THE BUSINESS TWITTER JITTERS
Twitter Is What It Is. Period.
Hardly a day passes anymore when I don’t hear some business or professional practice owner or operator or manager, or an entrepreneur talk nervously about “not getting the Twitter thing.”
Usually, the fearful comments end with some justification for not dipping a toe in the water by cavalierly tossing off a laundry list of non-business-related “Tweets” that they saw or heard about. Twitter won’t have any value to you if you start out seeking for it to BE something.
Twitter is what it is. While there appear to be some basic Twitter Etiquette guidelines, they seem to me to only be for the benefit of those who want them. And many Twitter users simply don’t care what those folks want. Other than for legal purposes, and in abiding with contractual agreements, there is no right or wrong Twitter use. The medium is free to flow as those who use it choose for it to flow for themselves.
So, unlike any other media, Twitter has a mind all its own and those who work and play with it find it far exceeds what most people would probably define as a “social” vehicle. It is both one-way and two-way (and actually a multiple-way) form of communication.
Many believe the whole purpose of Twitter is to acquire and constantly add as many “followers” as humanly possible so that every statement they make will be seen by 88 skillion people that they’ve attracted. Many others could care less about massive followings and are looking instead for people with similar interests. And so it goes on and on, varying according to human nature and whimsy.
Twitter participants can be categorized (some steady and ongoing, and others changing with the wind) as sometimes or all the time or alternatingly or multiplicitingly fitting what we might characterize, in no particular order, as:
Parent~~Adult~~Child~~Crusader~~Politico~~Professor~~
Preacher~~Motivator~~Problem-Maker~~Problem-Presenter
~~Problem-Solver~~Popularity Contestant~~ Control Freak
~~Bitch~~Networker~~Tree-Hugger~~Active Adventurer~~
Business Promoter~~Teeny Bopper~~Flake~~Peacenik-Hippie (yeah, still a few of these around)
~~Animal Lover~~Mystic~~Goofball~~Irate Egotist~~Joker
~~Gay Pride Activist~~Black Rights Activist~~Womens
Rights Activist~~News Reporter~~Rhymer~~Dear Abby
~~Counselor~~Advisor~~Consultant~~Game Player~~
Headline Writer~~Cartoonist~~Recruiter~~ Solicitor~~
Salesperson~~Shrink~~Sports Fanatic~~Political Fanatic
~~Religious Fanatic~~ADD YOUR OWN 80 OR 90 MORE
TO THIS LIST!
The point is that if you have a business or professional practice and the above cluster of characters have scared you away from making good solid business use of this social media phenomenon, you are not thinking like a true entrepreneur.
You need to try it before deciding it’s not for you. Isn’t that what you would do with anything else? Don’t choose to feel intimidated by Twitter just because you don’t get it. It’s really quite simple. And, in fact, as I noted many months ago, it forces you to strengthen two major communication tools: Conciseness and Persuasion, plus it requires high level focus on the “here-and-now” present moment, which is also a critically strong business building block.
There is no rule about having to get addicted to Twitter, though many apparently are (and even brag about it)! You can plug and promote business and professional practice ideas, products and services in a way that gets response– in just 10-15 minutes a day! (Yes, I’ll tell you how for free if you call me: 302.933.0116)
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Hal@Businessworks.US 302.933.0116
Open Minds Open Doors
Thanks for your visit and God Bless You.
[…] TARP,” I wrote. Unfortunately the article was a tad too long for the print version of POLITICO THE BUSINESS TWITTER JITTERS – halalpiar.com 03/20/2009 Twitter Is What It Is. Period. […]