You probably already know about Twitter.
It has been touted as a ‘micro-blogging’ platform since it was established a couple years ago. But more and more brick-and-mortar businesses are using it to help generate a buzz about their company. That’s not to say that you shouldn’t be blogging anyway, but even if you only update your blog a couple times a week, Twitter can be used all day, every day to keep your company’s name on the fingertips of potentially thousands of other users.
A Quick Twitter Tip
When you sign up for the free service, make sure you choose a username that reflects your business – if not the actual name of your business. Set up your profile to include the link to your website and a brief bio. The key to Twitter is brevity, so try to make it short and catchy.
It takes a couple weeks to really get the hang of Twitter. On the outset it seems inane. You wonder why people are telling you what they are eating for lunch, or what they saw on television last night. But soon, you begin to notice that interspersed between these light-hearted comments are links to important blog posts, sales and promotions, and press releases. You’ll see that certain people are passing along (re-tweeting) links that are of particular interest.
At the speed of light, information comes in and goes out – and with surprisingly unique and personal flair for being limited to 140 characters. Twitter is to blogging as haikus are to poetry. The best of the best condensed down to the most concentrated form and peppered with humor, abbreviations, and good old fashioned camaraderie.
Mobile Twitter – The Way Forward?
The real value of Twitter can be demonstrated through handheld mobile communication devices like the iPhone or the Blackberry. Sitting on a train or waiting for a movie to start, you can send a message to a few hundred of your closest friends. And if it is interesting enough, they’ll forward it on to all their friends – reaching potentially thousands of people within seconds. Once you build up a reputation as a good ‘twitterer’ with interesting ‘tweets’, you’ll find people seeking you out and signing up to follow you.
The great thing about Twitter is that it gives you access to thousands of people who have all demonstrated an active interest in hearing from you—and it can be used with very little time and effort. You don’t have to be a particularly good writer, or even have something earth-shatteringly important to say. As long as you are regularly contributing to the community, you’ll build a rapport with other users and over time will find that you have a loyal following.
Eventually, tweeting a link to your site will result in hundreds—even thousands of visitors within a short period of time; and you’ll have the ability to get the word out about important business-related news before you even get back to your desk.
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