I work with many, many companies who want to use Twitter as part of their business but the individuals themselves are using it for the first time and – quite understandably – don’t know where to start.  There are lots of great guides and blogs out there around using the best keywords in tweets, the optimal time to tweet info, etc. but this is still a bit too complicated for those that are new to Twitter.  I feel what’s needed here is a newbie’s guide to using Twitter for business, so here are my 4 golden rules:

1. Be clear about your Twitter account’s purpose

Before creating an account and publicising it on your website and collateral, have a think about what the account is for and who you want to reach.  It’s a good idea to have a company account which is used as the single point of information for customers; a lot of the time I see the MD tweeting under one name, the Development Director tweeting in another guise and the Marketing team tweeting under a further name which is confusing for your customers.  Decide on what your company Twitter account will provide and plan accordingly.  Also take time to think about who will tweet using that account; putting a human face behind your company account will help your customers relate so be sure to add that info into your profile.  Which brings me to . . .

2. Create a great profile page

Your profile page is your shop window on Twitter so be sure to keep it up-to-date.  It is here where you can add a few concise sentences around what it is exactly that your business provides, your location, an introduction to the person tweeting and a link to your website.

3. Find like-minded people

You will want people to find and follow you and the best way to do that is to find people you are interested in and follow them.  And once you’ve done that you can also start following other people who follow them.   It may be that they are in the same field as you or perhaps in the same geographical location as you, but doing this starts to build a community of like-minded people with whom you can interact.

4. Don’t just broadcast, engage

So you have your Twitter account and people are starting to follow you; the temptation now might be to promote, promote, promote.  My advice – don’t!  A constant stream of adverts will turn people off and they will eventually unfollow.  You need to post relevant, engaging content around the industry as a whole which will compel your target audience to follow you.  You can of course mention your own solutions and the impact they have had on schools, etc. but it has to be a reciprocal relationship.  Be sure to chat with your followers around what’s interesting to them too!

A couple of years ago during an interview I was asked the almost inevitable question “Are you an introvert or an extrovert?” to which I responded “neither”.

The interviewer was adamant that I must be one or the other and it made me question why this should be the case.  It seems to be unquestioned wisdom that the best sales people are extroverts and if you are in least bit introverted then there’s no way you’ll be successful in sales.  However, there are lots of reasons why this simply isn’t the case.  For example, I used to work with a man who’s friendly, outgoing, confident, enthusiastic, great at getting along with people, but couldn’t close a sale to save his life for the simple reason that all that enthusiasm meant that he didn’t listen.  Equally, another ex-colleague of mine was quiet and unassuming but his unthreatening nature and methodical way of working meant he was really rather good at sales – the only frustration being that he could have been absolutely amazing if only he would come out of his shell a bit.

So who ARE best at selling?  Ambiverts.

Ambiverts sit somewhere between introversion and extroversion and display personality traits from both.  And it absolutely makes sense that it is this personality type that makes the best sales people as, ultimately, selling isn’t about foisting your personality onto your client.  Successful selling involves listening to and relating to your client, presenting to them a person they would like to deal with and a company they want to engage with.  The best sales people are the ones who adapt their behaviours to the situation in front on them.

So, which personality type are you?

Is your To Do list off the scale? Is Covid making you feel even more overwhelmed than usual? Here’s how to break your list down and get it done.

What does your To Do list look like?  Does it fit on one page?  Does it span a few pages covered in scribbled notes and updates?  How many things ever actually get crossed out?

For many people their To Do list has become a form of torture.  Either too unruly to ever make sense of or too unwieldy to complete in a day – or even a week.  When you run your own business you’re always focusing on the next thing you should do to try and grow, the next place you should be to win new business.  And that To Do list continues to grow with no end in sight – sadly you usually end up being less productive as a result.

So how do you ever complete it?  Here’s my top 3 tips for getting things done and throwing that list in the bin.

1. How many points on your list are Tasks and how many are Objectives?

It’s not unusual to see To Do lists which include the relatively small and mundane (e.g. log July expense receipts) next to the wide-reaching strategic stuff (e.g. set up social media presence).  You feel you need to do both to keep your business running but one is a task and one is a much larger piece of work.  It’s a good idea to go through your list and divide everything up into Tasks and Objectives as it will help you better understand what to do next.

2. How can you get the Tasks done quickly?

With each of the tasks you’ve identified, now think about what the timescales are for these.  If you’re aiming to have your July receipts logged by the end of the month then use your calendar and schedule in an hour to get this done.  If you want to get a newsletter out to your customers by the 15^th of the month then schedule time to write and send it on the 13^th or 14^th.  By moving these tasks into your calendar you’re making sure you allow time to actually get them done and you’re also moving them away from the never-ending To Do list which will allow you to focus on the bigger, strategic tasks that will help grow your business.

If you’re too busy to be able to schedule the time for tasks it’s a good idea to see what you can ask someone else to help you with.  Virtual Assistants can provide valuable business and operational support and can free you up to concentrate on what’s important.

3. What are your priority Objectives?

Once you’ve moved all the Tasks away into your calendar or have enlisted extra support to get these done, it’s time to look at the remaining objectives and prioritise them based on what’s most important to your business.  Again, be ruthless – if there are things on the list that don’t necessarily suit your skillset and you know you could get some help with which means they’d be actioned quickly and more effectively then look for outside support.

Identify your top 3 most important objectives based on: how will it benefit my business, what are the consequences if I don’t do this, and will it take me away from my main goal of running a successful business.  Have you been meaning to set up a blog but have never gotten around to it?  Set an objective to create and share a great blog post today.  Have you reached out to any potential clients this week to see if they’d like to chat?  Make it an objective to contact 10 prospects this week.

Make your top 3 objectives your ONLY objectives for the day/week and focus on them 100%.