Getting Started With Social Media

As I mentioned in a previous post, more and more large corporations are turning to Twitter and other Social Media platforms for effective, inexpensive alternatives to conventional advertising.

Originally, Twitter was created and used as a virtual water cooler, a place where it’s creators could gather, without leaving their desks, and share ideas.

Obviously, Twitter quickly caught on and people everywhere started “tweeting”.

Not intended for business at first, marketers soon discovered that the unique ability to build relationships with potential clients makes Twitter (and other platforms) great for business.

As of April, 2010, 105,779,770 Twitter users were reported and there is room for enormous growth.

Also, 51% of Twitter users follow companies, brands, or products on social networks.

These kinds of statistics let us know that, if done correctly, amazing things can be accomplished on Twitter for business.

What Can Twitter Do For My Business?

1. Grow your business/Dominate your market.
2. Establish and/or extend the reach of your brand.
3. Raise the profile of your business.
4. Build publicity for your products, services, events.
5. Build deeper relationships with customers, clients and other entrepreneurs.
6. Gain wisdom and advice from experts.
7. Gain additional streams of web traffic.
8. Give alerts to previous visitors of new content on your websites.
9. Promote blog posts.
10. Turn followers into visitors/visitors into paying customers.

Referring to an example I’ve used before, Twitter makes it possible to totally revolutionize your customer service.  When set up correctly, you are able to respond instantly to customer service issues, or simply follow up with customers and prospects.

So how do I effectively set up Twitter for business?

1.  Go to Twitter.com and sign up for a free account.

Even if you already have an account, you can use the one you have or start fresh.

2.  Carefully choose a user name.

Your user name will be a part of your Twitter url, which will be used in search engines so you want it to be closely associated with you, short, and easy to remember.  It can be your name or the name of your business.  For instance, mine is http://www.twitter.com/CherilynnStone.

I recommend registering both your name and your business name, and maintaining both accounts.  Use your personal name in the sign up process when registering your business so it will be linked to both accounts.

It’s also wise to register your name on as many other Social Media platforms as possible to further lock in your brand.

Go to www.namechk.com to see if your name(s) are available on the other platforms.  If they are, register them.

If you want to save yourself some time and don’t mind a small investment, www.knowem.com will tell you if your name is available on other platforms AND register to them all for you.

3.  Set up your profile.

On Twitter, before you get to your profile set up, you will have an opportunity to invite people you know like email contacts to follow you.  While you definitely want to build up followers, this is not the time.  Set up your profile first, so when you invite people, and they go to check you out, you have a professional presence for them to see.

4.  Enter your main website.

Preferably your blog, if you’ve been a part of any of my training.

5.  Enter a short Bio

Your bio should consist of three short professional descriptions and a personal description of something you enjoy outside of your work to keep it personable.

6.  Specify a location?

If you want to localize your work, check this box.  Otherwise, leave it blank to market world wide.

7.  Upload your picture and create a custom background.

A good picture and custom background does a lot to boost credibility and establish your brand.  Your picture is as easy as uploading from your computer.

You can change your background within Twitter or choose a custom design at http://www.twitterpatterns.com.

8.  Link to your mobile phone.

This is a great feature for building relationships, allowing you to get involved in conversations as they happen.  It’s also great for staying on top of customer service.

9.  Build a following.

Now that your profile is complete, you are ready to build a following of prospects.  Start with your family and friends then begin tweeting.

Produce content that is interesting, fun and valuable.  Create interesting conversations others want to join.  Simply talking about your business and promoting your products will only turn people off.

Go to search.twitter.com and search the keywords associated with your niche.  From the results you will find experts in your field to follow.  Some will follow you back and when they do, the quality conversations you have with them will be seen by their followers and some will follow you as well.  When people begin to see that you are genuine, they will begin to know you, like you, and trust you.

That is when sales are made.

Follow the experts, gain friendships and respect by replying to others, give back more than you take and establish yourself as an expert in your field.

Also, publicize your tweets on your blog, direct followers to your blog, and set up your blog posts to also post to your twitter account.

10.  Automate

For busy entrepreneurs, automation is the way to go.  There are several services available but there is one that particularly stands out.

www.Tweetspinner.com is an awesome service that allows you to automatically follow people, plus target new followers by keywords, FREE.  If you want to upgrade and invest in more features, you wouldn’t need more than the $14 or $20 per month option, and they come with a 5-day trial.

You can also schedule tweets to help you stay engaged when you can’t be on Twitter.

A word of caution. When scheduling tweets, limit these to real scheduled events such as a business seminar you attend.  Save the personal tweets for when you are actually tweeting.

You must maintain regular (daily) interaction with your followers in order to build relationships and begin to be recognized as an expert in your field.

Following these steps will get you well on your way to mastering Twitter for your business.

Twitter is not the only Social Media platform, of course.  Ideally, to make the most out of your Internet marketing efforts, you need to take advantage of what I call, the “Five Ideals For Business”.  These are Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, YouTube, and your blog.

For a detailed training session of how to utilize these tools, sign up for a free, one hour training session where I’ll walk you through the process, step by step.  Simply fill in the form at the right and secure your spot in the next session.

Cherilynn Stone
Social Media Consultant
www.cherilynnstone.com
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