Twitter: a great marketing tool or just another status updater thingy widget?

MySpace.  Facebook.  Live Journal.  Xanga.  Yammer.  YouTube.   Wordpress.  Twitter.  Why?  Why all of the different means of disseminating information about our boring lives?  It’s interesting to see how different people utilize the sites.  The creators have their own intentions and plans for how the sites should be used, but we always sign up and come up with our own variations.  It never fails.

I remember when Xanga was released.  I had never had a blog, so it took awhile for me to get used to it.  I soon realized that it was only useful or worth my time if people read it.  And why would anyone read a blog about me?  I had to keep it interesting so people kept coming back; otherwise, what’s the point?  So, I made sure I was always writing about the things in my life that people might find interesting, or want to know more about.  There were times, of course, that it was difficult to come up with anything “blog” worthy.  I’m sure we’ve all been there; you know it’s time to update your blog or site, but for whatever reason, there is nothing that you can think of that would be of any interest to someone other than your mother.  Enter Google.

I’ve found Google to be a great resource for finding new topics.  Search the news in your industry and research some topics.  Develop thoughts and opinions.  Then write about it.  But that’s a whole other post.  Let’s get to why I’m writing this particular post today.

Twitter.  Surely you’ve heard of it.  More than likely, you’ve got an account.  Have you told the world what you are doing yet?  My first few weeks on Twitter were fruitless.  ”I’m getting my morning cup of coffee”.  ”Taking a shower, then off to get some food”.  ”I have a headache”.  These were the kind of updates, or “tweets”, that I and many others were posting.  Then, I started looking more closely at the people and companies that have 500 or 1,000 followers, or even 10,000.  How?  Well, for one, they often use these automated “bots” to follow people, thereby garnering followers in return.  Twitter actually has daily limits on how many people you can add in 24 hours (it’s possible to contact them and have this restriction lifted).  If you add too many people too fast, you run the risk of having your account blocked or deleted.  Again, that is a whole other topic : )

So, I had to find out ways to have people truly want to know what I was writing about or doing at the moment.  The main difference between the people with 20 followers and the people with 20,000 followers is content.  If you only remember one thing from this article, remember this: CONTENT IS KING.  Yes, it’s a cliche.  As much as I dislike cliches, this is a true statement.  People will come to your blog, website, or Twitter if you have something to say.  By that, I mean something of use to your would-be visitors.  Everyone takes showers.  Most drink coffee.  We aren’t benefitting the community by letting the world know that.

So, “what do I tweet about?”, you ask?  Well, for starters, if you find an extremely useful news article relating to the taxes in North Dakota, or a great sale on a particular website, pass it on!  If you are an expert in your field or profession, write about what you know.  These are some very simple tips to helping you have repeat and loyal visitors.  This is what will drive people back to you each week.  Not the fact that you dropped the kids off at school and then went to yoga class.  People will only follow you if you have something of use that they can benefit from.  I cannot for the life of me stress that enough.  If you are using Twitter for your business, freelancing, or entrepreneurial endeavors, you need to show the world that you have something of value to say.  If, however, you’re using it as a 12 year old, then post whatever you want.  Even college students and such can benefit from it.  Try posting a question about a particular topic and see the response and help you’re likely to get from your followers.  In return, if you come across something that pertains to current events that others should know about, let us know!

In conclusion, Twitter, I believe, can be extremely powerful.  140 characters at a time.  Just don’t let the world know that you didn’t brush your teeth today.  Nobody really wants to hear that.  Trust me.  Now, forgive me; I have to go update my Twitter status ; )