Home – New › Forums › Tech talk › Twitter is full of people talking about what they are eating for breakfast
- This topic is empty.
-
AuthorPosts
-
June 12, 2011 at 11:38 pm #1064284Up::0
There is a big difference between a professional business network such as FS where you associate online with small business owners, and social networks where you are limited to 140 characters to explain to the world what your everyday life is all about.
Would it not be more wise to associate with real people such as within this forum who have more constructive advice and information to offer, than someone who has a vocabulary of only 140 characters per post?
An online “Business” network is completely different to a “Social” network.
June 12, 2011 at 11:51 pm #1064285Up::0The thing is that not everyone knows about this forum and the many others that are out there and the many face to face networking events that take place during the week and the many great articles that are printed about small business etc etc. Twitter offers an opportunity to learn about all of these, because they are being talked about on Twitter. It also offers just as much a community as FS does and you have a choice of who you follow and don’t, what conversations you wish to participate in and don’t.
Just as there are in all forums including face to face networking, not all conversations are relevant or interesting but it is all part of engaging with other people, yes you listen to a bit of this and that and in between you also exchange ideas and make connections.
When I explain Twitter to people who want to know more but can’t grasp it I tell them to think if it like a networking event where you don’t know anyone. You need to initially find a group of people to stand next to. You then begin to listen to what they say. You join the conversation by adding some small talk. Then gradually people begin to trust you somewhat and the exchanges are more meaningful. Along the way, you move around the room looking for more conversations. Again there is small talk and good exchanges.
By the end of the evening you have exchanged cards and made connections. Twitter is no different.
June 13, 2011 at 6:09 am #1064286Up::0By the end of the evening you have exchanged cards and made connections. Twitter is no different.
I beg to differ. I think that both are hugely different from one another. Basically, at a networking event you are able to utilise more than one sense. In Twitter you have only one – sight – and even then this sight is handicapped as what you’re seeing is text, not the person behind the text. And therein lies the crux of that difference. With sight you have but 10% of your communicative faculties to hand, with impaired sight that field is narrowed to about 5% and therefore a much larger margin for error is in play. If I had a dollar for every stupid mistake made in Twitter as a result of poor communication I….well, I wouldn’t be here. I’d be on my superyacht in the Carribean
In addition, there’s a more sinister twist in a text only medium in that you can’t see who’s writing. It could be anyone. Sure you can give them your card but are they the right person to be receiving it? At least at a networking event you can clearly identify who you’re speaking to, make value based judgements and with other cues available can, for the most part, assess whether they are genuine or not. This cuts out a lot of timewasting and hassle. It also serves as a vital avenue for trust. And you will never get that on Twitter.
June 13, 2011 at 6:18 am #1064287Up::0Twitter is an uncontrolled beast – and far more shotgun that most marketing methods.
Maybe think more about SMS as a marketing and communication tool. It is still growing and remains far more effective despite the rise of social media.
If you want to try SMS I can set up an account and you can try our easy web interface. Just PM me.
June 13, 2011 at 6:37 am #1064288Up::0Carbonite Australia, post: 79603 wrote:When I explain Twitter to people who want to know more but can’t grasp it I tell them to think if it like a networking event where you don’t know anyone. You need to initially find a group of people to stand next to.I hope you don’t mind but I had a look at your recent ‘tweets’.
Your last half dozen or so were just a link back to this thread on FS.
See this is where the whole system breaks down for me. I have zero control over what others do with ‘my’ business.
To me, if I were following you on Twitter I would see your repetative tweets with the same link as a form of spam. How this can possibly benefit your business I’m not sure as I would probably un-follow you and wouldn’t take too kindly to the business you are spamming me with.
If you were spamming potential clients with my site link, it would leave me in an uncomfortable position and I can’t possibly see how this helps either of our businesses.
Furthermore, the other tweets I read were links explaining the benefits of social media, again this I don’t get. If it is such a great tool then I would be using these benefits as opposed to discussing about these benefits.
It all seems rather pointless unless used correctly … defining correctly is the tricky part I guess and even then, you have no control over others ‘marketing’ your business correctly.
Goodluck with it.
June 13, 2011 at 6:54 am #1064289Up::0Furthermore, the other tweets I read were links explaining the benefits of social media, again this I don’t get.
Its called urban myth. People create a new industry and tout its benefit and then set up business to ‘do it’ …but no measureable results… (not implying that is what you do carbonite).
Its all smoke and mirrors….
June 13, 2011 at 8:53 am #1064290Up::0This is one way twitter has worked for me:
I tweeted about a blog post…. it got re-tweeted by one of my followers, one of his followers looked at it and became a client.
Same with another post I wrote that was shared a lot on twitter – I gained a client.
Both are now regular clients and both are in the UK. There is NO WAY I could do face-to-face networking in the UK, seeing as I’m in WA.
I don’t and (so far) never have done face-to-face networking. Of all my clients only three I’ve met in person (they happened to be local when I lived in the UK). I’m a Virtual Assistant, specialising in transcription and typing.
Using twitter has also helped my business in other ways, for instance it’s put me in touch with copywriters and marketing people (as well as others) who have undertaken work for me. Without twitter I wouldn’t have known that you could hire a copywriter to write your website or other stuff for you. I certainly wouldn’t have learned so much about marketing, SEO or WordPress had it not been for social media.
Not only that, I think it’s great that I can have a real-time “chat” with someone over twitter – I work from home and don’t have anyone to enjoy office banter with otherwise.
I don’t deny there is a LOT of rubbish on twitter…. but it’s simple enough to filter out – just stop following people that post the same old, same old over and over again, use automated tweets, broadcast sales messages all the time or don’t bother replying when you ask them something / answer a query they had.
I do intend joining my local Chamber of Commerce and so take part in some face-to-face, but using social media doesn’t mean you can’t do face-to-face and vice versa – there’s room for both.
Like I said before, twitter (and other social media platforms) aren’t for everybody, so if you can’t see the point then don’t bother.
June 13, 2011 at 11:12 pm #1064291Up::0People seem to be thinking about Twitter as sone sort of advertising option. It’s not going to work for you if you think about it like this.
One way I look at it is part of a content marketing strategy (and the most important part). You follow people who produce great content so you are constantly learning, constantly re-tweeting great content for your followers, constantly inspired to create great content yourself. You help other people promote their comtent and they do the same. You use Twitter to spread the word about your content and over time with a big enough following, word spreads (which may lead to new clients, may lead to improved search engine positions etc).
The thing is the road to content marketing leadership is a very long one. Those of us who market their businesses this way put a lot of time into things that other people wouldn’t spend minutes on unless they saw a decent return. I spend probably 2-3 hours a day on Twitter, reading blogs, reading forums, sharing content coming up with ideas for my own blog, for products etc (and that’s before writing anything). It’s an attitude, a commitment, and not something that produces an immediate return. Not something you can really explain to people who choose to market their businesses in more traditional ways.
Whether you choose to market your business in this way or not, you need to give to get. It’s not like advertising, you don’t try it then sit back and wait.
June 14, 2011 at 12:19 am #1064292Up::0I think the main point got missed somehow and I understand that an avid Twitter user will defend it. The point is when a potential customer is looking for a service or product they are not going to say in their head, “Great I will do a search on Twitter and find what I need.”
In general when you talk to people about social sites they are not perceived as trustworthy places for obtaining services or products. I think people have forgotten that “face to face” has been proven and tested to be the best business builder. That is why companies and businesses have “Business Development” managers to build there customer base.
I would not “Hold my Breath” waiting for Twitter users to knock on my door needing my products or services.
June 14, 2011 at 2:05 am #1064293Up::0So how is someone who does business with people across the other side of the world able to partake in face-to-face networking? I’m not trying to start an argument, just curious as I can’t see how it would be possible…
Do people search twitter looking for transcribers?
Not likely.
BUT twice now people have seen my content and thought “I could do with a transcriber”. The first client would probably have Googled it and found a transcriber that way. The second client I don’t think it had even occurred to her to dictate her work and have someone else do the typing.
I certainly don’t hold my breath ever waiting for clients to knock on my door, but I don’t like to see people instantly dismiss twitter (and social media in general) when actually they can form an integral part of your marketing and networking.
June 14, 2011 at 2:16 am #1064294Up::0I certainly wouldn’t have learned so much about marketing, SEO or WordPress had it not been for social media.
I can say the same, but not having sourced any of it via twitter.
I use search engines
Forums is the only other ‘knowledge sourcing tool” I use.
I do find it frustrating to hear people talking of twitter and in fact social media as if it is some form of viral marketing holy grail…
June 14, 2011 at 2:22 am #1064295Up::0websitedesigner, post: 79732 wrote:I spend probably 2-3 hours a day on Twitter.Not something you can really explain to people who choose to market their businesses in more traditional ways.Hi,
I think when it’s all said and done it comes down to this, whether or not the 60-90 hours per month invested is worth the return you recieve.
Ninety hours is two solid weeks for some people, so to be dedicating this valuable time to social networking is a huge punt.
I’m actually surprised any business making money on a day to day basis can allocate this time to begin with?
June 14, 2011 at 3:27 am #1064296Up::0I have to admit I don’t understand twitter, but we plan to incorporate it into our marketing strategy (and I plan to expand my twitter knowledge).
Our strategy will be to use twitter and facebook as another way to connect to our existing customer base and help to keep us front of mind.
I am hoping to expand our use of facebook to start looking to convert new customer’s but anticipate we will do this via facebook ads, rather than relying on clients to promote us themselves.
However, I also believe in asking our client base to refer us on if they liked us, but perhaps this wouldn’t work across all industries.
June 14, 2011 at 3:35 am #1064297Up::0bridiej, post: 79753 wrote:I certainly don’t hold my breath ever waiting for clients to knock on my door, but I don’t like to see people instantly dismiss twitter (and social media in general) when actually they can form an integral part of your marketing and networking.I totally agree with you bridiej. I think if a business’ sole marketing strategy is to use social media as a form of obtaining new clients, disappointment will definitely follow. I think and hope that social media is a tool for building your reputation and brand in the online marketplace and if you are smart/lucky enough you can leverage this into converting a few new sales.
June 14, 2011 at 5:23 am #1064298 -
AuthorPosts
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.