Tweet Little Publisher, Tweet!
Should you be on Twitter? I was asked that question a few months ago and I gave it some serious thought. New technologies are all very well but are they worth investing my precious time in? Often they seem designed to encourage procrastination.
I embarked on some research. I asked around; talked to other Twitter-users and lurked on Twitter for a while to get a feel for things.
Initially I was bewildered. It was all so random, like crossed wires on a phone: fragments of conversations which didn’t seem to bear any relation at all to each other. Gradually though I began to see the potential.
We’ve heard of blogs right? Twitter is a means of producing micro-blogs. You’re limited to 140 characters (and the system actually counts you down as you type) so brevity is essential.
Twitter is a mixing pot of news, events, ideas, opinions and feedback. You can follow as many other people as you like. Some people have very seductive Tweets. Stephen Fry https://twitter.com/stephenfry for example has 1149830 followers at the time of writing while President Obama has 2920706 http://twitter.com/BARACKOBAMA. Our own Prime Minister has 1664525 followers http://twitter.com/DowningStreet. Gok Wan, Cheryl Cole, Alan Carr…there are so many celebs on Twitter that it’s easy to get distracted as you scout round doing ‘research’…ahem… back to the article.
Where Twitter comes into its own is as a tool for self-promotion. As a magazine publisher there are things to learn from Mr. Fry and Mr. Obama. To be really successful at self-promotion you need to create a community of followers. While Messrs Fry and Obama have the power of TV on their side your magazine is your biggest asset. Your readers and advertisers are a ready source of followers. Invite them to join your magazine on Twitter. To get started you could always ask your family and friends to tweet about you…the message will spread even faster.
Then you need to tweet. What should you tweet about? Tweet about your advertisers; about what’s going on in your area and encourage your advertisers to tweet about their businesses. If you find some interesting links relevant to your local area let your followers know about them. (Some links are very long so use a reducing tool such as http://tinyurl.com to shrink them).
The idea is to raise your business profile by getting people to talk about you. Judicious use of links in your tweets and in your profile can drive traffic to your website if you have one, which will please your advertisers. Don’t just plug away at self promotion though…be generous. Give away useful links and point followers toward helpful information. Your reputation will grow as a result and you’ll make more connections.
Large businesses such as Dell, Kodak and Samsung use twitter to get feedback. You can get feedback on your magazine too...are there any traders who your readers would recommend…or any you should avoid (cowboy companies reflect badly on your magazine after all). You can approach good recommendations as a ‘warm’ lead.
You can find useful contacts through Twitter too. Do you need some photos of a Christmas Fair or a local beauty spot? There’s almost certainly a reader who’ll help for the chance to see their work in print.
Then there’s the social network aspect. Publishing your own magazine can be a lonely affair. Twitter can put you in contact with like-minded publishers so you can share ideas and recommendations.
Used intelligently Twitter is a powerful tool to help grow your publishing business. Take a look. Join us at http://twitter.com/TheWriteContent and tweet little publisher tweet!!