Are you a business Twit?

So you’ve made the decision that your business needs to join Twitter. Having set up a profile and followed a few people, you can relax now. That’s great you think, I can tick that box and pretty soon I’ll see the rewards. I’ll get lots of business from being on Twitter as my prospects will see that I’m embracing social media. I’ve heard that nowadays people prefer to deal with forward thinking businesses.

Ok, that was tongue in cheek. Surely nobody would think that? Unfortunately plenty do. There are lots of businesses who appear to genuinely believe that just having a presence on Twitter is all they need to do. I say ‘appear’ because it’s difficult as a follower to know anything more about a business than what we can see from their feed.

Here are my top 10 tips to help you avoid the common mistakes that businesses are making every day;

Your profile is your shop window:
Upload a profile picture, preferably a picture of you rather than a logo. A logo is better than the default egg image though. State your location so prospects know where you are based and write a bio that tells readers what you do and how clients would benefit from buying your products or services. Don’t say ‘I am a Bookkeeper and I can do your accounts.’ So why should I deal with you? ‘I regularly lower my clients’ tax bills by 20%’ Wow! You’ve caught my attention now! Finally, make sure your website URL is included in your profile so Anyone interested can click through for more info.

Two ears, one mouth:
This concept applies to Twitter too. Don’t just post updates about what your business is doing, read what other people are saying and reply to them too. If you’re a Bookkeeper don’t only answer accounting questions, give help and advice whenever you know the answer or just get involved in chit chat with other users.

Follow the Leader:
Don’t follow people expecting a follow back. Follow profiles which will add value to your Twitter feed. This can be prospective and current clients, business contacts, people who live locally, inspirational leaders, trade and general news sources and go on then, add a few celebrities too. You are allowed to enjoy yourself after all!

Déjà vu:
Don’t syndicate your posts between Facebook and Twitter. If we’re following you on Twitter and have become a fan on your Facebook Fan Page, it’s boring having to see every message twice. It’s okay occasionally but do so selectively. And when you do, type the message in Twitter and feed it into Facebook. Because of the 140 character limit in Twitter, the message is always readable in Facebook. However a longer Facebook message fed into Twitter will require your followers to have to click a link to be able to read the remainder. Very few will.

RSS:
Don’t connect your Twitter profile to a website RSS feed. It fills up your followers’ news feed with a load of ‘noise’ and adds no value to your own brand either. Tweet your own news and opinions, not somebody else’s.

Mind your language:
Possibly a bit of an obvious one but don’t use foul or hostile language. If you’re a bit worse for wear, leave Twitter alone. You might wake up and realise you said way too much last night but bad news travels fast on Twitter. The last thing you want is one of your competitors revelling in your misfortune by reporting your unfortunate messages!

The work/life ratio:
Aim to post at least 15 personal updates to each business promotion update. Don’t be afraid to post news of what you’re doing in your leisure time either. Tweeting the news of your windsurfing lesson this afternoon may place you on the radar of a prospective client who wants to deal with you because of your shared passion for the sport.

Be positive:
We’re all human and we all have down days. Showing some vulnerability is usually endearing. However nobody wants to read a Twitter feed that is 99% negativity. If you’re massively in debt and struggling to pay your rent or you’re truly having an emotional crisis, don’t broadcast it on Twitter. You don’t need strangers judging you or your professional capabilities.

Are you engaged?
When a prospective follower checks your profile before pressing the magic follow button, they want to see that you do actually answer messages that have been sent to you. Don’t ignore your followers when they respond to your tweets and don’t be afraid to start conversations yourself.

Busy schedules:
It’s fine to schedule tweets for posting later but space them out. Leave at least five minutes between each message otherwise it fills up the feed of your followers. Their response to this overload will be that they either don’t read the messages or they will unfollow you. Neither action has any benefit to you. On a similar note, if you schedule updates, make sure you check your Twitter messages regularly for responses. Replying to a message 24 hours after you’ve received it is too late.

Don’t be a business Twit. Follow the Twitter etiquette and your prospects will be more inclined to follow you.

What are your irritants on Twitter? Please share them by commenting below.