I’ll admit it, when I first signed up for Twitter, I couldn’t see how this 140 characters or less communication tool could possibly benefit my business. I almost wrote it off as a techie fad. Almost. Luckily my association with Home Office Warrior made me curious enough to give it a go. Several months and 348 updates later I’m a Twitter convert. Even with the all too frequent appearance of the ‘fail whale’. Hits to both my website and my blog have increased drastically. I’m getting fantastic information by following interesting people like Chris Brogan (@chrisbrogan), Grant Griffiths (@grantgriffiths), Erin Blaskie (@eblaskie2) and Susan Cartier Liebel (@SCartierLiebel) just to name a few. People blazing new business paths like Zappos.com CEO, Tony Hsieh or Attorney Stephanie Kimbro with her VLOTech web based software service for Virtual Law Offices are ‘tweeting’ as well, networking with a wider audience than would be possible through traditional methods.
If you’re like I was when first signing up, you’re reading my words above, raising an eyebrow and saying, “How?” It’s simple really. Take the time to find people to follow that you find interesting. Look at the people they follow for more possibilities. Use TwitterLocal to find other Twitter users in your area. And then say hello, in 140 characters or less. Follow the conversations, watch just how those you’ve chosen to follow are using Twitter, and before you know it, you’ll not only be ‘tweeting’ up a storm…you’ll be building a network for your business. And if you’re a virtual assistant, you’ll be advocating that your clients start ‘tweeting’ too!
