I’ve heard it time and again; in the past I’ve even said it myself. “How on earth can Twitter help you with networking and marketing? It’s only 140 characters!”
I’m here to tell you, yes, it is possible to build relationships with people 140 characters at a time. And, yes you can build these relationships even if you are connected to hundreds, if not thousands of people.
The key is the “know, like and trust factor”. If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you’ve heard me say it before: people like to do business with people they know, like and trust. Twitter helps you do that.
First of all, if you are tweeting regularly (a few times a day at least), people will start to get to know you. If you tweet about things in your personal life, show a personality, share something of yourself, people will get to know who you are not just as a business but as an individual.
And the nice thing about Twitter, is that unlike email, you don’t really have to worry about Tweeting too often. If someone is too busy today, they just won’t read their Twitter feed. Yes, they’ll miss what you have to say today, but that’s okay.
Over time, as people begin to recognize your Twitter avatar, they’ll start connecting your face with what types of things you have to say. If they enjoy your thoughts, your Tweets will jump out from the pack. If they’re using TweetDeck, they may even add your Tweets to a group of their favorites. You’ve moved on from “know” to “like”.
Over time, as they continue to read your Tweets, they’ll become comfortable with what you have to say. They may start looking forward to your Tweets. They’ll start using your tips. They’ll retweet you and #followfriday you. In other words, they’ll begin to trust you.
Once they’ve reached the trust phase, they’ll want more from you. They’ll visit your website, sign up for your newsletter, connect on other social media sites. At this point you can start deepening the relationship and eventually, you may turn them into customers.
And it all starts with 140 characters.
Andrea J. Stenberg
