Twitter - whats all the fuss about?!

After being a dedicated Facebook addict for the past 5 years I really couldn't see what Twitter had to offer me until I started my business as a Freelance Virtual Assistant. I had seen one of the companies I was working for use it and had a few friends on there but still wasn't convinced. Then by a twist of Twitter fate, one of the other companies I was working for, asked me if I would look at Tweeting for them as I had a vague idea of what it was about - the rest, as they say is history! I am now a total Twitter convert and currently manage 2 accounts. I am in no way saying I am a Social Media expert, but in the few short months of using Twitter have already seen huge benefits.

So what is all the fuss about?

For me it is about building relationships and networking with other people and businesses you would never normally get the chance to meet in 'real life'.

It just makes good business sense to network with a wide variety of people - especially for me in the work that I do, but I have always lived by the saying 'its not what you know, its who you know' and that is why Twitter is brilliant!

Since joining I have made so many lovely Twitter friends who always retweet my business tweets or updates. Just last week, one of my tweets reached nearly 20,000 followers in just 3 retweets  - where else can you get marketing like that?! Ok, I didn't get 20,000 followers from it, but to have your name and business 'out there' to that many people can never be a bad thing!

Things I have found Useful

1. Use Social Media Dashboards like HooteSuite or Tweetdeck to maximise your Tweet power! I personally prefer HooteSuite as I can have my LinkedIn page and Facebook pages all one place, but its all down to personal preference and what you want to gain from Twitter.

2. Use the lists and favourite functions - great for getting organised and so you can see specific Tweets at a glance. Also look at other peoples list for ideas who to follow - especially if you want a specific area.

3. Be yourself! But remember you are on the internet so if you don't think your Gran would approve, don't Tweet it ;) and don't be a robot - great to use the automated Tweets to have a presence when you cant be on there, but put some of 'you' into it too!

4. Last but not least get involved! The more you tweet the more you will be seen. Re-tweet the things that are important to you or you think your followers will be interested in. Reply to tweets that you can offer advice on, agree with, disagree with (playing nicely obviously!) - its all part of the craziness that is Twitter! Oh, and don't forget to use # tags to increase awareness in specific areas - one of my favourites at the moment is #supportlocalbusiness !

I think the most important thing I have learnt so far is that if you are setting up in business or already running one, there is so much support out there for you. In this current economic climate we all need to do our bit to get this economy going! I have also seen first hand real sales from good networking on Twitter, so if you invest some time it could be well worth it!

Obviously, cant sign off without a little bit of self publicity ;) If you don't have time to manage your Twitter account, please don't hesitate to get in touch - I can tailor packages to suit your exact requirements.