Twitter. Love it or hate it, it’s here to stay. When I first signed up for my account I had several questions about Twitter:

• How do I use it?
• Is it really just people telling me what they’ve had for breakfast?
• Who shall I follow?
• Are there any rules?

I’ll admit that when I first started tweeting I was going about it all in the wrong way – I was advertising my services and not interacting with people. Now I know that the best way to use Twitter is to engage with other people, that is how you build up your follower count, come into contact with interesting people and learn more about these people. Would you rather have 500 good quality followers who are real and will talk with you, or 5,000 followers who never talk to you?

You also need to be interesting enough for people to want to interact with you. Instead of saying ‘I’m out shopping‘, say something like ‘I’m out shopping in [town] looking for [item], can anyone recommend where I can get the best deal’. You’ll be surprised at how quickly people start replying to you. Rather than making a statement, you are giving a bit of information about yourself and leaving the door open for others to join in the discussion.

In the early days I did not adopt this approach to Twitter and my follower numbers represented that – around 50 or so, most of which were spam-bots. Since changing the way I do things (helped greatly by this book) my follower count has steadily increased to almost 500.

Of course there are some unwritten rules that need to be adhered to, a selection of which are:

• No swearing – if you’re using it for business it’s not the best impression to give someone.
• Don’t overload people’s timelines with nonsense tweets.
• If you’ve nothing interesting to tweet, don’t tweet.
• If you want something re-tweeted, make sure that it is less than 120 characters.

What rules do you stick to when tweeting?

If you learn how to use Twitter more effectively, it can be a very rewarding and enjoyable place. If you are looking to learn more about Twitter I strongly recommend that you follow Mark Shaw and pay attention to what he has to say.

I am a massive fan of Twitter and find it very useful for keeping up to date with all the latest news and events, but more importantly, connecting and engaging with other twitter users.

What is the point of signing up to twitter and not communicate with other people who are using it?

From hashtags, @replies, lists, searches, feeds there is so much you can do with twitter and get a lot out of it…if you know how to maximise it’s potential.

Someone who has maximised it’s potential is Mark Shaw. If you want to know how to use Twitter effectively follow him at all costs.

He has also written a book called ‘Twitter Your Business‘ which guides you through all the various aspects of Twitter to get you up and running. You can purchase this book fby clicking on the below image. If you are serious about using Twitter, this book is worth every penny.

Where did May go? The month seemed to fly by. If you have missed any of my blogs during the month, below are a selection of some of the more popular posts.

• If you are thinking about using WordPress for your website, check out this short wordpress set up tutorial
• If you want to maximise Twitter within your business, you  really should buy Twitter Your Business by Mark Shaw
• Keeping organised is incredibly important in business, none more so that in small businesses. Read my 3 part blog starting here. Parts 2 & 3 can be linked to via Part 1
• Mark Shaw has created a bit of noise recently on Twitter thanks to his ‘Requests for Recommendations’ scheme. Read my interview with Mark Shaw to gain a better insight into #rfr

As ever, if you have any thoughts or comments please let me know…

Over the last few weeks Mark Shaw has started up a new Twitter account @msrfr where he will re-tweet any request for recommendations (msrfr) from other Twitter users. Mark has kindly taken time out of his busy schedule to answer a few questions I put to him about #msrfr…

Mark Shaw

1.) What is #msrfr all about?

One of the greatest benefits of Twitter is that it allows you to refer or advocate for others. I am a huge fan of advocating and referring others as and when I can. Yes, I do have my own rules re referrals. These include: getting to know the service or product really well, using the service or product if relevant and getting to know the people behind the service. To me its not just about referring or advocating anyone, its about referring or advocating people that I know can deliver, are great at what they do, offer that extra special service, and are great fun to refer.

So, with all that in mind, I have been thinking of new ways that I can advocate and refer others and help others to advocate and refer people in their networks. I have come up with the #rfr idea. #msrfr stands for requests for recommendations. Each day I will simply retweet any messages that I come across where peeps are asking for recommendations from others for products / services / ideas etc… I will simply retweet them and include the hashtag #rfr in the tweet so peeps can create a search column for the results

2.) What inspired you to come up with the #msrfr scheme?

I have been using Twitter for over 3 very happy years. During this time I have been continually shouting from the rooftops that yes Twitter is all about being social and having fun, but it is also the greatest marketing and lead generation tool there is…. Period….

Gradually people have been getting that message. Many have bought my Book – Twitter Your Business whilst others have simply followed me to get tons and tons of Twitter related Tips. But I wanted to really and I mean really demonstrate my knowledge, my expertise and effectively ‘put my money where my mouth is’ and clearly demonstrate my belief that there is nothing better than Twitter when it comes to lead generation for your business, so I set up the #msrfr request for a recommendation twitter account

Twitter Your Business

3.) How can people get involved with #msrfr?

Thats really easy. All they need to do is follow the http://twitter.com/msrfr twitter account. Each day they will see approx 100 new business leads. All they then need to do is reply to the person looking for the request.

4.) Do you feel that it has been well received and embraced by the Twitter community?

The initial reaction has been amazing. My http://twitter.com/msrfr twitter account is closing in on 1000 followers as of 30th May, and people are referring, advocating, helping and supporting each other. Exactly what i had hoped for.

5.) After watching a recent episode of The Apprentice where they were tasked with finding certain items for a hotel, do you think that the RFR scheme would have helped them?

Absolutely… I believe that asking your network for recommendations is the best and often the fastest way to find what you are looking for, and it comes with the added bonus that others have recommended it as well. So you should be getting good value and great service / products

6.) Have there been many people/businesses who have secured extra work via RFR?

For sure.. In the 2 weeks since set up, 3 businesses have actually messaged me and told me of new business success as a result of using the #msrfr requests for a recommendation service from the http://twitter.com/msrfr twitter account. There have been more businesses that have got great leads, new followers, and I am sure new business, they have just not told me.

7.) What do you personally get from MSRFR?

As I said earlier, I wanted to demonstrate my knowledge and expertise with Twitter. I wanted to actually show people what I have been saying for over 3 years, that Yes Twitter is about being social and having fun, but it also represents the greatest marketing and business lead generation tool there is.  I personally filter all the requests that I find so that I send out the ‘best business leads’, there is nothing automated about the account. I am a staunch advocate of all that Twitter has to offer. I firmly believe that Twitter is the greatest marketing tool ever invented and I want to prove it. Its also a fun thing to do and I enjoy helping peeps..

8.) How do you see MSRFR developing over the coming months?

Thats really easy. I want the http://twitter.com/msrfr twitter account to have hundreds of thousands of followers, and for each and every one of those followers, gaining new business and referring / advocating for others so they can gain new business. I want people to really understand the ‘true value and potential’ of Twitter and for everyone that wants to utilise Twitter for lead generation to join this account and benefit for free.

 

I’d like to thank Mark for answering these questions and giving us a brief insight into MSRFR. For more info please visit Mark’s website of follow the @MSRFR account on Twitter!

Over the last few years Twitter has become to go-to place for news, online marketing and networking.  But what is it all about? What Twitter isn’t is a market place for direct selling; if you jump in and expect to increase your turnover exponentially with a few tweets promoting your business you will be in for a shock. The best way to benefit from Twitter is by engaging with other people and growing your business and friendship network. Many of you will have heard or Mark Shaw, many wont have, but he is a Twitter guru who knows it inside and out.

Twitter Your Business

Mark has now put his knowledge into a new book ‘Twitter Your Business’ which aims to give you all the information to start maximising Twitter’s potential and make an impact 140 characters at a time. What the book isn’t is a get-rich-quick tool; you will need to work at Twitter to reap the rewards. Thankfully Mark gets all the tips and techniques over in an easy to read and well laid out format. From creating your Twitter account and profile all the way through to #hastags, trends and the search facility.Twitter is real people tweeting about real things in real time. If you wait for the next morning’s papers to be published the news is already out of date. By using Twitter’s search facility you can find out what is happening when it happens. If you have a particular interest (mine is rugby league) you can follow that interest/event whilst it is taking place (just search for the #rugbyleague hashtag over the weekends). Hashtags are a great way to keep up to date with 1 particular topic, and also bring together a lot of like minded individuals. It’s easy to do and Mark explains how in the book.When you first join Twitter you may be at a loss about what to tweet about, how to gain more followers, who to follow and the all important ‘Twitter Etiquette’ (yes as strange as it may seem there are un-written do’s and dont’s). Don’t let this put you off as everything is explained in the book. All you need to do is invest some time and patience and soon enough you will ‘get it’ and be able to use Twitter to it’s full potential.

The book isn’t a long book and you could probably read it in a couple of hours, but it may well be the best couple of hours you ever spend getting to know Twitter. Everything you need to know is in this book, and as it comes from an expert you can be assured that it is all correct.

If you are still unsure whether to buy the book or not, why not just look at some of Mark’s Tweets to get an idea what he is all about. I can save you the time though: Just go out and buy the book.