I read an interesting article by Jason Jordan in The West Australian Newspaper titled In defence of Twitter. It’s a good article with some good Word of Mouth (WoM) references for people to follow. Jason wrote every sentence using 140 characters or less to help prove short communications can be extremely effective. I’m glad Jason wrote the story. Twitter has done so many good things for my business I can’t be bothered to get defensive any more. Here are six of my own reasons why I think business, in particular, should be using Twitter.
1) Lead Generation I’ve closed business that started with a tweet. A recent example involved a woman in Melbourne sending a tweet looking for an IT-savvy copywriter. Someone in my network sent me the tweet asking if I could help. I contacted the woman who originated the search through Twitter. The short story is she knew of a national organisation needing the sort of services I offer. She gave me the contact details and I successfully pursued the business. First tweet to accepted proposal: four days!
2) Lead Nurturing While lead generation is a wonderful thing, I’ve recently come to understand the power of lead nurturing. Twitter is a wonderful tool for content marketing, the mother of all lead nurturing programs. Twitter allows you to provide links to valuable information. If you stay consistently focused over a period of time, people make the decision to work with you before they have an actual requirement. It’s a longer sales cycle, for sure, but it’s an extremely effective one requiring no capital investment in marketing.
3) Build a Network I started Global Copywriting in Western Australia without knowing a single soul in my local market. Twitter has helped me find prospective customers, identify thought leaders and connect with other folks who may benefit from copywriting services. Within a few months, my business was beginning to see a significant impact from activity attributed to Twitter. 3a) Virtual Office Mate When you work from a home office, as I do, it’s nice to have a group of people to share triumphs and disappointments. I never know who is going to see or reply to my tweets, but someone always does and it provides a welcome sense of community.
4) Listening Posts If you enjoy eavesdropping, Twitter is a fantastic tool to discover what people are thinking, what they’re reading, where they’re going and who they’re speaking to. If your network consists of industry experts – and it should – you have access to the most current information available. The Twitter search facility allows you to research a topic, start a conversation, ask questions and find up-to-the-minute answers with a fluidity and range you can’t find anywhere else.
5) Gain Influence I wrote a blog post on public speaking contrasting a day spent critiquing oral compositions with one of my own speaking engagements. The invitation to participate in the ECU Business Edge program as an industry expert was extended over Twitter. Likewise, the opportunity to present at the Brew Small Business Expo Perth was also initiated on Twitter. I had never met the people organising these events before but my Tweets had convinced them I was a worthy candidate. I’m convinced the sphere of influence you can build on Twitter is limitless.
6) Drive Traffic to Your Website Perhaps the most obvious way you can improve your business with Twitter is to let people know you have an online presence. If you have a commercial website, Twitter is an extremely effective tool for getting unique user traffic. If you’ve built a quality network and established your authority, it can be as simple as tweeting a link to your website.
Looking back, I totally underestimated the power and reach of Twitter to affect my business. I started tweeting with the single goal of getting people to visit my website. It didn’t take long for me to realise this was, perhaps, the least important aspect of my Twitter activity. I can’t imagine what my business would look like without the contributions Twitter has made to my network, my corporate brand and my revenue flow. I’m glad Jason Jordan (@jasonjordan) is taking up the Twitter cause. My Twitter-generated business doesn’t leave much time for anything but working on projects in my pipeline.
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