5 Ways to Generate More Leads with Twitter

If you’re passionate about Twitter but find that it’s difficult to generate business with it, then this post is for you.

I’m going to share with you some really clever ways of using Twitter that can help you get more business. Let’s get down to it…

1. First Impressions Last

When you first started using Twitter, did someone send you a direct message immediately after you followed them? Do you remember what it said?

Not exactly, but it probably went a lot like this:

Hey, thanks for following me. Make 20,000 new followers in 30 days! Visit my site now: http://whatajoke.com

If you don’t know what I’m talking about, this is the phenomenon of Twitter automatic DM’s or direct messages.

A lot of “social media guru’s” out there recommend that you put a URL in your direct message. Apparently this will “engage” people, and they’ll click it out of sheer curiosity. Logically this makes sense… but social media can be extremely illogical. The trouble is that most people IGNORE direct messages that try to sell you something – a product, a service, a freebie – because just as they are advertisement-blind, they are now direct message advertisement-blind.

We have to remember that unlike other vehicles, social media is best served as an indirect marketing tool. Don’t go out there expecting people are going to give a damn about you. Why should they? What value do you bring to their lives?

And there’s the key right there.

Social media is all about building relationships through adding value. Therefore, Twitter is all about taking your time and really connecting with people. It’s about caring enough not to sell to them on the first date. I can see old skool marketers raising their eyebrows right now.

To make an effective, memorable and transparent direct message that will help to start off a strong relationship, try something like this instead:

Hi Dan, thanks following me! I appreciate this so much. If there’s anything that I can do for you, please let me know.

This may sound like it’s going to lead nowhere, but my auto DM is very similar to this and I’ve had literally TONS of compliments and thanks come through in replies. What I’m doing by implementing an auto DM like this, is making myself as approachable as can be. I’m opening myself up to people and letting them know that building a relationship with me is easy peasy.

Which one resonates more with you? The “I wanna sell you stuff” DM or the “I wanna be your friend” DM? The way above is about 10 times more effective than throwing them a link to your page.

2. Get a Cool Twitter Background

If I had a dime for the amount of times people complemented me on my Twitter background, I’d be semi-rich. Seriously though, what would you think if you visited someone’s twitter page and they had a plain background? Would you feel any closer to that person? Would you be interested to know more about them? Absolutely not.

If you have a smart background with your personal details on it, people will contact you. As you’re probably already aware, you can’t fit everything you want (such as email addresses or even complete URL’s) in the bio section of your Twitter profile, so leveraging this space is a MUST.

P.S. If you want a great Twitter background, contact me at clement@easisell.com and I can make a professional one just for you.

3. Boost Your Productivity by Leveraging Automation / Tweetlater

Let’s face it, most of us are too busy to sit in front of a computer for a few hours, never mind an entire day. Having a constant presence on social media is what will really sell you as a “go-to” person in your market. So how do tweet all day and get onwith the rest of your schedule? You can use a 3rd generation cell phone to tweet from, but a lot of us don’t have that luxury.

The simple answer: Tweetlater

Tweetlater is a service that allows you to schedule your tweets. So rather than sitting at the computer all day and manually entering your messages, you can visit the Tweetlater site and enter your tweets all at once, and choose when to send them out. This way, you don’t even need to be around when you have something to say, because you know it will be said anyway!

The effect that this will have on your relationship building? People will see that you’re active at all times of the day, and this will do mountains for your personal branding as they’ll see you left, right and center. You will become an integral part of their Twitter experience. They’ll remember you as “the guy that tweets about social media” or “the guy that tweets about muscle tips” and they’ll be more likely to approach you if they have questions about those things.

IMPORTANT NOTE

Automation is only part of the game. You can’t engage people automatically. If you remember that automation is a tool then you’ll do fine in social media marketing. You really MUST interact with your following in order to make it worth your while.

4. Build a Relationship with “Centers of Influence” Using TwitterFeed

Anthony Robbins says that the quality of our lives is directly proportional to the kind of people we associate with. I would also go as far to say that the success of our business is also dependent on the kind of people with which we network.

To have the most impact using Twitter, you have to start building relationships with centers of influence within your market. These people should have a lot of clout and influence in your target market. In order to start building a relationship with them, find the ones that have blogs and set up their feeds on your Twitterfeed account. By doing so, you’re not only sharing high value with your own followers, but you’re also showing these centers of influence that you’re interested in what they have to say and you’re more than willing to promote them.

This will do two things:

1. They’ll notice you constantly talking about them and,
2. it will open a subconscious door that will allow you to “break the ice” easier when you start talking to them.

I’ll give you an example. If you’re a budding bodybuilder selling bodybuilding merchandise, then would it make sense to centers of influence in gardening, dentistry and art? The chances of you finding prospective customers in these markets is little to none.

You should be targetting people in neighboring markets, such as health, sports and general fitness. There are always people in these markets that want to build muscle or improve their physique. By building relationships with key players in these markets, you can call upon them to RT your messages to their followers which will in turn promote you and everything that you’re selling.

If you can find bodybuilders that don’t have their own products to sell, then that’s even better. However, approaching your direct competition might not be such a hot thing to do simply because they’ll want to keep you away from their business as much as possible.

Even though I don’t have any products to sell through easisell.com/blog, I’m still interested in getting people to subscribe to the blog. Therefore, I’ve worked hard to surround myself with people that have strong influences in the areas of personal development, spirituality, financial intelligence, natural health and prosperity. Now I have loyal friends that retweet my messages day in, day out to their followers. That not only brings in new readers but it helps me build a list of leads that I can offer products at a later date.

5. Hummingbird – the King of Lead Generation Tools

If you’re serious about making the most out of Twitter for generating leads for your business, then I strongly recommend that you watch this video from start to finish. This video will talk you through how to get hundreds of new followers each week using Hummingbird, all by pressing a couple of buttons and putting the whole thing on autopilot. It really is that simple, and I was completely blown away when I first started using it.

IMPORTANT NOTE

Mass following will only work if you are ACTIVE on Twitter. If you decided to go all out on automation you will fail. Human connection is the key to generating high quality leads, so when you have the chance you better get yourself interacting with people.

If you can see the potential in Hummingbird in your business, here’s the link that will take you straight to the purchase page: Hummingbird for Twitter

Voucher code: RECESSION

Use the above voucher code to get 15% off the retail price. Not many people know about it.

One last thing before I finish here:

Be yourself.

Don’t try to be someone else when you’re using social media. Believe it or not, people are interested in who you are, not who you think you are. Just be natural, make mistakes, have fun – people will appreciate you more and feel a stronger sense of connection.

Related posts:

1. How to Be Appealing on Twitter
2. 6 Ways to Increase Social Media Productivity
3. Social Media Marketing Interview with Mike Stelzner
4. Marketing with Social Media – What Michael Jackson, Iran & Domino’s Pizza Have in Common
5. How to Use SavorChat to Boost Your Social Media Branding & Productivity