While I haven’t formally kept track of the number of times I’ve heard it, I can tell you that in my circles Twitter reigns as the social network least understood by solopreneurs and small business owners. “I just don’t get it,” is what I hear from professionals who have set up Twitter accounts (some of them years ago), but don’t have the foggiest idea about how to use them or know why they should use them.
I was there, too. When I set up my Twitter account in 2010, I was intimidated by the fast pace, baffled by what seemed to be an entirely different language, confused about how to build a meaningful network of connections there. And so, I ignored Twitter for a good while until I finally decided to “give it the old college try.”
As with any social network, it’s ultra-important to tweet interesting, informative, or entertaining content that the audience you want to reach will find relevant. And as you do on any other social network, you need to reciprocate and interact with others. You also need to consistently share content – only at a much higher frequency and volume than other social networks because of Twitter’s “blink and you miss it” characteristic.
But what I believe is really crucial in laying the foundation for doing all of the above is to make wise choices when following others on Twitter. When you follow the right Twitter users, it helps mold your overall following into one that will appreciate and interact with what you share.
As you’re building your Twitter network, be choosy about who you follow.
Some folks follow EVERYONE who follows them. BAD IDEA! While it seems nice to follow everyone back, you’ll do yourself and your quality followers an injustice by not being selective. And you’ll quickly find that your Twitter feed will be filled with junk that you don’t care about and that might even be offensive. After people follow you, ALWAYS look at their profiles and review their tweets before following them back.
Although it took some time for me to get my groove, Twitter has become one of my favorite online spaces for building and strengthening my professional network. I’ve gotten new clients through Twitter, and I have nurtured relationships with existing clients. Twitter has also made me much savvier as a solopreneur because of the breadth of quality information I’ve discovered through my network.
I believe Twitter provides the same opportunities to everyone who uses it with thought and pays attention to who they’re adding to their networks. Make smart choices as you follow others…and the rest will follow.
By Dawn Mentzer
Your turn…What successes and challenges have you had with Twitter? Please share your tips and advice to solopreneurs and small biz owners!
I view my role as more than an independent contractor for hire — I become a part of your team. You’ll find that I dig into the details to understand what’s important to you — and your customers. I embrace collaboration, communicate openly, and craft content to help you achieve your marketing and business goals. Read More...
Very informative. The time I started Twitter I followed almost everybody even if I had no idea why I was following them. It was a headache after. I had unnecessary information on my home page and I couldn’t see the tweets of the ones I liked to see. It took me half a day to reconsider all of the people and accounts I follow but in the end it was worth it. 🙂
Hi Jayden – thanks for sharing! It can take a chunk of time to review followers, but like you said, it’s well worth the effort so you’re not stuck with a bunch of junk in your feed. Using Hootsuite to review activity in Twitter has helped me a lot. Within my dashboard there, I have streams set up for my most important lists – including a VIP list/stream (private list) that I’ve added about 20 – 30 key people/businesses to so I never miss what they’re tweeting.
Oh yeah totally. Hootsuite is a cool app that I can’t live without. 🙂
I’m with you on that, Jayden!!