By:Doug Dvorak
Twitter has become one of the fastest growing social networking websites. With an increasing audience, Twitter also represents one of the best ways to expand your business and attract clients. Follow these five steps to enhance your business on Twitter.
1. Find Users in Your Area
One of the best ways to draw clients toward your business is to actually find them on Twitter. Begin by searching for users where you or your business is located. If you follow users in your area, they may be more inclined to follow you. Once you achieve these relationships you will be able to expose those in your area regarding your business.
Try to find people in your area each day. Over time you will find your list of followers grow over time. As you obtain a relationship with some of your followers, this will mean good things for your business. Your followers will be able to stay updated on the latest events in your business.
2. Tweet
As your base of followers grows, you will need to keep them up to date with what is happening in your business. Keep them updated relatively often with new products and developments in your business, and whatever else is important. Mention anything that could increase interest or help your business grow, whether that means describing new products or developments.
Make sure to provide links to your company’s website on a consistent basis. If consumers are able to purchase products from there this will be a great way to point them to what you are selling.
3. Stay Active – But Don’t Overdo It
It is very important to keep an active online presence on Twitter for your business. As products and key developments are represented on Twitter, you keep a degree of professionalism intact by keeping your client base updated on your business.
In addition to your tweets regarding your business, you also need to actively keep in touch with your client base. This is maintained in two ways, by your tweets and on your clients’ profiles. Not all of your tweets should be about your business. Use a few tweets to do something off-topic. Tell your clients something about your life to allow them to get to know you. They will feel much more comfortable interacting with you and your business if they get to know you better. Also, interact with your followers on their profiles. Take interest with what they are tweeting about in order to develop a relationship with them. Once again, they will feel more comfortable with you if you attempt to develop a relationship on more than just business.
It is also vital that you don’t overdo your activity on Twitter. Your clients will stop following you if they are bombarded with too many tweets of any kind. You don’t want to annoy your customers. Try not to post too many updates on your profile. It may be a good idea to look at other businesses to see how often they update their profile. At any rate, take care not to overwhelm your client base.
4. Characteristics of Your Tweets
There are a number of important characteristics in which your tweets should portray your business. In order to portray and enhance your business, follow these guidelines to keeping your customers up to date and in order to find new potential clients.
One way to optimize your tweets is to use hash tags. These are done by using the pound sign (#) before your tag. Use these on important terms unique to your business to draw attention. For instance, you could use a hash tag when introducing a new product.
Use links when tweeting. A link to the website of your business should be in your profile – so don’t link to it constantly in your tweets. However, you should use links when you are introducing new products – especially when they can be purchased off of your website. As a consumer sees your new product’s news and information, then he or she can click on it to learn more and possibly purchase the product. You should also use links when you describe important events or anything in which you can provide a link for additional information. In the end you want to draw as much traffic and interest to your business and the website of your business.
Entice your followers by offering specials on Twitter. This can be a great way to generate interest into your business and on your Twitter profile. You could even hold specials only for your Twitter customers. There are endless ways to hold specials and sales, yet Twitter remains a powerful way to expose your customers to special deals and incentives.
5. Consider Paid Advertising
If you are considering implementing some type of paid advertising for your business, Twitter is a great way to find new clients. While the aforementioned steps will increase your client base, paid advertising can increase the acceleration of your business.
Carefully consider some of your options on Twitter. There are reviews regarding possible advertising options on Twitter, such as Sponsored Tweets, Ad.ly, and Be a Magpie. These solutions can be just what you need to stimulate your client base.
If you have revenue for advertising, consider using a small amount of paid advertising to enhance the free steps for advertising on Twitter. At any rate, stay consistent and carefully integrate Twitter into your business plan for maximum growth potential.
Hone Your Sales Skills
Sales skills ultimately boil down to some basic skills, but you need to keep perfecting them constantly to get the maximum results. For instance, good listening is a basic skill requirement of succeeding in sales. To be a super salesman you must try to get into the mind of the customers and read what they would require. Listening intently to what they are saying; the words and the body language they are using can provide windows to their intentions and interest in buying the product.
No other career offers an opportunity to earn a six-figure annual income. How soon would you reach there – it all depends on your attitude and enthusiasm.
About the Author:
Doug Dvorak helps companies and professionals achieve results through customized, creative and non-traditional sales training systems that are “one size fits one” and developed to the unique business needs and “sales pain points” of each client. He is available to speak on these topics.
For more information visit https://salescoach.us or call 847-359-6969FREE
Permission is granted to reprint this article in print or on your web site as long as the paragraph above is included and contact information is provided.
Copyright 2008 The Sales Coaching Institute, Inc.
Sales Skills Training Strategic Sales Coaching
Doug Dvorak, CEO of DMG International, is the Author of the forthcoming book “Build Your Own Brand” (Pelican, 2009)