Business Solutions

There has been a lot of conversation fixated on how big companies like Dell, Southwest Airlines, Comcast, and most recently Best Buy and others use Twitter and Facebook to promote their products and services, and answer customer’s questions, but not surprisingly today small businesses outnumber the big ones by far on the free micro-blogging service and social media platforms, and they have adapted and proven in many ways that Twitter and Facebook are even more useful tools for businesses and communities of their size to use.

For many entrepreneurs and community leaders operating small businesses and organizations today with limited, if any advertising budget, Twitter and Facebook have quickly become their sole means of marketing, since it is far easier to set up and update the twitter account, then to maintain a website, and because small business owners tend to spend much of their time at the cash register, Twitter’s intimacy seems to suit them quite well.

People who have little or no experience in the realm of social media platforms tend to think of the tools as being too sophisticated, to the point that only large companies like Mc Donald’s, Coca-Cola, and other multiplatform marketers with large marketing departments and budgets, have the means to use them most effectively, but of the super small businesses and communities are gravitating toward the available social media tools like Twitter and Facebook because they are in fact accessible and as they find out, very simple to use.

The experience of small businesses is that they typically get more than half of their customers through word-of-mouth, and when you stop and think about it, Twitter and Facebook are really just the digital manifestation of word-of-mouth, as Twitter users can broadcast messages up to 140 characters at a time, and it is part of the culture of the these type social media services to encourage people to spread news to friends that are part of their own network.

Restaurants that have been using the Twitter micro-blogging platform are experiencing new clients daily that have learned about the establishment on Twitter, as the restaurants twitter about specials of the day for their dining guests, in addition to free items for anyone that mentions the establishment on Twitter, which is a great way to not only get new followers, but get them taking part in the ongoing virtual conversation.

Now everyone should realize that twitter is not just for businesses that want to lure customers with tempting descriptions of food, but to other businesses like small antique shops in small communities have been able to find out customers and suppliers nationwide, as they connect with individuals and other small businesses that make items which they sell, not only locally in the immediate area surrounding the community, but by connecting they’re able to sell to shoppers outside the area, region, and state on a national basis.

Many small businesses don’t even have websites up and running yet, and they’re able to start quickly using and developing e-commerce as a significant part of the business by connecting through Twitter and Facebook with the national market, instead of having to rely purely on local sales within their small local communities.

It seems like the best success experienced through Twitter has come from not pitching the businesses products or services, but by starting up conversations with people about the towns, communities and nearby attractions that are of interest, and as most conversations go it leads to business, products, or services, and not only is business accomplished, but connections are made, relationships started, and the network begins to quickly grow.

Entrepreneurs can also find the Twitter platform useful, even if their customers are not currently on Twitter, as they connect with others that can provide them information and tips to help with the business, such as business tax tips, to marketing tips, to technology tips, and yes, to tips on how best to use Twitter, Facebook, and other social media platforms and tools.

The good news for entrepreneurs and small community leaders is that Twitter is concentrating on how businesses and organizations can join and use Twitter most effectively, as it plans to begin publishing case studies to help Entrepreneurs and community leaders begin to start the conversation and talk directly to customers, clients, visitors, potential stakeholders, in ways they were able to only do in person before, and everyone is finding that the time distance to establishing emotional connections between everyone is shortening quite a bit, and happening a lot faster as more and more take part in the virtual conversations.