I’m going to be honest with you, I’m not a huge fan of Twitter … but it is an effective tool if you apply it to the proper task. When we are trying to move a heavy stubborn object, we need leverage, or a big hammer to persuade movement. Twitter can provide such leverage if your hammer is big enough.
If you just started your Twitter account, you’re trying to use a little tack hammer to hang something on the wall. You need to grow your list of Followers, and should start by following others.
Twitter works when you’re following someone who follows someone, who follows someone else.
When they begin to follow you back, you’ll start seeing results. The more ‘someones’ you reach the larger of an impact your hammer (Tweets) can deliver.
To get your hammer to hit the objective effectively, you need to handle it properly and swing with controlled force. First establish relationships by following others and responding appropriately to their Tweets. Be active and be relevant in your responses! Post topics/comments of interest, don’t just promote yourself or your ideas. Make small talk as you would meeting strangers in any other public environment.
As you gain Followers and expand the list of people you Follow, you’ll be able to deliver your message with sledgehammer force without busting a sweat or developing blisters. Too many go about using Twitter by swinging away with their hammer thinking it will drive home the point if they swing harder and harder, not so. It’s all in the technique of the swing that drives the nail into the wood with one strike or the steel weight to the top of the rail to ring the bell.
Also be conscious of who you are and who is following you. There are a lot of strange folks out there with profiles and activity which might not be conducive with you and the message you are trying to promote. Read their profiles and more importantly see what they have been Tweeting about. It may be something to support your objectives or one that simply turns your stomach. You do have the ability to Unfollow or Block them from your account.
Though you probably won’t see a great deal of Tweets from me, when you do hopefully you will find them appropriate and worth reading. As Theodore Roosevelt put it, “Speak softly, but carry a big stick; you’ll go far.” Like you, I’m working on it!
Here are some more posts about using Twitter for business.
I welcome your comments below.
“Speak softly, but carry a big stick; you’ll go far.” A sound advice if someone wants to go tweeting for business objectives.
Thanks! Sometimes too, a well timed whisper will carry across an otherwise noisy room.~Gerald