A friend of mine asked that I put together some bullet points, to help convince her colleagues not to discount social media. Given that the “colleagues” she was talking about were members of a major International organization, I decided that a thoughtful post would have more sway, and tailored the article to their particular industry. I took out the industry references for the post below. Enjoy!

1) It Isn’t Going Anywhere
Twitter is a new platform for information and it isn’t going anywhere. Twitter has become the platform of choice for both business and personal conversations. By not joining the conversation, you risk losing business opportunities to competitors who have already joined the service.

2) Promote Your Business For Free
Not using Twitter is a lost opportunity to promote your company to potential clients in a free and highly visible way. More than 14 Million people use Twitter everyday, and analysts suggest that number will reach more than 21 Million by the end of the year. Before Twitter, if you wanted to make a business connection or ask a question about a product, you had to write an e-mail or cold call and hope you reached the right person. On Twitter, you are 1 click away from the decision makers, and since there is one account for businesses both large and small, you never have to wonder who is on the other end.

3) Twitter Is Not Complicated
Twitter does not have to be complicated and consume a great deal of your time. Tweets, or 140-character messages, can be sent via your mobile web browser, and http://search.twitter.com and services like Flock.com and Tweetdeck.com make it incredibly easy to stay on top of the conversations and topics you’re the most interested in by saving search terms. These saved searches keep track of all conversations dealing with your top interests, so you never miss a thing. It is also an easy way to monitor who is talking to you – and identify what conversations you should join.

Top Trends and #hashtags and @replies and RTs can be learned by observing conversations. And it is okay if you don’t understand I word I just said – if you’re not in a position to hire someone to create your company’s Twitter strategy, you should do the next best thing, which is to observe and see what people are saying. For example, were you aware that there are hundreds of conversations on Twitter right now directly related to your industry (ie, potential business leads) that go unanswered?

4) Twitter Drives Traffic
Twitter is optimized for Google, and is a free and easy way of bringing eyeballs to your website. As I said, earlier, your Tweets should be, for the most part, helpful and industry-specific. No one wants to read about your accomplishments everyday. Potential clients want to know you’re savvy about the industry, as well as the changing media landscape. However, every so often, it is good to let your “followers” know when you’ve achieved a major award or secured a contract. National press releases can cost more than $1000 to place on the wire, but Tweets are free, and show up in Google searches. Because of this, you should craft your Tweets to include words and terms people frequently search for online.

5) You Have A Lot To Say – And People Want To Listen
Not knowing what to say is a bad excuse for not using Twitter. If you love what you do for a living, there are an infinite number of things you could say about it that would be interesting to both colleagues and potential clients.

i. The first step, is to create an account, customize your page, include your corporate website link, and add a profile picture. Your name should be easy to understand and easily searchable.
ii. The second step is to identify who you want to read and “follow” your Tweets online. Make sure you answer this question before you Tweet anything.
iii. The third step, is identifying who you want to “follow” on Twitter. Who of your colleagues are on Twitter? Who is a major influencer in your industry that you’d like to learn from? Finding these people are as simple as doing a Google search for their name + Twitter. Make sure that you don’t “follow” them until you have a good arsenal of Tweets up on your page already. Sometimes you only get one opportunity to get someone’s attention.
iv. The fourth step, is to keep the conversation moving and stay active online. At least 1-2 Tweets a day is a great way of keeping your “followers” interested in what you have to say, and ensuring that your potential clients know you are still active. Not being active on Twitter, is like having a website with old information on it.

Potential Tweet Topics:
1. Awards
2. An interesting shoot or client
3. Legislation or regulations affecting the industry
4. Industry-specific articles, reports, movies, TV shows
5. Promoting your colleagues
v. The fifth step, is to promote your Twitter account. Add a link to your Twitter page in your e-mail signatures. Add a “Follow Us On Twitter” link to your website homepage. Import your Tweets to your website to show visitors what you’re up to. Continue to find people you know and people you’ve worked with on Twitter, and “follow” them. They’ll get an e-mail when you do that, and will hopefully “follow” you back. If you have a Facebook page, e-mail your fans, and import your Twitter feed directly to your page via the Twitter/Facebook app: http://apps.facebook.com/twitter/

This is just a sampling of the many things Twitter can do for your business. If I haven’t convinced you yet, ask yourself this: Are you so successful that you aren’t willing to even try to promote your business in a new way?