Here’s how I would like you to think about Twitter to grow your business…

If you have a look at the photo at the top of this article,  you will see it’s an open-air/ open-plan office.  No walls, no offices, everybody is at their own workstation.

At any moment any of those people in the picture could pick up and go on over to one of the guy’s or one of the gal’s desks and see what they are working on, ask a question about what they are doing, engage in a conversation.

A couple of more people could come over to that person’s desk, and before you know it, an active discussion. This exact same thing can happen for you with the right people on Twitter.

Twitter for Business Growth – Reach Out and Connect

Twitter, think of it as a giant open-plan office. You can drop by anybody’s desk to see what they are up to, you could ask them a question about what they are posting, you can comment on it, you can share it with your own network. If there is a crowd of people, a conversation going on in Twitter that you want to join into, you are more than welcome to do so.

You do not have to wait for a friend request to be approved, you do not have to wait for a LinkedIn request to join their professional network, you can just hop right in and join into the conversation, start building that relationship with that person.

So, for any of you in sales, any of you running your own business, you will know that this is amazing because there is no gatekeeper.  This is extremely helpful if you want to go directly to someone… such as:

• Is there a decision maker you want to get in touch with?
• Is there an influencer that is part of the deal you’re working on that you want to build a relationship with?
• Is there someone in the industry association that you want to get to know?

It is possible, OK and expected for you to reach out directly on Twitter. This is absolutely the way that network runs.

Twitter for Business Growth – Connect With Journalists, Conference Organizers

Where else could this be helpful? What about the reporters and journalists that cover your industry space? I am sure you get frustrated that your competition is quoted more in the industry publications that you are, or “experts” with far less experience than you are selected to give the talks at the industry conferences.

Well, Twitter is a great way for you to connect directly with that reporter, or that journalist, that conference producer that puts together the type of information for your industry.

Again, no gatekeeper, contact them, start tweeting, start interacting, start sharing their content, get on their radar, build that conversation, build that relationship and way you go.  No, it’s not guaranteed.  No, it’s not the silver bullet.

But compared to all the other social networks out there that are business focused (LinkedIn, I’m looking at you!) Twitter feels like a great big secret for how effective it can be with “letting” you have direct access to those you want to be in touch with to grow your business.

If you think about Twitter that way, the world of an open-plan office at your fingertips, go for it. Make those connections and move your business forward.

Jen Kelly is a marketing consultant in Toronto and CEO of New Initiatives Marketing Inc. (NIM) serving growing businesses in Canada and the USA. NIM is the team to call for marketing execution excellence. For companies that don’t have a marketing department, we become your marketing department. For companies that have an existing marketing team and are challenged adding capacity and skills to their team due to a head-count freeze, we act as your marketing team’s right-hand, supporting the skills needed on a monthly basis. Contact us today for a conversation about your company’s marketing needs.