Use Twitter To Expand Your Network

Written by Forrest Woods Tuesday, 10 May 2011 08:19

I was a latecomer to Twitter, I got on about seven months ago. I was late because I just did not get it, I did not care what Charlie Sheen had for breakfast or where Paris Hilton was last night. Overtime I realized how wrong I had been about Twitter. What I found is that Twitter has become a source for breaking news, stories and ideas on a wide range of topics, and a tremendous networking tool. As a business owner you may like the idea of Twitter but wonder if it is for you.

I was a latecomer to Twitter, I got on about seven months ago. I was late because I just did not get it, I did not care what Charlie Sheen had for breakfast or where Paris Hilton was last night. Overtime I realized how wrong I had been about Twitter. What I found is that Twitter has become a source for breaking news, stories and ideas on a wide range of topics, and a tremendous networking tool. As a business owner you may like the idea of Twitter but wonder if it is for you.

Can you really utilize Twitter to attract customers? The short answer is yes. The first thing you need to do is build relationships. Twitter is a great networking and relationship-building tool. What you should not use Twitter for is shameful self-promotion. The average rule of thumb for companies is to communicate helpful tips to their community of followers about 90% of the time and promote your business about 10 percent of the time this is called the 90-10 rule. Now if one of your followers should tweet about you or re-tweet you then reach out and acknowledge that with a thank you. This will give your customers a feeling that you are reachable and will develop a strong relationship.

Another great way to develop a community of followers on Twitter is to start a contest to incentivize your followers to re-tweet you. This is a wonderful way to get people to notice your company. You should post your giveaway on Twitter feed. I would suggest that you tweet, "WIN 1 product - to enter RT this giveaway and check back on Friday". This will induce their followers to re-tweet the message and follow you because they know it is a requirement to enter.

You can give exclusive deals to your followers. Everyone wants to feel like they are part of a select group. Twitter permits you to do this with your followers. If you have an internet site you can tweet a special code for your followers that they can use at check out to get a discount, but make the discount significant for example 25% or more so that is will be worth it for buyers. If you have a brick and mortar yogurt shop you could tweet to your followers that the first 25 people to come in and whisper, "I love fruit toppings" to the cashier will get a free small yogurt with a purchase of any yogurt. This way you are providing exclusive information to followers. Just make certain that you put a time limit on the offer and require some action.

These are just some of the ways you can use Twitter to build a network with loyal followers. Twitter can be a powerful tool to get the word out about your business. Just remember to give some fun and valuable content to your followers. When you do that you network of followers will grow.