This great article has been brought to you by another guest contributor, James Ball. James is a social media consultant who blogs to help integrate social media & small business at NotEasyToForget.com. James is also one of the owners of HelloNorthGeorgia.com, North Georgia’s visual directory.
The social media landscape is massive, and you are certainly not alone if you find it all very confusing. It only seems like everybody else “gets it”, but I assure you that this is not the reality. Most small businesses have become only passively involved at this point. To me this is great news. I often recommend that businesses stay passive for as long as it takes to gain a working understanding of the social media channels.
Social media has a grand definition, but is essentially about relationships and community building. These things do take time. Social media is here to stay, so take all the time that you need. Learning to leverage the social web effectively can have a significant impact on many aspects of your business, including your bottom line. The time invested is time well spent.
I’m going out on a limb here to assume that many have looked into Twitter as a possible entry point for their business. It seems a natural first choice given the ever-present buzz that surrounds the new media darling. In my conversations with business owners, I find that people either immediately understand what is happening, and therefore the value, or they can’t see the point at all and dismiss Twitter entirely.
In my opinion Twitter is one of the single best social media entry points for small businesses. Experts are discussing social media as a whole and sharing resources on Twitter practically every second of every day. Here are a few suggestions for mining Twitter to learn more about social media:
- Twitter Applications for LOCAL: There are many applications outside of Twitter’s site itself that will allow you to find local social media information and resources from within Twitter. A nice list of applications and services for this purpose can be found here.
- Break free from the Twitter.com interface: The site itself is limited to a single stream of content. Download a free desktop application like TweetDeck or Seesmic. These will allow you to break apart specific search terms and filters into individual columns that can be viewed simultaneously. Setting up a column that searches for “Facebook” or “Blog” for example, will help you to effectively mine Twitter for the experts and links on these topics.
- Twitter on the go: Twitter was designed from birth to be mobile, and this is perhaps the most useful and time saving aspect of the service. Twitter provides an excellent FAQ page for users who want to utilize their cell phones to access the service. The apps for smart-phones are an excellent alternative to the site. You might try Tweetie for the iPhone or UberTwitter for your BlackBerry. All are great for searching Twitter.
I encourage you to commit just a few weeks to dig a little deeper into Twitter using some of these resources. Consider Twitter as a conduit to help you learn more about social media itself. Twitter is not only a great avenue for marketing your business; it’s also a very valuable resource for learning.
