Show Notes

• Archived Blog Post

  Date / Time: 12/11/2008 8:12 PM UTC

  Meet Twitter Handbook author Warren Whitlock and Sherese Duncan, Efficio
  

  
  Book Marketing Strategist Warren Whitlock and his team helps authors attract more readers, sell books and turn your book into a best seller

  BestSellerAuthors.com
  

  
  

  50 Ideas on Using Twitter for Business

  First Steps

  1. Build an account and immediate start using Twitter Search to listen for your name, your competitor’s names, words that relate to your space. (Listening always comes first.)
  2. Add a picture. ( Shel reminds us of this.) We want to see you.
  3. Talk to people about THEIR interests, too. I know this doesn’t sell more widgets, but it shows us you’re human.
  4. Point out interesting things in your space, not just about you.
  5. Share links to neat things in your community. ( @wholefoods does this well).
  6. Don’t get stuck in the apology loop. Be helpful instead. ( @jetblue gives travel tips.)
  7. Be wary of always pimping your stuff. Your fans will love it. Others will tune out.
  8. Promote your employees’ outside-of-work stories. ( @TheHomeDepot does it well.)
  9. Throw in a few humans, like RichardAtDELL, LionelAtDELL, etc.
  10. Talk about non-business, too, like @astrout and @jstorerj from Mzinga.

  Ideas About WHAT to Tweet

  11. Instead of answering the question, “What are you doing?”, answer the question, “What has your attention?”
  12. Have more than one twitterer at the company. People can quit. People take vacations. It’s nice to have a variety.
  13. When promoting a blog post, ask a question or explain what’s coming next, instead of just dumping a link.
  14. Ask questions. Twitter is GREAT for getting opinions.
  15. Follow interesting people. If you find someone who tweets interesting things, see who she follows, and follow her.
  16. Tweet about other people’s stuff. Again, doesn’t directly impact your business, but makes us feel like you’re not “that guy.”
  17. When you DO talk about your stuff, make it useful. Give advice, blog posts, pictures, etc.
  18. Share the human side of your company. If you’re bothering to tweet, it means you believe social media has value for human connections. Point us to pictures and other human things.
  19. Don’t toot your own horn too much. (Man, I can’t believe I’m saying this. I do it all the time. - Side note: I’ve gotta stop tooting my own horn).
  20. Or, if you do, try to balance it out by promoting the heck out of others, too.

  Some Sanity For You

  21. You don’t have to read every tweet.
  22. You don’t have to reply to every @ tweet directed to you (try to reply to some, but don’t feel guilty).
  23. Use direct messages for 1-to-1 conversations if you feel there’s no value to Twitter at large to hear the conversation ( got this from @pistachio).
  24. Use services like Twitter Search to make sure you see if someone’s talking about you. Try to participate where it makes sense.
  25. 3rd party clients like Tweetdeck and Twhirl make it a lot easier to manage Twitter.
  26. If you tweet all day while your coworkers are busy, you’re going to hear about it.
  27. If you’re representing clients and billing hours, and tweeting all the time, you might hear about it.
  28. Learn quickly to use the URL shortening tools like TinyURL and all the variants. It helps tidy up your tweets.
  29. If someone says you’re using twitter wrong, forget it. It’s an opt out society. They can unfollow if they don’t like how you use it.
  30. Commenting on others’ tweets, and retweeting what others have posted is a great way to build community.

  The Negatives People Will Throw At You

  31. Twitter takes up time.
  32. Twitter takes you away from other productive work.
  33. Without a strategy, it’s just typing.
  34. There are other ways to do this.
  35. As Frank hears often, Twitter doesn’t replace customer service (Frank is @comcastcares and is a superhero for what he’s started.)
  36. Twitter is buggy and not enterprise-ready.
  37. Twitter is just for technonerds.
  38. Twitter’s only a few million people. (only)
  39. Twitter doesn’t replace direct email marketing.
  40. Twitter opens the company up to more criticism and griping.

  
  

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  About Sherese Duncan

  The Entrepreneur's Strategic Partner

   

  
  

  Live Monday's at 2pm Eeastern:  Listen Live. Listen Free. Listen On-Demand to Efficio Radio Network’s “Real Women Real Business Real Solutions Revealing The Soul of Business” Internet Talk Show, hosted by Sherese Duncan, CEO of Efficio Inc. and founder of Efficio Radio Network.  Real Women is where Real Women tackle Real Business and Real Solutions facing entrepreneurs.
  

  Listeners will receive the opportunity to call into the show live or utilize chat to ask questions or make comments during live shows:  Just log onto the E20Network: http://www.e20network.biz/.

   

  

  Since September of 2005, and over 8-million website hits later, business women across the globe continue to tune in weekly for a FREE live, interactive experience to hear passionate, inspired and enlightened women entrepreneurs discuss ways to live their dreams. Business women including Catherine "Cathy" Hughes , founder and chairperson of Radio One, Inc., the  largest African American owned and operated broadcast-company in the nation, former ESSENCE Magazine’s Editorial Director and author, Susan Taylor and former supermodel turned entrepreneur, Carol Alt, have shared their life lessons and tips expected to offer business owners in today’s marketplace with a stronger business mindset.

   

  Sherese Duncan, CEO of Efficio’ Inc. created the radio program so that guests may be not only educated but also uplifted and enlightened in less than one hour. Mind-boosting Mondays recharge the business minded woman and each show draws upon its unique ability to successfully place the high-profile guests on the same “page” with its listeners.

   

  “Our guests are valued because they delight us with their passion and spirit, not simple celebrity,” says Duncan. “After all, they share the common thread of being entrepreneurs.”

  Don’t touch that mouse!™

  Tune into “Real Women Real Business Real Solutions Revealing The Soul of Business” Internet Talk Show and place your business on the information superhighway through Efficio Radio Network. No other show or show host will give you this type of opportunity to consistently reach a global audience of businesswomen with such ease and convenience. Easy Online Access to your global source for small business talk radio Starts Here: www.wern.fm

  Sherese Duncan Bio

  Giving advice, analyzing issues and solving problems for others always came naturally to Sherese Duncan, President and CEO of Effició Inc.  From childhood friends, to college internships, to career transitions; the results were consistent, Duncan was able to make the most logical and effective decisions. Always defying the odds, elevating platforms and claiming the unexpected, this Kansas City, Missouri born leader was not your average thinker. Instead, she always carried with her the energy and mental power to take herself, and others, to the next level.

  Often heard saying, “how hard could it be… you won’t know until you try it”, Duncan was able to, in 1999, walk away from a 9-5 job after earning her MBA degree and create the career of her dreams; a business that would offer advice and solutions to entrepreneurs and position them for self-actualization. In 2001 Effició, Inc. was born.

  Latin for effect, Effició does just what the name implies, effect entrepreneur’s lives across the globe. With offices in Charlotte, NC and Atlanta, GA most Effició, Inc. clients and customers are creative and innovative entrepreneurs whose ventures are two to seven years old. Clients range from the recruiting firm that landed a $76,000 contract after six weeks of developing infrastructure with Effició’s expertise to the IT firm, whose revenues increased from $60,000 to $2 million, after Effició Inc., in a six-month time frame, assisted in creating a strategic plan to expand their scope.

  Duncan likes her clients to realize that she too is a business owner developing her business day-by-day and understands the challenges of being an entrepreneur. Effició, Inc. is an entity that helps and educates her as well.  However, her key to success has been to apply the tools that she also teaches others. Signature company programs such as CORE™, SWIFT™, Lunch & Profit™, or the award-winning e-zine Tactical Growth provides the tools small businesses need to create perpetual profitable businesses. Her new Effició Radio Network,  boast headlines “Receives an average of 5000 hits per week”, “Thanks again for blazing the way in business”, and "The fastest growing internet talk radio station".  Duncan says, “Stop thinking outside the box, just think!”  Success is a constant push, but it’s a fun challenge for her.

  Do not confuse her with being a business coach. Instead Duncan considers herself a “trusted, confident strategic partner” who helps her clients create the wealth and the complete, whole, balanced life that they want by owning a profitable business.  “Building and maintaining a business in today’s competitive marketplace is tough. Especially if the person envisions himself an entrepreneur, and lacks the capital, networking relationships or core business knowledge necessary to successfully grow and sustain the business vision. However, with a confident, self-motivated and assured strategic partner, like Effició Inc. giving direction and helping to maintain focus, anyone can be on the fast path to excellence,” says Duncan.

  For more information on Duncan and her company, visit http://www.efficio.biz/.

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