Why Use Twitter in Your Business

Twitter has been an incredible marketing tool within my business. In fact, a little known secret is my affinity towards Twitter over any other social media platform. Believe it or not, I was one of those Facebook hold-outs a few years back. I just couldn’t see the value in reading about what someone had for breakfast or that your sister’s, brother-in-law’s best friend is cheating on his wife. Twitter on the other hand has been a goldmine within my business.When I first dove into social media, I enjoyed Twitter’s “texting to the masses” ability and the level of engagement I found in tweeting, re-tweeting, messaging and following. I have built countless relationships on Twitter and not only have I created valuable business contacts through many people that I follow, but I’ve been hired by many that follow me. Because of this, I always find it interesting that in our “text crazy” world so many people just can’t seem to wrap their brain around the importance Twitter plays in our overall social media strategy.So how can you use Twitter to market your business? Let’s take a look at 3 simple strategies that can get you started today!Connect with Potential ClientsSimilar to Facebook, Twitter gives us the ability to connect with potential clients in a far more intimate way than traditional media. Twitter allows potential customers to get a better understanding of who you are, what your business is all about and how you might best serve their needs given their particular circumstance. The days of hiring someone without any prior knowledge as to how they run their business is over. Today all anyone needs to do is Google you. Twitter is one more way for those potential clients to find the information they are looking for by connecting with you.Start by researching and following people with similar interests. Two great sites are WeFollow and Twellow. Both give you the ability to define your niche, part of the country and even your specific city through Twellowhood.Build Your Database ListI’ve heard it said many times that it’s not the salesperson with the most friends that wins; it’s the one with the largest database that will succeed time and time again. Building a list of potential customers is your opportunity to market to a select group of individuals and cater to their exact needs. Twitter gives you 140 characters to grab your follower’s attention and invite them to check out your free offer, newsletter, market update or any other material someone following you would find tantalizing enough to click on.Don’t be shy about putting yourself out there! Potential clients want the information and knowledge you have so share it with them. Ask yourself on a daily basis what you can give away that will keep them coming back for more. Tips about buying their first home, tips on how to sell their home in a down market, tips on how to stage their home…the list of ideas is endless!Increase Website TrafficIncreasing website traffic works hand in hand with building your database. Two strategies to use to increase website visibility:

• Connect your blog to Twitter and automatically notify your followers each time you post a new article. An easy way to do this is to grab your RSS feed (example: rebekahradice.com/feed) and create a free account with Twitterfeed. Once you set up a feed, your new post will tweet out immediately without you lifting a finger. If you use Wordpress, a great plugin that auto tweets your post is TweetThis.
• Create an opt-in form on your website. Attract attention through your Tweets by offering a free report . If you use Wordpress and work with a system like AWeber it’s as easy as creating your web form and grabbing the html code. Once you’ve done that, you can add it to your Wordpress site through the text widget.