Using Twitter Effectively

While I was checking my twitter followers this morning I began to really notice who the real business folks were vs. the money makers.  You may not realize there’s a difference but there is.   

I'm an internet business owner and a marketer so I use Twitter as one of my main social networking sites which means I socially network, but judging from the followers I get each day that's not how they use Twitter at all.  Simply put, they use it to promote their stuff and that's not an effective way of using Twitter.

Twitter makes it obvious who the real passionate business owners are vs. those online simply to make money.  Granted we all want to make more money but if that's your only focus you'll be disappointed.

So I ask you, are you online working a business as your passion or are you online to make money?

You may be answering both.  But is that really true?   Sure we all want to make money but if the work and the effort scare you and you take shortcuts, experience loss of focus and motivation, you're probably lacking the passion. The truth is, if you're passionate about what you do the work isn't so bad.  It's what separates the men from the boys, so to speak

Think about this for a minute.  If you go to work every day without liking what you do and are simply going through the motions, you're probably doing it more for the money than anything else, and it's the money that keeps you motivated. 

Working for money as your only focus is a hard way to go.  You'll eventually give up; it's what happens to a lot of people and they're the ones who often turn to the internet looking to start their own internet business, but many are fooling themselves, they don't really want their own business, they want to make money.  

I can see it in my twitter followers.  A new twitter follower that sends me to a sales page or an affiliate site has no passion or great love for what they do, it's a job for them, a way to earn money and they certainly don't care about what I do or what I’m about. They simply want me to see their offer and have me as a follower and if I don’t follow them they will unfollow me.  

I also see it in the way people follow one another.  The "I won't follow you unless you follow me" mentality is a complete misunderstanding of how Twitter or any social marketing should work.

Perhaps people feel it's a feather in their cap to have as many people as they can follow them, no matter what they do or stand for. Really, what's the point? If you're going to follow someone it should be because you can benefit from them by learning or being inspired, and if you can do the same for them, they might follow you but it should be in a way they see as nonthreatening or salesy.  

Using Twitter to Build Your Brand

The real business owners put their business first; they boast about what they do, they engage with their followers, they offer advice and insight, but they also know the value of building their brand. 

Your brand is YOU, it's what you DO it's your business and you need to build it up. Your goal should be to help others understand it, get familiar with it, learn about it.  You can only do that by engaging with others and getting to know and understand them first. Using Twitter can effectively do just that.      

Sending followers or visitors directly to your sales page and asking them to buy your products isn't building your brand, it's building your pocketbook and no one responds to that very well.

Next time you're reviewing your twitter followers don't take on the "I follow you, you follow me" mentality.  Follow people for what you can learn from them, follow them for what they stand for and follow them because they can help expand your reach, and when looking for followers yourself keep the same strategy in mind.

Any thoughts?

Tagged as: Social Networking, twitter