Are you using Twitter to capture new clients? If not, there is no better time to start than now! Recent stats show that Twitter‘s monthly growth is 1,382 percent (Nielsen.com) with over six (6) million unique visitors per month. Can you believe that? That means that you have the potential to expose your business to over 6 million unique twitter users each month and because Twitter is Viral, that number can continue to multiply as others tell their friends and family members about your business, product or service or pass on your website address.
If you already have set up your Twitter page, remember to pay close attention to the text on your profile bio that describes who you are and what you do. Ensure that there is a link to your website and make sure that your website is attractive and provide valuable information. For example Captivate Designs provide web design services, so it’s highlighted in my bio. It is important to remember that when potential customers take the time to read your bio, they want information that is interesting and helpful that will prompt them to visit your website or learn more about you.
One of the most valuable tools that Twitter has is the search tool. To find new customers, search for keywords that represent your customers. This can provide you with a list of potential customers that might be interested in your business or products. Start following them and you will find that several of them will start following you in return. There are also websites where twitter users list themselves, the most popular website is wefollow.com and it allows you to search for users based on keywords. It is also suggested that you list yourself with your twitter ID on this website as well; it will ask you to select several keywords that describes you or your business when you create a listing, which will make it easy for others who are looking for people like you to find you. Now that you have followers, you can start posting information about your products and/or services.
Just like forums or blogs, you need to demonstrate that you are the expert, but you also don’t want to be too promotional. Provide expert opinions, directions and suggestions but also add in non business related tweets that’s not just all about you.
Review tweets, or use the search engine to find tweets and be willing to offer bits of information or advice for free
By doing this, most users will recognize that you know what you are talking about which will generate an interest for them to follow you as well as do business with you or refer you to someone. The key to increasing and maintaining followers is ensuring that you always tweet something useful and interesting, if you don’t your followers will un-follow you.
You need to post and post often
It may sound time consuming, but it really only take literally minutes to post a message or an update or even a link to your website. If you are going to be out of town or unavailable to do routine tweets, there are several websites on the Internet that will allow you to schedule your tweets in advance. Also, don’t forget if you are traveling and have a BlackBerry or iPhone, there are applications for that as well and you can integrate twitter with your cell phone and post directly from it – just like texting.
You can also do what is called re-tweeting
Re-tweeting is where you can repost a tweet from someone else. If you find a tweet that you consider to be of value to your followers, you can simply re-tweet this information on your page. The accepted way of re-tweeting is to type ‘RT’ followed by @ and the tweeter’s username. It’s always recommended, to RT because it shows that you are committed to sharing valuable information, but also you show good faith to the user you re-tweet who in turn may re-tweet one of your tweets to his/her followers, which will give you credibility and help you to earn more followers (aka ) potential customers and evangelist.
All in all, Twitter is a great tool that can expand your reach to customers and potential customers. It allows you to stay in touch and connect with people instantly. It can help drive your brand and communicate with customers in a way that you have never done before. Think about it? Never before have you been able to reach American Consumers by Millions in such a personal and one on one basis until the phenomenon of the twitter website.
Now start building your following!