Using Twitter To Gain Publicity

Are you actively using http://www.twitter.com to build your business?

If you're not, you're probably making a huge mistake.

Twitter, in case you're not aware, is a service where people post up to 140 character updates on topics of interest to them. Those updates go out to the people who have chosen to "follow" them.

In essence, Twitter is a place where you build an audience of people who have similar interests to yours, then communicate quickly and efficiently with them.

It's taking the world by storm, growing at phenomenal rates, and more importantly, becoming a key communications element in the lives of many.

I have to admit, when I first looked at Twitter, I didn't get it. I saw a bunch of people there cheerfully announcing that they were going to eat lunch, that they were having a great day, and that they had just broken up with their boyfriends. There was no way I was going to join any service that helped me to more efficiently waste time, even if it didn't cost me anything.

But my attitude, and the world of Twitter has now totally changed.

I now see Twitter as a way to build a huge audience of people who know and trust me. Plus, it gives me the ability to watch what's being said about me and the products that I sell, and to quickly and easily build conversations with people who have questions or issues around those products.

Literally, it's a place to build a following and to proactively build and manage the conversations in which I'm involved.

And, it works with the media too. I've had a number of media contacts who have initially contacted me, started discussions, and even fact checked using Twitter.

Here are some tips to effectively use Twitter to build your business.

Decide what areas you want to be seen as an expert on in Twitter, then post primarily (solely?) about those topics
Regularly post thoughts, opinions, facts, and links to articles written by others on those topics.

Here are some sample posts that I've made in the last several days as an example of how this can be done.

    43% of everyone online has a social media profile. 71% of those have 2+ http://budurl.com/rfq3

    Idea: take laptop to lunch offsite. Buy lunch for a complete stranger if they will show you how they would buy something from your site.

    Advertisers beware: judge rules "visitors" does NOT="unique visitors." Must specifically contract for uniques. http://budurl.com/lzbk

    Traffic to free ad supported online games spiking. What can you give away for free to drive traffic in this economy? http://budurl.com/c9rs

Notice that 3 of those 4 posts link to articles NOT written by me. That's key. If you have to create all of the sage commentary that you offer up to your followers, you'll quickly become overwhelmed and will abandon your Twitter strategy. Besides, you're not the only expert/commentator out there, be a resource!
Don't fall into the trap of talking about stuff that people don't care about. Sharing details about your personal life and activities limits your audience.
Be interesting, scintillating is even better!
Search for and follow the top leaders in your areas of interest. You'll see what they're posting about, and it will start to build your audience.
Post regularly, at least daily. Hey, it's only 140 characters! You can do this! Start today, even if you only have 5 people following you.
Regularly invite people already associated with you to follow you on Twitter. Put it in your newsletter, on your website, on your blog, on your business cards, in your email footer, etc.
Fill out your Twitter profile to let people know who you are and what you do. They oftentimes will use the content of your profile to determine whether they should follow you or not.

Do this now:
Go to http://www.twitter.com and sign up for an account there.

The, go to http://twitter.com/don_crowther where you'll see my recent posts. You'll also see a button there to follow me. Click it. I'll follow you back, which will give you an audience of at least 1!

In future issues, I'll teach you secrets of using Twitter effectively to build an audience, get more publicity, and land more on your bottom line!

I look forward to seeing your sage comments on Twitter!

Public Relations Basics:
What is meant by the terms boilerplate language and Safe Harbor Statement in a media release?

Boilerplate language:

Boilerplate language is a media release refers to what is traditionally the final paragraph of the release, which provides generic information about the company. It usually tells whether the company is publicly or privately traded, its stock ticker, where it's based, the brands it owns, what it does, etc. Basically, it's a piece of copy that is designed to communicate the basics about the company that gets routinely pasted on the end of each media release.

Consequently, it's usually the first thing that gets cut if the release gets run, but that's a totally different discussion.

Here's a sample of boilerplate language from a recent AT&T release:
About AT&T
AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) is a premier communications holding company. Its subsidiaries and affiliates, AT&T operating companies, are the providers of AT&T services in the United States and around the world. Among their offerings are the world's most advanced IP-based business communications services, the nation's fastest 3G network and the best wireless coverage worldwide, and the nation's leading high speed Internet access and voice services. In domestic markets, AT&T is known for the directory publishing and advertising sales leadership of its Yellow Pages and YELLOWPAGES.COM organizations, and the AT&T brand is licensed to innovators in such fields as communications equipment. As part of their three-screen integration strategy, AT&T operating companies are expanding their TV entertainment offerings. In 2008, AT&T again ranked No. 1 in the telecommunications industry on FORTUNE® magazine's lists of the World's Most Admired Companies and America's Most Admired Companies. Additional information about AT&T Inc. and the products and services provided by AT&T subsidiaries and affiliates is available at http://www.att.com.

Safe Harbor Statement:

Safe Harbor language basically provides legal protection for public companies, by indicating that the information in the release shouldn't affect stock price (which it may well do anyway.) It's one of those legal mandates, created for liability protection, that results in useless language that doesn't communicate anything. But that's another different discussion... (By the way, if you're in a publicly traded company, you should absolutely include safe harbor language in each of your releases.) Safe Harbor statements are also traditionally added at the end of media releases as part of the boilerplate language.

Here's a Safe Harbor statement from a recent XM Satellite Radio release:
Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements in this press release include demand for XM Satellite Radio's service, the Company's dependence on technology and third party vendors, its potential need for additional financing, as well as other risks described in XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc.'s Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on 3-3-06. Copies of the filing are available upon request from XM Radio's Investor Relations Department.

(See what I mean about useless language?)

Stay warm and go do something to get some publicity this week!

Don Crowther
President
101PublicRelations.com

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