Use of Twitter for business in Australia continues to increase as business owners capitalise on the opportunity that this free service offers to:
- understand the needs of your clients and prospects
- build business relationships
- generate warm website traffic.
The 5 second Twitter overview
Twitter is an online tool that allows you to share information and expand your network.
- Unless your account is private, anyone can follow you.
- You send out messages which can be read by your followers.
- The messages are called tweets, which can be a maximum of 140 characters long.
- You can also follow people, and then you’ll receive a copy of their tweets.
However, for many users, starting out on Twitter is like visiting a foreign country where you don’t understand the language or culture. Once you get an account set up it can be hard to figure out how to meet (follow) the right people and “get in the loop”.
5 tips to get you started on Twitter, the Australian way; you can be a good bloke or a fab chick (and avoid being a drongo).
1. It’s OK to follow people you don’t know, really it is
For many of us, following people you don’t know is a weird concept (I don’t mean slinking down the street and hiding behind power poles to avoid being seen, that is weird ?). Especially if you’re used to Facebook where you can Accept or Decline each friend request.
On Twitter “following” is the done thing.
Follow the types of people that you want to interact with. They might be people in your target audience that you can network with, or people in your community or industry that you can share information with.
Read more about how to follow and get followed on Twitter.
2. Listen with your ears, not your mouth
Twitter is a great place to listen to what people are saying; about their competitors, their products, their affiliates, their local area and pretty much anything you want to know about that impacts your business.
By listening (reading other people’s tweets), you’ll get a feel for the type of things people tweet about and how to engage with others. If people are tweeting about things you find boring or irrelevant, you can unfollow them, which is perfectly OK (and they don’t get notified!).
3. Don’t be a loud mouth
Don’t write tweets that purely promote your business, products or services. That’s not what it’s about. Loud mouths belong at the footy, not on Twitter
You’ll get more followers by writing tweets that contain information that is valuable to others.
Also avoid sending a barrage of tweets in quick succession, instead, spread your tweets out over a time period.
4. Be a Good Sport
If someone follows you, be a good sport and follow them back, unless there is a good reason not to, like they are a loud mouth.
If someone retweets you (forwards your tweet out to their followers), be polite and say thank you.
5. Have a go mate!
Invest a little time and give Twitter a try – it’s free to have a go!
Now there is an easy way for you to avoid wasting time and effort on a trial and error approach to Twitter; the comprehensive, step-by-step “Twitter for Business” guide shows you how to set up and use Twitter like a marketing expert! Check it out today.
Melinda aka Mel is a Google Partner, Google Ads & Consultant, Speaker and Trainer and co-owner of Click-Winning Content.
Mel provides results-driven services to organisations around the world and is committed to never using an acronym without explaining it first. She also likes greyhounds as pets, grand slam tennis, cracked pepper and Melbourne sunsets.
Please connect at the links below.
