CollaborativEye

In part 1 we exposed the myth that people just want to buy things from you. Let's continue exploring the Twitter myths prevalent in the USA Today article by Steve Strauss that may be keeping some of you from trying Twitter for your small or medium sized business.

Myth #2: Twitter offers too much information. This is a common argument against the use of Twitter: "Who wants to hear about what you are having for lunch or if you are having a bad hair day." True. But nobody that I follow (for long) offers this type of information, and neither should you. Much has been made of a recent study that found 40% of Tweets are meaningless babble. I expect this will change over time as people learn how to better use Twitter, and as people find that nobody is listening to their meaningless babble.

Myth #3: It takes too much time. OK, I sort of agree with this one, so maybe calling it a myth is not quite right. However, as with anything in business, you have to invest in order to get a return. The important thing with Twitter is to not enter aimlessly, and then be frustrated that you aren't seeing a return on your time investment. This means a strategic review and assessment should be done BEFORE you start using Twitter, to determine what your business's overall goals are and how Twitter can possibly meet those goals. Also, there are methods to automate some of the tasks involved in using Twitter (automated feeds from your blog or other interesting news sources, for example). Finally, some Twitter outsourcing services are popping up where you can pay somebody to manage your Twitter activity for you.

Myth #4: 140 characters is not enough to be meaningful. This one is SO WRONG. The beauty of Twitter is that it forces you to be succinct. Also, the most valuable Tweets are actually summaries and pointers to additional information on a blog or other website. If you have more to say than can be captured in 140 characters, then write a blog entry and use Twitter to capture interest and exposure for your blog entry.

Bottom line? Twitter is a tool, and like all tools, it can be used successfully, and unsuccessfully. Also, it is an emerging business tool, so we can expect some false starts (like the 40% babble) that will likely soon get corrected. Start with an assessment of your objectives, and then start using Twitter. Don't let myths like those I've exposed above get in your way.