Marcus Sheridan is the author of the popular blog The Sales Lion.
Dear Twitter,
Yes, I know I should have written you this note quite a while back but I finally had to come to grips with the gross error of my ways when I misjudged your character many moons ago.
You see, it all started when I was told by some social media guru that you were the next big thing. Needing whatever help I could find to sell more swimming pools, I figured I would give you a go. That’s when I put your little symbol up on my company’s website and just waited for the followers to pour in. But do you know what? They never did.
So that’s when I started to judge you, T’. That’s when I began to question your true worth to small businesses like mine. Naturally, because I had such a huge amount of traffic to my site through blogging I figured that many of those same people and customers would want to ‘follow me’.
But alas, they did not. They simply passed over your little button and I was left scratching my head.
But do you know who did follow me, T’? Contractors in my industry—other swimming pool professionals. But honestly, I had no idea how any of these ‘followers’ could help.
I thought you failed me T’, I really did…
Then fast forward to my small business and marketing blog, The Sales Lion. Having had so much success as a small business owner using blogging and inbound marketing to transform my company, I wanted to share the success principles I’d learned with other entrepreneurs as well.
But what drove me crazy T’ is that the more I wrote about marketing ,and the more I connected with other great people, the more I kept hearing mention of your name.
“Twitter this, Twitter that.” You were everywhere. And so I finally figured I would try learning more about you.
But that’s when it got really weird T’. I started hanging out at Twitterland and I realized all of your people had their own little way of saying things. It was almost as if you were another language unto yourself.
One day someone even mentioned to me the usage of these things called ‘Hash Tags’. For all I knew, the person could have called them ‘Hashish Tags’ and it would have meant the same to me. And when I combined all the #’s with all the @’s, well it frankly was an utter mystery.
So again T’, I hated you. I loathed you. And you sent no traffic to my blog. How dare you!!!??
But luckily T’, there are some good people in the blogosphere out there that care about the both of us and wanted us to have a relationship.
One day I was discussing with my friend Ingrid Abboud at NittyGriddy blog how much I hated your guts. She laughed a little and told me I had just prejudged you. What?? How could this be? Considering Ingrid’s social media greatness, I figured she must be onto something.
But instead of simply telling me I had been wrong about you T’, Ingrid took kindness to a whole new level and sent me a book in the mail called The Tao of Twitter, written by some really smart dude named Mark Schaefer.
Once I received the book, somehow the crazy language everyone speaks over at your place started coming together. The light began to come on. Things started making sense. And for the first time T’, I realized that I may have been wrong about you.
So that’s when I jumped in. I became active. I shared, promoted, talked, and all that stuff. And do you know what T? I liked it. In fact, I liked it a lot.
To close T’, let me tell you what has now happened. Despite the fact that I don’t get followed by many swimming pool customers per se, all the pool professionals that follow me receive any article I write on my blog to their twitter stream. This has proved to be a great method to get contractors talking about and promoting my articles. And do you know what else T’? With all these contractors promoting my blog, it has made a huge difference in terms of inbound links to my website. Pretty cool, huh?
But this actually pales in comparison to the difference you’ve made on The Sales Lion. In fact, last month you brought me nearly 1,000 visitors to my site. And although that may sound like chicken-feed to some (cough- Aunt-cough- Gini), it has been a huge boost to my site. Traffic is way up. Subscribers are now jumping in at large quantities. And more than anything, I’m meeting great people. People that think just like me. People that I now consider to be my ‘friend’.
So I’m sorry T’. I’m sorry I hated your stinking guts. I’m sorry I spoke poorly of you. But from now on, I promise to be one of your biggest supporters, you have my word.
Your New Friend,
Marcus Sheridan
Marcus Sheridan is the author of the popular blog The Sales Lion, where he has been known to write some pretty passionate stuff about sales, marketing, business, and how to be freaking awesome!
love love love love this post! I think the point to Twitter has nothing to do with Twitter. Twitter is about the passionate experts, the customers, the linkers, and even the copiers. The people make the difference, and Twitter somehow brings them all together. It has to do with the PEOPLE and connections on Twitter. Someday I'm going to have to write my own letter, maybe a letter just like this one to Facebook... now I have a template. :-) Thanks Marcus. You da Lion!
Fun read, and true. While I'm still a 'baby' in the social media arena, I do firmly believe that you meet people wherever they want to receive their info (be it Twitter, RSS, email, FB, etc.). How do I know Twitter works? I learned about both you Marcus and Gini, thanks to your generous followers and colleagues, on Twitter. I rest my case.
Sweet post Marcus,
My twitter phobia was due to being associated with the first four letters. As it turns out, that was only if I DIDN'T Tweet. I have reformed my ways.
Now, about Facebook...
This letter was too funny!
As a social media manager, I'm glad to hear Twitter aka "T" has won you over! You make a good point when you say "T" wasn't bringing in any new customers, but what it was doing was helping you gain more exposure with other contractors who were Retweeting your articles and sharing your content with their followers. This is a great benefit within itself.
I try to tell my clients all the time that "T" is more thatn a place to sell. It's a place to share and by you sharing others share and before you know people have circled right back around to your blog!
GREAT STUFF!
Ken, this was great man. Really appreciate your words and it sounds like our experience with the bird is quite similar :-)
Have a wonderful Friday and weekend, I'm sure we'll be in touch a lot more.
Best,
Marcus
Marcus, awesome post! Good to know I'm not the only one who had the same Twitter experience. It's turned into a fantastic networking experience and I've connected with new friends, and even new mentors, from around the country. It's not always all about sales, is it?
Dave, what's up my friend?? :-) Thrilled you stopped by Gini's blog and that you liked the article. To be honest, the was maybe the funnest (yes, bad word choice) article I've ever written.
Keep up the great networking Dave, you're an example to your entire industry.
Marcus
Sorry this is so late in the day.
But was hoping to get all of your input. When I started, I fell into information overload and then had to rein in how much information I took in weekly.
Now, I feel like I am in Social Media Overload! It defeats the purpose of doing this virtually as I want to create better balance in my life. With commenting, retweeting, posting on FB, you could be online 24/7.
How do you all limit the social media overload and find balance?
Thanks in advance.
Rajka
Rajka, you, my friend, have asked the 20 million dollar question that we're all asking these days. Honestly, I'm not sure. I think it all comes down to your goals. In other words, what's the goal of your blog and SM efforts? And how much time is that worth to you? No question, you don't want to run yourself mad with all this stuff, and with so many options, it can happen. Balance is a must. And when I find it, I promise to be the first to let you know. ;-)
Marcus
Most definitely ejoyed it!
Will peruse your site as I am sure I will find a lot of value.
Hi Marcus,
This is a great post on twitter. I had the same feeling about twitter, infact until now I'm not crazy about it as facebook. But, it is a great way to get traffic and to build relationships as well with others who share the same interest. I love your writing Marcus, this post was exceptional. Thanks for sharing
Hey Dia,, great to have you stop by man and I can appreciate how you're not 'in love' with Twitter. It does take time, just leave the door open bud. ;-)
Marcus
Marcus,
What a *fun* look at the Twitter process!! And you know, I can relate. I didn't understand it at first, either. And I wondered what made it all so great.
...and now...I love it!
In fact, I can quickly think of a couple of very awesome things I've done, which are a direct result of interacting with some very cool people on Twitter. And this awesomeness would have never happened, had it not been for the Twitter connections. I'm sticking around there!!
And...it's great to "meet" you!
Lance, a pleasure to meet you as well sir!! And thanks for sharing your success story about twitter---there is an amazing power of connection behind that bird if we'll but only give her a chance ;-)
Let's make sure to chat again Lance!
Marcus
Simply inspirational, Marcus. And I had a good laugh from time to time - good stuff!
I absolutely love Twitter (and I'm glad you're on the same boat!). Like you, I didn't see the point at first - but everyone kept talking about it, so I went ahead and joined anyway. Years later and my Twitter account sat abandoned, until several months ago when I started to seriously interact my followers and give back to the community. Now, I don't know what I would do without it!
Thanks for sharing this with us - and keep on rocking the blogosphere. ;)
Christina
Howdy Christina!! And thanks so much for stopping by here at Gini's blog (did you subscribe yet?? ;-) ) So glad you liked the article and realllly appreciate the kind words.
See ya around ;-)
Marcus
Thanks for this Marcus. I don't feel so bad about my own Twitter aversion. Just getting started and will keep at it with an open mind now.
Good for you Karen.. Seriously, most of us have been there but remember-- rarely ever does one dislike twitter after they've really given it some attention.
Good luck!!!
Marcus
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haha.. Marcus. I used to hate twitter too! In fact I thought it was a big waste of time! I have to admit that I am s till not very happy with their limitation of characters per tweet but I do have to say that after finding an awesome tool called InboxQ I've grown to love twitter myself!
I think this is a tool that everyone should get because it helps you answer peoples questions and get conversations started. There's so many people on social media pitching this and that and they are doing it all wring.
I watched an interview with Gary Vaynerchuck ( I think yo may know how this guy is) where he mentioned that twitter (and social media as a whole, really) is like a big cocktail party.
You wouldn't go up to someone and say "Hey, you're carrying excess weight drink this milk shake and you'll shed pounds instantly or whatever". The point is you dont pitch pitch pitch and sadly thats what soo many people do.
InboxQ lets you make connections with people and thats why I love this tool! Its also brought in a lot of traffic to my blog
@HectorAvellaned Hector, wow man, this was really great. First of all, congrats on your success with Twitter and this breakthrough you've had with it. To tell you the truth, I haven't heard of Inbox@ so I'm going to have to check it out. Thanks for the great info man!!
Marcus
@Marcus_Sheridan @HectorAvellaned Yeah man! Try it. It installs perfectly in a google chrome of firefox browsers! Let me know what you think if you end up leveraging InboxQ
@HectorAvellaned @Marcus_Sheridan Just installed it on Chrome - looks interesting, cheers for the heads-up, Hector. :)
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What a super post Marcus. Especially because it mentions me. : )
Please mention me all you like in future posts. I am a whore for attention. Actually I'm not. I just think that is fun to say.
Love the post and am so glad we're starting to connect! @Griddy was so kind to help you out like that. I suppose I will have to send her another book now. I think the mailing costs were something like $324 to get it to Lebanon. I'm rounding of course.
Thanks for the great post!
@markwschaefer @Griddy LOL Mark! Love your style man. And yes, very much glad to connect, your blog is exceptional and your book was a huge help. But yeah, what's the deal with shipping stuff to Lebanon?? It would almost be easier to air-drop it in next time ;-)
I definitely had the same thing in mind when I started reading this. I have no success with my niche profiles I created for my niche sites but I love the results I get from my @liveurlove profile. I think it is all about the approach and the understanding of people using it. You can hardly find anyone in one of my niches that knows how to use Twitter. 99% of them just broadcast!!!It is the same with commenting on related blogs, most competitors will actually delete your comments or not approve them, while in blogging you don't mind your competitors commenting on your blog one bit.
@Brankica @liveurlove Competitors will delete comments?? Geez Bran, that is utterly ridiculous. I gotta ask, what niche are you referring to??
Oh, by the way, I was one of the lucky ones with the Tao book and Ingrid :) And that book blowes my mind!!!
@Brankica Agreed Bran, anyone who's a friend of @nittygriddyblog is lucky in my book.
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Hysterical! My feelings exactly until now. Just finished Tao of Twitter, thanks for the recommendation. Now to implement.
Have to agree with John F, from a non-networking, non-business point both Twitter and FB seemed dumb to me before. Why do I care if you checked in here or there or about what you ate today for lunch? (unless it is something really good of course...) You get the point.
@ExpatDoctorMom Isn't it amazing how many of us are 'just getting' Twitter Rajka?? Very cool that you just finished Mark's book as well and continued success to you over there in Qatar!!
@Marcus_Sheridan Yes, it is amazing! I sent you a message via the contact form on your website... not certain if this is the best way to take you up on the offer. Will be in the USA for 10 weeks probably starting end of May: get some clinical time in and get the kids out of the heat! Will get a US sim card and we can talk then! Just let me know the best way to get you the number.
@ExpatDoctorMom Glad you enjoyed the book. It seems to be really helping a lot of people.
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Hey Marcus,
I had the exact same feelings of repulsiveness about Twitter. I just didn't get it. In the spirit of being open minded about experiences/strategies I had already pre-judged and written off, I decided to it a whirl. Guess what? Twitter is my new best friend.It's the second highest source of traffic for my blog. Now I guess I'm going to have to kiss and make up with Facebook.
Riley
@Rileyhar You are one cool cat Riley. And the fact that Twitter is now your best friend is simply awesome man. Oh, and good luck making up with Facebook, I hear she's not so forgiving ;-)
Marcus
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G'Day Marcus,
Awebloodysome! You and Gini D on the same blog. If Easter's all about renewal and rebirth, could there be a more dynamic interface?--I'm not sure just what that means but I liked the sound of it.
Then to top it off, you both give wonderful advice that even this curmudgeonly--don't ya love that word-- Aussie can actually understand.
I'm breathless with anticipation for the appearance The Great G on the Sales Lion blog.
My cup runneth over.......
Go easy on the chocolate eggs.
Regards
Leon
Oh Leon, you are such a one of a kind, and your ability to bring a smile to my face is unceasing. Glad you like the post man, and glad you could stop by and give us all a little laugh as you always do. :-)
Marcus
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I totally feel you Marcus. When I first signed up for a Twitter account when it first came out I thought it was the DUMBEST tool ever. Funny that I love it now. Who know. Oh T' , how great thou art! ;)
@MARLdblE "Oh T', How Great Thou Art!" ----Yes, yes Marlee, that's it girl. :-)
Great to see you stop by lady, you rock!
Marcus
@sucktackular Yep, I'd say it's a very, very large majority...but yes, I'm very glad I found my way. ;)
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Marcus - Awe man that was one creative letter to T'. If it wasn't for you, I'd likely still have hate for T' with no account and no followers! But after embracing it and learning it (I'm still rookie) I have felt the power from she offers. I still can't stand her, because within her reach are a bunch of spammers that get in my way of progress. The great thing is that she allows us to pick and choose our peeps, so it's my call to follow or unfollow...can't beat that!
Thanks for the entertainment, laced with REAL advice.
You're killing it!
@Jk Allen My good friend JK the Hustler, your words never cease to make me feel great bud. It appears you and I are on this road together when it comes to twitter, but yeah, she's not that bad after all. ;-)
And btw, I'm not the only one killin it these days Mr. Allen. ;-)
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Hi Marcus,
Brilliant post. I have been using Twitter for a while, but I haven't been active until recently.
What I found interesting is the importance of finding the right people to follow (for instance people in the swimming pool industry) and they'll almost always follow you back. And whenever I need help, I tweet about it and I always get help fast. It's the fastest way to get help online, at least that's my experience (I still remember a few years ago when I tweeted that my iMac had received the white screen of death) :-)
- Jens
@Jens P. Berget Yeah Jens, really great point. Twitter is likely the fastest medium for any information on the web today in the sense of asking a question and getting an answer, as it's capabilities are much greater than FB in that regard.
Well said my friend and thanks so much for stopping by.
Marcus
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I just realized you linked to my blog with a doobie reference. Damn you, Sheridan, now I have the border patrol guys after me!!!
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@Danny Brown Actually we could have fun with that one. We could do "an experiment in backlinks" and see who would be the first to get a call from the FBI.
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@markwschaefer @Danny Brown You first. Should we start a collection for bail money?
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@Danny Brown @3HatsComm @markwschaefer Pools? Pools? Did I hear someone say POOLS??? ;)
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@3HatsComm @markwschaefer Either that, or sell some of @Marcus_Sheridan 's pools and keep the money for bail. :)
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@Mark_Harai @Danny Brown It was waiting to happen :) You called it on yourself, Danny, LOL
@John Falchetto Maybe not in Montreal, mate. But these other places? Getting kinda strict... ;-)
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@Danny Brown Haha Danny boy!! I've been literally looking for an excuse to link to that article of yours. :-) It was a classic!
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@Danny Brown Gotta watch him.........I mean with that lion's head and all.........just sayin'................
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