This is the last in a series of posts about Twitter for those starting out like me.  It has been an interesting journey so far and I have gleaned some real lessons from the experience.  I have likened this on line networking to a bunch of people; all sorts of people in fact,  in a room all talking about things which interest them.  Some people are very interesting and know their subject well, they put it across clearly and you leave feeling that was worthwhile.  Others, stand and shout about what they do – all of the time.  I find it difficult to connect with such people because they do not talk to you!  Have you found that?

There are the link-people. They seem to have a link for everything and again it is hit and miss.  Some good and some very good while others seem to miss the mark.  I know, we are all different. Why do people ask me to ‘like’ them when   I don’t even know them?  I guess this is all a part of what is called Social Networking and I still find it very rewarding.  Well, that’s enough ranting for now, let’s get on………Here are some TIPS

1. Try to Tweet every day if you can to maintain momentum.

2. Avoid bombarding your followers with sales messages.  They will become bored very quickly and “unfollow” you.

3. Spamming is very much frowned upon and recipients of your spam will report you to the Twitter admin team, which could leave you without a Twitter account.

4. If you are talking about a popular topic in the industry, use a hashtag  # in your Tweet, such as #construction.  This makes both your Tweet and therefore your profile much more visible to those interested in your industry, particularly journalists.  You can use any hashtag you think would be popular – there are none set in stone.  However, do not use them in every single Tweet

5. Social media based organisation platforms such as Tweetdeck and Hootsuite will allow you to maintain control of the messages you’re sending out, any direct messages you receive, mentions of your organisation and news from within your industry.

6. Either in Tweetdeck or Hootsuite, add a column which picks up the hashtag #construction.  In this way, you can keep abreast easily with all news from the industry.

7. Tweetdeck and Hootsuite both have facilities which enable you to upload photographs (usually depicted with a camera icon).  This will allow you to Tweet photographs of developing construction sites which your target market will find very interesting.

There is no doubt that on line social networking is here to stay.  Whether you are based remotely and are unable to attend physical events or you’re simply too busy to find enough hours in the day, it offers the ideal networking, branding and business development solution.  Twitter may indeed be usurped in a few years by another platform but for now, you can bet that your competitors will be using it to develop their own relationships with your target market.

Don’t be left behind.  Take a look at Twitter in your lunch break or when you have a few moments in the evening.  You might even want to try setting up a personal account before launching yourself in the deep end and creating a business account.  It’ll be the best half hour you’ve spent this year, guaranteed.

Are you following   @constructionMM on Twitter?