Connecting 101: Twitter
I opened my first Twitter account in the fall of 2010 for the intent purpose of following University of Georgia football. Never in a million years did I think I could actually make friends and connect with businesses. It’s now my favorite social media platform to use for business. It’s the platform I’ve gotten the most clients from too.
Like any other platform, you must have INTENT when you use it and connect on it. You can’t just tweet to tweet or follow just to game your numbers. Twitter is wild, fast and crazy so you have to do a great job of keeping your account in check. You get spam messages every day, people wanting you to buy 1,000 followers for $5 and people simply following you to get you to follow them back. So much for intent there.
I’ve written two previous articles on Twitter following – 8 Reasons I Won’t Follow You on Twitter and 8 More Reasons I Won’t Follow You on Twitter – that really touched on some general, cosmetic points. However, in this post, I’m giving you some deeper connecting tips for Twitter that will make you a more seasoned and polished Twitter user.
Connect with like-minded people.
In any business, reputation management is very important. People will look and judge you on who you are surrounded by. By following like-minded people, you will find a community you can grow with and learn from.
Tweet people you want to get to know.
Even though that person you want to meet has 100,000 followers, if you don’t tweet them and let them know you are there, they may never find you. I’ve developed relationships on Twitter with people I normally would not have access to simply because I started tweeting (and retweeting) them and started a conversation. Anyone reputable on Twitter will not ignore someone who is trying to strike up a conversation. It may take them a day or so to respond but the serious ones will respond.
Give credit where credit is due.
Did you like a blog article and tweet it? Give the author credit in the tweet. Liked a tweet and agreed with it? Again, credit the author in the tweet. When you credit the author it’s mentioning them and they will take notice. Taking the time to give credit to the original author or tweeter will show that you care and are purposeful in using Twitter.
Why do you connect with people on Twitter? What’s your intent? Share with us in the comments below. While you’re at it, if you’re not following me, I’d like you to invite you to connect with me on Twitter (@memktgservices). I will warn you though, I do tweet a lot about college football during the fall 😉
Previous Connecting 101 Posts:
Connecting 101: LinkedIn
Next Week: Connecting 101: Google+
