Are You Making These Mistakes on Twitter?
To tell you the truth, I love Twitter, it’s a fascinating mix of people having a million conversations at one time. The 140 character limit lets you dip in and out of them or follow particular conversations as you like. For example, you can follow marketing related material by using #marketing.
You can also find clients there. I have and millions of other professionals tweet with people everyday who eventually bring them business.
But, like any form of networking, you get what you put in.
Clients are always asking me what to do and not do on social media. Frankly, there are entire shelves filled with books on this topic at any bookstore. So, I’m going to keep it simple and highlight 3 mistakes I see made all the time on Twitter. (yes, these apply to Facebook and other platforms too.)
Here are three ridiculously common mistakes I see people (and businesses) making on social media.
I always wonder, what’s the point? Did they have a plan when they started or was it more from the place of “I have to jump on Facebook/Twitter/Youtube or I’m going to be left behind”?
Here’s the harsh reality, you’ll be left behind anyway if you approach social media with the wrong attitude. That’s a big topic for another blog post so let’s just stick with a few common mistakes you can easily avoid.
3 Twitter Mistakes You Can Avoid
Mistake #1) Setting up your Twitter account, automating it through FB and never looking at it again.
If you don’t want to tweet, then don’t tweet. Twitter is a conversation and that means you need to jump on twitter and converse with others. You can set up your Facebook stream to tweet your posts but if that’s all you do you’re not going to be gaining followers and establishing a presence on Twitter.
To succeed on Twitter (and in life) you have to interact. You can follow industry movers and shakers. Hint: Put their names in the search bar on twitter or check out www.48ers.com to find influencers.
Mistake #2) Only sending out promotional tweets—Twitter is a conversation.
Do you have conversations with your friends/family/clients? Of course you do. You don’t just stand there and talk at them about yourself and your latest promotion. It’s a two way street. Twitter is the same way.
Listen to others and interact. You don’t have to spend hours a day doing this. Twitter is perfect for standing in line at the store or a dipping into casually on a break between other projects.
Hint: Set a timer for 10 or 15 minutes if you’re afraid of being “sucked in”.
Mistake #3) Being one dimensional –
People are made up of a myriad of interests. Let your twitter stream reflect a real human and not a robot. You can tweet about your business but you can also tweet about your interests—sports, current events, theatre, whatever you enjoy.
Most of my clients are afraid of “oversharing”. That’s not a valid concern for many of the small business owners I coach. Most of you are not likely to even think about tweeting about the wild party where you are or snippets of disagreements you’re having.
You’re more likely not to think about tweeting—at all.
Yet, used correctly, it can be a stellar business tool. It’s an excellent way to connect with people in a casual manner and establish a relationship from which business may come.
Hint: Use http://www.twellow.com/ to find local or industry specific tweeters.
You may want to concentrate on one group or another or mix it up like I do. Whatever you choose, if you need help getting your “tweet on” and creating a social media plan that works for you, I have ½ hour complimentary sessions available. Contact me at 267-265-7291 or email at jenpapril(at) gmail (dot) com.
Jen Phillips April is an SEO copywriter and social media trainer (some call “counselor”) who loves to help business owners quell their social media anxiety.
