Most people have heard of Twitter but are unclear how it can help them grow their business or raise their professional profile. To many, Twitter represents an uncontrolled stream of consciousness where people spend an inordinate amount of time sharing the most banal or trivial information about their lives in the hope that someone will take an interest. As a result, Twitter can be hard to imagine as a business tool.
Nonetheless, used strategically to further business objectives, Twitter can play an effective role in marketing your business, your products and services, and your personal brand. Knowing how to use it and having a clear purpose makes all the difference. This two-part article looks at setting up a Twitter account and creating a profile which attracts the right kind of followers.
If you haven't got a Twitter account, you need to go the Twitter main website (just Google Twitter). On the main page, you'll see a sign up box which is headed "New to Twitter?" Provide your full name, your email address and choose a password. These details can be changed when you start to customise your settings but for now, choose a password that you can remember. Then click on the signup button.
Twitter will then go lead you through an easy process of verifying whether your user name has been taken and offering alternatives where appropriate. Again, you can change details later when you amend your account however do think about the user name you want to choose for your business.
Twitter is a micro-blogging site - you're allowed no more than 140 characters (including spaces) with each posting. Within that post your name will appear as @yourusername so choose a short name which won't use up too much of your allocation.
If your tweet (post) is retweeted (RT) it means your post has been passed on by someone else to their own network. Your name then appears as part of the retweeted message as well as the person who's retweeting so a long name would soon use up the 140 characters.
Select a username which is easy for your customers to identify you with and (if possible or appropriate), reflects what you do. If you're offering specific goods or services which people use as search term e.g. "cupcakes", or "tennis rackets" then a username like (@)"fancycupcake", (@) "eatcupcake", (@) "tennisracket", (@) "greattennis" could be good options. If you're selling professional services, then using your own name would reinforce your brand recognition and integrity.
Once you've passed the necessary verifications, an email will be sent to your given email address to confirm your account opening. In the meantime, you'll move through to the next stage of the process which is to start selecting people to follow on Twitter. Be strategic in your choice of followers - your business-related Twitter account carries different expectations and standards to that of a personal account.
When you chose a follower, it means that their tweets will appear in what is called your "feed". It's a constantly updating flow of tweets which appear as soon as one of your followers posts it. You can follow anyone you wish without an invitation. Unless they decide to block you, you'll have access to all their tweets in your feed.
As your choice of followers appears on your profile and is available to other people to see, your selection plays a part in the "know, like, and trust" factor which is core to social media marketing. In the absence of physical contact, your potential follower has to form an impression of your interests, abilities, experience, and outlook from the way you build your profile, with whom you connect, who follows you in turn, and of course, what you have to say in your tweets.
If you choose your followers wisely, you'll find that your feed can provide you with very useful information about what's happening in your niche community and industry. You can use this for your own development, as market research, and as sources of inspiration for new products & services.
If you're an accountant, follow key leaders and influencers in your field such as HM Treasury, HM Revenue & Customs (or the US Treasury and the IRS if you're US-based), accountancy and tax-related industry publications and journals. You can pick up important information and commentary on your subject area which you can use within your own business or pass on to your community and clients.
Retweeting relevant posts of interest and value to your own followers is an excellent way of demonstrating that you're someone who's up-to-date and current in their knowledge and thinking, as well as mindful of the needs of your network and clients. It's an easy way to show your clients that you're someone who's in the know.
Don't clutter up your own feed with witticisms and observations from celebrities if they don't add value to your business brand. If you like these personalities on a personal level just follow them from your private account. If you're an actor, artist, musician, or writer, then it makes sense to follow fellow creative people and learn how they use Twitter to reinforce their brand. However, your business strategy should guide you to follow agents, scriptwriters, composers, producers, business investors and other useful people who have influence in your chosen field.
Bear in mind that these individuals or organisations are unlikely to follow you back automatically. However if you regularly re-tweet (relevant) posts to your own community, you'll be noticed by the person who's managing the Twitter account who will be inclined to respond with a "thanks for the RT" message which will include your username and be read by the many people who follow that account.
If you follow an account and regularly RT their content to your own followers, it's likely that they will look up your Twitter profile and find out more about you. They'll look at your profile details and the calibre of your tweets. Based on your profile details they'll decide whether or not to follow you back.
In part two of this two part series, you'll see how a compelling profile can persuade more of the right people to follow you and join your online community.
Sumi Olson (author of the Amazon five-star rated, "How to Manage Your Social Media Marketing in 30 Minutes A Day"), is an author, speaker, diamond-rated article writer, consultant and trainer on social media, content creation strategies, and business development.
With 25 years' experience in book publishing, business development, online selling, sales & marketing, Sumi is committed to reducing overwhelm and turning insights into implementation. Through speaking events,books, programmes & workshops, she helps you further your publishing or writing aspirations, meet sales, marketing & management objectives, or master social media & online branding.
As a working mother herself, she's passionate about helping people create a great work-life balance so that they can spend more time on the things that matter in life - hobbies, friends, and family.
Connect with her on Twitter (@sumiolson), LinkedIn http://uk.linkedin.com/in/sumiolson or visit http://www.learningbusinessskills.com/ to sign up for her free fortnightly newsletter.
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