• Interesting post. Now studying how to schedule blog post feeds to "tweet later" at peak hours and how to geo-target tweets.
  • Glad to hear that Infusionsoft is promoting and recommending Twitter to their valued client!

    Follow me here!
    twitter.com/bniportugal
  • I hope the data in this short study is gathered from HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS of visitors I've driven to my websites using twitter in just the next few months.

    Thanks so much!
  • Thanks Joe! Very helpful article to a Twitter newbie. Have enjoyed meeting lots of homeschoolers and people from all walks of life thru Twitter.
  • I am still learning Twitter. I am comfortable with Facebook and still learning it but this article really helped me to see ways that I can integrate Twitter into my business. Selling my book is important to me because I know it can help a lot of individuals but I enjoy Facebook and Twitter even from a fun aspect. I have not had any direct sales yet but it is raising questions and conversations. Thanks for this article...it helped!
  • We have a twitter account and use it but we don't abuse it. Twitter won't be able to last if the constant spamming and direct marketer infomercial guys keep sending out tweets that are constant sales pitches. I am already tired of being followed by an endless line of people that want to sell you the latest report on how to make money online or how to be great in social media by getting 1000's of people who may never see your tweets and don't care to follow you. A couple more years of seasoning will show us if this site goes the way of MySpace and someone better and cleaner starts to show up.
  • Twilight2000
    Couple of questions: I'm between gigs right now, so have a fair amount of time - but I can barely keep up with the 60 or so folks I follow - how in the name of heaven do you keep up with 300?
    Secondly, I know of some folks that keep up multiple Twitter accounts - one for self, one for business/company - is Tweetdeck the best tool to manage multiple accounts & responses?
    Thanks for the article - it's a great overview of good ways to interact with social media!

    ~ Twilight2000
  • I have been using Twitter for a very short period, I have reached out to fellow Beauty site owners, and am slowly building my followers, I dont ask for anything but do offer freebies such as custom twitter badges and reviews, I am of course setting myself up for a future project I have in the works and hope to capitalize from that at the proper time. As in life timing is everything.http://twitter.com/EyelashQueen
  • @Michael -- Thanks for your thoughts. I agree, successful social media engagement (especially Twitter) happens when you reciprocate value. Content producers love to hear thanks and support for their content. The biggest barrier is lack of engagement from their audience, so something as simple as a thanks is a great way to reciprocate back to an author.

    @Bill -- Thanks for your support. While this article is focused on Twitter, it applies the concepts of social media to the application of Twitter. These skills are useful for being successful with social media, small business and customers on the Web. ;)

    @Manju -- Awesome! Glad you've found value in my entry. Whether you're new or tenured at Twitter, there's always something to learn. Keep in touch, my Twitter ID is @JoeManna. :)


    ~Joseph
  • Ramon,

    Thank you for commenting. Personally, I follow about 300 people. These are composed of prominent figures in the social media, CRM and marketing spaces. I also follow relevant industry peers (and competitors) to stay abreast of new changes and developments.

    That doesn't include the less personal type of tracking I do. I have multiple feeds on various terms and phrases used throughout the industries that we participate in (CRM, email marketing, ecommerce, lead nurturing, etc) on Twitter Search, Google Alerts and have those results de-duped and delivered to my email.

    I find value in personal notes about "heading to the airport," "Just watched Twilight," or "Looking for a great non-profit for small business." These notes speak to a few things -- the person's current agenda. Should I give them a call or text/email? If they are headed to the airport, odds are, they prefer text/voicemail. Personal thoughts about watching movies or special events can lead to great rapport-building opportunities during personal interactions. If you can provide additional value by responding to people's questions shows you care, you're engaged and you're useful/interesting.

    Of course, it always helps to make sure that we're always providing valuable messages, thoughtful messages aside from "Sleeping. kthxbai." However, these are merely form over function. It all depends on how we use it. Either way, it gives you a chance to strengthen a digital relationship, find new ones and build personal brand.

    Thanks again for commenting. I appreciate your thoughts here. :-)

    ~Joseph
  • Great post, Joe.

    As a big fan of Twitter, and a "professional communicator" (AKA part of Infusionsoft's PR team) it's great to see Infusionsoft share quality information and a healthy attitude regarding how entrepreneurs can benefit.

    Per Ramon's comment, I think everyone is looking for high-value content. Anita Campbell of Small Biz Trends recently updated her "Ultimate Small Business Twitter list": http://adjix.com/nqpp.

    Although there are great tools for streamlining consumption of Twitter content, its definitely a subjective call when it comes to what is worthwhile and interesting. I personally enjoy hearing what my favorite entrepreneurs and small business writers are up to, in addition to news, trends and best practices. But if you don't want to hear what business gurus are eating for breakfast, consider skimming through Twitter at least twice a day (I do this during my carpool/train commute) to easily skip the mundane and focus on the valuable tweets. Don't underestimate the advanced search functionality of http://search.twitter.com to help you find plenty of points of view on the exact topic of interest, too.

    For tools to help streamline the tweets that you read, in addition to those mentioned by Joe, check out TweetDeck (http://www.tweetdeck.com/beta/) for organizing by keyword. Also look up Tweetie, Twitterific and Twitterfon (my personal favorite) for using Twitter via mobile device.

    Monica
    http://twitter.com/monicarmiller
  • But I'm wondering, what Tweets do you SUBSCRIBE to? So many small biz twitter feeds are so personal and filled with things I don't care about - like - "going to the airport", "fed cat"!

    Ramon Ray, Editor & Technology Evangelist, Smallbiztechnology.com
  • Manju Thirani
    I have been using Twitter only for the last 2 months and find that it is a great learning tool as well.
  • I didn't realize there is so much to know about twitter, thanks
  • Joe, good article. I've been a fairly active Twitter-user for about a month now. One thing I find a bit annoying is when a Twitter-er bombards the site with a whole stack of updates, usually all a variation on a theme, ie: a bunch of recipes, quotes, etc. They are obviously auto-generated and has lead me to un-follow in a few cases.
    Another thing I don't much enjoy is when a person Tweets a lot but NEVER responds to my Tweets. That is just plain rude. Another reason to un-follow.
    What I love about Twitter is the organic and immediate nature of the medium.
    It's very cool to read what people are thinking and doing on a moment-by-moment basis.
    I am finding the best contacts that I am making on Twitter are the ones that just happen naturally.
    Exactly like in 'real-life' in a social setting.
    Certain personalities just tend to mesh while others don't.
    Thanks for this post and the opportunity for me to flesh out these thoughts. Joe.
  • Thanks, Ed! From my experience, I never really had to recommend Twitter to our customers, they just appear on there. People find their value in it and join. Although, I do think it would be an interesting way to log their entrepreneur experience.


    Larrysa, you make a good point. Twitter is a global communication medium. I was tailoring this entry toward the American small business. Nothing precludes one from Tweeting with a global perspective. Thanks for the feedback, I love it.

    ~Joe
  • larrysa
    You indicate the hours when you say people are active, but it should be 24 hours. Here in South India where I've been living lately, we're wide awake when you are fast asleep. THINK GLOBAL!
  • Ed
    I just started Twittering - haven't recommended it to my customers or clients yet, but it looks like I probably should... soon!

    Awesome post thanks.
blog comments powered by Disqus

Search

Subscribe



Facebook Fans

 
.infusionsoft.com