“Twitter is a waste of time”! Wow!! Talk about a topic being beaten to death? Seems that almost every tweet alert or Twitter key word search that comes to my desktop is about how it doesn’t work or is a waste of time. Also seems that most of the industry “Gurus” are claiming that it is a waste of time and a huge productivity killer! What a coincidence that these same people are the ones that I never see on twitter? 
Perhaps not counter intuitive, but they obviously have not tried to maximize its value. Now, those of you who know me, know that I am not a cynic by nature. However, it seems to me to be too easy for an “expert” to go against the grain; against the flow of the crowd, if you will, and tout the opposite of what the masses are doing or saying. After all, surely only an “expert” has the insight and knowledge to make such a bold statement? That really can separate them from the rest of the pack in terms of their expertise.
So, here’s the deal. Will it become even close to the tool that LinkedIn is for sale people? No? Can you utilize Twitter in a fraction of the time that you do for LinkedIn? Also, YES! I think that Twitter is a MUST for recruiters and sale people alike to at least play with, but NOT UNTIL you have mastered LinkedIN!Now, that said, it can indeed be a HUGE waste of time. One has to invest just a little time (after all, it’s free anyway) to see what tools are out there to make the network WORK FOR YOU! For example, I use Tweetlater to set up my tweets for a week in advance. Ok, don’t hate me for it. I am not repeating a lot of my tweets, though. I also make sure that they are really good links! I showcase someones cool video or article or blog post. So, anyone who follows me will be glad that I did and will also retweet me or pass my name onto others. Every time I have an “auto” post publish to the web, I can tell, because I get a bunch of new followers as soon as it goes over the air. Now, how much time am I really spending on this?? Come on? I am not sitting here every hour and checking it and posting new tweets. I also use tweetlater to set up my keywords. I have about 30 of them- From all major competitor names to words like “#recruiting or #staffing industry. I also only get notified twice a day on those key words. sure, I take a 45 second run through twice a day, but I am just not that busy that I can’t afford to take out 90 seconds from my day to help me possibly be more productive. I certainly read any direct messages and also check once or twice day for any mentions of my name (you know @NeilLebovits). As an aside, the only other app that I use thus far is TweetDeck to review some activity all in one place.
So, like anything in life, nothing comes really free or too easy.. But it can come virtually free and virtually easy (no pun intended). How can you NOT be on twitter? How can you not be scouring the web for great articles for your industry anyway? Aren’t you already looking for great things to share with your prospects? Well, then all you need to do is add the link and pre-tweet and be set for a week? I already had 3 or 4 people contact me on twitter to speak or consult? Am I sold? you betcha? Am I doing it at least somewhat the right way? sure! I don’t blatantly advertise or push my services. I find that annoying and is a big waste of time. I provide value in the posts and people can go to my home page and see what I do. I will send them to my blog once in a while with a good article or to one of my own videos, but the promotion shouldn’t be obvious or real necessary, as the promotion, like any real sales, comes in the value that you provide to people who take time out of their day to listen to you!
So, if you are NOT using twitter or thinking about getting off of it, then make sure that you at least took the time to see what it could do for you. If you are spending hours and hours on it, then stop! If you are mixing your personal and private tweets, then stop! Use one for business and one for personal. Also, consider having two accounts for business. One for targeting clients and their interests and the other for candidates. Follow as many people that seem connected in your target base and then start pre-tweeting like the wind (yes, we know how much the wind likes to tweet) and then watch as you get followers. A little tip for the newbies out there- If you follow people that show up in your keyword searches or appear to be from your target audience, then most of them, especially those with large-ish followings, will also use the Tweetlater type services and will thus automatically follow you! That is a great way to get your “followship” up. Sure, post some jobs often or links to great candidates.. However, mix it up with some other great stuff. I can’t imagine there are any other vehicles out there that can get you these kinds of results for minutes spent per week!
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