Am I A Twit For Not Twittering?

I think you're a genius for not using Twitter. Because I don't even know what Twitter is. Well I think my younger Brother uses it. Or maybe that's Bebo I can't remember. I'm not sure I like Internet Marketers using everything to make money. I don't see any of the big players using social networking sites so I'm not going to bother with them either. At least not for lining my pockets. I noticed some people started looking at WebLogs simply as a means of making money and generating traffic and for me that kind of diminishes the whole point of a WebLog. *Shrug*

Yo... every one of the big players is using Twitter. Frank Kern, Jason Moffitt, Mike Filisaime, and on and on. Just look at those I follow on Twitter.

I was the same way years ago about Blogs. I didn't understand them, thought they were nothing new, didn't see the need. Boy was I wrong.

It can be a huge waste of time or a great social networking tool - depends on how you use it.

One of my friends says that with email, you can only email your list once a day and get away with it. With Twitter, you can post 10-50 times a day and nobody will give a damn.

Fabian

Twitter can be a good way for bloggers and celebrities for passing one way status messages for their followers. You can't be a noname and be popular on twitter instantly.

Twitter is VERY valuable for your business. Yes, you should start using it yesterday.

I've got a free report at http://www.adsense-secrets.com/reports/twitter.pdf

and a full length book coming out in February.

Twitter Power - How To Dominate Your Market One Tweet At A Time

Trust me. You definitely want to use Twitter.

Joel

I had to laugh when the it was mentioned that no big name players were using twitter.

Joel Comm is a perfect example of the quality of twitters that your will find there.

There are more quality tweeters out there than you may realize, and they do respond to you when you interact with them.

Do you think you could pick up the phone and talk with Guy Kawasaki? or Joel Comm, or Mike Filisaime? Yet right there you can watch and interact with them.

You don't have to be a "Power User" with thousands of follower to benefit from twitter.

I have to be honest and say I was talking with one person on twitter about marketing and broadcast radio. I personally didn't recognize the twitter name, and they had a logo for the picture.

He sent me a Direct message with a link to check out on "one of his sites" I clicked it and realized who it was, not a name that will be known here, but in broadcasting, I would have had to pay tens of thousands of dollars just for any input about the radio project that I am working on.

Yet right there in the tweet stream, and in direct messages, the person who developed both the "album oriented format" (in the 70's), and the concept of "cross over Country" (in the 80's) was advising me on the my internet radio projects.

Although not marketing related, its just a lot of fun to talk about the music biz with MC Hammer.

Also you will come across a lot of people that are not "famous names", but have knowledge, skills and a Rolodex to kill for available to interact with.

Mark Riddle,

PS. The key phrase is Interact with, not beg and plead for help, when they ask a question that you know the answer, respond to them.

PPS. When someone with tons of followers thanks you for an answer, you suddenly get a bunch of new followers, it's seen as an endorsement of your knowledge.

Even if it is good, I haven't had time to worry about it, because I am busy with my business. I think it is perfectly normal to NOT be involved in every trend.

People like Frank Kern didn't begin with Twitter, Twitter was not the reason for their success. It was an effective tool they added to their armory, when they were already clear about their position in the market and the value of their product. First be clear about what you are marketing ,what value you add and to whom you are marketing: then you can join every new channel or outlet you want. There is no point joining every mechanism going and not a having and understanding of the market and a compelling offering.

I tried Twitter once, and I don't think I lasted the morning. It's not that I can't see the value in it, I can. I just couldn't really gel with it. Maybe I'm just not a natural born Twitterer

I can understand the likes of Kern, Comm and the likes using it because they are in the IM arena but what about the likes of myself who is not in the IM arena but just provide niche affiliate sites?

I would think I would have to use different pen names for different niche sites, I'm really not too sure if it's worth it at the moment?

Thanks for all the replies though, food for thought!

For those who "don't get it" let me just ask you a simple question.

Is list building a waste of time and pointless? Obviously not, yet some people will say they don't see the value and not do it. While others are building lists and making a killing with it, some will sit by the sideline.

Twitter followings are like lists that you can continually brand yourself in front of on a daily basis. One Internet marketer recently stated his Twitter following of less then 8,000 outperformed his IM list of over 40,000.

Is that something you want to just throw away?

You can get it or not get it, either way does not change the fact or results that others are getting from using it.

By the way, who cares if the BIG Name "Guru's" are or are not using it? What difference does that make?

The "Guru's" are not "all knowing" and in on every way to brand and make money online. Yes, most are on Twitter, but the big name "guru's" are not the ones paving the way with Twitter, they are for the most part, just there.

There are plenty of rather unknows who most here on the Warrior Forum have never heard of that have bigger Twitter followings then the "guru's". These people are the ones that truly get it and are paving the way and making a killing off of using social media sites like Twitter.

Get on Twitter now or don't, the choice is yours. Just don't make that choice based on what you "think" or on what other people "say" about it.

Make your decision about Twitter based on the results you get from trying it out, becasue that is the only way to know if it is worth it for you.

ive always been into IM but i never touched the social networking thing. two days ago someone told me to join twitter had been nagging me for a while so i did. Two days later i have more than 500 followers and ive had over 100 hits on my blog in under 2days that i wouldn't have had and some great sales too. If you havent the time remember u can set it up so that every blog entry goes on there which can really add to your traffic. The only problem is im addicted to it now!! oh dear

If you like the truth quit using any other social site for traffic , there traffic is crap . but they are good for backlinks... i will advice you to target google .. cos google traffic is the only tactics , but for you to get this you need to build quality backlinks with the right anchor text

Well I have been on Twitter a couple of years now and think it is fine, not earth shattering but still I get a lot of great links for interesting pages that are not always selling stuff to you.

The great thing about Twitter is that you can dabble, follow a bunch of interesting people and learn what it is interesting to them and not have to tweet much or tweet a lot, your choice.

So you don't have to decide whether you are going to twitter or not, there can be a big time suck in using Twitter but there does not have to be. Look at hte people that I am following and you will get a list of Internet Marketers, people interested in fitness and tech guys. I have a diverse group that I follow and it keeps things interesting but does not take a lot of my time.

Twitter is just another marketing tool.

Tips:

* Choose a goal: what do you want your tweets to achieve? Build name recognition, a mailing list)

* Decide how often you'll tweet (once a day/ 5 times a day)

* Once you start tweeting, save your sanity and use Tools to Boost Your Productivity on Twitter TweetLater.com

I devote blocks of time (an hour, a couple of hours) to projects, and usually close my office door so I can focus. Tweetlater means that I can schedule tweets. :-)

Cheers

Angela

Twitter is great for taking anybody whether you are a somebody or a nobody and give you the chance to be seen and heard.

People without lists, their own product, or any of the typical things that people you have heard of have, are growing followings and branding themselves in a short period of time.

Twitter provides easy access to the people you want to be in contact with, whether it is in IM or another niche. You can get on and build relationships and your personal brand quickly and easily because it puts you in front of the right people.

The key just like anything is providing value. The idea is to provide value and good content to your followers, brand yourself along the way, and let your followers learn to trust you. Then they are more ready to buy from you and be willing to buy products that you refer as well.

People buy from people they trust and feel a connection with. Who would you rather buy from, a random person sending a link in an email or someone you talk to and connect with on a site like Twitter who refers you to a product. Most people would rather give the money to someone they feel a connection with and at least have a half way "real" relationship with.

The way the internet is going and way people are connecting now is forcing people to be more and more transparent in their marketing. Those who don't and try to hide behind a website and never be seen are going to have a hard time competing with those who understand and embrace being open with their marketing and branding.

If you look at every "known" IM guru, they have a story that most people know, you recognize them in a picture, you know what to associate them with. Why is that? It is because they brand themselves and they put themselves out there to be known. Like I said, people buy from those they know and trust. These Gurus know this, that is why it is done. With social media sites like Twitter it levels the playing ground and lets the average marketer grow a following and brand themselves in ways that did not exist before.

Again, Twitter may not be for everyone, but those that embrace what it can do and leverage it, can grow their personal brand quicker and easier then any other method that I know of.

Just remember to give value and build relationships first and the money will follow later.

obviously you cant put all your niche in one twitter account since it only allows one niche or site per account... simply do each twitter account and be sure you wont be get banned there....

Twitter is a tool.

Not everyone needs the same tools to conduct business, a roofer doesn't have much need for a plunger. A surgeon doesn't have much need for ballet slippers.

A violin is just some wood and some strings, it can be full of awful sounds and screeches, but put it in the hands of a master, and you can hear the sounds of angels.

Mark Riddle

There's one simple reason to use Twitter - Because there is no better way to get in touch with important people right now.

In most cases when you email someone, even just to say thanks or hello, they don't reply.

In Twitter, you usually get some form of acknowledgment, possibly a reply or a direct message. Even if they don't @reply to you, your twitter user name and face, if you use one as an avatar, will become familiar to them. Do this often enough, without becoming annoying or spamming, or if you provide them with a link to a great resource when they ask a question, and you will have started a relationship.

If you're in the IM industry, that means you could be forming relationships with pretty much every big marketer we all know well, people like -

Frank Kern (@masscontrolkern)
John Reese (@johnreese)
Jeff Walker (@jeffwalker)
Mike Filsaime (@milefilsaime)
Joel Comm (@joelcomm)
Ed Dale (@Ed_Dale)
Willie Crawford (@WillieCrawford)
Brad Fallon (@BradFallon)
Eben Pagan (@ebenpagan)
Alex Mandossian (@alexmandossian)

...and so many others, too many to list here.

If Internet marketing is not your industry, there are a lot of other people on twitter you could be following and communicating with. Famous people and every day people.

I currently subscribe to the twitter accounts of the Prime Minister of Australia and the opposition leader, two of the most powerful people in my country. They are not exactly my friends, but twitter is facilitating a much closer relationship with these people than any other communication tool I know of.

It's important you take advantage of Twitter as soon as you can, as it will become noisier the longer you wait and it won't be "new" for much longer either. Now is a great time to use it because everyone is still excited with how it works. That means you get extra attention when you interact with well known people.

Given enough time, twitter, like email, will become so prolific, that once again you will be ignored, simply because there's too much noise coming at everyone. The channel isn't that crowded...yet.

If you want a great desktop client to use with Twitter, I recommend http://www.twhirl.org - it lets you tweet like you are using an instant message client.

Oh and of course, if you want to follow me on twitter, see my signature :-)

@yarostarak

People in all types of businesses are using Twitter. For instance, in the real estate/mortgage industries it is very popular. It isn't about letting people know you just finished brushing your teeth, although some people
still mistakenly use it that way.

It's no different from people joining business related social groups in the days before the internet. The time spent on it can't be all about business, but in the process of sharing useful and interesting information, helping each other out and building trust you find it helps with marketing certain types of businesses.

It is very useful in many businesses when being seen as an expert is important. If your business is based on Adwords and CPA programs and you need no "public face" for your business it may not be as useful, but you will find people on there with the same business model to exchange information with.

I like using Tweetdeck as the desktop client for accessing Twitter because you can enter keyword searches that pull up tweets in real time on subjects you are interested in so that you can interact with others with similar interests. You can also divide those you follow into groups to keep better track of them.

Twitter is really worth your time to do. There are Huge names on there and people will help you out with all kinds of advice.

In my opinion, Twitter is a great tool to integrate yourself into conversations you'd never know about or be able to get into otherwise.

I do not use Twitter for marketing. I'll tweet new posts or projects, but mostly just to spread the word. I believe Twitter is most powerful as a branding tool, but it is also great for creating a fanbase.

Twitter is a different type of environment than most IM'ers are use to, and many people blow it when they join. People on Twitter are very smart and will not tolerate spammers or shameless self-promotion.

Start following people to see how it is being used. You can use Twitterfox, Twhirl, or TweetDeck to make it easier to use.

You lose nothing for not using it, imo those who suggests it are the most successful internet marketers (bear in mind that people already know them, so they are full of followers), you will have to take time and get followers etc etc. Too time consuming if you ask me.

I've made my living almost entirely off of Twitter for the past five months. I'd say about 90 percent of my ghostwriting and press release clients come from Twitter.

If you hate small talk and interacting with other people, you probably WON'T do that well on Twitter. I use the analogy of Twitter being like an online chamber of commerce. You go on there, you socialize, you get to know people, they get to know you...and people are more likely to do business with people they have gotten to know.

So Twitter is not for everyone, but a lot of very successful internet marketers are on there regularly, and I assume there's a reason for that. And my bank account tells me every week that you CAN make a living off of Twitter - and the only Twitter related thing that I'm sellling is my Twitter WSO - and actually I never promote that on Twitter, only here.

No, you're reversing what I said. I said if you don't like small talk and interacting with others you will probably not do well on Twitter. I did not say that if you don't like Twitter you don't like small talk etc.

My Twitter advice: I have had the most success in getting clients when I go on Twitter and give useful advice, for free, about my field of expertise. Then they go to my blog, read my posts, see I know what I'm talking about, and sometimes people hire me.

Oh, quick comment about Yaro's observation that Twitter will get too crowded - I think the fact that Twitter is basically opt-in - as in, you decide whether to follow people or not - will help keep that under control. You don't have to follow a lot of people if you don't want to.

I'm just using one account on two niche.

I just wanted to update on my earlier post i now have over 750 followers in just over 3 days

I bought Dana's ebook because I felt like I needed to know what was going on with Twitter. I figured that once I'd tried it for a while, I'd be better able to make a judgment as to whether or not it was something worthwhile for me. And let me just say the ebook was excellent!

I've been on for a few days now. I have 140 followers and I'm following about 240 people. I spend maybe 20 minutes a day total there - I try to balance my tweets between just random stuff and focused business ones. Since I've been on, traffic to my candle business site has increased (I can track all referrers, so I know they're from Twitter) and I've gotten two leads that are specifically interested in my business.

So, all in all, I'd have to say that I'm going to continue to explore this in the coming year. I've been struggling to get myself out there, and between Twitter and Facebook (which I've also just started) that's one of my goals for the new year.

Have a great day, all.

Debbie

Debbie, I would recommend going on Twellow.com or looking up Twitterpacks by Topic to find targeted followers - maybe moms, maybe fellow crafters - and then writing some good useful posts on your blog, and linking from Twitter to your blog. I've been able to drive as many as 300 visitors in a day to my site by doing that.