Integrating Twitter Into Everything Else

RE-TWEET IT!
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When it comes to using Twitter, the micro-blogging phenomenon of the year, I’m ahead of the curve. That’s because I’ve been using it since around June 2007.

Many people are talking about Twitter, excited about the potential, lecturing others on the best or most effective way to use it – and it reminds me of myself a few months back!

Yes, from being baffled about Twitter, to going on a ‘follow-fest’, to then scaling way back and striving to build more than casual connections with my audience, I’ve done it all – and now reached a point further down the line.

I’ve just realized the limitations of Twitter as a relationship building medium. What’s more, the reasons for this are beyond our control – and dependent on how OTHERS use the service!

For example, I use and recommend a “Rule of FORTY” by which you follow no more than 40 people on Twitter. This is so that you have time to read what people in your network tweet, explore links they share, engage in mini-conversations and nurture deeper relationships with a smaller group.

However, unless THEY (people you follow) also limit their audience, the chance of meaningful 2-way communication gets smaller. A random sample of people following me on Twitter reveals they have, on average, 400+ others they are following too… so how are they ever going to have time, attention and energy to engage ME – and all the rest of their network?

It can’t happen. (Not without their spending HOURS every day on Twitter!)

But no, that is NOT the revelation I had this morning.

That came from reading a blog post on a private social network called TRIIIBES – from my friend, Becky Blanton of RSBpublishing.com.

She is absolutely new to Twitter, and was writing about her impressions… and inadvertently set off a flashbulb in my head! I now see how Twitter INTEGRATES with everything else we do as infopreneurs, business owners and marketers online… stuff like our blogs and Squidoo lenses.

And how it all ties in with our most important asset -

Our Tribe.

This is what I learned – and will be putting to work starting right now.

Our tribe is made up of people who share a common bond with us, who follow us and what we do, who enjoy being in our network, who participate in progress towards a shared, common goal.

And on the Web, our tribe may be anywhere in the world – because the Web is everywhere.

Social networks help the tribe interact remotely, engage in activity previously only possible in close geographic proximity. But there’s a limit to how ‘personal’ tribe members can get – and that limit differs for various forms of social networking.

Twitter, blogs, Squidoo, Facebook – they’re all different.

You, as a tribe leader or member, engage in your tribe’s activity by sharing an idea, train of thought, or spearheading a movement. That’s where it begins – your interaction with the tribe.

That idea either resonates in the minds of other tribe members, and creates ripples – or leaves them uninterested, and fades away.

One major hurdle to such spread is getting the idea in front of your tribe members in the first place.

Let’s take a simple analogy of you wanting to discuss a business proposition with a prospective investor. You’ll first fix up an appointment to meet the investor. Then, at the meeting, you’ll pitch your idea and give some details. And finally, you’ll leave the investor with more information, references and documents… so that he can make a decision.

In all but the simplest negotiations, these very same steps will have to take place before you close a deal, convince a prospect, communicate an idea.

Now think about how you would make such a proposition to a member in your tribe – over the Web. This is the flash of inspiration I got today!

Appointment – Presentation – Documentation

Twitter is how you can fix up an appointment. Tweet a short message, with a link to where we can discuss it further.

A blog is where you’ll engage with any interested prospect, make your presentation, argue your case, lay out your idea – and participate in a conversation, mainly through blog comments, but also through other interactive methods.

A lens on Squidoo, or a website with more details, or a PDF report, or links to other online resources are the nitty-gritty specifics you’ll leave prospects with – so they can make a decision about taking the next step.

And then, if you have done a good enough job of conveying your idea in a compelling fashion, and convinced your prospects of the value, they will go out and share it with someone else… through Twitter!

If that sounds too abstract, I’ll make it more concrete with some examples.

Let’s say you’re selling an ebook. You would publish a blog post about some aspect of the product, the problem it solves, or the solution you are offering.

Then, on Twitter, you’d invite your tribe to visit your blog, see your idea outlined, and discuss it with you.

As you exchange thoughts and viewpoints, you’ll beef up your position and on request, provide more data, proof or evidence to back up your position – and do it by referring prospects to special reports, resource collections or other sections of your website where you address their objections or clear up any doubts.

The result, if you did a good job, is a buyer for your ebook – and an evangelist who’ll go out on Twitter and invite more people to visit your blog and learn about it!

Or let’s say you’re looking for partners to help you with a project or promotion.

You’d write a blog post explaining what’s involved, why you need help, and invite dialog to explore things further.

Then, tweet an invitation to your tribe to help you – and to visit your blog to learn more details about it.

As discussions continue on your blog, you’ll refer potential partners to your website, lens or sales page for more information that’ll convince them to join your promotion.

This sounds like a BRILLIANT way to leverage the strengths of each of these modes of social media networking, while working around their relative drawbacks. Trying to do it all on Twitter, or exclusively through a blog, or even on a comprehensive website is a steep task.

But integrate all 3 together into a process, and the synergy could be explosive.

Now take this further and see how it’ll get ever more powerful if you hitch up the 3 components together. Your blog posts can be automatically announced on Twitter. Your blog headlines and tweets can be parsed using RSS feeds, and displayed on your Squidoo lens or website – in real time.

People coming across parts of your content in any of these places get “into your loop” – creating that synergy we spoke about just now!

This gets ever more exciting as you think about it!

I’m taking this approach to Twitter in the future.

How about you?

Please share your thoughts in a comment, tweet or email.

Tagged as: Blog, business, email, Squidoo, twitter