3 ways to use Hashtags!

So what’s the deal with these funky messages and # in all of them?

Yes, those new to Twitter can find it a bit daunting and almost feel like they are looking at code when coming across tweets like this:

@sands: looking forward to @garyvee at indigo tonight #montreal #crushit

1-Hashtags allow people to find you
As I mentioned in the previous post, people are listening on specific keywords and doing searches on particular words. Since you can specify #tags in your searches, this allows people to find you and for you to get found.

2- Real time Search
At any given time, you can click on a hashtag and see how many other people are using that same tag and allow you to find other twitterer’s that may be of interest.

3- Hashtags give your tweets context

For example, if I had tweeted the above post:
@sands looking forward to meeting @garyvee tonight in montreal

I wouldn’t necessarily be found as easily by other people who were interested in all things montreal (unless using the near: in their search).
#crushit is a better example. For a lot of online events/conferences, events will use certain hashtags so that other people interested in these tweets can easily find them based on the hash.

Sound like a lot to get your head around? Just start by observing and slowly start adding them to your tweets.

Nothing beats practice!!

Twitter for your business

Twitter for Business?
A lot of my friends don’t seem to quite understand why I would be twittering for business purposes and what benefit it could possibly bring.
Why would anyone care about- “What you are doing?”, they ask.
They continue to look at me with blank stares when I tell them we are using it to interact with our customers, generate interest in our product, learn about what’s going on in different areas and build our brand awareness.

Most people don’t understand how a tool like Twitter could help their business grow and rather uses like this come to mind:

Rather than just broadcasting details about your life, Twitter is a way to connect with other like-minded individuals; people who may be interested in your products or services or even find out what your competitors are up to.

All that in 140 characters you ask?

Sure it may sound like a daunting task but there are techniques that you can use that will make it easier, which I’ve discussed here.

For example, if you are running a Yoga studio, you could provide tips on yoga poses, health tips and mantras, interspersed with information/promotions you are running at your studio. If you have blog, you could provide more details about what you are tweeting in your posts; Twitter would then be another way to drive traffic to your blog/site.

Have you thought about using Twitter for your business? What are the challenges you’ve faced?

Twitter Challenge: Tweet in 120 characters or less

Today’s Twitter Tip: Tweet in 120 characters or less

You’re probably thinking: We’re only allowed 140 and even that’s not enough!!

Tweeting in less characters allows for others to comment on your content and retweet it. We’ll get into the ‘art and science’ of retweeting in another post but in the mean time I want you to learn how to do more with less.

Denise Wakeman talks about the 4E’s: Educate. Engage. Enrich. Entertain. We’ll get into these in more detail but in the meantime, think about these categories when tweeting and how you want to interact with your online community.

Example:

How not to Tweet:
HEY CHECK OUT THIS GREAT YOUTUBE VIDEO OF INMATES IN THE PHILLIPINES PERFORMING TO MICHAEL JACKSON’S THRILLER: link…

More effective as:
Inmates in Philippines perform MJ’s Thriller: insert link here

We’ll get in more detailed about URL shortening (so you don’t use up all your characters on the actual URL) but in the meantime..practice, practice, practice!