twitter???

[G. Lasagne]

Just been having a play on twitter, dont see the point to be honest, i mean can you only make posts in the "what you doing now box" and if so they too short to say anything informative, and does anyone know how to transfer the posts from your blog on to twitter?

 

[Toni Anicic]

That IS the point, tweets can only be 140 characters long. It's because of mobile compatibility.

 

[G. Lasagne]

oh reet cheers, and am i right in thinking if i follow somebody they have to follow me in return before i can make posts on there wall (or whatever you call it) and then if i makle a post all there followers will be alerted to that post?

 

[Toni Anicic]

No...

Twitter is not reciprocal. Look at it this way:

You have a stream (your homepage) where all the tweets you make and people you follow make are shown to you.

So if you want someone to see your tweets they need to follow you. If you want their followers to see your tweets, they also need to follow you.

 

[Eagle]

There's a lot of point to twitter (at the moment). Stick with it... while it remains popular.

 

[mattk]

There's a lot of point to twitter (at the moment).

Please explain!!!

I am struggling to see the point myself. Maybe I'm following the wrong people??!!

 

[Kev Jaques]

mattk you should look to your 101 tips to boost your web traffic, there's one way

 

[hg_info]

Just been having a play on twitter, dont see the point to be honest,

We thought the same at first, but it really is a lot of fun for bitesized info - if you can build up a little Twitter-verse community of interesting people/companies. So to RT @Eagle: "Stick with it... while it remains popular"

 

[petera]

Please explain!!!

I am struggling to see the point myself. Maybe I'm following the wrong people??!!

Ok, imagine if you had loads of people in and around your industry following you. Anything you post goes straight to them - special offers, new products, company developments, job adverts etc.

If you have an active blog that you update regularly with industry/company news you can install a plugin called tweetfeed or tweeterfeed which automatically posts a link to your blog posts on Twitter. This can act as a great linkbait tool because you're serving your content to people who are likely to be interested in it, and who might link to your blog from their relevant website.

 

[Chunkford]

I was like this, and I think most people don't get it at first.
I don't tweet (yet), but the main point for me is that it is a real time information.
You will know/hear about things first if you keep your ear to twitter.

 

[G. Lasagne]

so if i make a post who sees it, only the people following me?, so to get followers you have to ask them? then how have some people got 10,000 followers?
By that i mean at what point have they seen a post and thought "that looks interesting i will follow them", if they werent following them in the first place? Think i will stick to plumbing

 

[Chunkford]

Anyone can see it.
People who follow you see it on their 'wall'
People who search for keywords in your tweet see it in the search results.
You can have private tweets by direct tweeting

 

[Chunkford]

Take plumbing for example.
If you do a good job, someone might twitter about it. Others may come across this tweet and you may get extra business from it.
Say you have a blog about plumbing advice, you could tweet links to your blog for people to read to gain a following. Then if a follower has a problem, they will call you
It's all to do with creating a micro community, where people are interested in what you do.

 

[G. Lasagne]

what about theis automoated software like tweet adder?

 

[Chunkford]

I won't know, i've never used it

 

[webpromoterservice]

No real value to it as far as i am concerned.
I guess it depends what sort of business you are in.If you are a celebrity or politician then i am guess it could help you build your reputation and fight any negative press.

 

[Toni Anicic]

The real value of Twitter is real time search. Now be smart and see how you can benefit from this as a B2B service provider or a B2C company

I don't get people who can't see the value of millions of users talking about their needs and being able to search for them in real time.

 

[Gemma R]

Hi, I own a graphic design company and as I am just a start-up maximising my profile on the internet has been one of the best ways to get me new clients - by this I mean using twitter to my advantage. The whole point is so you can search and follow people who are in the same industry as you or people who you generally find interesting - thats how it works at a basic level.

However, there is so much more you can with it, just follow lots of people, search for things your interested in and follow them, soon enough you'll have a bunch of followers who are all likeminded people. Then drop in special offers, offer advice, links to interesting articles, this is where people see the 'value' of following you. I've given and recieved great tips on twitter, I've also gained several new customers this way, dont under estimate how this can help you. Just be pro-active and make the best of it, you have lots of followers in no time!

 

[mattk]

Ok, imagine if you had loads of people in and around your industry following you. Anything you post goes straight to them - special offers, new products, company developments, job adverts etc.

This is the bit I am struggling with. I can understand following Dell or Coca Cola, but why would anyone follow a printing company from Swindon (as an example)?

 

[mattk]

The real value of Twitter is real time search. Now be smart and see how you can benefit from this as a B2B service provider or a B2C company

I don't get people who can't see the value of millions of users talking about their needs and being able to search for them in real time.

But unless you can react in real time to someone in western California who "wants a meatball sub with extra cheese" I can't see the value.

Trying to get customers from twitter feeds is like the proverbial needle in a haystack IMHO.

 

[Toni Anicic]

But unless you can react in real time to someone in western California who "wants a meatball sub with extra cheese" I can't see the value.

Trying to get customers from twitter feeds is like the proverbial needle in a haystack IMHO.

Not really, I do it every day. It's not that hard. You just need to figure out what exactly you should search for.

 

[AngliaSolutions]

I have had several enquiries using Twitter so far and so I will stick at it. Things can only get better as follower numbers grow.

If you have interesting things to say and help, tips & advice, Im sure people will follow you too.

Im AngliaSolutions on Twitter and I try to mix my Tweets - personal, business, advice, links to good articles or sites.

 

[Gemma R]

This is the bit I am struggling with. I can understand following Dell or Coca Cola, but why would anyone follow a printing company from Swindon (as an example)?

Because if you are a company based in Swindon who is on twitter and you are following local businesses in the area.. actually it makes perfect sense. If
you are for example a company who needs printing.. which is pretty much all of them isnt it?

 

[Chunkford]

But unless you can react in real time to someone in western California who "wants a meatball sub with extra cheese" I can't see the value.

Trying to get customers from twitter feeds is like the proverbial needle in a haystack IMHO.

No, but they may say - yuk! the meat in my meatball sub i had was horrible or Why do they put extra cheese in my meatball sub! it ruins the taste!

You get this information FAST! and you can learn from it

 

[Chunkford]

The real value of Twitter is real time search. Now be smart and see how you can benefit from this as a B2B service provider or a B2C company

I don't get people who can't see the value of millions of users talking about their needs and being able to search for them in real time.

I second that.
He/she that has the most information, and knows how to use it, has the power (mhwaa haa haa - do you like my evil laugh).
Take google as a prime example. They offer all these free products. So when people use them, they can access this information and use it to their advantage.

 

[G. Lasagne]

I have had several enquiries using Twitter so far and so I will stick at it. Things can only get better as follower numbers grow.

If you have interesting things to say and help, tips & advice, Im sure people will follow you too.

Im AngliaSolutions on Twitter and I try to mix my Tweets - personal, business, advice, links to good articles or sites.

Thats my problem thinking of interesting things to say, i mean plumbing is hardly a hot topic at the moment, im using twitter as a number games, by following as many people as possible in my local area, a small percentage will follow me back, eventually i will have a decent following and then by hitting them all the time with special offers and tips, a small percentage will require my services, thats what im hoping anyway.
A good tip is to view a list of followers of a group that relates to you and then simply click on them whilst holding CTRL this will open them in a new window, as you move down the list you will be left with a load of windows opened. Then all you do is click on them press follow, and then open the next window and so on.
Its a quick way of getting lots of followers.

 

[mattk]

This is why I'm not a millionaire.

I'm too cynical!

 

[Spiderden]

Don't just talk business, post something humorous that's happened to you today, or an interesting link that you've found that has nothing to do with your business. Reply to other people's updates.

If all you do is post about your business and spam Twitter with links, you won't gain many followers and many of those you do have will unfollow you. Show everyone there's a real person behind the Twitter account!

I didn't get Twitter when I first tried it, I gave it another go after about 6 months to see if there was more to it. Within 3 months, I've gained 3700+ followers and can get 200+ targeted visits to my site within an hour of posting a link.

You'll find it'll make more sense the more people you follow. I didn't really get it until I was following 100+, then everything fell into place. I now follow 1,200+.

One advantage of having that many followers is that if I ask a question on almost any subject, someone will answer it within a minute or two.

It can be a valuable business and personal tool if used well.

 

[fourblankwalls]

We find twitter very useful to get the message out there. We sell canvas prints and perspex art. We always tell our followers when we have offers on etc. It is not always the followers that buy from your site. They might email your details to someone else who is not on twitter etc.

 

[Toni Anicic]

I can see most of you still don't get it so here are the articles that will explain everything:

How to get targeted followers on Twitter - http://inchoo.net/online-marketing/how-to-get-targeted-followers-on-twitter/

Lead Generation with Real time search - http://inchoo.net/online-marketing/lead-generation-and-real-time-search/

 

[AngliaSolutions]

I think everyone when they first join Twitter wonders what on earth it is all about, i know i did. Eventually, you will get the jist and i have found it great for getting the message out there, having a chat, helping people, asking people for help - all sorts of things.

I would say definately give it a try. Why not start by following everyone on here in the Twitter group and you might just get what its all about.

Come on..... give it a go!

 

[maxine]

We are experimenting with twitter at the moment for trades

19 Aug - Is Twitter for Trades is our recent blog article and you can see the previous updates to see our story so far GasAngel.



The way I see it, we are building up a local name for ourselves and if that means a load of old chit chat so people can get a feel for our personalities and us get a feel for them then great

 

[templarmc]

The thing with Twitter is this - a lot of people don't get it at first. It took me at least two or three times to get 'into it', but that's because the web interface isn't as good as some of the desktop tools (Tweetdeck, Seesmic) or iphone (Tweetie) but also because it takes some effort - following, getting followers, or both.

Think "Field of Dreams" (if you build it, they will come) - too many people setup a Twitter account, and just do nothing except wait, and wait, and wait....

As with all Social Media, it pays to consider a strategy first - what are you looking to achieve? Reach out to customers? Engage with similar companies? Research articles?

I'd suggest for business, Twitter falls into 3 general brackets.
1) Following - inspirational or interesting people/companies
2) Building followers - existing or potential customers
3) Publishing content into the Twittersphere, in the hope someone will search for something you're supplying, or can help them with.

I'd suggest best way to 'get into it' is set up a personal account, get used to it, then establish a business profile.

Twitter does work for business, and it works extremely well - often in mysterious, unexpected and sometimes creepy ways. For us, it works for publishing content, searching for new leads/clients, keeping up with the news and happenings, networking, tracking competitors, spotting trends, but above anything else, keeps things fresh, modern and up to date.

Have a look at our profile and see if it makes any sense..... @templarmc

 

[G. Lasagne]

templarmc - i cant find your profile??

 

[templarmc]

templarmc - i cant find your profile??

http://twitter.com/TemplarMC

Shouldn't be case sensitive though..

 

[maxine]

I have a renewed interest in twitter.

It took me a while to understand how to best use it and enjoy it given balance of work time etc.

There are oodles of twitter applications around that can help make things a bit more manageable ie; tweetdeck for starters

Once you start following a few people you will soon get bombarded with lots of twitter advice anyway

As for plumbing there are guys in the US who I tweet with now, and there is a celebrity plumber who has some funny stories, and the CIPHE are on there, aswell as a load of other trade suppliers.

There is also an application called Mrtweet that I stumbled on today that allows recommendations... all powerful stuff.

 

[templarmc]

Once you've got a Twitter account, suggest you don't use the main site but one of the good FREE web-based Twitter tools. Ideally, you need to view 3 columns at once - your replies, your followers tweets and DMs (Direct Messages).

Hootsuite.com - they're just about to launch 2.0 version, this allows 3 columns for tweets, replies, DMs. Also excellent for scheduling posting of your tweets.

Seesmic - web browser for twitter http://seesmic.com/app/

tweetlater.com - there is a paid version, but the free version is extremely good for posting - delayed, scheduling, save drafts etc.

I've found the best single source of Twitter info - how to use it, news, etc. is Mashable, their guidebook is excellent.

http://mashable.com/guidebook/twitter/

Please feel free to ask any questions, happy to help

 

[maxine]

am following you now @gasangel we are @floatltd

 

[maxine]

We have updated our blog with next installment of "Is Twitter For Trades?" 20 Aug if anyone is interested to see how our experiment is going

Thanks for tips templarmc, we are now using Hootsuite

 

[*Lexxy*]

i'm still tring to get my head around it, but i haven't given up!

for those that have some decent feedback available for twitter contacts/enquiries, can you say if it's just B2C that you're having success with or B2B too?