Be Careful of the Time Warp Known as Twitter

Twitter offers users a free social networking platform that works in real-time. It is micro-blogging that can be done on your PC with an Internet connection or used on your mobile device. People can be found twittering at bus stops, on the train, in their offices or at home. If you use Twitter for business, be careful that you don’t get sucked down into the time warp.

Don’t get Twisted on Twitter!

If nothing else, Twitter is one of those sites that are catching. Once you start out on it you can’t seem to stop looking at it. Even if you are not twittering your fingers off, you are reading each and every tweet that comes your way. You sign up for feeds and get alerts when other tweeters post tweets.

Twittering is quite addictive. You start out posting tweets to make business connections and connect with your customers but before long you are spending more time socializing than you are working. You’ll wonder where the time has gone, losing hours to tweets, tweaking and twalking.

The business will suffer if you spend all of your time on Twitter. As a home business owner or a small business owner, you are the only employee in some cases. Your time is precious and you could be twittering it away literally.

Balance your Twitter Activities

Have a plan when using Twitter for business purposes. Restrict your communication to business matters only when you are running your business. Save personal tweets for later in the day when you are on your own time. Separating business and personal accounts works also to that end.

If you have one Twitter account that you use for business and for personal this can pose a problem. While your intention is to show your human side to clients, doing far too much socializing can have the opposite effect and turn off potential visitors and customers. Even current customers can see you as becoming less professional by being too friendly.

Also, fellow Twitter users may see you as a spammer if your posts focus more on your business and not on being social. Social networks don’t take kindly to spammers. As an online business owner, the last thing you want is to give your business a bad name in the eyes of potential customers. It is a fine line to walk especially when you only have 140 characters to use, so be careful.

Twitter is a social micro-blogging platform than can be used for business. It is addictive as a social site for personal enjoyment which can take away from the business aspects of the site. Watch out or the draw of the tweet will entice you to do more playing than working.