Oct

12

Getting co-workers and friends started on Twitter

Filed Under Social Media 

Would you like to change the fact that not many of the people you know are using Twitter? I want to share with everyone the email I sent out recently to try and get my co-workers to see the value in Twitter and start using it themselves. I have included that email below (after making some changes to make it more generic and as short as possible). Feel free to copy, edit, and send out the email to your co-workers and friends.

Dear non-Twitter users,

I want to introduce you to Twitter. It’s a micro-blogging tool which I have found to be very valuable in networking and learning new information. If you don’t even have a facebook or LinkedIn account, then just ignore this – you won’t be interested in Twitter because it’s not for everyone. I didn’t think it would be useful at first but after using it for several months that has changed and I have even networked with some cool people because of Twitter.

First, watch this if you have no idea what Twitter is about: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddO9idmax0o

Second, read this guide by the CEO of Zappos (the largest online shoe retailer here in the US) http://twitter.zappos.com/start. He wrote this open letter to try and get his employees to start using Twitter after he found value in it. He now has 448 out of his 1,600 employees using Twitter to get to know other co-workers and stay in touch with each other. Besides networking, it’s also used by brands for PR/customer service purposes which is what many major companies are already doing including Starbucks, Honda, Virgin America, and Dell.

Lastly, read this blog post I wrote about getting started and using Twitter for business networking and also make sure to read about proper Twitter etiquette here.

I also thought it would cool to setup an account for the company. Once we build up our company account we could use it to get feedback, keep in touch with clients, and announce company news and new projects.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Out of the 35 people at my company, I got 5 people to sign up within a day so then I sent this follow-up email to those people:

Hey guys,

Glad to see I got at least a few people to sign up so far. I just wanted to follow-up with a few more pointers. It’s important once you get started to start searching for interesting people and follow them:

- Use the search found here: https://twitter.com/invitations/find_on_twitter and enter keywords that might interest you like ‘mobile’ and ‘advertising’ or check out some of the people I started following on my account: http://twitter.com/jsmakr/friends.

- At the bare minimum, please fill out your full name and Bio so you look legit and people follow you back.

- It’s annoying to have to navigate to the twitter site all the time, so I use a desktop client called Thwirl to see updates, respond, and update my account. Download it and let me know if you have any questions setting it up.

Thanks.

Since these emails were sent, there was a great webinar with video and slides by HubSpot for beginners on How to Use Twitter for Marketing & PR which I would have included somewhere in the first email. I should have also mentioned how important it is to start tweeting, Tip #2 in this ProBlogger article.

Did I miss any other vital information or links that should be essential for beginners? Let me know if you have trouble copying and pasting the info with working links and I will help you out. Connect with me on Twitter @jsmakr.

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Comments

  • Hey!

    I really enjoyed your post. It is pretty cool that Darren Rowse at http://problogger.net linked to you through Facebook (how I found you).

    I am new to Twitter. I always thought it was stupid, but I have realized more and more how important it is to network with people if you want to build a blog. I have a blog at writetoright.com and feel free to visit it and tell me what you like or don't like. It sounds like you have some good experience. I would love input and if you ever want to do a link exchange let me know!

    Cade
  • Bertil
    With co-workers where e-mail is more used then public messages both to avoid clutter and to keep thing under control, you might want to mention the direct message option: that could help them use it as a step towards a more bloger-like usage, keep thinks under control, etc. However, to be fully efficient in that context, Twitter need to set up groups with names.
  • Where I work, it seems to be a losing battle...but I haven't given up just yet. I'm known as the crazy blogging website guy, but that's ok :)
  • I really enjoyed this post. I've had many friends hop on my Twitter bandwagon, and have even gone out of my way to find interesting companies/blogs/people for them to follow. What a great way to introduce more friends to Twitter in the future.

    I'm really interested in utilizing Social Media in business, and I enjoyed your references to Zappos and other companies that have incorporated Twitter into their customer service departments.

    If nothing else, Twitter is a valuable networking tool, and I learn something new every day from others. I even found out about this article on Twitter! Thank you for this thoughtful post.
  • It's funny, I spend a lot of time eulegising online tools at our PR agency, with mixed success. Twitter gets a lot of interest from clients and colleagues, but the most common question is about how to get value out of it - bizarrely people don't see the value of the social/networking side of things as enough of a benefit (though there is more to it, once you get the hang of it).

    In terms of the emails above. The second one seems much more human. Despite having some good information about it, the first does read like a piece of impersonal DM, but I guess people can cut and paste bits they like.

    For me, nothing works better than a quick demo, then see a handful of people start talking about it, followed by the masses, who don't want to miss out.
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