Twitter is full of people talking about what they are eating for breakfast

[Carbonite Australia]

I work beside a young person (part timer) who also works as a virtual assistant. I don't know how well this business venture is going but they recently printed business cards and began handing them around the office so that we could obviously hand them out to people we knew.

I was offered lots of cards but only took one.

I mentioned to her that Twitter was a thriving place for small business and that they would get more leads from it compared to handing out business cards. The response was that Twitter was full of irrelevant small talk.

I told her to get herself online and to create a FB page. No comment.

Are too many small/micro businesses missing the point about Social Media and what it can offer them?

[CondorCreative]

Haha I get where she is coming from & can empathise with it, however like it or not it CAN be a good business tool if used correctly.

[King]

Twitter is full of junk....being face to face with someone and giving them your card will be 1000% more effective any day.
I have never had one scrap of interest from either T or FB - I only participate in case it ever does.

I will give you an example of its ineffectiveness - We have included on our emails when we send clients their completed caricatures the invitation to interact with us on FB or to FB or Twitter about their caricature...despite getting enthusiastic emails says thanks, how wonderful etc, only one person has ever actively social media'd about us ( thanks Bridie) - so one in over 600 clients....

Does SM work. No

[WAHE]

If you take the "ter" out of "Twitter" explains the type of nonsense being posted on these social networks. Who wants to know when you brush your teeth, buy a Latte, go shopping e.t.c? Even within the business networks you still see a lot of repetitive garbage being posted.

[Keeta]

I have decided it comes down to how you use these mediums and what you expect from them.

I am a freelance writer and my client base is quite diverse. I have found that more small business people and other writers connect using Twitter, but not Facebook. Individuals and young people are the opposite.

My profiles are there, and I will start to use them more, but I don't hang out there all day, tweeting and poking in case I get a new job.

[King]

tweeting and poking

It's the 'poking' I find inappropriate - especially if you don't know them that well!

[Carbonite Australia]

As for Twitter I have found it to be the 2nd most effective communication medium we have used in marketing Carbonite. Facebook is another story but it is early days and personally I am learning more and more about it all of the time.

Face to face is great but you can't always get it. Whereas with social media you can even communicate with people when they aren't at work.

[bridiej]

I'm still getting to grips with my Facebook business page... But I love twitter and it's a great resource for businesses, particularly the smaller ones.

It makes me smile when people I hear people say "It's full of people talking about what they're having for lunch / taking out the garbage" etc.

Yes, there are heaps of individuals talking about things that aren't even vaguely interesting.

BUT from a business perspective there are heaps of individuals sharing interesting and useful content and interacting with one another.

Interaction is definitely the key. I've picked up a number of clients purely through my use of twitter, some of whom have been people I've been "chatting" to for a while and never imagined for a minute they'd be in the market for my services.

Not only that, I've learnt things I would never have known without it (website and marketing tips for instance).

That said, it's not for everyone.

And King - you're welcome!

[bridiej]

Originally Posted by Carbonite Australia

Face to face is great but you can't always get it. Whereas with social media you can even communicate with people when they aren't at work.

Absolutely, I have clients on the other side of the globe who I would never have reached without social media...

[SuzsSpace]

When I hand out my business card I generally get people saying 'Great, I have some books to get rid of', not 'Fantastic, I'd like to buy some'. I have had some sales through both Twitter and Facebook.

Like any business tool you need to do the research and see if Twitter or Facebook can help YOUR business. What might be good for someone else might not suit you.

I've been asked to help a bottle shop with a Facebook page and I told them to do some research to see where there customers are likely to hang out. I also suggested FourSquare would be a good thing to get involved in.