I believe many of us Internet marketers understand the importance of tapping on social media platforms and the opportunities they can bring to us. However, are you leveraging on its full potential? I have heard people telling me umpteen times that it’s very difficult to have conversations or that it is very hard to keep track of conversations on Twitter. For example, many of us have probably felt the frustrations with the 140 characters limit and so on. However, from my viewpoint, there is no reason why these limitations should stop you from tapping on it. In fact, it has great potential and how much you can uncover all depends on how YOU use the service!
What Are The Potentials That Lie Within?
Think about it, if an Internet marketer approaches you and tries to sell you his business via twitter, what will you feel? I am pretty sure, like everyone else, you will have thousands of questions running through your head. These stem from the fact that you don’t know him / her well enough yet and it’s totally understandable! After all, you wouldn’t want to spend your money on an irrelevant service or someone unreliable and worse still, phony. It’s the same for your customers! They want to feel you out and understand you better before they can make informed decisions. Twitter allows us to kickstart a relationship and build trust. The best part about all these? It allows you to bring these conversations off Twitter! This may sound unbelievable and you may ask if there’re actually people who are willing to do that with you. Don’t be surprised! In fact, it happens all the time.
The reason why I can safely tell you that with certainty is because it happened to me. Just like you, I had doubts about whether I will be able to find people who are willing to have conversations with me offline. However, after trying it out, I was pleasantly surprised with the results! In fact, many of the people I got to know via Twitter and had conversations with off Twitter are my students and clients now. I have had the opportunity to widen my social network via Twitter and to take things to another level via other platforms such as Skype. Conversations on Twitter are great starting points but the real value kicks in when you bring these conversations off Twitter!
So, How Do We Make All These Happen?
Don’t worry, it is really simple. Twitter signifies the start of new relationships and better still, friendships. As discussed above, as Twitter has certain restrictions such as limiting the number of characters you can type, taking conversations to another level via platforms such as Skype will allow you to understand each other better. When people agree to bring conversations off Twitter, it is a great sign that they are interested in learning more about you and the value you can bring. This also means that you now have the avenue to learn about them, what they are doing and their needs. It is also an indication that you can talk more about yourself and your business. This form of relationship goes way deeper than that of a follower. Just because someone is your follower, it does not necessarily mean that they will make an effort to pay attention to what you have to say.
However, by wanting to bring conversations off Twitter, it means that these followers are genuinely interested in the topics you have discussed and wish to understand more from you. Both of you have grown to be part of each other’s community now. Many people are concerned about the number of followers they have on Twitter and see that as a sign of their popularity. However, that’s not true! One of my key takeaways in this article, if you have not realized yet, is that the true relationship only comes in when you are conversing with people off Twitter instead of just on Twitter. What is 10,000 followers compared to an interactive community of a thousand? The former is just a number! They do not mean anything. On the other hand, the latter signifies a connection. By building such a relationship and trust with people who share common interests with you and are genuinely interested in your thoughts, you will go a longer way with them.
Active Interaction & Reciprocity
Trust me, this works! It all boils down to active interaction. I have seen my community growing by employing such a simple technique. So what are the immediate next steps? Start reaching to people, especially those with common interests. There may be some who will ignore you but you will also get people who reciprocate. They will too reach out to you. Don’t worry … there are definitely more of such people than the former.
Wait no more, start interacting today! And see for yourself, the amazing results you will achieve!
As CEO of Affiliate Home Business, Jack Harold is an experienced Internet marketer and has helped thousands of his students to apply Internet marketing strategies to succeed online. If you will like to know how to make money online, you can grab a free copy of his exclusive “The Rags To Riches Blueprint†at his website, Affiliate Home Business.