Using Twitter For Business

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I’m sure that you’ve heard of Twitter by now, as it is one of the most popular social media sites. Maybe you’ve signed up for an account and played with it a little, but are you using it for business? If not, you should be!

Why should you use Twitter for business? Because it’s a great way to meet new people, create relationships, and promote your business.

Twitter has over 100 million users.  Chances are, a few thousand (at least) will be interested in talking with you.  And that’s a few thousand new people who will learn about you, your business, your blog, etc. And that is a very good reason to start using Twitter for business!

One of the biggest questions I get from people who are just starting out with Twitter is “Who should I follow?” Start by following your favorites – your favorite bloggers, authors, cooking / craft show hosts, etc.  All of these people will (most likely) have Twitter accounts.  You can do a Google search for their name and their Twitter account will come up, or you can go to their blogs and they should have a link to their Twitter account displayed in an easy-to-see location.

Next, start looking at who these people are following. When you are on someone’s Twitter account, if you click “Following,” you will get a list of all of the people these people are following. Start following the people who seem interesting to you.

Now, it’s time to start having a conversation. You will see all the tweets that are created from the people you’re following. Reply back to them and join in the conversation.  As people start having conversations with you, they will start following you. The more you talk, the more followers you will get!

The conversation might be about a favorite TV show, a recipe, or something else non-business related. That’s okay.  You’re meeting people and every conversation doesn’t have to be about business. Imagine you’re at a party: you don’t walk up to a stranger and start trying to sell them something.  Same thing with Twitter.

Don’t forget to include some links. Yes – you want to have conversations and get to know people, but you also want to post links to your latest blog posts, the new items you’ve listed in your Etsy shop,  some teaser info about an upcoming sale you’re having, and so forth.

You want to have a good balance between conversation and self-promotion. If you only talk about your business, you’ll look like someone walking down the street holding up a sign that says “Buy My Stuff!” But if you never talk about your business, no one will know that you have one, and if no one knows you have a business, they can’t buy anything from you.

Twitter really is one of the simplest ways to meet new people, make new connections, and introduce people to your business.

By Crissy Herron, www.IndieBizChicks.com

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