I’ve been listening to “Coach Deb,” aka Deborah Micek, in the second of a series of calls being hosted by Marketing Mentor Adam Urbanski on Social Media Networking. The third call, tomorrow, is about Facebook, and the fourth call, Thursday, is about creating an “Integrated Social Networking Strategy.” You can listen live to either or both of the last two calls, and get recordings/transcripts of all of them along with bonuses, at FromContactsToContracts.com.

Adam says that, with Twitter, he was able to make contacts and connections very rapidly - even with people after whom Adam had been chasing via phone and email without success. Deborah says that even if you aren’t ready to start using Twitter, grab your name on there without spaces and without underscores, either of which brands you as a latecomer or late adopter. Get your brand, company name, and products names, too!

Here’s a sample of the nuggets of information I gleaned from the call - some of this is paraphrased as best as I could catch it here while listening to the webcast:

Top 10 Reasons You Could/Should Be Using Twitter:

1. Enables you for quick, instant communication with your “tribe.” (You can even use a separate account to send messages to a private “tribe” to their cell phones.)

2. For brand recognition. You can tweet to other folks directly with the “@” sign attached to the beginning of your user name (without a space), and because you’re using a brand or company name as your user name…you get the idea.

3. Reputation management. If you don’t have a presence, you don’t know what people are saying about you, you can’t respond appropriately, and you can’t join the conversation.

4. Research and knowledge.

5. Trendspotting.

6. Being on the bleeding edge of what’s going on in the world (or your world).

7. Strengthen the bonds between friends, colleagues, and JV partners.

8. Attract new clients. (Not actively going after them - it’s more subtle than that.) And it’s purposely NOT the #1 reason you should be on Twitter.

9. To find and connect with influencers, and keep in touch.

10. SEO. It’s one of the top SEO options for online research. (Look at TweetScan.com for an example.)

Rules to Play By on Twitter:

1. Business is ALWAYS personal. Twitter gives you the ability to get personal with your audience. The watch words: Transparent and authentic.

2. Captivate, use influential language, and give people a reason to continue a conversation at your blog if you have more to say on a subject.

3. Have contests.

4. Think about (and ask about) what clients love about you, and let that shine through on Twitter.

5. Write as though you’re talking to one person.

6. Use a 1:8 ratio of tweets that are at all promotional, versus: Being a resource for people; talking to people and about people; sharing links, resources, and blog posts from other folks; connecting with people, etc.

7. Don’t send people to sales pages or landing pages - send them to your blog.

8. Every 10, 12, or 20 tweets, ask your followers a question.

9. Attract and connect on Twitter - convert on your own site/blog.

10. Give people the opportunity to be a resource to you - people naturally want to be helpful and valuable, and you don’t have to know everything.

Hope this is useful to you! Again, check out FromContactsToContracts.com to get more detailed, real-time access. And check out Deborah and Adam on Twitter as well.

Posted in Dances With Gurus, Fun With Marketing |

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