“Just get out there and start talking…” – an idyllic, constant refrain among social media gurus?
“Yes, but how?” – the typical response from non-tech, offline-oriented business owners and Baby Boomers.
At this point, most folks grasp that they need to be involved in online conversations across social media platforms, but many are still clueless as to how they logisitically go about doing so. Such being the case – and having recently run through this drill with a very progressive, but not tech-savvy, grandmother (a favor…) – I thought it wise to roll out a series of step-by-step instructions that will demonstrate how you create a profile and log-on, but also how to find the right groups of poeple to connect with.
Wondering how to get started on Twitter? Here’s a simple primer to get the ball rolling.
Step 1: Go to www.twitter.com/signup. The only real hurdle here is deciding on a UserName. If this is a personal Twitter account, feel free to go as crazy or be as creative as you like. If it’s for your small business, I’d recommend something basic i.e. if you want Mikey’s Deli, a potential name would be DeliMikey (and it’s available, too).
Step 2: Upload a picture. You, your daughter, your business marquee, your best-selling product (sandwich, soda, powertool, etc). Whatever represents you the best, just go to https://twitter.com/account/picture while you are logged into your profile.
Step 3: Find some folks to follow. If it’s a personal page, follow whomever you like – athletes, politicians, social media gurus, et al. For your business, I’d recommend using Search.Twitter.com to find folks in your area who are already discussing the issues your business caters to. For instance, if you own a bike shop in Raleigh, NC, it would make sense to follow @lancearmstrong (the marquee cycling authority/personality on Twitter) as well as @sehinson1976 (a local cycling enthusiast whom I literally just found on search.twitter.com). Select the keywords your ideal connection is discussing – ex: “bike,” “cycling,” “road race” – target your search geographically – “Raleigh, NC” (or elsewhere) – and see what the results bring in. As you find targeted people to follow using this method, explore their profile and see who they are following (may reap even more people in your niche).
This is enough to get you started – next week, we’ll take a deeper dive on Hashtags and Lists (two more great ways to grow your network), as well as using Twitter client platforms like Seesmic, Tweetdeck, and Hootsuite.
