The number one question I hear from non (and inexperienced) Twitter-users is “What exactly is Twitter?” Usually when people start explaining the logistics of Twitter, they are met with blank faces because speaking “Twitter” can seem like a different language. There’s nothing else out there quite like Twitter, so it’s hard to compare it something similar, but I enjoy trying to find new and different concepts and putting them into perspectives that people can understand so let me share with you what I personally think Twitter is like to perhaps help you understand the concept a little better.
Twitter Terms
I view Twitter like a big party. When you sign up for a Twitter account, you are going to a big party. When you first get to the party, you are so overwhelmed by all the people that you’re lost and don’t know what to do. Feel a little familiar to your first day on Twitter? Finally you find someone you know- a friend! So you go over to them and start talking to and listening to them. When you follow someone on Twitter, it is like deciding to listen to what that person says at the party. Specifically, it is akin to practicing selective listening. There may be thousands of people at that party, but if you are only listening to 5, you will only hear 5 speak. You’ll be able to hear what they are saying if you are paying attention, whether or not they are talking directly to you.
It’s up to you who you choose to listen to- it may be your friends, people you admire, people who are in the same line of work you are, or people who could potentially be a client or a customer. The beauty is that you can always unfollow people, so if the things they say are offensive or boring or excessive, you can simply stop listening!
Now when you choose to follow someone on Twitter, it doesn’t mean they will automatically follow you back, meaning you can be listening to them talk, but they can’t hear you unless you talk to them directly. As a general rule of thumb, people will often follow you in return when you follow them, but that’s not always the case.
Engaging in Twitter conversations is like walking into the party room that contains all the people you are following (as well as everyone who is following you). From here, you can jump right into a conversation that someone else is having, make a comment about what someone else said, offer a suggestion to someone’s problem or answer someone’s question. The key is not to try to jump into a conversation that happened 2 hours ago, because chances are its over and they’ve moved past it.
Posting a tweet is like walking into the party and saying something. Everyone who has chosen to follow you (or listen to you in the party scenario) will be able to hear what you just said. Your close friends and people you know well will probably actually pay attention and might answer back and complete strangers may ignore you unless you have something extremely interesting to say or unless you are talking directly to them.
A reply message, or an @ post is where you are replying to someone. This is where you post a tweet that begins with @(insert Twitter name here). This is like you walking up to your friend at the party and telling him or her something. Everyone who is listening to you can hear what you are saying, but you are speaking directly to your friend. A direct message is a post that is only seen by the person you direct it to. This is like walking up to your friend and whispering a secret into their ear and no one else but your friend knows what you said.
What to Tweet
The life of every party is usually the one that has the most interesting things to say. So it is on Twitter. If you have interesting things to say and helpful information, people will a) think you’re smart and b) probably want to talk to you, or at least continue listening to you. The specific things you would want to tweet about in order to build your business depends a lot on what you do and what your goal or purpose for using Twitter is. If you are stuck here, consider hiring someone to help you come up with a Twitter action plan tailored specifically to you and your business (Shameless plug here, sorry!) :)
What not to Tweet
Trying to sell yourself and your business on Twitter is like walking up to random strangers at the party and giving them a flyer and telling them all about what you do. If you were to do this, people would avoid you like the plague. Instead, you build rapport with people by having conversations with them and *when appropriate* mention what you do. If someone is truly interested in doing business with you, they would take you aside to a quiet part of the room to talk business. In Twitter, a developing business relationship is best done via Direct Messages and/or e-mail. If someone doesn’t show interest in doing business with you when you mention what you do, don’t try to sell them on it!
Also, be wary of posting a lot of promotional tweets. If there were a guy at the party just standing in the middle of the room yelling about his business every hour or so, I’d stop listening to him (in real life I’d leave, but it’s a bit easier on Twitter). Yes, on Twitter I would un-follow. There is nothing more annoying than people who can only talk about themselves and their business.
There is so much more to learn about Twitter and I’m not going to pretend I’ve covered even a fraction of that. Hopefully I shared Twitter in a new light that can help you understand just a little bit better and enables you to get some positive use out of it. If you have any additional questions, e-mail me (Cortni@essentialexcellence.com) or hit me up on Twitter (@CortniMarrazzo) and I will do my best to answer :)
The number one question I hear from non (and inexperienced) Twitter-users is “What exactly is Twitter?” Usually when people start explaining the logistics of Twitter, they are met with blank faces because speaking “Twitter” can seem like a different language. There’s nothing else out there quite like Twitter, so it’s hard to compare it something similar, but I enjoy trying to find new and different concepts and putting them into perspectives that people can understand so let me share with you what I personally think Twitter is like to perhaps help you understand the concept a little better.
Twitter Terms
I view Twitter like a big party. When you sign up for a Twitter account, you are going to a big party. When you first get to the party, you are so overwhelmed by all the people that you’re lost and don’t know what to do. Feel a little familiar to your first day on Twitter? Finally you find someone you know- a friend! So you go over to them and start talking to and listening to them. When you follow someone on Twitter, it is like deciding to listen to what that person says at the party. Specifically, it is akin to practicing selective listening. There may be thousands of people at that party, but if you are only listening to 5, you will only hear 5 speak. You’ll be able to hear what they are saying if you are paying attention, whether or not they are talking directly to you.
It’s up to you who you choose to listen to- it may be your friends, people you admire, people who are in the same line of work you are, or people who could potentially be a client or a customer. The beauty is that you can always unfollow people, so if the things they say are offensive or boring or excessive, you can simply stop listening!
Now when you choose to follow someone on Twitter, it doesn’t mean they will automatically follow you back, meaning you can be listening to them talk, but they can’t hear you unless you talk to them directly. As a general rule of thumb, people will often follow you in return when you follow them, but that’s not always the case.
Engaging in Twitter conversations is like walking into the party room that contains all the people you are following (as well as everyone who is following you). From here, you can jump right into a conversation that someone else is having, make a comment about what someone else said, offer a suggestion to someone’s problem or answer someone’s question. The key is not to try to jump into a conversation that happened 2 hours ago, because chances are its over and they’ve moved past it.
Posting a tweet is like walking into the party and saying something. Everyone who has chosen to follow you (or listen to you in the party scenario) will be able to hear what you just said. Your close friends and people you know well will probably actually pay attention and might answer back and complete strangers may ignore you unless you have something extremely interesting to say or unless you are talking directly to them.
A reply message, or an @ post is where you are replying to someone. This is where you post a tweet that begins with @(insert Twitter name here). This is like you walking up to your friend at the party and telling him or her something. Everyone who is listening to you can hear what you are saying, but you are speaking directly to your friend. A direct message is a post that is only seen by the person you direct it to. This is like walking up to your friend and whispering a secret into their ear and no one else but your friend knows what you said.
What to Tweet
The life of every party is usually the one that has the most interesting things to say. So it is on Twitter. If you have interesting things to say and helpful information, people will a) think you’re smart and b) probably want to talk to you, or at least continue listening to you. The specific things you would want to tweet about in order to build your business depends a lot on what you do and what your goal or purpose for using Twitter is. If you are stuck here, consider hiring someone to help you come up with a Twitter action plan tailored specifically to you and your business (Shameless plug here, sorry!) :)
What not to Tweet
Trying to sell yourself and your business on Twitter is like walking up to random strangers at the party and giving them a flyer and telling them all about what you do. If you were to do this, people would avoid you like the plague. Instead, you build rapport with people by having conversations with them and *when appropriate* mention what you do. If someone is truly interested in doing business with you, they would take you aside to a quiet part of the room to talk business. In Twitter, a developing business relationship is best done via Direct Messages and/or e-mail. If someone doesn’t show interest in doing business with you when you mention what you do, don’t try to sell them on it!
Also, be wary of posting a lot of promotional tweets. If there were a guy at the party just standing in the middle of the room yelling about his business every hour or so, I’d stop listening to him (in real life I’d leave, but it’s a bit easier on Twitter). Yes, on Twitter I would un-follow. There is nothing more annoying than people who can only talk about themselves and their business.
There is so much more to learn about Twitter and I’m not going to pretend I’ve covered even a fraction of that. Hopefully I shared Twitter in a new light that can help you understand just a little bit better and enables you to get some positive use out of it. If you have any additional questions, e-mail me (Cortni@essentialexcellence.com) or hit me up on Twitter (@CortniMarrazzo) and I will do my best to answer :)
