A few weeks ago I signed up to Twitter, something I'd instinctively resisted until I was advised that it was a sure-fire way to get sales for the products in my online stores. Opening an account was very quick and straightforward compared to my experience of other social networking sites but what followed was anything but 'straightforward'!
First there were the unfamiliar terminology and concepts - again! - such as 'retweet', 'lists' and 'trending' (what are we doing to our language!) and odd little conventions like the use of @ and #, FF and RT. Add to that the speed of light with which everything happens, so that the 'tweets' I might have wanted to actually explore disappeared before my eyes as floods of new ones came pouring into my homepage, I felt confused and, before long, quite overwhelmed. But those are practicalities which I can adjust to, just as I've had to with facebook and blogging.
Seth Godin, the US entrepreneur behind Squidoo Lenses, doesn't seem any more enthusiastic about Twitter as a marketing tool than he is about it as a social networking opportunity.
I agree that it's rather a vain hope to build real relationships using messages limited to 140 characters. And one of the drawbacks of Twitter for short messages, as compared to other similar media, such as Messenger, facebook and even Skype, is that you can't see when the person you're chatting to goes offline (unless they make a point of saying that they're leaving!) This hardly makes for a natural ebb and flow of conversation!
The other drawback, that some may see as a benefit, I suppose, is that, by default, the 'tweets' are available for others to read. The reams of, to me, meaningless @soandso tweets that pour into my homepage are one of the things that makes the whole Twitter experience somewhat irritating and at times, bewildering, to me.
So why not just use email to build relationships? It's free, quick and easy - not as quick as a 'tweet' of course, but at least in an email, you get the chance to express yourself naturally and genuinely and in a way appropriate to the recipient!
But then again, is it really necessary to 'build a relationship' with a potential customer in order to 'convert' or otherwise persuade that person to buy what we're trying to sell them? If you are selling cars or computers or any sort of major purchase, especially if after-sales service is part of the deal, I would say 'yes, it probably is'. It's always encouraging to sense that we can trust the person who is selling us an expensive item. One of the assistants in the office supplies shop that I frequent regularly, is very persistent in trying to sell me expensive equipment, such as printers, without even finding out first what my specific needs are. So I don't trust him and it's unlikely I'd buy any of the things he suggests that I need! But greeting cards? Or T-shirts, or mousepads - I don't think so! For the most part the only thing I know about the people who have bought my greeting cards and other products through my online stores, is where they come from, information supplied by the online stores. A couple of friends have bought my greeting cards to give me a start but on the whole, I wouldn't want to mix friendship with business. I'm pretty sure that in most cases, I'd lose friends that way, without gaining any sales!
Having mercilessly picked Twitter to pieces, I should just add that I have found an upside! For me it's been a good source of interesting articles and blogs, mostly, but not entirely, on the subject of Search Engine Optimisation. If only they were easier to find amidst the stream of irrelevant other stuff'!
Or maybe I should 'tweet' that question to the Twitterworld? It's probably no less interesting than tweeting about the weather and my progress on cleaning my house!
'Twittering' chicadees courtesy of Country Mouse Studio's Greeting Card Universe Store. Click on the images to see the greeting cards in greater detail and from there you can browse Carole's many other lovely wildlife paintings as greeting cards.
8 comments:
I once compared twitter to a crowded pub where lots of people were talking at the same time. It is loud, and sometimes overwhelming, yes.
But with hootsuite I managed to break that overwhelming stream of "babble" into groups (or lists). I sometimes even pick up one or two persons and focus on their tweets.
I'm relieved to know it's not just me! In fact it does seem to be getting a bit more manageable as time goes on. But I still wonder about it...
Hi Judy,
Best to learn by example from successful tweeters.
Follow Sock Dreams on Twitter for a while.
See the patterns of how what they post and how often.
http://twitter.com/sockdreams
They post coupons but they also keep people up to date with new sock arrivals
If a customer sends them a tweet saying they loved socks they ordered, Sock Dreams will RT(re-tweet) the message, and say thanks!
(I'm just a customer of the online store. Reading the tweets makes me WISH I could shop at the Portland store.)
--Christina
Thank you for the advice, Christina - I'll do as you suggest.
I've had the most fun following The Daily Coyote
http://twitter.com/dailycoyote
Since I've read her book on her coyote and follow her blog,when Shreve posts this, I really enjoy it!
"Charlie, you truly are a coyote of leisure. You're supposed to EAT all those grasshoppers, not bounce around after them!"
So when she later posts that elk antler chew toys are back in her etsy shop, it gets my attention.
Hi Judy,
This was so interesting to read. I really don't understand the whole Twitter thing. I almost get Facebook and a year in, I am now feeling pretty good about blogging! With certain things (read: techy) I am slow on the uptake!
Thanks for your nice comment over at "my place".
Nicki
Judy, Thanks for posting this subject. I have had so many questions about twittering. This has helped.
Nicki and Jean - thank you for your comments. I may not have answered any questions but at least I may have inadvertently helped others to realise they aren't the only confused ones!
There's more about Twitter on Scottish Photographer, Norman Young's blog:
http://www.noyo.eu/2010/07/27/twitteritous/
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