I’m not sure when I started using the social networking tool Twitter, but it must have been at least a year ago, in view of the fact that I was posting about it in April last year.
At the time I was ambivalent about whether for me it was a distraction or helpful to business.
Part of my concern back then was that I focused too much on the conceptual premise of Twitter, that it was a means of answering, succinctly (within 140 characters) the question “What are you doing?”. That’s the social networking side of things and you could - no doubt many do - use Twitter just for socializing, knowing what your friends are up to and letting them know when you are having a coffee, going to a movie, feeling glum or ecstatic or whatever.
But for many of us, Twitter has also - or more of - a role in how we manage our working/business day. Off the top of my head, here are five that work for me:
So a year on, I am quite sure it is good for my business, or at least for “my life in business”.
(Update: I meant to acknowledge that this post was prompted by the thoughts Shel Israel shared in his post on his policy about Twitter followers.)
What about you? Have you used Twitter? Do you find it a time-waster or is it somehow helpful for your business, even if that is just from the “having company while you work solo” aspect?
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For me, Twitter has been a bit of everything. It definitely can be a time-waster and distracter. But, it is also the “water cooler” and comaraderie that is often missing when working from home; I no longer work in a vaccuum. I’ve also found Twitter to be faster than RSS.
hi Des, nice one.
Yes I find it really beneficial for many of the above reasons, especially when working from home or on client site..it;s a great way to connect with colleagues around the world and meet new minds…like you!
@GlendaWH @wonderwebby and definitely good for me to be able to keep in touch this way with good people like you!
Same here. I am a telecommuter and work is not socially connected very good at the moment. Twitter allows me to have a social connection with those in the same profession. Now it is becoming more social since work is slow and changing.
Natalie
I think Twitter is made for telecommuters. One of the biggest challenges for telecommuters has always been “out of sight out of mind” - tools like Twitter help you stay in the loop, both in terms of what others are saying and in terms of their not “forgetting” you.
[...] Web 2.0 expert Des Walsh documents five ways Twitter helps him in business. I met Des last year at BlogWorld Expo after a long-time exchange of ideas with him by Email and [...]
Twitter becoming more and more useful.
Betting on new focused services will be born in close future.
Even though I’m normally an early adopter Twitter had been one thing that I had avoided. As you say I was in the “it will be too much of a distraction” camp. That was until I read this post in my early morning catch up of favourite reads … so now I can say I’m on the Twitter train.
Great info about Twitter! I always wondered what all the fuss was about it. Now I know!
I’m clearly a late adopter, but now I’ll give Twitter a closer look. Thanks for pointing out its benefits.
Is Twitter continuing to grow in users? I wonder if there is redundancy in using facebook vs twitter for keeping up with colleagues and contacts? Any thoughts?
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1manop.com
[...] Des Welch, at Thinking Home Business relates his experiences with Twitter, 5 Ways Twitter Helps Me in My Business. [...]
Des, I found this post very interesting and just linked to it at Home Biz Notes. I suggested my readers check out your experiences with Twitter.
http://www.homebiznotes.com/twittering-along-with-twitter-in-your-home-business/
[...] Young, Des Walsh, Michael Martine and Guy Kawasaki and Amy Palko all share how Twitter has worked for [...]
[...] Des Walsh of Thinking Home Business writes about 5 Ways Twitter Helps Me In Business. [...]
Des, nice informative post. I don’t have twitter and reading the comments above after your post I do believe it’s about time I give twitter a go. Thanks for pointing out its benefits.
Cheers
To this day I just can’t see my personal use of using Twitter, maybe I’m just not seeing the whole picture regarding it. But I suppose for some people it could be a postive experience.
Hey Des,
I saw your link at Yvonne Russell’s website. I haven’t spoken to you in a while, so I thought I would come by and visit. I have not jumped into Twitter……. yet! But one day!
Anyway, I trust all is well with you! Take care!
Darlene
Interview Guru
http://www.interviewchatter.com/
Twitter is a great resource. I sometimes can’t follow conversations cause I don’t check in often enough, but I find it helpful for (a) keeping up on what folks I care about are up to, and (b) getting really great content to use in my work.
Thanks everyone for the comments and nice to see good friends dropping by. I do hope you all find Twitter helpful and not *just* a distraction! On the question of “keeping up” and not “missing things” on Twitter, I think the best bit of advice I’ve had was to see Twitter as a river, not a lake. I don’t stress any more about missing anything. Another metaphor I use is to treat it as (in the English expression) my “local” - a bar I drop into and find old friends, some new ones and can observe the antics of others in good company (think “Cheers” if you remember).
Twitter is very nice if you have online business. I am using twitter as it include all web 2.0 technology and you can say, you get all the features here. Hubpages, facebook are also nice one which I tried and also doing currently for my online home business purpose mostly on Squidoo and hubpages. Its a nice traffic generator.
I’m still not sure what good Twitter is, but I run Twirl and I’m always twitter from my phone too. Maybe someday I’ll figure it out.
5 Ways Twitter Helps Me in Business : Thinking Home Business…
I’m not sure when I started using the social networking tool Twitter, but it must have been at least a year ago, in view of the fact that I was posting about it in April last year.
At the time I was ambivalent about whether for me it was a distracti…
I just joined twitter since everybody’s talking about twitter being very useful to them. hope I can get benefits from twitter as well..
[...] Walsh presents 5 Ways Twitter Helps Me in Business posted at Thinking Home Business, saying, “I’m not sure when I started using the social [...]