Getting Started with Twitter: AIC Social Media Workshop

Getting Started with TwitterOn June 27th I attended and presented at the Association of Independent Consultants (AIC) Social Media Workshop, where guest speakers, including myself spoke of the emerging trends of social media and marketing. Starting the presentations with an overview of social media and how it fits into the small business landscape was Sean Stanleigh from The Globe and Mail Small Business; a recap of his presentation can also be found in last week’s blog. The topic for my presentation was Getting Started with Twitter. I addressed the basics of setting up an account, tweeting, proper Twitter etiquette, using Twitter for sales prospecting and creating a Twitter strategy. As a focus point throughout my presentation, I emphasized the need to stay on top of social media news and emerging trends because of the rapidly changing environment.

The following points are highlighted from my presentation based on questions that arose during and remarks about what people were most excited to learn about:

Hashtags

Hashtags can be used in any tweet and can be posted up by any user. Attendees were happy to hear that they could not only use hashtags to formulate searches, but could also make them up in order to connect with people. At the event for example, I developed and used the hashtag #AICSM for attendees to tweet with and connect with each other. I did emphasize not overusing hashtags on a tweet (ex. Placing them in front of 60% or more of the words).

Creating a Twitter Bio

Putting together a bio on your Twitter page is not as easy as it looks. Some people ended up tweeking their bio during or after the presentation in order to highlight their specialities, interests and value proposition of either their own personal brand or their company’s brand, keeping it to a maximum of two sentences. Two examples of bios are below:

Personal Twitter Bio

@sgoodman88 Inside Sales and Digital Marketing Representative located in Toronto. Runner & advocate of local charities.

Business Twitter Bio

@vapartners Driving revenue for growing start-ups and small businesses by providing sales, marketing and social media assistance.

Managing Multiple Twitter Accounts

Having more than one account is ok, but do not commit to something you cannot handle. Many asked if it was viable to have more than one account: one for business and one for personal use. Some of these same people also had doubts that they would be able to keep up with their Twitter in general. My recommendation was as follows:

If you are a “one person shop,” having one account detailing both your personal and business brand is not a bad call. You can tweet content about yourself and your business. Just ensure you ensure that you do not get too personal. If you’re hoping to expand your business and take on more employees, open up two accounts.  One for business and one for personal use. Remember to stay on top of both. This way, if a future employee wants to tweet, they don’t need to use your personal account.

TweetDeck or HootSuite?

Both are additional options to www.twitter.com; HootSuite is web based, whereas TweetDeck is a software application. Although I use both, I highly recommend using TweetDeck. It allows for more open searches columns and I also find its higher resolution more engaging.

I was glad to pass on my knowledge of Twitter and also learn from other attendees. I gathered a number of tips and tricks for using Twitter and other social media platforms. For more information or to ask a question about Social Media or VA Partners, contact us.

Getting Started with Twitter: AIC Social Media Workshop