by Karri Flatla, the principal of snap! virtual associates inc., an online consulting firm specializing in Internet marketing and copywriting for busy entrepreneurs. You can follow her on twitter @karriflatla.
Twitter may be the simplest social media we’ve seen to date. Yet tweeps everywhere are asking what they’re supposed to do with the little networking tool that could. Perhaps it’s the daunting intimacy of the new twitterverse that has many wringing their hands. Or perhaps we’re over thinking how to network on the new social web.
Successful business networking-online or off-is about artful follow up. As such, creating alliances and finding work on twitter isn’t a fishing expedition. You can’t just throw your @name into the pond and expect a bite. While it’s plausible that you could solidify a deal in 140 characters or less, the chances of a fruitful courtship are much better if you extend the conversation beyond the white box.
Here are 6 ways old school style networking can inject your twittersations with real profit potential:
1) You’re not a used car salesman. If you see a request on twitter from someone you don’t know, resist the urge to pitch. Instead, follow the person if you’re not already following him or her. Then Reply with a soft sell like “Hi @Jane. We specialize in red widgets. We may be able to help.” It’s Networking 101: respond to a need without acting like a desperate idiot. People still like this.
2) Use the Direct Message (DM) function when appropriate. In the above example, if you were already following one another, you could DM the person stating your interest in supplying the product or service requested. If you do publicly reply as in (1), use direct messaging in whatever conversation might ensue afterward. In other words, shouting out your email address-or worse, asking for theirs-on the public timeline is obnoxious.
3) Don’t give your phone number or Skype ID unless they ask for it. Exchanging email addresses instead (via DM) permits a feeling of space and control for the person you’re courting. It’s up to him or her when and how to reply to or send an email.
- Bonus TwiTip: Never harvest a tweep’s email address from his or her website unless you’ve been give the green light to do so (i.e. “Please contact me.”). Don’t, under any circumstances, send an unsolicited email! This will make the person on the other end not only think you’re desperate but also feel intruded upon.
4) Wait for an invitation to pitch, even if it takes forever. The quick and dirty sensibilities of twitter can be misleading, so much so that you forget yourself and go in for the kill too quickly. At any time in the conversation, your tweep may decide, unbeknownst to you, that he or she wants to feel out the relationship a bit more. Sometimes chemistry is immediate. And sometimes it’s a slow burn.
5) Jump out of the digital conversation completely. I guarantee that 99% of your competitors on twitter will not do this. So, take a few minutes away from the screen and send a handwritten note. I don’t know about you, but with all the time I spend online in my personal and professional life, a handwritten, stamped envelope in my real life mailbox gives me the warm fuzzies.
- Bonus TwiTip: In your note, briefly reference how you met (twitter) and what you discussed by email, IM or phone. People are busy, and so it’s courteous to jog their memory.
6) Above all else, be patient. Don’t fret if a sale or contract doesn’t materialize quickly. That’s not the main goal anyway. Remember, you will be using twitter to reconnect with your tweeps again and again. Twittersations may happen in 140-character snippets, but relationships happen over time and space and various communication modes.
In these recessionary times, you can’t beat the returns you will get from cultivating relationships the old fashioned way. Perhaps the warm handshake is missing. But the tangibility of your brand is not when you adhere to tried-and-true business networking principles. Twitter may be revolutionary, but only you can make the magic happen.
@NateDesmond
I especially like the one about not harvesting their email address off their website. If anyone ever did this to me, I would feel like I was being spied on, and I would probably unfollow that person if not block them.
Thanks,
Nate
@richskibum
Excellant tips for using Twitter.
Thank You
@davethackeray
Sensibility award = yours.
Exceptionally timely post about harvesting personal information, and a new etiquette for Twitter. I’ve been in recent times bombarded by people ravenous for followers rather than creating validity for their Twitter existence.
Really appreciate the time you spent on this post because your ideas have inspired me.
@wchingya
As much as it’s seen as virtual on the net, Twitter is actually involving real people & perhaps, real businesses. It’s important to apply our ethics, just the way it is when dealing with real customers. To make them feel comfortable, secured & without exposing personal details are essential. Great reminder, Darren.
@brandonacox
Very creative thinking – I like it. Twitter seems to have taken on a marketing and conversational life all its own. I like the idea of infusing some fresh / old ways into the mix.
@hectorhenry17
Thank you for the advice. Good post.
@ericheinzman
Good advice about the value of the follow-up – especially when it’s done outside of Twitter. Think of Twitter as but a single bond – if a relationship begun through Twitter is extended to include other online tools, email, real-life, etc, each of those channels consists of additional bonds through which a relationship can deepen.
I tend to think of Twitter as representing the mortar in a relationship, while other channels are the bricks. Through it’s ease, speed and breadth, Twitter’s value is in facilitating the connections among more substantial and deeper relationship building blocks.
@MadlabPost
The first and third suggestions are great. It is always nice to introduce yourself casually and then note how you may be able to assist someone instead of making a cold, hard pitch. DM is much more appropriate for both parties because Skype and emails that prospects may have on outside websites are way to personal to be using for the purpose or marketing or drumming up business from Twitter. I have always liked that whole idea of dealing with people on the medium that you are already using. If you’re on twitter, then there is no reason to give out your phone number or email unless it is requested. Twitter is just one medium.
For instance, people marketing on Myspace or Facebook could lose potential prospects if they start trying to communicate with the same people by way of Stumble Upon or Ning. I think that every website and social networking community has it’s own place and it’s own way of doing things when it comes to internet marketing. There is just way too many spammers and fly-by-night get rich quick scammers that you really have to stand out among the shameless and not bombard people with self-promotion.
@josephgelb
This is a great post. Most of the people that approach me are major scammers. I dropped a link for a deal then they made a big deal about linking to 20 sites on various key words. These sites were just fake businesses. So I think if you do not indicate well that you are real in some way the deal will not go down. Unless you are dealing with someone gullable like me.
@tumblemoose
I really like the snail mail concept.
I mean, who doesn’t like to get a piece of real mail?
I like this Twitip post. A lot!
George
@vpsean
My biggest a-ha’s on this post were to use the DM feature more often, as well as jumping OUT of the twitterverse. For 1, I often forget of the DM and just do a bunch of @replies. Secondly, it’s so easy when joining a new ‘universe,’ as twitter is in a way, to get stuck in a paradigm, or stuck in the box. I think that’s what you were addressing here in that people get stuck in thinking that twitter is the only thing there is! AND IT’S NOT. So build a relationship, chat on twitter, but when it’s appropriate, jump out and speak in person.
Great tip.
Also being patient and NOT selling your services like a used car salesman. Oh dear God that’s annoying as hell.
Thanks for the great tips!
–Sean Patrick Simpson
@MarianSparks
Karri –
Timely post! I love the word “twittersations” although I’m gonna stick with “convo” b/c it takes less characters (LOL). @MadlabPost made a great point about introductions and valuing the communication mores of each different social networking site.
When we initially learn how to use Twitter, we forgot basic courtesies that still work. Why do they work? Because they’re directed at people. The mode of communication has changed but not the people!
When you introduce 1 person to another and share what they both have in common, the door is opened for the possibilities between those two. Once that connection is made be ready with a natural follow up question. (Kinda like after you both shake hands to meet at a business event. What’s the next logical non-threatening question to ask?). The key is to take your queue from the jump-off point which is what you both share in common. Think concentric circles. Continue to expand from the single point.
And lastly, if the person is intriguing and fits your ideal prospect (client or partner) profile, you own driving the relationship to determine whether something will come out of it down the road. So Karrie, you’re right. Follow up is an art. If one isn’t doing it offline very well chances are they’re not doing it online very well either and the business suffers.
Glad to see someone talking about this!
Cheers ~ Marian
@ChristieIngram
Amen!! This should be on the front page of Twitter when you sign up. Also – stop DMing people and asking them if you can “help them” without them asking for help, or any reference to the type of help you are offering – so salesy, schmoozy and icky.
@karriflatla
@davethackeray Shucks. My own award for social sensibility eh? I’ll take it
@wchingya Exactly right. Marketing is all about making people feel comfortable. And social media (twitter, etc.) is a form of marketing (even if we don’t like to say it out loud).
@ericheinzman Technology is never a replacement for humanity. I always say that good ‘net marketing requires us to weave the technology into our humanity seamlessly. Nice metaphor about the bricks and mortar!
@MadlabPost “I have always liked that whole idea of dealing with people on the medium that you are already using.” So true. We can’t wait for people to bend to our ways. Marketers (which are ALL business people) must bend THEIR ways to the client/customer.
@josephgelb You’re only gullible Joe if you let it happen to you again. Live and learn
Wow, the comments above say a lot for Darren’s tweeps. i.e. this is a savvy bunch of people who are ultra aware of the fact that twitter is a multi-dimensional tool and not a billboard.
Thanks again for having me, Lara and Darren. An honor to participate.
Cheers.