Africa Business Communities

[BLOG] Twitter: my 7 hot and smoking truths for success

Much has been said about Twitter. Some see it as the best thing that could have happened to them, their  businesses etc. You may wish to ask Tony Hseih- the Zappos.com CEO. For significant others, Twitter is just for lazy people who have nothing serious  to do. Whatever angle you take, you may not be wrong. Every personal output is often a product of inputs and personal realities. Aside from the above, there is another school of thought with mixed feelings- they think a blend of the above opinions is required to excel. I opened Twitter account as early as possible even before it began to catch waves in our clime. First, to be an example of what I represent and intend to be an advocate.

I started with a mindset of quality over quantity. I was very careful not to gather crowd that are not relevant. I was content with followers with less than five hundred for years. I had no drive to be popular with numbers and was not active for many days. My activity then was based on my mood. I came up with erroneous believe that many people follow you only when you follow them. I discovered recently some of my views were wrong and my new reality is quite different. My perception has changed and I am better off. We will be sharing today some lessons we have just discovered. They are no secret, but just pure common sense.

Capacity building: Twitter is a capacity building platform. Like LinkedIn, professionals can use the experience shared on twitter to become better in their pursuit of excellence. We must admit the process has in-built capacity to consume much time. But it offers a lot of value in capacity building if you so desire.

Better than MBA:  A couple of months ago, I was planning to do a course. I did a search online for relevant places to go. For the first time, I came across a school running something similar but there was a clause that scared me: our university and courses are not accredited by any regulatory Agencies; we are open to those who want to better their lots without an emphasis on certificates. I thought to myself, since they were not accredited, why are they charging fees for the knowledge? After an afterthought, my conclusion was this, this looks like twitter. One must pay a price- time, to get quality knowledge that MBA will offer. Twitter is like MBA class without a certificate at the end of the session.

Generosity enhances engagement: Another lesson I learnt from twitter again is that a generous soul will build quality engagement. How generous are you with time, quality content will determine your level of relevance in ‘Twitterspace’.

Extra- ordinary commitment yields commensurate returns: In addition to the above, I discovered you actually do not need to follow people to have many followers. Even though that is important and helpful, all you need to do is to be committed to twitter. Give value as much, constantly throughout the day. If you abandon twitter for days, your influence, returns, values, followers may enter diminishing return’s gear. Interestingly I have abandoned twitter for days and I was wondering what went wrong. Take a look at all the major influencers, they are very active. My conclusion, the mirror always reflects your image. Give little time and gain little relevance.

Listening precedes Quality relationship: This is as simple as it is. You do not listen you will not be respected. It takes active listening to become effective speaker and influencer. Quality relationship starts with listening to people.

Self promotion yields zero result: If you constantly self-promote you will have little respect in the community.

Industry research Lab: One other fact i discovered about twitter is that it is an industry research laboratory. You can find right instrument to perform your experiment before producing the product. These are my points of view, what is yours?

Yinka Olaito is happy,excited and passionate Brand Communication, Social Media expert, Trainer and speaker. Yinka Olaito helps brands(Profits and Non-profits)with effective communication and positioning for premium service delivery and returns. Yinka Olaito also has special interest in Development Communication and has consulted for noted UN Agencies. Yinka Olaito is the CCO of Michael Sage consulting and African Child Right Inc. Lagos Nigeria.

 

This article was originally posted on Nigeria Business Communities

 

Are you interested in Market Research, Recruitment and Business Leads?

Join the Africa Business Panel, powered by Africa Business Communities.

www.africabusinesspanel.com.


Share this article