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7 Tips On How Not To Use Twitter For Your Business

How Not To Use Twitter For Your Business

Twitter is a great FREE ONLINE TOOL for your business and with the correct formula, it could spell success like I have shown here.

Twitter is a place to gain EXPOSURE and PROVIDE COMMUNICATION CHANNELS to develop real time networking referrals.

Twitter can be a waste of time if not properly used.

Below are 7 tips on how not to use Twitter for your business.

Auto Feeders

Activerain has a great Auto Feeder for all our blogs, this can be a great tool if used properly. If you have a profile and there is nothing but BLOGS POSTED TWEETS from your Auto Feeder, then your Twitter account is wasting space.

Do not just set up a profile to just send Blog Posted Tweets to your Twitter account. 1st of all its tacky and people want to ENGAGE you in conversations not just view Blog Posted Tweets. You will be unfollowed quickly if you do this.

Spam Follow

Twitter is not a POPULARITY CONTEST. Spamming followers just so you can hope they follow you is 1st of all against the rules of Twitter and 2nd of all is again a WASTE OF TWITTER SPACE.

Follow your niche and your target market. Good rule of thumb is follow your own pack in your own field to get a good jump start.

If you are an Investor follow fellow Investors, A Real Estate Agent follow fellow Agents. Then go after your target audience. Focus on Area, Gender, Age, Interests or whatever is in your Market.

Use the Twitter Search Tool effectively and if your Audience is limited to EVERYONE then follow sporadically and in spurts but always focus on your categories first.

Spam Advertising

Nobody likes being spam advertised even on Social Networks. Don't FORCE your products and services to people right from the get go. Great you made a Twitter account, slow down partner.

Take your time, develop relationships, make an online presence. Do not start spamming that is just another reason for people to stop following you and could possibly get you suspended from Twitter.

Too Many Tweets

Twitter is not a CHAT CLIENT, Do not treat Twitter as such.

Yes Twitter allows for instant broadcasts and communication but nothing turns off a Twitter user the most other than too many tweets at once.'

Don't start spamming Tweets. Twitter is a place to see general broadcasts every 15 minutes or so and not every second!

Dont' Spam Tweet!

Personal Prefences

The gold rule of online presence is watch what you say online. If you value your followers and want to reach a wide target audience then treat your Tweets with everyone's opinion in mind.

Recently the Elections have caused some heated opinions and debat but nobody want's to constantly hear touchy Tweets and will cause you to lose followers.

A notorious SEO tech guru recently lost half her audience just because she was just voicing her Angry views on a certain company she did not like. Well the flip side is that other company many people did like. See the problem here.

Tweet with respect, Use the Direct Message Tool if you really want to voice your opinion and not to the world.

Robot

To go hand in hand with the Auto Feeders, Don't be LAZY and use Auto Direct Messages and Auto Tweets.

There are websites out there like Tweetlater, that allows you to Auto respond to followers and Auto Tweet Later posts.

There is no human engagement value in this and the Twitter world is not stupid, it is very condoscending when you just reply in Auto Responders.

Don't be a Robot!

Twitter Whore

And Finally....Finally...Finally.

Just because Twitter's Motto is "What are you doing?" does not mean you should Tweet about everything you are doing.

Do not Tweet about you going to bathroom, waking up, eating breakfast etc etc..

just watch the video below. (just hover cursor over link)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALbH63Ali9U

Posted by Justin Williams - Loan Officer on 11/01/2008 11:12 AM

Comments (36)

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36 Comments on 7 Tips On How Not To Use Twitter For Your Business

NOV

2008

Hi Justin;

Great information about Twitter, I thank you for sharing..........................

Justin- I totally agree with your tips, use the common sense approach; everything in moderation. Also, think of twittering as a marketing tool and then behave accordingly.

I do think that polarizing your audience is a great way of getting people to follow you no matter where you are, blogging, twittering, speaking. I may not agree with someone politically or on certain issues but if they have correctly polarized the audience- people will still buy from them precisely for that reason. They know where they stand. But polarizing is different than hateful speach and radical tantrums! Katerina

great video Justin, i am learning how to make twitter more effective in my business. would love to catch up there, send me a tweet:

@Chris_Brown_

chris the implementer

Justin,

Our company has just started to use both Twitter and Facebook and we agree with you 100%. Your information is helpful, and we will continue to follow your advice in this area.

OMG, Not sure if I get the whole Twitter thing..but thanks for sharing.

Rich

Charlotte NC

Thanks for the info - I am pretty new to twitter, but like that my blog posts can be feed there (and facebook). Overall it is just more exposre. This is a good post and thanks for writing it.

Still not sure about Twitter... unsure of how to "get a following" or really anything, but I'm figuring it out and now, at least I sorta know what "not" to do.

Thanks for the info on Twitter. I recently joined and am trying to learn how to use it properly.

OMG, that video was irritating. :) I'm just starting to use Twitter. Thanks for sharing.

Justin,

I do not know that much about Twitter ---- thanks so much for sharing.

Liz Loadholt

hi Justin, excellent tutorial, it's kind of easy to get carried away and abuse all the cool goodies out there which in turn just annoys people, never a good idea!

@ Anthony thanks for commenting and stopping by!

@ The Gassets exactly, people have to realize that not everyone shares the same views as you, theres a time and place for that and your business should not be one of those.

@ Chris Brown sure thing bud, followed you on twitter, hope to catch you around twitterville.

@ Jim and David - Best of luck with your business with Social Media! Hope you find this information useful!

Justin - I'm still trying to learn twitter. Apparently my learning curve is... well, there. Thanks for the info. ~Rita

NOV

2008

Justin - Thanks for the Twitter info. Video was hilarious!. Vincent

Great info...do people actually twitter that they are going to the bathroom?

This helps me understand Twitter a bit better. Guess I will try "tweeting"

@ Rich its not that bad, you should definitely diuve right it, its gaining popularity quick!

@ Sharon - Exactly but remember not to do any of the 7 tips on how not to use twitter :)

@ Alisha - thanks for stopping by and checking out the tips, best of luck!

@ Cherimie - Welcome to the twitter world if you need any help just ask!

@ Jen - LOL I know, that should be enough in promoting how to not to act on twitter :)

NOV

2008

Hi Justin!

Thanks SOOO much for this info. I'm still a rookie tweeter and am learning how to enjoy it correctly. This really makes a lot of sense and I will make sure to apply these guidelines.

Myra

Good post Justin, I tell you I think I break the rules sometimes. Its always good to read the other side of someones thoughts. I think Ill try to make my tweets more relevant toReal Estate but I have to tell you I love to "get to know " the personal side of people to. So where does the line blur ? Oh well. GREAT post and I think Ill try to follow a few more of the etiquette rules you posted

Alison Creamer

I have joined twitter, but I have yet to spend much time on it, but I intend to break down and check it out. Great video dude.

Justin - finally figuring twitter out (sigh of relief), I added an app to my (new) iphone so I can be like the girl on the video LOL. The second part is even funnier than the first. ~Rita

That is funny! The video that is..I'm guilty of a few of them. Arg!!!!

HI JUSTIN!

OK, why does the Twitter Whore have to be a women? Men can be whores too!! Just joking (but seriously), I know you didn't make the video! Hope all is well!

NOV

2008

Thanks for the info. I have just joined Twitter and trying to figure out what all the "fuss" is about. I don't quite get it yet but hopefully someday I can make it work for me :)

NOV

2008

This is too funny! I follow a guy from AR who needs to read it! Don't twitter about going to the bathroom? How about don't twitter about going to the GROCERY STORE! Nobody CARES - unless they need you to pick up something for them?!

Justin -

Great post. I think that people often follow these mistakes early in their Twitter journey, because they do not know how to aquire an audience of followers and tend to try too hard. Like any communication tool, it is having a plan and sticking to it. Then the audience will come. Althouh mixing some personal with business is a good thing as it allows people to get to know you better. And we all know that people do business more with people they feel they know.

Well done article.

James Cain

twitter.com/ronnoc

Always a great reminder. Some people think that if regular Tweets are good, constant Tweets must be better! And unfortunately, every so often you see someone that lets their emotions run away with them and say something that is better left private. Great post - you give a lot of direction to the people that are just joining and say "Now what?"

Jason... some very good tips... I joined tweeter one day, about 4 months ago, and stopped the next day. I was turned off by so many telling me that they were going food shopping... going to take a shower now.. etc etc... very turned off, so I see your point there.

So overall, I really don't see the true value of tweeter. If people follow me on there? In many cases, they would be my subscribers either here on AR or have an RSS feed to my blogs or outside blog site. So, what am I missing? I guess I see the same on Facebook. thanks for sharing...

jeff belonger

NOV

2008

Justin! Great tips for Twittering! Seems like new Twitter apps are coming up everyday and while in theory they may seem like a good idea and a timesaver, many of these apps go against the grain of the Twitter brain.

Tina in Virginia

NOV

2008

Things to remember when I finally get up and running on twitter. Thanks for the - What not to do's.

NOV

2008

Justin I never thought of it that way. I am going to stop sending my Active Rain posts to Twitter. But that Twitter whore you tube video is hilarious and crazy. Thanks for sharing and thanks for trying to help my prospects. Have a good one man.

@ Lanre - Hey Buddy don't stop using the autofeeder, what I was just trying to say is to add more tweets than just posted tweets. If its only tweets about posts and no conversations, then its a waste of time. I wouldn't give up on the autopost :)

NOV

2008

Being new to twitter, I appreciate the advice on what NOT to do, as I do not want to be in twitterjail! I haven't figured out yet how to direct message though...? help? thanks!