We all know, as successful business owners, that networking is crucial for business growth and life!
Why? It’s a way to form tight nit relationships, trustworthy referrals, expose your personal brand ,a strong support network, a feeling of belonging, being surrounded around like minded people….the list goes on!
I have spoken to a few people of late who are saying Twitter is for the anti-social – people that are too scared or too lazy to hook up face to face! What a load of bull crap! I have been on Twitter for quite some time now AND my social fixes on Twitter are like injecting myself with 20 cans of Redbull!
The relationships I have built up on Twitter are strong, powerful and true. Twitter is another form of networking and it can be done from the comfort of your own home to hit a global audience, I believe the people that say it’s anti – social just totally don’t get this space…YET! 
A few weeks back I had a brain surge-and I nearly had to go into hospital!
I found that I was engaging in conversations with many people from Melbourne (where I live) on Twitter. I don’t know about you, but when I tweet with people, I picture in my mind the type of person they are, what they look like and also what their office/house looks like too? Random I know!
As a social media enthusiast and people lover who has a zest for life, I just had to fizz with these extraordinary twitterers. They all gave me something on twitter – whether it was support, exposure, a belly full of laughs, referrals, business ….. I JUST HAD TO MEET THEM, face to face!
It was an absolute no brainer to take powerful relationships that I had made on twitter to a whole new level! We all know the power of twitter in lead gen, personal branding and networking. Combine this with an offline networking meet up and shaaazam – add another power marketing strategy to the business model!
@tweetupmellers was born – and for the first meet up, 22 of twitters top talent showed up ! If you are curious to see the strength of this space then click on this !
My point? Online networking is gold. Combine this with offline networking then you have just hit the jackpot my friends!
Were any of the people that showed up lazy or anti social? Quite the contrary! They get this space and got straight in! They showed up, put in the time and by the end of the night our twitter network was stronger than ever. They all know, as you do that you have to put in the time, care about your network, give great content and be real! When you do THAT then the opportunities are endless.
Twitter is a social networking tool and it’s strength has now lead to an offline networking group too! Both are crucial to any business and both generate powerful results.
Twitter for the anti-social –ppppphffffft – check out @tweetupmellers and the group, then get back to me, wouldn’t you agree?
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
I agree with you 107%, Sam. Yes, I’m so certain I even added on a few extra percentage points just to be emphatic about it.
The people who make general assumptions about twitter users are using a broad, sweeping generalization and are ignoring the individuals who comprise the group. There may certainly be some twitter users who have little ambition or direction, who may be considered wasting their time,br but the fallacy in that argument lies in painting everyone with the same brush. It’s not any different from saying that every person from a particular city or neighbourhood shares all the same traits.
Your group has demonstrated that committed individuals can benefit from the use of twitter – which is a communications medium. The very design of twitter istelf, with its followers and followees, has the tendency to bring like-minded people together. Those people who make the broad assumptions must certainly have “run into the wrong crowd” if they in fact investigated twitter at all themselves. Had they spent some time getting used to the service, then they would have found that twitter provides a unique opportunity for people to meet and establish meaningful and beneficial relationships when, without twitter or the internet, their paths likley never would have crossed. That’s the magic these people do not – or refuse – to see.
I agree with Sam as well. There are many Twitterers who use the service to its fullest potential. Via Twitter I’ve made new friends, met new people face-to-face, and sat in on #tweetup con calls when I’m geographically too far away.
I’ve met a buch of great bloggers and other individuals with whom I now keep in regular contact.
But this didn’t all happen in a day or two of tweeting; it took a little bit of time and effort to get to know the system. Not a long time, and not a lot of effort, but Twitter has paid off big-time for me. Besides communicating with engaging followers, my blog’s regular readership has increased dramatically.
But I’d rather not end on that point. I’ve met some truly great people on Twitter that I wouldn’t have met otherwise. We’ve taken our communication to all sorts of other media sources – email, facebook, each other’s websites, and other social media outlets.
Good post, Sam.
Bang on Sam! I must admit it took me a while to “get” Twitter, but now that I’m there I am lovin’ it. Jase from TomatoSource had been dropping big hints for 12 months (he certainly was persistent!) that I should get on there, but every time I checked it out I couldn’t see past the Facebook status update concept and just like Johnnie Walker I kept walking. A few weeks ago he sent me the John Jantsch (Duct Tape Marketing) pdf “Twitter for Business” and finally everything clicked. Thanks to you Sam this weekend I discovered TweetDeck and I’m having trouble leaving my keyboard alone!!! My wife is rather unimpressed that I have managed to find yet another electronic pursuit, so if anyone knows of any good tips for earning brownie points – I need them fast!
As far as the skeptics are concerned I’ve always been a big believer in the “don’t knock it ‘till you try it” philosophy. Now this attitude can get you into trouble, but usually in a good way
A growth rate of 1,382% Feb 08 – Feb 09 seems to suggest plenty of crew are trying it and like anything in life; it’s what you put into it that determines what you get back.
My only regret about @tweetupmellers 1.0 was that I only managed to meet some and not all of the gang. I’m hoping to chat to everyone next time so bring on @tweetupmellers 2.0!!!
Ok suggestions too much white and showing all the pic’s is a bit much. I would suggest a script to roll them through
Wether the use of Twitter is good or bad, social or anti-social, etc would depend how you define, judge and create the given space on Twitter. Sometimes, the space that one label are purely based on on impression. In fairness to that person who considered Twitter as Anti-social, may have had a different experience Twitter differently alienated or isolated.
I describe Twitter.com like a fast river stream of messages, conversations, thoughts, monologues. It may become overwhelming to someobody to a newbie and immediately shut the door and give judgements. Once you get the drift, you can jump in and be part of the river stream. You may not necessarily have millions of conversations with all the people but you could choose who you wanna be part of.
The way the technology was designed may have a role for a person being alienated. A person who as 65,000 follow friends may not take notice of a first attempt to tweet. The web interface of Twitter does not give justice to what Twitter actually is and thus the confusion of that fast river stream I was talking about. Perhaps, a newbies does not know anything about Twitter Apps available to help them engage into conversations.
I was there when BBS/WWW started
and when chatting was introduced. I have found that people build walls of themselves on the internet. This is a given I guess and I understand that this is a given. I have seen people experience the anxiety of interacting online via IRC, Facebook what have you; and finding people are different in real life against when they are online. But I have found my experience on Twitter as uniquely different.
Because of the 140 limit in sending Tweets people give that allowance that there might be miscommunication because of that limit. In a way, Twitter has become less emotional and more intellectual. Funny enough, you can see clearly right through the real person through the way they exchange Tweets especially when emotions are out of the equation. I am not saying emotions are supressed but you see funny reactions to disgust because the photocopying machine is broken, having not eaten lunch to too much work, having tasted the worse pizza in Sydney etc.
Anywhere you go wether Facebook, Twitter or IRL (In real life) situations, there will always the good, the bad and the ugly. It is a matter of trying to find where and you you click with and never having to to quit to find where you belong. What is unique about Twitter is that the river stream is wide and long, the choices are endless. What are the choices? Trust me it is not all good, but you can choose who you gonna be with in your Twitter journey.
Good post, Sam. You made me thing there
Hehe.
I agree Sam. I have found most people who have negative comments about Twitter are those who have never used it! I used to be one of those, but since joining and participating I now have realised the potential of networking, and building and forming important, powerful and inspriring real connections. With Twitter, as with everthing in life, I strongly believe you get out of it what you put in and therefore the user will determine their own success and to what level.
I think that Twitter IS for the anti-social, and I think that’s great! Many who would be considered anti-social have self-esteem issues and feel that the people around them can’t relate. Twitter provides a platform for these people to express themselves in a non-threatening environment. As they explore Twitter and make friends, they will become more confident. I think Twitter will actually aid this group in becoming MORE social.
That being said, I also believe that Twitter is for the social as well. Being social is all about communicating. Some social people like to be challenged, some like to be amused, some like to be educated… Twitter provides a powerful tool for the social to communicate like never before!
Great post as always, Sam. You bring up some twerrific points- I too think it is important for people to really understand that Twitter encourages and nurtures social interaction. It is *not* a one-way street, and it’s not just a glorified status updating service- at least not how i use it – and certainly not how i’ve seen you use it!
And you’re right – Twitter isn’t a facade to hide behind in cyberspace- it’s an enormous door of opportunity that leads to an endless platform of conversations, communities, and more. But most importantly (for those of us in the web industry), Twitter has tremendous potential for social media marketing, as you’ve clearly (and successfully) demonstrated.
Keep up the great work =)
-Lauren