What MakesTwitter Such a Great Tool - Making Us All BetterCommunicators - Marketing 101T

Twitter at 140

Tweet World - Twitter teaches us to be more concise in our statements as we only have 140 characters to make our pitch.
Real World - This is not a new thought - 35 years ago I used to practice elevator speeches - yes speeches.  We had to know when we could repeat our favorite, when we had to use a new / different one, and how to keep it short enough that we could always include a link ( Hand shake, say your name (introduce yourself ) and hand them a card) - Ahhh, let's call that a oldern days tweet.

Repeating Tweet

Tweet World - When you find a good tweet, repeat it, maybe as much as every couple days.  Every time you tweet, your audience is only about 3% of your followers (my estimate).  That being the case, you can repeat your tweet 33 times without repeating it to the same audience.

Real World - Sometimes, people need to hear your pitch multiple times for it to sink in.  This is no different than using the same sales pitch to different people at trade shows, sales calls and even over the phone - It's called following the script.

Understanding the Impact of Individual Tweets

Today, we can measure the impact of our tweets instantly allowing us to test more frequently, more broadly and more accurately with less subjective inclusion.  This same need has always existed, but the online and social tools did not as they do today.

The key 'take-away' here is that the same data, information and techniques have always been needed, we just use different (and better) tools today. Old marketers / sellers need to adopt; new marketers / sellers need to learn why - "Knowing why we do something is what allows us to adapt" ~rel.

Bob Leonard
561-371-4113 (Call My Cell) 
512-593-8830 (in Austin)

 Connect with me on LinkedIn 
www.linkedin.com/in/robertleonard5699
 Follow me on Twitter 
@T4Leonard
 Add me to Your Google+ Circles
 https://plus.google.com/+RobertLeonard5699/about 

Collaboration and Collaborating; You Should Be.

I need to go back into my early professional career to find my collaboration roots and knowledge source.  Large companies and smart people have been collaborating and training collaboration with their peers for as far back as my past brings me – even though they may not have called it such.  Collaboration is not a technical skill, it’s a mindset and attitude that can be used to more effectively achieve objectives.

Collaboration could be:

• Sharing business tools with a non-competing business; like a lawyer and accountant.  Benefit being half the capital needs.
• Sharing office space and costs with a non-competing business; like a lawyer and accountant.  Benefit being half the recurring cash needs.
• Sharing marketing and sales expenses with a non-competing business; like a lawyer and accountant.  .  Benefit being half the exposure and risk.
• Referring businesses based on their needs and your knowledge.  This makes you social and “in the know” by giving you the ability to talk to a prospect (not yours yet) about their needs and someone else’s expertise/service.  This goes to the point that people do business with people they like.
• Sharing clients and referring clients to collaborative partners.  This being possibly the most difficult form of collaboration, but also the one with the greatest potential return.

I will expand on each of these different forms of collaboration over the next week or two as I roll out my newest/latest business venture(s) whose objectives may not be apparent by “just looking”.

read Next: Collaborating - Part One - Why Pay Twice - Getting Started

B

Starting a Business Again

Even though I have not started a business for myself in years, the excitement and thrill is so there.  It’s not that I have been out of it for long, or even at all, but it has always been for someone else.  Over the last 4 years, I have done technical consulting; advertising consulting and volunteer consulting though SCORE as well as assisted my kids with their businesses when they let me.  Oh yea, I have had a little fun too; a few cross country motorcycle trips, summers in Maine and Saratoga, autumns in New England and springs in Austin.  Did I mention 5 grandchildren?

LightsOn is nothing new, the business is really the same as our Time4 operations (Time4Printing.com in Maine, Time4Texas.com in Austin, LightsOnAdvertising.com in SoFla and www,Time4Sacramento.com in, well, it’s obvious); local products and services utilizing the Internet, rather than, in spite of the Internet.  We all provide the highest level of service and knowledge for our customer because that is what they are really buying from all of us; they are buying our knowledge and talents in helping them increase their business.

LightsOn Graphics has, what I believe is the most advanced, technically thorough and complete website for local printers there is.  We have considered selling it, but realized that the price would be higher than any local printer could afford (including us if we had not had the technical know-how in-house).

We don’t provide online design tools like some of our competition – this is choice, not the level of sophistication.  We believe in “touch” and today’s business person needs help at costs that will make them more money and waste less time; we don’t make anything from a template, we make YOU for REAL.

We believe in things like, BNI, LeTip, everyCircle, Successful Thinkers, and chambers as YOUR network makes YOU money.

Here I am, no traffic, no readers, no followers and no Likes - See you all soon.

Bob