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"4 Deadly Sins" You Must Avoid When Using Twitter.
1) There is the 140 character message length - many people struggle to convey ideas successfully in messages that short a format. 2) There are also the 'usual' restrictions that apply to social networking sites: a) Impersonation: You are not allowed to impersonate others in a way that does or is intended to mislead, confuse, or deceive others b) Trademark: You cannot use somebody else's legal Trademark. Accounts using business names and/or logos to mislead others will be permanently suspended. c) Privacy: You may not publish or post other people's private and confidential information, such as credit card numbers, street address or Social Security/National Identity numbers, without their express authorization and permission. d) Violence and Threats: You may not publish or post direct, specific threats of violence against others. e) Copyright: Twitter will respond to clear and complete notices of alleged copyright infringement. f) Unlawful Use: Twitter cannot be used for any unlawful purposes or for promotion of illegal activities. International users agree to comply with all local laws regarding online conduct and acceptable content. g) Pornography: You may not use obscene or pornographic images in either your profile picture or user background. h) Spam and Abuse: Twitter takes this aspect very seriously and will disable user accounts if committing this type of offence. So if you adhere to the rules above there is nothing you can do wrong when trying to use Twitter to market your business - Right! - Very very wrong! Let me introduce you to the "4 Deadly Sins" when using twitter. Deadly Sin 1. The biggest deadly sin to avoid on Twitter is using it solely as a sales platform. If the only tweeting you do is self-promotional, you'll burn your bridges before you have a chance to even build them properly. You need to focus on the networking aspect of Twitter before you try to sell. Spend plenty of your tweet time reaching out to others, sharing useful information and being a social butterfly. Networking is the name of the game. If you focus strictly on self promotion, you will be ignored or worse yet, blocked by other users. Deadly Sin 2. The other mistake to avoid on Twitter is spending all of your tweets on literally interpreting the "What Are You Doing?" question Twitter asks at the top of your home page. While you can certainly include information about your daily life, don't focus solely on your mundane activities. No one cares if you are brushing your teeth or doing laundry all day long. The primary tactic on Twitter is to be engaged with other people. Ask questions, offer helpful links to things you are reading that might be of interest to your followers and seek out ways you can be useful to other users. Always remember Twitter is a networking tool - not a sales engine. Deadly Sin 3 Some applications that work in conjunction with Twitter allow you to set up an automatic direct message to be sent to people who begin following you. Although many people use these auto - DM features, a large number of Twitter users frown on them. Several Twitter polls have shown that a large majority of users do not like automated messages. Deadly Sin 4 If you do send direct messages in response to new followers, sending a link to your website - especially if you are trying to sell something - is a huge No-No! Most folks on Twitter would like to get to know you first before you start trying to sell your products and services. In summary Twitter is a social networking, micro blogging site. Twitter users are people. As with all forms of marketing and sales the best way to ensure a steady stream of repeat business is to build a giving relationship with your customers. Give them a constant feed of good quality information, tips tricks and ideas and they will respond by supporting you and your business. What can you do now? 1) Plan a campaign of giving - root out some golden nuggets and Tweet these out to your followers. Use google to find the golden nuggets spend time both in searching and ensuring the quality of these nuggets you don't want to be dishing out 'fools gold'. That would discredit your image and lead to you being dismissed as a time waster and promptly unfollowed. 2) Use direct messages with care. Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com Gerry Fox - Save Time Getting Up To Speed With Twitter Get Hold Of Your Complimentary "The Twitter Fast Start" Resource Report at tinyurl.com/3xxgk4y |
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