Published: 06-01-2010

AR Start ‘Tweeting’!

What do AR Engineering Industries and Stephen Fry have in common? Not a lot I hear you say. Well not any more as we have, like Mr Fry, started Tweeting!

Twitter is a free social networking and micro blogging service that allows people to send and read messages of up to 140 characters. What a lot of people don't realise is that Twitter is not just about telling people what you had for breakfast or what you though of last night's episode of Eastenders. Nor is it about selling things, well not directly.

Of course, if you had a look around Twitter you would find many people Tweeting about the more mundane aspects of their lives but the real value of Twitter for a business lies in the fact that there are people out there that Tweet about problems that your business can solve, either by supplying some kind of service or offering advice.

For example, lets just say you are in the business of making widgets. Twitter has its own internal search engine that you use to search for the term 'broken widget'. John Smith has just Tweeted, "Oh no, I have just broken my widget!" and appears in the results of your search. You are then able to send a message to John Smith offering some advice on how best to repair the broken object or how he may be able to buy a new one if it is beyond repair, from you.

I recently attended seminar given by Mark Shaw (www.markshaw.biz) where he said that not only is it good to be interested in other peoples Twittering activity but to be interesting yourself. Mark Writes on his site,

"Try and Tweet 3 types of messages; social chit chat, the sharing of: resources, links, tools, info, ideas, opinions, use of photos, being humorous, and adding value and the Tweets that answer peeps questions, which demonstrates your knowledge, which in time will build your brand and credibility … aim for a nice balance…too many of 1 category is not recommended…."

Twitter, however, does take commitment. Not only should you take the time to customise your profile page but you should be consistent. It is no good posting a Tweet every few weeks.

If you would like more tips on how to get the most out of Twitter visit www.markshaw.biz and see what he has to say.