Power of Twitter to Build Relationships
On December 27th, 2011 – I made a momentous decision – I joined Twitter. I always dismissed Twitter. “I'm on Facebook, ” I said, “Why do I need to be on Twitter?”
If you are just starting to build relationships on Twitter, I highly recommend you check out Mike Whitmore's blog about getting started on Twitter. I saw Mike speak at a Toastmaster's conference in the fall about social media, and he does practice what he preaches regarding Twitter. If it wasn't for his kindness and his blog, I might have given Twitter up. I would have missed out.
Table of Contents
Phase #1 – Is this thing on?
When I first started on Twitter, I wanted to connect with other people who have a passion for communication, leadership, public speaking and building relationships. I had no idea who these people were so I started out by following my friends and few influential people like Mike or authors of blogs I already followed. At this point, I felt like my tweets fell into an abyss of silence. Tweets do at first but persistence pays off.
Phase #2 – Tweet & follow
Tweet even if no one listening and follow,follow, follow. I have friends who are speakers, so I started following some of the people they followed. I googled and found blogs about speaking and leadership.I followed those authors. I commented on blogs. To my delight, the bloggers commented back and started to follow me on Twitter.
Phase #3 – The power of reciprocity
Once I started following some experts, I started to retweet their links and reply to their tweets. Most are grateful for the retweet and say thank you. Others are super grateful and begin to follow you too. Then they reply to your tweets. All of the sudden, your tweets are getting a response. Twitter becomes fun – keep supporting those like minded folks and those relationships begin to grow.
Phase #4 – Building relationships
One day it happens, after all the retweets and the replies – a conversation starts to evolve. My first real Twitter relationship was with Lisa Braithwaite, who is public speaking coach that I aspire to be like some day. We first bonded over our mutual love of cats and all things British. The conversation began simply enough with Lisa just commenting about my Twitter description and that evolved into a real conversation. Then other relationships began to blossom. Lauren Hug, whose niche is speaking identity, commented on my blog, and we began to chat with each other on Twitter. Then I began to connect with other great tweeps like Emma Sutton, Ovation Communication, and Donn King to name and many more.
I'm amazed at the relationship that is developing with these people. We support each other. They point out typos in my blogs. They ask for my advice and give their advice willingly and unselfishly. More importantly these twitter friends inspire me to keep writing, creating, coaching, and speaking.
Where are you in your Twitter relationships? If you are not on Twitter, give it a shot and be persistent. If you've given upon the Twitterverse, give it a go again. You never know what relationships will start, grow and blossom.
I would love to hear about your experiences on Twitter. Please speak your mind in the comments section or look me up on Twitter.
I’ve been on Twitter for about 2 years, but started to really use it recently. It is a little time consuming, but worth the effort!
I agree! It is time consuming but so much fun when it gets rolling! I find so much great information on Twitter as well.
[…] [Edit: Michelle told me she had slated a post for publication along the same lines. You know what they say: Great Minds Think Alike. It's cool to be mentioned in her post!] […]
I’ve had the same experience, and it’s so cool to be mentioned along with so many like-minded people! I’m going to add a link from my post along similar lines to point to this one. That post is at http://donnellking.com/blog/2012/03/its-a-small-world-after-all-1/
Thanks for adding your link Donn! It’s so funny how we were both in the same frame of mind this week! Off to read your post!
Hey! Thanks for the shout-out! I, too, have been amazed at how community can develop via Twitter. I’m usually wary of virtual connections, but Twitter has allowed me to connect with people who share my interests and passion and can help encourage me on a path that isn’t really understood by my “real life” friends. (Like you, and the other folks you mentioned.) I know my husband is thrilled that I have a sounding board that isn’t just him! So in addition to being professionally fulfilling, Twitter has a positive impact on my marriage! 🙂
You’re welcome Lauren. I am so glad you commented on my blog and we were able to connect. Good point about Twitter having a positive impact on your marriage. We need other outlets than are significant others about our dreams and hopes!
[…] the first few months anyway (read about my Twitter evolution here). Then I slowly met people, started having conversations, building relationships, and sharing other […]