To tweet, or not to tweet?

I have been on Twitter now for months now, and I GET IT!  When I first started tweeting, I really didn’t get it.  At all.  So I reached out to a couple of people on Twitter – one I knew, and one I didn’t (thanks @provirtual and @styleprdiva).  I got the same basic answer from both of them:  keep watching, keep making contact with people and build your Twitter community.

I have met and spoken with some of the most interesting people on Twitter from all over the world.  I’ve actually met someone who lives 20k from the town my mother grew up in Belgium (hi @noelbellen).  I’ve met someone from Germany –  we discuss movies mostly but I find his tweets interesting (hi @damir).  I’ve met very inspiring people (@johnlusher @esm4 @iconic88 @whatswithinu), as well as fantastic fellow VA’s (@aceconcierge @marsva @mondaymorningva).  I’ve met current clients, team members  that I am lucky to have met, and the most helpful people – just put a question out there and someone will answer you.  (I could mention many others that have touched my life, but this blog would go on forever.)

So what’s so important about Twitter and marketing . . .

When you go to a networking event to market yourself, you are limited to everyone in the room – everyone in the room if you have the time to meet everyone.  And you’re limited to usually 1-1/2 hours.  If you’re good at networking, you’ll follow-up with those people for awhile.  On Twitter there are millions of people on Twitter – the possibilities are endless to meet people and interact with them.  Have conversations.  Get to know them.  Get them to you know.  Talk to them about what you do and how you help your clients.  You are marketing.

And talk about fast news?  I can be sitting here working and take a 5-minute break by pulling up Tweetdeck, and there it is – breaking news being tweeted by my tweeps!  When the plane went down in the Hudson, I’m betting I knew about it before anyone else (not on Twitter).  One of the tweeples I follow lived right on the Hudson and was watching it unfold – before the media even got there!  They say that’s what was going on with the Mumbai tragedy as well (although I wasn’t on Twitter yet at that time).

People I generally meet face-to-face at networking functions or just here and there (I’m a serial conversationalist) do not know about Twitter.  Oh, they’ve heard about it on the news (PLEASE don’t listen to those people – they don’t know what they’re talking about so can’t tell you what Twitter is REALLY about), and most of them think it’s ridiculous.   Some ask me if that makes me a twit.  (Since I’m a Monty Python fan, that is no insult - right, @JohnCleese?  He put out a very funny short video on Twitter – view it here.)

If you look, there are hundreds of articles about Twitter – how to use it, how not to use it, rules of Twitter, etc., etc.  Even how it raises your intelligence!  I’m not going to bore you with all of that – yet.  I’m just here to say try it, be patient – you’ll like it!  Pretend you’re at a cocktail party.  You’re mingling, listening to conversations, meeting new people and chatting.  That’s what Twitter is like.  Don’t say anything rude, don’t butt in and for goodness sake – don’t try to sell yourself without talking to people and getting to know them first!  There are a ton of people on Twitter who don’t seem to have a personality at all!  Everything they say is – hi, follow my link for my free ebook, or I can help you manage “X,” or need help with your website SEO? I can help you!

AND PLEASE – NO AUTO DM’S!!