Blue Flavor

New Idea by tiffani Jones

Using Twitter and Other Tools to Grow Business

July 16th, 2008 at 1:29 p.m.

(OR) Jeff! You tweeted all over our business plan!

So I’ve had time to recover from my very first bizjam, where I was lifted up and carried a few feet by a social media sandstorm. Whether we were talking about finding time to blog or breaking out in small groups to discuss the ‘dimensions of community’, there was one clear theme of the day: Entrepreneurs and small businesses are excited about social media. And we all need to leverage it (social media), now (as in yesterday), to succeed these days.

One thing that stuck with me was the vague uncertainty people expressed (or wanted to) about using social media tools (like facebook, flickr, blogs, and especially twitter) for business purposes. It’s as if (_gasp_) people still aren’t convinced that Real Authentic Transparency (in Gary Vaynerchuck’s words) or ‘putting yourself out there and nurturing your online identity’ are profitable pursuits. There is, however, plenty of evidence suggesting these are viable ways to build your brand and increase market share, etc. (assuming you’ve got a halfway intact business model (ed. which is a whole ‘nother post)).

So what gives?

Ahhhh, Twitter

I think twitter is the best place to begin. Even in a world where Twitter in Plain English exists, plenty of good businesspeople still don’t get it. It’s a “What’s the ROI? Who cares that I used my experimental feng shui shaving cream this morning? Who has time to for this?” -type of thing.

And yet, there are plenty of qualified experts (including our own DKR who, by the way, gave a really good presentation involving the topic) who consistently sing twitter’s praises. Even if you don’t admit it, I suspect that you (kind reader) may be among the ranks of those wondering… why bother?

But Oh, Bother.

the bad and the ugly

As I said, I’ve heard a slew of convincing twitter apologetics, but there is an equal amount of fanfare for why twitter sucks. To quote convos I’ve overheard or been part of, twitter is:

  • A waste of time. Taking time out of your day to tweet decreases flow, interrupts your work, and generally destroys the life of the mind.
  • Un-interesting. Nobody says anything worth listening to on twitter. For example: “I just ate four mini hamburgers…with cheese!”, or “Ouch! I stubbed my toe!” just don’t cut the mustard nor meet basic standards of intrigue and enchantment, for that matter.
  • Unprofessional. Who in my professional life needs to know I’ve had to pee for three hours?
  • A roadblock to real, authentic conversation. It’s not obvious who your audience is, who you’re talking to, or who cares — You’re basically talking at a group of semi-anonymous, half-peers.
  • Broken. There is always something technically wrong with Twitter.

This all sounds fairly scathing, but I think it accurately captures the vehemence in twitter-haters’ voices when they broach the topic. And yet, cue music, there are unexplained thousands (and not just the unwashed masses, mind you) who love to tweet.

the bold and the beautiful

Elliot Jay Stocks outlined one of the best twitter-friendly arguments I’ve seen in his Blessay about Twitter, where he captured the essence of what most twitter lovers see in, well, tweeting. I encourage you to check out his well-written post, but I’ll summarize here for good measure. Elliot describes twitter as:

  • An ice breaker. Twitter’s better than email, flickr, etc. for breaking the ice and getting to know people who’d otherwise be inaccessible.
  • A purveyor of ambient intimacy. It helps you, in Leisa Reichelt’s words, “to keep in touch with people with a level of regularity and intimacy that you wouldn’t usually have access to, because time and space conspire to make it impossible.”
  • A broadcasting/marketing tool. Twitter is word-of-mouth advertising — to people who like you enough to follow your tweets. You can use it to advertise to people who really want to know what you offer.
  • A fount of knowledge. Twitter is replacing RSS, because information — often to direct, service and business-related questions — passes hands so quickly there.
  • A social network. Unlike other social networks (Facebook, etc.), twitter lets you broadcast even to those you don’t know, and chip away at getting to know them in the meantime.

My Point Is

Though I’m now friendly with all of Elliot’s nicely articulated put-ups, I think put-up #3 (the idea that twitter is a broadcasting/marketing tool) is most important for our (BizJamm’n) purposes. Twitter is, for all its faults and attention-annihilating underbelly, a great way to advertise to people who want you to. And If you use it right (by posting regular updates about important stuff (Like the good people at zappos.com have done) and listening to/following your followers), you may wake up to find your market share expanded, your biz grown.

And I think this is the take-away message for all the grassroots, community-building, social-media marketing buzz everyone’s so hot and bothered about these days: Without waiting for a miracle, I think it’s safe to say that finding new ways to increase awareness and build a community around your brand is a good thing. Moreover, we can only assume that 1) these tools will continue to become more and more popular for business purposes over time, and 2) businesses who don’t have a formidable online presence that includes social media outlets will be left in the dust, big time.

So basically, I encourage you to turn that frown upside down and tweet.

Tiffani Jones

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