Why Twitter? (Part II)

As you may recall in Why Twitter (Part I), I promised to follow up with more ways that you can use Twitter for business.  If you’re a business owner/entrepreneur, artist, celebrity-in-the-making, you need to get on Twitter. Here’s why: Your customers are on Twitter.  Your would-be customers are on twitter. And more than likely, the competition is on Twitter.

Let’s say you sell…uh I don’t know, post-it notes (first thing I saw on my desk, sorry).  So anyway, you’re selling these post-it notes and you set up your Twitter page online.  You’re following a few people and you’ve got your mom, cousin and best friend following you back. But that’s it. You’re thinking “How in the world is this silly page gonna help me sell more post-it notes?” Let me tell you.

Think of your twitter page (facebook page, LinkedIn page) as this business card that just hangs out on the web. How many times have you given your business card to someone and they said “Okay, thanks. I’ll keep you in mind.” You knew right after giving them your card that they weren’t going to phone you the next day wanting to buy from you.  But that was okay. Because at the end of the day you told yourself, “hey if this guy ever needs some post-it notes, he’s probably going to think of me first.”

Which is kinda how it works. You’ve got this page and you’re linking to your blog or web site. You’re learning your way around, you’re amassing a few followers, you’re getting into the threads, you’re contributing to the conversation.  Inevitably, a total stranger will either start following you and click on your web page link, or see your page on someone else’s list of friends, and click on your link. They see your site and think, “Khadidja at the office was just complaining about our post-it guy. I’ll forward her this link: maybe we can start ordering our post-it notes here instead.” Voila.

Sure it’s not gonna translate into a million sales overnight, but as a part of your long-term marketing strategy, you will eventually see results.  Remember:  Increased visibility will eventually foster increased brand awareness, which will inevitably lead to increased market share and higher profitabiltity.  In other words, microblogging  (twitter) = $$$

Next time : What do I tweet about?