WHITE HAT SEO BLOG

Your business will go nowhere fast if you have little or no followers. Even followers who join your group may come and go as quickly as night and day.

If you have nothing to say, then don’t. Your customers (followers) are interested in what you have to offer, i.e. how did that idea come about, the ease or difficulty in bringing the product to market, the funny side of the problems you faced, etc.

Reply to some of your followers, not all of them. Followers will be interested in what you did or say about something, but they will not follow 150 of your replies to each and every question asked. Keep the tweeting interesting and above all, informative and fresh.

Your bio is one of the most important FIRST THINGS to do after you sign on to Twitter.  “I develop anti-fart machines for Chihuahuas” tell people quickly who you are and what you are about. Maybe they have a grandmother who needs one and they will follow you!

Finally, be yourself. Don’t mimic others in the same business as you. Be an individual, full of ideas, will and wit, and tell people you enjoy what you do and wish to help others by your 140 character post.

As with any web presence or a face to face meeting, there are caveats to look out for, particularly with etiquette.  Here are the 3 dos and don’ts that could make or break you’re tweeting.

The 3 do’s are:
Share! Found a funny pic? A new recipe? An article about you? Tell someone! New product? Put that ever important link. Tell others about links other than your own. It makes you look fair and not judgemental.

Re-tweet. This means to reply to someone’s tweeting.  Converse! Someone commented on the item you sold. Acknowledge it with a positive or helpful re-tweet.

Shake hands. Remember that from the old days?  Get to know the people who are following your tweeting. Ask them who they are and how you can help. Maybe ask them why they are following your daily or hourly posts.

The 3 don’ts are:
Disregard your avatar. Put up a picture, any picture. No picture could speak volumes on how you run your business. Does this business care?

Not following. One of the endearing and very useful tools with Twitter is that people can “follow” your tweeting. Some people believe that you must follow everyone who follows you. Not at all. That is impossible. But follow the people or businesses that interest you.

Over expose yourself. Remember that song by Celine Dion, the theme to the Titanic? I won’t bore you with my rendition of it. Did you ever get sick of it? Too much about you will make your customers’ un-follow you and go with your competitor.

As with any business, you must offer your followers something worth reading about. A hook of sorts. Keep in mind that with your hard earned followers, you need to keep them following you. Twitter is growing at breathtaking speed and your business should use it.

What do you offer? Ever ask that question? Twitter it.  Something that you offer which is singular to your business and only your business, will attract interest.

From customer relations, crisis management, press releases and even an event or product activation. Your business will only grow and prosper by the information you care to share with your followers (fans).

With the frame of mind that what you create, others will follow and then you engage those followers, you have a win-win strategy.

Another twitter idea is to create a quick response to a crisis, thereby avoiding the so called brand ambassadors (for damage control). By tracking the people who talk about you and your brand, it gives you an idea of what areas are needed for improvement and perhaps even ideas for a new product. Engage in dialogue!

In the end, you use Twitter to listen and learn from those who follow you. As they talk about your brand, whether it is positive or negative, it will give you a rare insight into your brand’s following – a bit of a “fly on the wall experience.”

Not many of us can do what the rich and famous do: Market ourselves with unlimited resources and have the help of thousands of friends and contacts and media.

Well, now you do. Twitter is used by those very same people. Look up a current talk show host, singer or movie star. They would inevitably be on Twitter; updating for ever more. From what color hair they had back in 1972 to why they kicked their guest off their show last night.

And Twitter’s fame is something you really cannot buy. It is like riding inside a Rolls Royce; priceless and people take notice everywhere you go.

What Twitter offers is blogs. You can write up to 140 characters in length and update as often as you like or need to. Daily specials? Sale next Sunday? Closed for vacation until June 5th? Put it there.

You do not need to create your own webpage, pay monthly or annual fees. No need to pay a web geek to put that soup of the day up, every day, 7 days a week.

Twitter is free. You control it, not it controls you. Why not add Twitter to your business card or email signature?

In the old days, you sold your product by building relationships. Don’t you miss it? I do. The main thing there is that those customers come back to you for your products. Facebook does exactly that: build relationships. The tools at your disposal are priceless and they do not hinder your ideas.

With that relationship you have repeat business, word of mouth advertising and that oh so important trust between you and your customer. Networking is an integral part of Facebook.

Going back to the old way of building relationships – when the lady of the house bought that important vacuum cleaner or steam iron, she told her neighbour and that neighbour told someone else, perhaps a relative. And so on. With Facebook and its powerful networking tools such as sponsorships, friendships, fans and blogs, your competition’s loss is your gain.

With their being heavy competition and a current global market crisis, this one-two punch to your bottom line would create a negative impact to your overall sales. Facebook actually helps you to achieve sales because of your location. Your web location and the other Facebook tool, group creation, you will be one step ahead of your competition and laughing all the way to the e-bank!