I thought I would take some time today and talk about the how to promote yourself on Twitter and some of the issues I have with companies and individuals who try and promote services. I thing a lot of people get a lot of people get on sites like Twitter and think they can push their product. They can use what I call the buy me model.
The buy me model is very simple. The person/company pushes their product so it is all about them. They say things like “buy xxxx product because it is the best”. Despite what they thing this does not do anything on a site like Twitter. It will get people to un-follow them sooner then later.
Why is that you might ask? People want to engage in conversation. People want to build relationships. Social Networking/Twitter is all about building relationships. I understand people want to advertise their product or service but getting to know them is far more important. It is all about networking and building relationships.
The worse thing you can do to promote your product or service is to auto direct message(DM) someone. Their is anything that is more annoying is to keep sending Auto DM messages to people who have not even had the chance to get to know you. It is such a lack of respect. I hate Auto Dms so much I actually turn off my DM window on Tweet Deck. I get notified of Dm’s by email and I scan them quickly.
@RichCurrie and @Mike_Wesley will both tell you it is all about building relationships. The reason they are both successful is they understand relationship building is very important in today’s world. Let’s take an example away from the Internet. If I am going to purchase a car and I know dealer A very well and dealer B not so well. Who am I going to purchase the car from. Most likely dealer A.
Social Networking is not any different. I would rather purchase a product or service from someone I know really well. I would rather it be someone who engages in conversation, knowledge and most of all respects you.
The question then becomes how to you show respect on Twitter. Their are several ways. The first way I can think off if someone you are following says something of value retweet it.When you Retweet someone make sure you leave credit to the person who originally tweeted the tweet.
The second way is something I can not say enough off and that is engage. Engage in conversations. Engage in learning. Engage in the community. Spend the time contributing and learning. Their no point being on Twitter if you are just going to sit in the background and not say anything. Yes you can learn but being part of something great is much more satisfying.
Thirdly respect people’s opinions. Everyone has different opinions and usually are not any more riught or wrong then yours. It is just a different view point. These view points are very important to how the world runs and how we feel about life. Having an open mind is very important.
The forth way is to follow people back who follow you. This helps show your interest and helps build the Twitter community.
As long as you show respect people will be generally interested:)
Once you show respect the other big factor is to offer something of value. Instead of promoting the “buy me buy me syndrome” offer something. An example of this is a free video, podcast, e-book, blog posts where people can learn from you at no cost. If they see the value you can provide for free they are more likely to purchase your goods/services.
Internet marketing is really misunderstood as far as I am concerned. It is all really about networking. It is a field that keeps changing every day. I am far from an expert on the subject but I keep learning and moving forward.
