Most people have heard of Twitter with the recent media blitz on news programs etc. but don't quite know what it is or how to jump into the fray. Twitter is a social networking tool that allows the sharing of information on the micro-level. That information, which is passed along as "tweets" is limited to 140 characters. Not used properly, one can easily be overwhelmed by the information bombardment. But, with the proper tools, you can sort your "Tweeples", perform searches for pertinent information or people to follow, and network efficiently. Twitter is one of the tools that should be in your social networking toolbox.
To start, I recommend visiting Lucas Black's The Quick Tweet Guide which gives a bulleted list of how to accomplish the basics in Twitter. The two programs I use to manage Tweets & Tweeples are Tweetdeck and Flock 2.5. Tweetdeck is an Adobe AIR program that allows you to stay in touch with what’s happening now, connecting you with your contacts across Twitter, Facebook and more. TweetDeck shows you everything you want to see at once, so you can stay organized and up to date. It allows you to create groups for your tweeples to make the information more manageable. I would like to see the group feature become shareable across computers. That is, if you structure groups on one computer, that you could share it with the rest of your computers. Flock is my favorite internet browser and is a social-networking number one resource. The newest edition of Flock incorporates a Twitter search engine feature that allows you to type in any word and pull up all tweets that contain that word. As such, you can easily find the topics and people you want to follow to grow your business. Flock has many other fantastic features and incorporates numerous social networks, blogging platforms, email etc.
Why Network Socially? Today, networking is not just about handing out cards and getting business, it is about creating relationships. We do that by sharing a little bit of ourselves and becoming a person, not just a name or a brand, to our customers. How much to share? Josh Camson in his blog post, "Are You Keeping the Social in Social Networking" provides the following breakdown from Diane Danielson of Downtown Women’s Club:
30% about your own business/career.
30% about someone else’s business (promoting/retweeting/fan pages)
30% about your personal interests (your dog, the real housewives …, etc.)
10% of just plain funny or thought-provoking ideas
Think before you write is probably the best advice I can give you. Try to step back and look at your possible tweet and see how it would look from a customer's point of view. The drunk fest you had with the office on Friday night might not give the right impression to a prospective investor looking to have you handle a multi-million dollar deal. Further, my personal pet peeve is quotes. There are folks that all they do is post quote after quote. I have a hard enough time sifting through all the fluff and garbage than to have my TweetDeck muddled with quotes from famous people. If I wanted a quote, I would google search it.
I hope this post gives you a little insight into the world of Twitter and I hope you jump in and start tweeting! Don't forget to follow me KASesq94!
Some other great resources:
52 Links on Twitter for Business
Other...: www.scanlonpinto.ning.com
Hey Kathleen, thanks for the link to my post "52 Links on Twitter for Business, Including Brief Descriptions." Just wanted you and your readers to know that the post has been moved to: http://pegcorwin.com/2008/12/52-links-on-twitter-for-business-with-brief-descriptions/
Posted by: Peg Corwin | July 19, 2009 at 08:50 AM
Thanks Peg for the heads-up - I updated the link. It is a wonderful post & I am glad I can share it with my readers.
Posted by: Kathleen Scanlon | August 29, 2009 at 04:53 PM
Thank you for the mention!
Posted by: Lucas Black | September 10, 2009 at 03:02 PM
Its my pleasure Lucas - thanks for sharing great content!
Posted by: Kathleen Scanlon | September 10, 2009 at 08:26 PM