Twitter convert

I admit that I was a Twitter skeptic.  I thought nothing substantive could be expressed in 140 characters or less; I thought it was the meeting place for narcissists who feel compelled to share the minutiae of their everyday lives to strangers; and from a business standpoint, I simply didn’t see how it could help us in any way.  Yet after a little over three months of managing my company’s Twitter account, I must say that I have found it quite useful.  Consider me a convert.

I have found the main benefits to be twofold: first, I find many leads on potential publisher partners.  I see who one of our followers is following, and then who their followers are following, and so on until I have unearthed many potential business connections.  I start following, see what they’re about, and then possibly contact them later.  I have found many great sites for news, entertainment, mothers, politics and more just by following the chain of followers.  Secondly, and somewhat related to the first benefit, is that I’ve become aware of various communities out there who are engaged in the same areas as us- namely, the Hispanic market and digital marketing.  By reading what members of the community are saying, reacting strongly and negatively to, and engaging in, we see what is creating buzz in our industry, and we hope to become a part of these communities and this dialogue as well.

It turns out that you can express a cogent thought or word of encouragement in 140 characters or less.  Plus, Twitter can be fun, too: you can follow the antics of Conan O’Brien, the NFL’s Chad OchoCinco, movie critic Roger Ebert, and many, MANY more.  I look forward to continuing to use our company’s Twitter account to pursue leads, participate in the conversation, and have a little fun.