Perri Blake Gorman aka @bethebutterfly is an expat living in Hong Kong, connector of experts, Twitter passionista, social media trainer and consultant, blogger, reformed headhunter, environmentalist, lover of children & animals, & citizen of the world.
Sure we have all heard about Twitter as a power tool for Brand Listening, & Broadcasting, for Information Gathering and Customer Service, but I love it for brand building, networking and business origination.
A little on me: I spent the first ten years of my career as a headhunter in financial services. I have since gone through a massive life and career shift and Twitter has been a huge part of it. When I started using Twitter, it was my dream machine.
I have been on LinkedIn since 2004 and it still bores me to tears. (That is another blog for another day – I know it is very valuable for a lot of people). But Twitter, now this thing is an engine that I can work with. It moves, it breathes, it pumps and it is powerful.
Did I mention I love Twitter?
# 1
Daily interaction creates trust – imagine you went to the same place for breakfast every morning in local coffee shop & there was someone who you see who also goes to that same coffee shop everyday for breakfast. You talk about the weather. You talk about #coffee. You talk about the news, your family. Then maybe what you do on the weekends. Then maybe what businesses you are in. You learn you might be able to do business together. You set up a meeting outside of the coffee shop and it turns into something more.
I have absolutely had this happen to me – I am not alone – it happens all the time. From breakfast to business.
So how is Twitter so different? We may talk about trivial things on Twitter, but when don’t people talk about trivial things to create a basis for connecting? Sure you have to Skype or have a phone call to take things to the next level, but Twitter is the perfect breeding ground for business if taken seriously.
# 2
Twitter shows true colors for the world to see. You can watch how people treat other people and what they are telling you about themselves – for real.
You don’t have to tweet thousands of tweets for the personality of a tweeter to begin to form. Within a few dozen you can see the conversations you have, the types of tweets, the quotes, the retweets, who you tweet with. You can tell an enormous amount about a person not only by what they tell you in their profile but also by looking at about three or four pages of tweets. Regardless whether you use it casually or for business, anyone can search your entire Twitter stream on Google.
As someone who interviewed countless people and read thousands of resumes over the past decade, I can deduce enormous things from a person’s Twitter stream. Your personal brand on Twitter is very important – do not be fooled. It could mean the difference between you and someone else the next time you are interviewing for a job. I promise you.
# 3
It’s the biggest global party & all the players are there. There are no velvet ropes. No backstage passes. The advice is free. This is as close to the greatest thinkers, artists, celebrities, CEOs, creators, writers, industry leaders many of us are going to get so get, or at least in the broadest sense. So get in there connect, get inspired, ask questions and learn. The world’s Elite are more accessible than ever before and while Twitter may be here to stay, this period of time where some of these brilliant people are 140 characters away may be a brief period in history.
# 4
It is the best live real-time global networking opportunity without getting on a plane. There are support groups, major events, discussions taking place everyday tracked by #hashtags that allow people to meet up virtually without having to leave their hometown.
Some people are homebound. Some people simply can’t afford to go globetrotting. Twitter gives these people a door to a world and a community they may never have seen or known.
# 5
Uses for Twitter are evolving everyday. When @Biz,@Ev and @Jack created Twitter, I don’t think they had any idea we would be using it the way we are today.
The support in Twitter is clearly there in the investor community, and can also be seen when you consider the investment in outside application development as well. We are in the middle of a communication revolution, and if you don’t think that’s cool, well…Tweet me.
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