Proper way for a business to use twitter?

[wtfent]

Kind of strange to me when i see some companies CEO tweeting about his personal life, for example; "off to the store, cooking some steak tonight" shouldn't that be replaced by like "happy to say we had a record 4th quarter" or "Check out our new product x"


I think a lot of people are new to tweeting like me and are not exactly sure how to go about updating their twitter page without being too spammy. Any wise words out there from any experienced twitters?

[kmanrox]

good post... i don't have any experience with twitter so i'll sit back and watch the replies.. i'd guess it would depend on their intentions.. if they're looking to put a more personal touch/feeling/face on their company, i'd say sure, go uberpersonal.. if you're looking to gain credibility yeah, go ubersuit.

[top_palooza]

bump

[Barefootsies]

It should be easy chief. Everything in life is a 'sale'.

You are selling yourself to that skeezer in the club you wanna fuck. You are selling yourself in a job interview, conference, business meeting. You sell yourself to the bank to get your car or auto loan.

Life is one big sales pitch.

[Farang]

Twitter is a spammers playground.

[Barefootsies]

Originally Posted by Farang

Twitter is a spammers playground.

[Farang]

Originally Posted by Barefootsies

[Walter Gropius]

I post a combination of professional comments and pointless personal crap. Still not seeing a great deal of point to Twitter but I'm willing to put 5 minutes a day into it for the little bit of exposure it will get my company and the slight chance any work will come from it.

BTW Farang, what the fuck is that pic in your sig?! LMAO

[slapass]

I get a lot more repsonse from the spam then from the personal shit. If you don't ask for the sale, you don't get it.

[Sly]

Originally Posted by wtfent

Kind of strange to me when i see some companies CEO tweeting about his personal life, for example; "off to the store, cooking some steak tonight" shouldn't that be replaced by like "happy to say we had a record 4th quarter" or "Check out our new product x"


I think a lot of people are new to tweeting like me and are not exactly sure how to go about updating their twitter page without being too spammy. Any wise words out there from any experienced twitters?

Would you "follow" somebody that constantly posted only about their products? At least if they are posting about a steak I can sit here and say "mmm that sounds good."

[wtfent]

I actually deleted a few of my tweeter posts after thinking they were too personal. I only post personal stuff to keep up with what everyone else is doing. Just seems like posting personal crap will do more harm than good. For example if apple had a tweeter you'd expect apple related stuff not Steve Jobs saying "2nd day of surgery, wish me luck" if he wanted to do that he could just get a personal page.

I understand we probably only post this personal stuff because its what everyone else is doing and we don't want to be spammy but at what point do the personal post just get weird.

Lets use Zuzana Designs Twitter page as an example... http://twitter.com/zuzanadesigns

I would expect, maybe a post per day or so business related, just not sure about what. Maybe some new design examples or a new client she took on or good feedback someone left her, etc... but seeing her talk about catching crabs and cooking them to me is just weird and if anything makes the company seem smaller and less serious, (Lol sorry to pick on you Sarah, you were just a good example.)

[wtfent]

Originally Posted by slapass

I get a lot more repsonse from the spam then from the personal shit. If you don't ask for the sale, you don't get it.

I agree with you.

[wtfent]

Originally Posted by Sly

Would you "follow" somebody that constantly posted only about their products? At least if they are posting about a steak I can sit here and say "mmm that sounds good."

Yea good point too. That's the trick though. What can you post about that isn't spammy but not so personal it becomes weird. Maybe like quick motivational quotes or wise words, news from your industry, company goals, funny office stories, happy holidays, happy birthday to staff members, announcements, promotions, policy changes, etc... mixed in with a few personal tweets.

[wtfent]

Also there are 3 different kind of tweet accounts it seems. I think everyone should have one for each and link to each of them so you can take full advantage of tweeter.

1. Personal for fun (Possibly build your reputation also)

2. Business (must maintain your brand image not too spammy but not too personal)

3. Business Spam (Used for business but your companies name is not on the line but if youre too spammy you wont get followers)

[martinsc]

Originally Posted by Barefootsies

[wtfent]

My tweeter page by the way... http://twitter.com/TWSYDVDSTORE

[Matyko]

Originally Posted by wtfent

My tweeter page by the way... http://twitter.com/TWSYDVDSTORE

Thanks for your posts, they were very helpful - at least for me.

-=- Kudos! -=-

Matyko

[wtfent]

Also my help if I learn how to spell it lol. Twitter I meant to say in all my previous post not tweeter.

[wtfent]

Originally Posted by Matyko

Thanks for your posts, they were very helpful - at least for me.

-=- Kudos! -=-

Matyko

No problem. Glad I could help you out.

[Joshua G]

the news recently reported some video production store owner in AZ tweeted he was going on a road trip. Came home & his house was robbed.

[AnimeFevers]

Originally Posted by joshgirls

the news recently reported some video production store owner in AZ tweeted he was going on a road trip. Came home & his house was robbed.

lol hahaha

[wtfent]

Originally Posted by joshgirls

the news recently reported some video production store owner in AZ tweeted he was going on a road trip. Came home & his house was robbed.

Yea I read about that. lol. Not only did he do that but I guess he posted pics on the road and told people when he would be back, etc... just more info for people to feel secure about robbing his place. The guy could have been even dumber and said something like "hope my fish don't die since nobody will be there to take care of them for 4 days" lol

[Zuzana Designs]

Originally Posted by wtfent

I actually deleted a few of my tweeter posts after thinking they were too personal. I only post personal stuff to keep up with what everyone else is doing. Just seems like posting personal crap will do more harm than good. For example if apple had a tweeter you'd expect apple related stuff not Steve Jobs saying "2nd day of surgery, wish me luck" if he wanted to do that he could just get a personal page.

I understand we probably only post this personal stuff because its what everyone else is doing and we don't want to be spammy but at what point do the personal post just get weird.

Lets use Zuzana Designs Twitter page as an example... http://twitter.com/zuzanadesigns

I would expect, maybe a post per day or so business related, just not sure about what. Maybe some new design examples or a new client she took on or good feedback someone left her, etc... but seeing her talk about catching crabs and cooking them to me is just weird and if anything makes the company seem smaller and less serious, (Lol sorry to pick on you Sarah, you were just a good example.)

Good post, I don't mind being an example at all. I just signed up for it a few days ago, and so far it is pretty cool. It is like an opt in e-mail list of people saying they give you permission to tell them anything you want about what you?re doing lol. I?m trying to use it for some personal stuff and more business. Social networking is where it?s at it seems. People love to hear about what you are doing at all times. I will use it to announce my weekly design specials as well. I have a newsletter now, but this will make it quick and easy. I can say 30% off all design to the first 10 people that reply to me. Or something like that. I?m still learning what will be most useful to my company.

[Joshua G]

twitter is a great backup way to communicate to customers if someone is DOS'ing your site. Also good when you steel $500K in jewelry & want to deflect attention with a topless pic.

[candyflip]

I'm promoting services to a specific niche. Building the following isn't all that difficult if you provide information on one topic.

I throw in referral links and links to services I'm providing and I'm doing great with it.

I buy leads from a provider and in just one month the few minutes I spend each hour on Twitter already brings me 3-5 new, targetted leads per day. Which, when I buy them, are around $8 each when I buy in bulk, prepaid purchase of 250 leads at a time.

[candyflip]

Another suggestion is to watch a bunch of relevant search keywords.

Use an app like TweetDeck. You see someone asking about or talking about the same thing you're focusing on and you can drop a ref link or link to your blog or what not directly into their lap in real time.

[Si]

it depends. I update with "news" and it gets good responses.

typing something like: going out for a beer, be back later

Is just stupid