Small Business Online Networking Through Twitter

Roland Millward, founder of The Entrepreneur Club, gives the following advice on networking your small business through Twitter.

It is true to say that a great deal of business is generated through networking with like minded people. To that end there are many networking groups where people can meet over breakfast and build business relationships and make new contacts. You will have also seen websites designed specifically for the same purpose, for example LinkedIn.

However have you thought about the power of Twitter? Twitter enables you to locate people that share your interests or that would be good networking partners. Once you have found the people that you would like to network with introduce yourself using the mention sign @ before their Twitter I.D. by simply saying, ‘hello’ and tell them that you are now following them and look forward to keeping in touch.

Treat your conversation in the same way that you would if you were physically meeting them for the first time. Don’t try to sell your services or do deals of any kind, simply be friendly and build a relationship.

It is a good practice to spend a little time each day looking at the ‘tweets’ that your contacts have made and re-tweet some of them. This will build a rapport and your tweets are also likely to get re-tweeted. Make sure you reply to any messages and keep in touch with people with a brief message when you can.

It is amazing how you can build up a good network in a short period of time without leaving your keyboard!