# Twitter and Business



## LMCTees (Oct 16, 2009)

Hi! 

Just looking for some tips on using twitter to help market your business. If anyone has any useful information that would be wonderful! I am new to tweeting and not sure exactly how I should be using twitter.

Thanks!

Laura


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## TerryCombs (Nov 11, 2009)

Just be careful. Being on Twitter is like a drug!!


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

LMCTees said:


> Hi!
> 
> Just looking for some tips on using twitter to help market your business. If anyone has any useful information that would be wonderful! I am new to tweeting and not sure exactly how I should be using twitter.
> 
> ...


Twitter has written their own "Twitter 101 for Business" help tutorial on their site here: Twitter 101 for Business ? A Special Guide

You can also find some tips shared by other forum users here: twitter related topics at T-Shirt Forums


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## ladyumbrella (Aug 25, 2009)

Ah Twitter..it is great..or, at least I think so..and here is why:

- its free
- there are millions upon millions of people using it
- you can find people who may be interested in your product by finding similar brands on twitter and following those who follow them
- it is another weapon in your online marketing arsenal, a quick and easy way to stay in touch with your customers
- its often said its like "word of mouth on steroids", this is true. If a few people RT (re-tweet) your post which may contain a link to your site you can get a lot of traffic quickly and somewhat easily
- you can build your brand image easily. Get in touch with people who follow you, be real, talk about what you care about or what you're doing so that people can relate to you and start to build up trust in you
- google loves twitter so if your user name or url (eg Felix (yourcompany) on Twitter) is your company name whilst your own homepage may not rank in google results the twitter one will which may result in traffic to your page you may not have gotten
- it is fun, really...once you get "into it" and start to connect with people you'll find that you will make friends and business connections..be it suppliers, customers, bloggers, web designers - whatever, they are all on twitter waiting to be spoken to..
- a useful and easy way to foster "relationships" with potential customers
- a very quick way to get the word out about product offers or deals you have going

Ultimately, you will get out of it what you put into it..you can't expect an instant result but as you create your online image, just by being yourself, you will slowly but surely see the rewards and (possibly/probably) have a good time doing so...

Good luck with it and get your follow on...


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## Nikelover (Nov 6, 2009)

in twitter you are overwhelmed by lots of messages everyday and every second. and your advertisement will be overwhelmed too. so find other way of advertising your products online.


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## BostonKnucklehed (Sep 26, 2008)

Try to find your demographic on their. It can be tough but they are there you have to find all of them and follow. One way is to find a brand that is your closest competition and start following all their followers.


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## EnMartian (Feb 14, 2008)

Don't follow people indiscriminately. There are a lot of spammers and people who are just looking to sell you something. Make sure the people you follow will be interested in your message. It doesn't do you any good to have 100,000 followers if 95% of them have no interest in what you're saying or selling. Sometimes less is more.


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## IAMTHETREND (Oct 31, 2008)

Lady umbrella made a ton of REALLY GOOD points, definitely follow that.

I really think the key is being interactive and taking the time to care what others are saying and @respond to them. Its a lot easier to just keep tweeting and promoting yourself, but when you take the time to single out your followers tweets, it goes a long way.

speaking of that i really need to do that more!


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## topsy cret (Mar 3, 2009)

yeah, I just started tweeting myself, its gunna take some time to build that following. But defiantly worth it!


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## lincolnapparel (Nov 21, 2009)

So far I like Twitter. It is SO much easier than Facebook (which has given me nothing but problems). If Twitter had the same number of users as Facebook, that'd be awesome (I think that's the only asset Facebook has right now).


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## Joe Micheal (Nov 16, 2009)

Twitter is a great tool to engage in real-time conversation. But before you engage you must have a strategy and first you have to listen to what people are talking about, and then say something insightful to join the conversation. Post informative updates inline with your business but having no links back to your site. You don't want to spam them or you will lose followers.


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## mokothemonkey (Sep 21, 2009)

Sign up, link to it on your main website, and remember to use hashtags and keywords so people can find it and follow you. 
Don't just tweet about your business, give people a reason to follow you. For example, get some corny jokes out there or something that the suscribers actually WANT to see.


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## inkimprintscom (Aug 15, 2009)

great ideas and great post!


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## BostonKnucklehed (Sep 26, 2008)

Try to start by figuring out who your closest competitors are for your brand. Once determine you can start by following all their followers. Over time some will start to follow you. If your website has a blog you can start by dropping each blog post into your Twitter account, this will help by generating visitors to your blog which you can then find ways to let them know about your clothing.


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## Reckless Tees (Feb 24, 2007)

Twitter can be useful if you do it correctly, however, it is very time consuming. We currently have over 1200 followers and are active with our updates every day. A lot of the time we tweet about everyday things, but also mix it up with T-shirt quotes and special offers/promotions we have going on. I have got maybe 2-3 interested people and MAYBE 1 actual order from it so far. Do I think it will pay off in the end? Probably, but it definitely isn't going to come easy or quick. If in the end I got a large account from it, it would probably be worth it though because it's free! The key to any successful marketing technique is to gain VISIBILITY, CREDIBILITY, and then you get PROFITABILIY. I would say we are in between the first two steps right now...


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## mokothemonkey (Sep 21, 2009)

A quick tip for getting followers:
find another tweeter with the same target audience as you, and subscribe/follow to all of their followers. Often they will follow you back and get to know you and your company. Hope things work out


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## ElevenOTwelve (Sep 9, 2008)

posting pics via Twitpic links is good.. do it often


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## Brian H (Oct 11, 2009)

Great Information! I have recently started pursuing the use of Social Networking a little more than I have in the past. It has already proven itself to be an important tool for my business. It is a great avenue for B2B networking, and to chat with others in our industry. You can trend the conversations people are having about the decorative apparel industry as well using the twitter search tools that are available. I will continue to keep twitter on the top of my priority list so I don't get left in the dust.

Happy trails,

Brian


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## Kapedano (Apr 2, 2008)

Do people really care though?


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## Reckless Tees (Feb 24, 2007)

It can be if you do it correctly. I would say that 95% of people do it incorrectly though. Maybe even us!


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

This is an extreme case, but it does give a glimpse of the possibilities of revenue via Twitter interaction: Making Millions via Twitter: @DellOutlet Surpasses $2 Million in Sales


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## Nikelover (Nov 6, 2009)

Rodney said:


> This is an extreme case, but it does give a glimpse of the possibilities of revenue via Twitter interaction: Making Millions via Twitter: @DellOutlet Surpasses $2 Million in Sales



wow this outlet definitely know how to use twitter.
they are great.


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## Reckless Tees (Feb 24, 2007)

Rodney, I don't like it when you use these examples because as you stated this is "an extreme case" and their reach as a Fortune 500 company with 600,000+ followers is unrealistic for most of us who are small businesses. I just don't think this article applies to "real" folks.


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## lburton3 (Aug 14, 2008)

Check out the article I wrote an article earlier this year on how to build a following on twitter.


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## mokothemonkey (Sep 21, 2009)

approx 1/6 tweeters follow you back (actual results 120/659). I have gotten about 50% of them to go to my website just through tweets with my link. These tweets have lost me followers, so be careful how you tweet


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## LMCTees (Oct 16, 2009)

Wow! I never imagined I would get so much feedback about twitter! Thank you so much for the helpful information. I'm going to try and implement some of this stuff now.


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## designnbuy (Jan 1, 2010)

You need to use twitter immediately if you're serious about promoting your product online! It's a great way to get many serious people online. But at the same time with increasing popularity of twitter many people often use it for spamming. So try to follow such people who are serious and having similar interest like you! Post unique and informative post with link that can help your site/business to get target traffic!


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## mokothemonkey (Sep 21, 2009)

also make sure you don't just tweet about your business and what your eating for breakfast. Tweet about what people want to hear about


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## Kapedano (Apr 2, 2008)

Maybe this is not a related question directly to using Tweeter...but do you all think that Tweeter will make money off all of this popularity?


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## mokothemonkey (Sep 21, 2009)

I'm sure they are going to start placing ads in there sometime soon... it's a big website now and they could make a lot of money from it. It's also great for people wanting to make money, so it's a win-win situation. They could make millions.


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## PremiereCustom (Jan 22, 2010)

Reckless Tees said:


> Twitter can be useful if you do it correctly, however, it is very time consuming. We currently have over 1200 followers and are active with our updates every day. A lot of the time we tweet about everyday things, but also mix it up with T-shirt quotes and special offers/promotions we have going on. I have got maybe 2-3 interested people and MAYBE 1 actual order from it so far. Do I think it will pay off in the end? Probably, but it definitely isn't going to come easy or quick. If in the end I got a large account from it, it would probably be worth it though because it's free! The key to any successful marketing technique is to gain VISIBILITY, CREDIBILITY, and then you get PROFITABILIY. I would say we are in between the first two steps right now...


I think Reckless summed it up pretty well here. Another thing that I find valuable is that you get to meet people and get feedback on your site and or product. So if there is an issue or a feature that needs imporvement you can easily and actively get feedback and ideas from others to improve your service.


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## hellodestroyers (Sep 22, 2009)

Twitter has been up and down for us...so far we have about 150 fans...so far i just tweet about interesting news, designs, tutorials,.....but I still haven't find social community that i interact with...any suggestions?


___________________________
www.hellodestroyers.com Inspired by Music, Design and Making a difference 10% Profit goes to Kids in N. Africa


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