Twitter in Business for Success Tip #1

Want to know the secret to my Twitter success, so you can apply it to your Twitter business marketing strategy?

You are not alone in the quest to learn how to use Twitter in business better and more effectively to succeed in marketing your business. Several weeks ago, Fred Campos of Fun City Social Media and I got together to honor Social Media Day and presented a joint presentation, Facebook vs. Twitter.  The attendees gave us excellent feedback and really seemed to enjoy learning about both Facebook and Twitter, how they work together and separately in marketing your business.

The presentation flowed quite well, I gave a brief overview of the different types of Online Marketing and when you might want to use of them. I then dove right into My Twenty Tips for Twitter Success.  Each tip I shared included an explanation of how businesses could apply it to their social media marketing campaign and how I applied it to achieve my Twitter success.  In August of 2009, I had about 200 Twitter followers. By October of 2009, I had built this up to around 4000 and now I have over 18,000.  It is important that I tell you I grew my following using organic tactics only, being real, having genuine conversation with my followers (I really consider them my friends). The 20 tips I am going to share over the next series of blog posts will help you achieve this same Twitter success if you apply them effectively.

First, I want to share with you a little about Fred’s presentation on Facebook Marketing. Most of the tips I shared in My Twenty Tips to Twitter Success can be applied to your social networking strategy on multiple platforms, so it played well into the kind of content you would share on your Facebook Business Page also.

One of the tips Fred shared that really got my attention was a strategy to grow the “Likes” on your Facebook Business Page. He said “While logged in as your page, go to other Facebook Business Pages that would compliment your services and strategic partners and post messages on their wall. Also, go to pages that your ideal customer would frequent and post wall messages there too.” He advised “be sincere in the messages you post, don’t’ try to sell, or be spam like, give them a compliment so the page will leave your comment on their wall”.  The fans that frequent their page will see your wall post, most likely click on it, and go “Like” your page.  I started using Fred’s strategy to grow some of my pages and my clients’ pages. It works. To read more about this tactic, Fred’s business partner, @FunCityGal, wrote a blog post. Check it out!

I know … I know …. You are reading this post because you want My Twenty Tips for Twitter Success and you want all 20 tips right now.  You want Twitter success now … Patience, my friend, I am writing an eBook with all twenty tips for Twitter business success and how to apply each one.  It will be available for download shortly and you can have all 20 Tips pronto.  In the meantime, it will be a blog post at a time …

1^st tip to achieving Twitter success:

Register your account, SEO Optimize your Twitter Bio, and Upload a Profile Picture

What name should you use to register your Twitter username? If you are your business, i.e. coach, speaker, etc. register your Twitter id in your name.  If your business provides a service such as dry cleaners, jewelry store, restaurant, etc. register the Twitter id in the business name.

Still need help deciding? Answer this question – What do you want to brand? You or your business? You can always take a poll and ask your friends how they would look for your particular service online.  You can always register multiple Twitter ids. I would suggest if you are new to Twitter to master its use with one Twitter id, before making it more complicated by managing more however.

How do you SEO Optimize your Twitter Bio? Use keywords to describe you or your business. Think of this as a short bio using the keywords in your industry that others would search for to find you or your service. If you have room include the state you live in if your service is for a particular area only (i.e. serving Texas.).

I don’t like my headshot and am still waiting on the company logo. You would like to use a picture of something else temporarily, perhaps a default Twitter avatar or picture taken of you from a distance.  Don’t make this mistake! If you use a default Twitter avatar people that are considering following you will not take you seriously. They will decide you are a spammer and either decide not to follow you or unfollow you if they already have.  I personally don’t follow/unfollow anyone who doesn’t have a real picture for their Twitter avatar.

Should you use your picture or your company logo? That depends on what your Twitter id is that you registered. If you registered the Twitter username as your name, use your headshot, if you registered under the business name use your company logo.

That’s it for Twitter Business Success Tip #1. Now go out and check to make sure you are following these suggestions closely.

It’s your turn … Don’t forget to comment below about what you have learned about this part of the process. Your thoughts and feedback are just as important as mine!