Nine Tips for Selling on Twitter

1. Niche your Twitter following.  Search your product, services and/or industry.  Follow people with like interests.  Your search will not only produce people with that word in their bios but also people who Tweet about what you’re interested in.  It's not about the quantity of followers but the quality. 
2. When you Tweet, be sure to use all the methods of communication.  
   1. Ask questions of your following. 
   2. Retweet something another person in your following sent that you found useful. 
   3. Use the @ symbol to communicate directly and publicly with your following and when you are ready direct mail someone privately. 
   4. Do not send a direct mail with a sales pitch unless someone asks for it.   
3. Set up additional Twitter accounts targeting different audiences.  You don’t need followers, who are interested in cooking to blend together with followers interested in your products and services.  Keep your accounts niched (or really targeted) and Tweet relevant information to each account.   
4. Use TweetLater (www.tweetlater.com) to set up daily tweets.  You can backlog as many tweets as you like and schedule them.  That way you can stay active without staying on Twitter all day. 
5. Identify key thought leaders, authors or notable bloggers in your niche and follow them.  They may not follow you back, but you want to follow them so you’ll stay up to date with the latest trends in your industry.  When you read their blogs or online articles, you can Tweet them to your followers.  That way your customers begin to rely on you for the timeliest information. 
6. Sprinkle your Tweets with industry information as well as the latest information about your products or services.  When you hear or see questions or concerns either online or offline, share answers to those questions in your Tweets.  You become the knowledge leader. 
7. Write your own articles and blogs that deal with industry related issues.  What are customers saying?  What do they want?  Provide answers in your articles and blogs and then tweet links to your articles and blogs. 
8. Share inspiring stories about client successes.  You don't have to directly sell your company to potential customers.  Sharing success stories provides credibility and builds credibility. 
9. Talk with clients via social media.  Interacting with your clients directly on social media tells prospects that you're hands on and connected with customers.  You can always ask them to help your credibility by giving a rave review on social media for all to see.

jfortney@cascadecommunications.com