Yellow Dog Consulting

Sales & Marketing Consulting for solo-preneurs.

I’m on Twitter, Now What?

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I met with a new client yesterday and they are busy getting their product ready to launch at the end of the month. They have a Twitter account but aren’t using it consistently. We talked yesterday about this, and the question was “what do I say?”
Here’s three quick pointers for running your Twitter:

1. Know your company culture. It’s easy when it’s just one person calling the shots, but if you’re on a team, have a conversation about what’s OK to say on Twitter and what’s not. Are you OK with posting about adult beverages you may be consuming at a team meeting? Politics? swearing? Commentary on current events? Have this conversation.

2. Be Consistent. I always tell clients (and really anyone) don’t do what you won’t do. If you sign up for a Twitter account, USE IT. There’s nothing worse than ignoring your account, people may be talking about you!

3. Respond! Make sure to keep an eye on who might be talking to you and respond to them! If someone thanks you for your awesome product, thank them back! I just tweeted with a company that I bought a gift from for my brother. They tweeted me back yesterday saying they’re throwing in an extra surprise for him because of my Twitter love. Stickers, a free drink, an extra Bow Tie, it doesn’t have to be big, just be gracious.

Respond To Your Audience

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One of the wonders of modern technology and social media is that you can schedule your posts and organize your social media so you don’t have to sit around and manage it all day. And that’s great. BUT…

You still have to manage your social media and keep an eye on it once or twice a day at least. Make sure that you are paying attention to what people are saying about you, to you or asking for your help with.

A couple weeks ago I signed up for a 30-day trial of a program. Within 2 hours I had a phone call from a sales rep, and an email a couple hours later. This went on for 3 days. Really, just let me play with the product, I’ll let you know if I need anything. The sales rep was so bad that I’ll never use the product again. I was so annoyed I went to the company website, found their twitter account and tweeted them about their over bearing sales reps. And I got NO RESPONSE. AT ALL. If you aren’t using and managing your social media outlets, don’t promote them.

On the flip side, Full Circle Farms does a great job of managing their twitter account, answering questions and paying attention to what customers are saying. A couple months ago I had a string of too-fresh produce showing up in my weekly box. I tweeted about it, and another follower responded to me having had a similar issue. Within 12 hours I had an email from Full Circle that they were going to credit me a box of produce for my inconvenience. And they did the same for the other guy I was tweeting with. Happy customer, and see, I’m talking about them, and saying NICE things!

Where in your business can you make your clients happier or provide an unexpected service or upgrade that will remind them why they love you and would never leave you?

Let’s be Realistic About…

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In no way shape or form am I someone who should be giving you blogging tips. I’m still figuring it out, my stream of conscious isn’t everyone’s flavor and hey, that’s fine.

Today I was meeting with a client and he wants to start a blog on his website. Seeing as how the website’s current blog is a canned piece that he doesn’t write, and his tumblr account has two posts from a year ago I asked him for one thing:

Write blog posts for a month.

Just try writing a blog. Save the posts as word docs and just write when you have time. This way if you decide you like it, you have a back stock for those busy weeks. And if after a month you’ve written three posts, you know that maybe blogging isn’t the right fit for you.

And that’s OK. You don’t have to do everything, and if you do decide that your website needs a blog and you aren’t going to be the one to write it, that’s fine. There are a lot of great copywriters and freelance writers who will write your blog in your voice way better (and consistently) than you do.

What do you WANT to do but are afraid won’t work out? Take a month to practice and see how it goes. You might be surprised what you learn!