social media giants, starting with Facebook and how to use it for business.
Next, we covered Using Google+ for Business.
Now we come to the fastest and most immediate social platform on the net — Twitter, as well as how to to use this social network for business.
Millions of people use this platform with little thought or imagination. It’s deceptively easy to simply log in, post a thought or two, check the posts displayed above the fold — and leave just as quickly as you came.
Yet people who do this are missing Twitter’s incredible power. The ways in which it can help you maximize your social reach can be enormous!
Step One: Analyze What Works . . . and What Doesn’t
Everyone tends to use Twitter the same way. You see the following types of posters:
- The Quick Linker — This tweeter hastily finds an article from their news aggregator and posts the link — often without even bothering to read it. (“Hey, it’s a tweet, right?”) They then congratulate themselves for doing their duty.
- The Serial Re-Tweeter — This person can’t even be bothered to look for an article link. Instead, they pick the most acceptable post above the fold in their Twitter feed and re-tweet it.
- The Quickie Quoter — You either get bible verses or inspirational quotes by New Age gurus, famous salesmen or millionaires.
- The Initial Capsman — You’ve Seen These Incredible Posts–All With Initial Caps!: andalinkfrombit.ly
- The Compulsive Sharer — Tells you he’s now doing his laundry . . . two minutes after he tweeted he’s finished his jog.
We will talk more about the remaining four types of posters in our upcoming webinar.
Most likely you’ve been guilty of resorting to one or more of these types of tweets when you’re overwhelmed with work. I know I have.
Interesting and Acceptable Tweets
Note that all of these tweet types can be both interesting and acceptable, providing:
- You mix them up with other types of tweets.
- They really are going to interest your followers.
- You’re revealing an incredible, valuable secret.
- It’s 35 degrees in Anchorage . . . on Christmas Day.
In our upcoming webinar, we will give more examples of interesting and acceptable tweets.
Automated Tweets
But the flood of these annoying types of tweets that we are deluged with every day all boil down to one persistent cause: The tweeter is “doing her duty” and tweeting for the sake of having tweeted. Because someone has said you have to do it for your business.
Your tweets are on autopilot. And they’re putting people to sleep (when they’re not feeling irritated by you, that is).
And the biggest problem with Twitter — what should be properly called ‘the Unforgivable Sin?‘
Everybody talks, but nobody listens. Responses to tweets are rarer than snow in Phoenix, Arizona.
Come back next week when we look at the next step of the four steps in this lesson, “Analysis and Conscious Tweeting.”
Are you using Twitter for business? If so, how effective has it been for you and your business? As always, thanks for reading. See you next week!
