Does Twitter Waste Your Time?
Twitter can be an incredible asset to your business, just like email can be. But (just like email), it can also be a huge time-waster and can suck hours out of your day without you even noticing. You get on Twitter and then the next time you look up it’s an hour later, or more!
Self-control is important for Everybody, but If you are self-employed, it becomes even more important! Wasting time is wasting money.
Wasting time on Twitter is like sitting around the water cooler and chatting with coworkers about last night’s episode of your favorite TV show- it might be fun, and it passes the time, but it wasted time that could have been used to make money.
Here are some tips on how to keep your Twitter time under control:
1. Schedule a time for Twitter. Just like you can spend hours online checking emails and just surfing the ‘Net, getting on Twitter 10 – 20 times a day doesn’t help you get what you need to done. Schedule two or three Twitter times per day – once in the morning and once in the afternoon and once in the evening – and then stick to it. Your Twitter followers can survive without knowing your entire itinerary for the day.
2. Decide the purpose for your visit before getting on Twitter. Are you sending a Tweet about your latest blog post? Are you trying to find other Twitts to network with? Are you looking to @ people and “Talk”. Deciding what you want to do before you log on is a big time saver.
3. Jot down notes during the day for your Twitter time. It doesn’t have to be anything long or fancy. A sticky note will do. Just keep track of your thoughts so when you get on Twitter you can accomplish what you want and then leave the site.
4. Do not tweet about every single thing you do. No one cares if you are going to the store. They don’t agonize over the fact that your hamster ate too much. Keep your tweets limited to important stuff. (Remember to always give value in your tweets that way people look forward to them and “assume” they will be important and valuable.)
5. Only concentrate on what is happening Now on Twitter. If you are following a lot of people their Tweets will do on ot the next page rather quickly, so don’t worry about what you missed. Stay focused on the New Tweets and what is going on while you are there at that moment.
If you take control of your Twitter time, you can take control of how well it works for you. Be strong.
Ok, first of all let me just say that I absolutely LOVE Twitter.
Unless you have been hiding out somewhere over the last few months you have most likely heard all about Twitter, and have seen a ton of Internet marketers jumping on and telling everyone how great it is.
So, here is the thing that is bothering me.
Everyone has an opinion. That is to be expected as is with most everything, but the problem is the fact that Everyone acts as if their opinion is the “rule” or the “only way” to do things. I mean honestly, it is getting rediculous.
One of the big debates right now is “do you have to follow everyone that follows you?”
This is a good question, not so much in the “HAVE TO” sense, but in the should you and what is best sense.
The thing that bugs me is the people that are making a big scene about it and posting blog posts and writing articles all about how their take on it is “the way it should be”, no questions asked. People have an idea of the way Twitter should be used and they think that it is a written rule or something just becasue that is the way they like to or want to use Twitter.
Twitter is a newer medium and when something is new there is a learning curve and an adjustment time period when things are getting set in place by the users.
As more and more marketers and businesses are starting to use Twitter there are going to be some changes and people are going to be testing different things out to see how they work and get reactions from people to.
As these things are tested and figured out there are going to be very differing opinions.
Every person or business on Twitter has a different list of followers and a different relationship with those followers. Some people were on Twitter before Internet Marketers started coming on and they feel that Twitter should not be used for marketing or any other purpose besides conversations between people.
You have to figure out what you want to use Twitter for and how you plan on using it for yourself.
Just because you hear some people say they don’t like it when people on Twitter do ________(fill in the blank) doesn’t mean that is what everyone believes.
I can understand if someone was on Twitter for personal reasons just to talk to friends for months and then they follow an Internet Marketer and they don’t feel they should get a marketing offer. Do I think that is a problem, no, but I can understand their thinking.
What you have to realize is that now there are a lot of big name Internet Marketers that are on Twitter and they have brought a lot of their lists on as well besides all the other Internet Marketers who found Twitter on their own. These are internet marketers, bloggers, WAHM’s, copywriters, designers, etc who are used to being marketed to and are also interested in seeing what new products and affiliate programs are floating around.
There is a changing shift and adjustment period right now on twitter as more marketers and businesses are starting to use and figure it out. If all you are following are Internet Marketers don’t get mad if you get marketed to. If you feel that Internet Marketers should not market and try to figure out how to use a valuable site for that reason then you might be in the wrong business to begin with.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I believe the first and foremost benefit of Twitter is the relationships and the ease of which you can connect with people. You need to build relationships and create trust and give value before your marketing will have any affect anyway.
Just be carefull when listening to people on Twitter about unwritten rules and preferences that some people are very vocal about. Just because some people complain about something and make a fuss does not mean that it is how everyone feels.
Make sure you know Your followers and what they want. If you wonder, just ask them. Or if you tweet an offer to your followers and you make a few hundred dollars, but you loose 10 followers from that tweet, you have to make the call on which is worth more to you.
You can’t make everyone happy. You can try, but you will fail.
Remember, everyone has an opinion. Even this post is my opinion, but what you have to realize is that what matters is what works for You and Your followers. What works for someone else and what does not work for them is based on what they Tweet and what their followers expect from them.
If all you post is marketing messages and links to offers but that is what your followers know and expect then that can work for you, but if your followers expect value and conversation you better give them that.
Know your followers and attract the followers that you want. If you choose one method and loose some followers for those tactics don’t worry so much, as they were not the type you wanted anyway.
I will finish with one final thought.
TEST, TEST, TEST.
That is the only true way to know what works and what does not. Test something out and see the reaction.
Track if you make money with links to offers.
Track if you loose followers after certain tweets.
Track clicks to see what your followers are willing to click on and check out.
Poll your Twitter followers and ask them questions.
Just make sure to give your followers what they want and you will be fine. Don’t worry about everyine elses opinion.
Part of the reason I put this site up now is because I had to have it up for branding and linking purposes.
I have a lot in the works right now related to Social Marketing and Social Networking. I differentiate the two of those things because I see them as two very related, but very different things. I will cover more on that a little later, but for now I want to give you a little heads up and set things up for the coming weeks ahead.
I am going to be doing a lot of things related to Social Web 2.0 sites such as Facebook and Twitter and I want to let everyone know right now that I don’t have a huge following on either site.
I have done that for a reason on Facebook at least and Twitter mainly because I am newer to it and setting everything up for my Big Plan.
By the way, if you are not Following me on Twitter or are not my Friend on Facebook, please do that. Both my links are on the right sidebar, just go ahead and add me on both of them.
let me also say this, if you are not using both of those sites you Are missing out. More on that later as well, and trust me when I say that I will be covering that quite a bit here very soon.
As of this post I have 580 Followers on Twitter and I have 196 Friends on Facebook, nothing to brag about, but a good start. These numbers can be achieved in a very short time if so desired.
These numbers should be increasing very rapidly in the near future as I implement some of the strategies and techniques I will be going over on this blog and also on another site I will be lauching soon.
I will be announcing the launch of that site shortly after a few more decisions are made about the exact direction I want to take it in.
Ok, enough for now. I will be updating this as different aspects are released on what is going on and how you can be involved.
I don’t want this to be just me talking. Yes, I will be relaying what is going on and how I am doing things, but I want to make this interactive if I can.
Feel free to leave comments on what you want to see and learn. I will do my best to try and accomodate what people want this to be.
Welcome,
This is my first blog, I know I am just a few years behind the times, but better late then never, right. I had planned on waiting on this one since it is me and my name and all, but I decided to go ahead and launch this because of what I have planned in the very near future.
To be honest, I have hid in the background for a while now and never put myself out there. I have been doing Internet Marketing since 2000, so I have been around just never wanted to be visible.
Things are about to change and change in a hurry.
I have made the decision to go all out and do this right. I will be keying on Social Networking, Social Marketing, and Viral tactics as my main focus. Because of this I have to put myself out there as well and thus that is why ChadHeffelfinger.com is being launched now instead of later.
One thing you can’t do in this modern age of the Internet is hide. A lot of people came online and thought you could hide behind a website and email and never put yourself out there. That may have worked in the past and maybe in some niches still today, but overall that just wont cut it any more.
You have to put yourself out there and be transparent, and that is what I am doing here, right now.