Business Blogging

Archive for April, 2009

Here is a video from YouTube that describe Twitter…But keep reading for advise on using Twitter to help your Small Business.

Besides being a platform to answer the question what are you doing, Twitter is also an excellent platform to help people find what you’ve done.

Looking at Twitter as historical reference page to your ideas, suggestions and links you can begin to see the hidden power behind twitter.  Your customers don’t care if you are eating eggs and toast, they care about new ideas and business happenings.  If your business is already using a blog (and you should be) then you should use Twitter as a second landing page for data.

Thinking of twitter as your business’s own personal news wire, you will post important links to information, blog articles and new web pages.  Visitors to your Twitter page will see a consolidated list of information and link to the appropriate location.

Because your links can get lengthy, using a url shortening tool is critical.  My favorite is cli.gs, but there are dozens of tools available for FREE.  I like Cli.gs because it keeps track of the number of times people click on my link.  It also allows me to re-tweet older messages with timeless knowledge.  This leads me to tip number 1.

Tweet about important info and give enough of a lead-in so the visitor knows the full intent of the link.  People HATE bait and switch, if your blog article is about a trade show display, say so in your tweet, don’t reference some cheesy suggestion of massive business growth.

Twitter is just the first of MANY micro-blogging opportunities (Jaiku, FreindFeed, Pownce, Tumblr, and Indenti.ca are but a few others).

Created by a Cornell student, Jack Dorsey, Twitter originally started as an idea for a dispatch service for couriers and taxis.  One of the most used website on the internet (Compete.com) Twitter has gained name recognition alongside, Microsoft, Apple and IBM.

But Why?

The short message and multi-platform (i.e. computers and cell phones) nature of twitter takes away the need for careful attention to language.

Most of us are timid when it comes to writing business blog articles because we fear our writing skills are below par.  However, Twitter only allows messages of 140 characters (or less) to be sent; this gives the user a pass on crafting compelling messages.

Short instant messages does not mean the information will be read, just that it will be easy to send.  So much of the dot com revolution has been stimulated by the dream of simplifying marketing.

Without spending much time at all on Twitter, you’ll find a bevy of useless blurbs, feeble attempts to grab attention and lots of spam.

If I have Not Scared You Away…Good, because Twitter can become a pivot point for your marketing program.

Everything you do in business should be thought of as news.  Therefore, Twitter could be used as a press release announcement tool.  Putting extra links to important information in places where search engines can grab and catalog–and more importantly, find new reasons to visit your company website.

Micro-blogging is another way to deploy company press release data.

Put simply, twitter is an internet / cell phone instant messenger.  The software limits your “tweets” to 140 characters or less.  Using the “follow” option, you can have “friends” tweets delivered directly to your account window.

So What?
What is all the Hoopla?
Why does everyone you meet say, “You’ve got to get on twitter!!!”?

Like any new communication medium, understanding the various applications of the technology is a process of experimentation.  I am not going to suggest you rush out and join twitter, but I will suggest there is a business application.

Over the next few pages and posts we will explore practical small business applications for twitter.  We will explain the pros and cons of internet marketing via twitter.  We will also talk about how to use twitter as your own personal news delivery system for company happenings.

• Overview of Technology and Small Business Application
• Getting Started With Twitter
• Building a Following
• Marketing Campaign Kick-off
• Evolution of the Message
• The Future

(Stay tuned as the content is created–lots of GREAT news and suggestions for how to use Twitter is coming soon!)