Use Twitter Positively – Dont be a twit!!!
Jun.27.2009 
So, with the turmoil in Iran and the passing of Micheal Jackson, we have really seen the power of twitter! But how can you harness that power? Its not a place for endlessly plugging your Brand or trying to be sneaky! Using the name @HabitatUk, Habitat “tweeted” updates about new products on twitter. But they also added “hashtags” – keywords that help Twitter users locate posts on specific themes – such as #Iran. This meant that people searching for information about the deadly violence and mass protests in Tehran following the country’s disputed election came up with posts advertising Habitat’s goods. The inevitable outcry has caused this to already become one of the most prominent examples of attempts to engage with social media backfiring.
OK So, assuming you do not want to commit the same type of error, here are our best tips on getting the most out of Twitter.
1. Sign up at Twitter.com
That’s step one, of course!
2. Download a twitter client such as Tweetdeck find others through google, we use DABr for our Mobiles.
It does make tweeting much easier!
3. Try to keep negativity off Twitter
You will lose followers – if you moan too much!
4. Follow people who are in your niche.
Click on “find people.” Type in names of people who write blogs in your niche, who have similar products and who are influencers. Remeber, more than anything, this is a social network tool.
Click the “follow” link under their photo. This will let you see their tweets with other people.
5. Make friends
No hard sell here……Make friends. Be a sociable person.
6. Learn the art of the RT
RT stands for “retweet”. There’s a little icon that says RT.
When you retweet someone’s messsage, you’re passing it on so the people on your list can see it.
This is the ultimate form of sharing. You give before you get.
Even if you only have 5 people on your list, use the RT.
But watch how others do it first. be careful!
7. Observe
Spend a week or so just watching others and learning what happens on Twitter before you jump in.
8. Anything and I do mean anything you say, can and may be retweeted.
So be aware that anything you say can be spread. So be very cautious about saying anything negative about anyone. Once you have said it – its out there!! Be aware that tweets are sometime picked up by Search Engines too!
9. Be positive
Remember Positive energy attracts other positive people.
10. If someone really annoys you, you can go to twitter.com, find their name and on the right side is link where you can block them. Remeber, they can do the same!
11. When you run across a cool web site or resource tweet it to your list.
12 . Remeber the @ symbol.
You want to send most of your messages to individuals using the @ symbol.
13. When you find a good blog post on someone’s blog, pass it along to your Twitter list.
This endears you to the blog owner. Even if they aren’t on your Twitter list, there’s a decent chance word will spread back to ‘em.
This IS the age of instant communication.
14. Learn to Twitter on your iPhone or Mobile.
15. Understand that in the big picture your goal is to find people who have lists and can promote your products then make friends with ‘em.
It helps if you pass along cool resources and on occasion say things that are profound or retweetable.
Do NOT end up twittering away time you really should be using to create products or do other promotions.
Use Twitter. Don’t let it use you.
Email etiquette
Have you considered how important email etiquette is in your company? Email is often the first point of contact for a prospective customer and an ongoing communication method for your existing customers. How you deal with emails will say a lot about your company and its values.
6 Quick Tips
- Start each email by saying “Hello name”, “Hi name” or “Dear Mr Name”.
- Reply promptly, your customers could go elsewhere if you take too long to reply.
- DON’T TYPE EVERYTHING IN CAPITALS. Unless you want to shout at your customers?!
- Proof read your email before sending, check for spelling errors and grammatical problems.
- Consider who you are sending the email to, do you really need to cc half your company?
- Remember to finish your email correctly. I would recommend putting your name, phone number and email address as a minimum.
These are just a few tips to get you started, if your company uses email regularly I would recommend you have an email policy so that your organisation has a consistent approach to email.
For more tips have a look at Emailreplies.com or visit the Business Email Etiquette Blog which has some good ideas about how to maximise the use of email in your organisation.
