A week ago I had the privilege to take part in a panel at a media conference on Long Island to educate people from all walks of business on how to take advantage of Twitter and make it a beneficial device for marketing and self-promotion. A few minutes into speaking, I stopped mid-thought and asked those in the room by a show of hands who in attendance even had a Twitter account. Almost everyone raised a hand. Then I asked how many of those people actually use their accounts and were active tweeters.
The response wasn’t so hot. About a third of the original group raised their hands. Some people even did that half-arm-raise-shake-my-hand-a-bit thing where they’re either embarrassed to admit it or they weren’t really sure if they qualified, but didn’t want to feel left out.
If you’re one of those people who signed up for Twitter, took it out for a date, and didn’t call back afterward, I urge you to give it another chance. If anything, at least be good friends.
Facebook snobs seem most adamant about never allowing Twitter into their lives. There’s a kind of geeky reputation that follows Twitter, and I find so many people are embarrassed to take part in the nerdy hype.
Look, Facebook may be beautiful, but Twitter has a heart of gold. And it can be a gold mine for your business or even your resume just by being an active user.
For news organizations, Twitter is an arm that has an endless reach. It’s a viral video without the video. It’s a cyclical game of verbal dominos. It’s the 21st century version of that old game “Telephone,” where you’d whisper something to a friend and they’d whisper it to someone else and the pattern continued on and on. Only now, there are millions of people playing the game, and millions of people eager to take part in the whisper.
An old journalism adage goes, “If it bleeds, it leads.” Welcome to 2009. If it Tweets, it leads.
Earlier this year it hit me that the site is far more valuable than the breaking news alert e-mail list we have on WCBSTV.com because those e-mails only go to the people who sign up. When we break news on Twitter, that bit of information we send out goes first to our group of followers, but then it quickly repeats – or in this case “retweets” – itself over and over and over again as word spreads and those followers tell their followers and their followers tell their followers.
And suddenly, people who don’t even live in the tri-state or follow WCBSTV on Twitter are following us and promoting us. It’s free interactive advertising.
For any business, Twitter can provide that same “word-of-tweet” advertising effect. It gives a company a way to give its clients a virtual hug and keep them warm and cozy. For any individual, it’s a brilliant way to network. To meet people from similar businesses and make contacts across the globe, contacts that could lead to jobs, clients, or recommendations.
All you’ve got to do is simply follow someone else, and boom, the door is open. A relationship is formed. It’s just up to you to schmooze that relationship into something worthwhile.
As you finish reading this, I’d like you to log off your Facebook account for a few hours. Don’t hesitate. Don’t be afraid. Facebook will be ready and waiting open arms for your return later. It will glow upon your latest status update. It will bask in excitement when you upload your Halloween photos.
Take Twitter for a spin around the block. Call it back in two days. You don’t have to love it, but at least give it a friendly hug. That embrace could be one of the most beneficial moves you’ll ever make.