On this week’s InsidePR, Martin Waxman, Joe Thornley, and I discuss the resistance people have to using social media. We thought we were solely going to talk about Ivor Tossell’s article about Twitter in The Globe and Mail, but we ended up discussing social media as a whole.
You can listen to it here.
Our conversation led me to thinking about a comment I made a few months ago on my friend Maureen Blandford’s blog. Her topic was about using Twitter for thought leadership, not for mindless thanks and RTs that don’t lead your followers to anything of substance. You can read her original post here.
I commented…
When I was first trying to figure out how to use Twitter to engage with new audiences and gain new wisdom, it was hard to figure out the balancing act between letting people talk about our work, but also showcasing it. What I found, pretty quickly, is that the work spoke for itself and my Twitter network was MORE than happy to spread the word because I NEVER talked about it myself and I ALWAYS talk about other’s work. It was even hard for me to tweet our blog links, but I figured out that if you do it by engaging people, it works so much better than selling it yourself.
Social media, particularly Twitter, is just a big networking event. Just like you wouldn’t do at a networking event, you shouldn’t talk about how great you are online. As a friend of mine always says, those are the Type OOs we avoid…output only.
After I said Twitter is just a big networking event, Maureen thought I should blog about it. And, after Martin, Joe, and I extolled the virtues of Twitter this week, I thought the timing was good.
Talk about burying the lead!
Either you love or hate Twitter, but I’d venture to guess those of you who hate it, aren’t using the tool. For those of you not using Twitter, I ask you, why aren’t you there? Is it because, like Ivor Tossell says, it drives off newcomers, it looks dull from the outside, it can be insufferable, or it’s all a performance? Or is because it’s one of the many reasons I hear all the time: It’s for the kids (which we now know, thanks to Courtney Dial’s guest post a few weeks ago, isn’t true), it takes too much time, you don’t care what people had for lunch, or you can’t control what people say about you?
What if you changed your thinking from all of those reasons to, “I already attend at least one networking event every month and I get five business leads every time I get out there. I can get on Twitter, network with people around the world, and see if I can change five monthly leads to five weekly leads.” Perhaps the timing and the numbers aren’t correct, but you get my drift.
Twitter allows you to meet, talk to, debate, and become friends with people around the world. You can’t do that at your local Chamber event or your industry trade show. So, perhaps it’s time to put aside all of your excuses and try it out! I know you’ll be surprised at what it does for your credibility, awareness of you and/or your business, and your own wisdom.
Where do you fall? Do you love or hate Twitter?