Why Twitter Sux
I just don’t get Twitter. It provides no real value to me, and it seems like a bunch of noisy people selling themselves.
That’s what I heard from someone in a meeting the other day.
Trying to be politically correct, I smiled and said, “well, if you ever want to learn more, just let me know.” But my inner thoughts were:
Really? It provides NO value to you?? So connecting with hundreds or even thousands of professionals that are potential customers, has NO value to you? How long have you spent trying to “get it” before throwing in the towel? Aren’t you in sales? Aren’t you always trying to “sell yourself”, so you’re annoyed that everyone else is too?
I’m so glad I didn’t actually say all those things during the meeting.
The truth is, I would agree that, at first, learning the Twitter lingo and the “etiquette” takes some getting use to. Let’s say, a week.
I also think the reason people throw in the towel is they don’t know how to manage their account. All they know is “Follow. Follow. Follow. Tweet. Tweet. Tweet.” No real engagement. Just follow people, tweet out information, then cross their fingers that a lead will appear. Magically.
Come on.
Let’s take some baby steps to get you on the right track. I tell our teams all the time to focus on one “lead-type” at a time. Let’s say you’re looking to connect with Online Community Managers (wink).
I’m taking a risk by sounding like a “self help guru”, but here’s your One-Week Plan for “Optimizing Twitter for Lead Generation.”
Monday: Find Them.
- Go to sites like Followerwonk.com and search on “Online Community Managers.” You can even narrow the search by location.
- Create a list within Tweetdeck and name it “Online Community Manager.” Follow all those you find at Followerwonk and put them into that list.
- Open up that list as a new column within Tweetdeck. There you have a very narrowed conversation stream with only OCMs.
Tuesday & Wednesday: Sell Them. Not Yourself.
- Go through your new column of OCMs and look at their bios. Do they have a blog? If so, scan their blogs for interesting posts. Tweet one out and give them credit.
- Comment on their blogs.
- Make a comment about one of their tweets. Engage them in conversation. You’re in sales, you know how to start conversations.
Thursday: Give it a rest.
- Don’t be super eager or “Big Brotherish”, but scan their tweets, and if something truly sticks out, it’s ok to say something.
Friday: LinkedIn.
- You’ve established communication with your potential leads, now send a “warm invitation” to bring them into your LinkedIn network.
Does Twitter take some time? Yes. Should it engulf your day. Absolutely not.
But now you have numerous new leads and LinkedIn connections that you didn’t have last week. Also, one added benefit, people on Twitter tend to connect with like professionals. So your newly found leads are probably connected with hundreds of others with similar skills.
But, if it has NO real value to you……
5 responses to “Why Twitter Sux”
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Adam Waid 
Good point on selling them. I’ve found business partners, clients, and friends by connecting with people on Twitter.
A good way to connect is to promote their blog posts/content, recommend the person on Fridays for #FollowFriday #FF, and simply engaging them in conversation.
Another way to build the relationship is to blog about them and THEN tweet it! 🙂 My all-time favorite is reaching out by phone and seeing how you can help (especially if you’ve struck a good connection online).
P.S. Thanks for the link!
Dali
I am not a fan of Twitter nor am I a Twitter expert, but let me first say; anyone who says, Twitter has no real value is slightly uneducated.
However, Twitter does lack important technology and I foresee it becoming obsolete if important changes are not made to the system. We should not be zealous over stagnate social-media breakthroughs, rather invest our time in seeking out the “problems” with these “flavor-of-the-week/decade” media sites.
Twitters’ incompetence; The Big Three:
1. No live conferencing or multiple broadcasting- If the need arises, the technology does not exist. This forces users to seek other mediums. Maybe Google?
2. No Media Statistics- One being in sales would like for their “Tweets” to have the most impact. Twitter should offer (since they take pride in being so business friendly) statistics on Twitter Prime-Time viewing. Cable does it and has been for decades.
3. Spammers & Hackers!!! – Twitter, like many social media sites, have a vast array of hackers who are after your personal info. I no longer have an account with Twitter because I became concerned with my security.
http://www.bitdefender.com/security/hackers-on-twitter-can-gain-access-to-accounts-through-spam.html
Call me old fashion, but I have three accounts to secure networking sites that seem to be tailored to those solely seeking networking, rather than having to read about how some teenager looked so “BITCHEN” in her Halloween costume.
PS. I love you Adam Waid.
Matt-
Thanks for your comment. Also, let it be said you looked “BITCHEN” in your wedding photos.
Anytime there’s a “breakthrough” in technology (social or not) people tend to get zealous over. While some go over board, others truly are using the breakthrough to do “good” or just profit in their business. Maybe in certain lines of work, not embracing technology and learning how to utilize it best, is fine, but not in mine.
Let’s move on to your “big 3” statements:
1. What do you mean “live conferencing?” I’m not sure how to respond to that since I’m not sure the last time I use “live conferencing.” Unless you’re meaning technology like “skype” or “facetime.” Besides, should I be zealous of those or “invest [my] time in seeking out the “problems'”
2. Stats for Twitter are everywhere! You can gauge how well your tweets are doing, see how many clicks you’ve received, how many RTs, etc. Also there are numerous articles that show “best times” of day/week to tweet. http://www.shortstack.com/2011/09/the-prime-time-tweet-time-infographic/.
Also, with a little investigating, you can also find out personally when your tweets do best. I’ve studied mine and know that my tweets are best (with colleagues) during 11-2pm M, T, Thurs.
3. Yes, spammers are everywhere (on every medium). My gmail spam box (which i know you use gmail) currently has 37 messages of spam. And I cleaned it out last night! Should I stop using gmail? A little common sense says to not click on a link, DM, or Tweet from a person you don’t know. Especially if there are asking you to go to a specific website. Sorry, but put point is invalid. Besides, have you purchased items online recently with a credit card? When that was first popular in the late 90’s everyone was scared that they would be hacked. And some where, but that’s the good thing about technology, it’s always improving.
In the end, I’m not sure how long these mediums of “social” will last. However, it’s changing the way most companies interact with their customers and changing the way people communicate. The same way the internet changed our ability to communicate and learn back in the mid 90’s.
See ya on g-mail chat.
P.S. Love ya too!
Aren’t you BOTH too young to use the word “Bitchen”? That’s from MY generation – you know, the generation that comes right before the “slackers”? LOL
P.S. I love you both – but I love Adam Waid the MOST (if only because his wife knows how to make my favorite kinds of cookies!)
Oh, and I forgot to mention anything related to the content of your blog, Adam – my apologies.
I do not use Twitter for work – but I find it pretty useful anyway. I’ve learned much from many people/organizations/companies I have connected with.