Twitter is cool and I’m going to tell you why

Twitter has been going through a tough time as a business. It’s had leadership issues. Some of its new ideas haven’t worked. Apparently it lacks vision. The early adopters are not as excited by the platform as they used to be. Newbies are intimidated by how much love it needs before they see results. There’s a lot going on.

The media is all over it – with recent articles worth a read including: ‘The End of Twitter’ The New Yorker, and ‘Why Twitter has run into trouble’ The Economist. However, with all of this said, let’s not lose sight of the fact that Twitter is still very VERY relevant.

No matter the news or Wall Street prognosis, I believe Twitter remains a powerful social media force in the world and for me personally, it is a piece of my social media arsenal I couldn’t be without. So I want to tell you why I love it and why I think it’s critical.

But before I loved it, I detested it. LinkedIn, Facebook, SlideShare, YouTube, Google+ and Pinterest all made sense to me. Twitter made me groan. It needs so much work – here’s a blog I wrote about that very topic.

Then I got into it, and Twitter got into my heart.

What has it allowed me to do or achieve, that I can’t do on other platforms? It has:

• Grown my global audience well beyond my immediate connections
• Connected me directly to global thought leaders in my space and we have built relationships
• Provided a platform for me to spread my wings outside the geography of Asia – which is critical on social media and for anyone looking to build a global personal brand
• Put my blogs in front of people who never would have heard of me, and through that connection, we have formed partnerships supporting each other
• Resulted in my blogs being published on other platforms, which has extended my reach and grown my Twitter following
• During events, it’s enabled me to network socially, which has resulted in meeting real people in the flesh! I know right!! Before Twitter, this human interaction online and off would not have happened. We were all faceless and nameless in a large crowd
• Opened up doors to new business opportunities as global companies start looking for content marketing expertise in Asia. I have a strong presence in this field, online and off, and that’s why I’m so committed to social media and building a personal brand. I have felt the impact in too many ways to count and Twitter is central to that
• Created speaking opportunities, invites to publish, networking opportunities beyond events, engagement with people I want to engage with, and the ability to become a resource of value to my community through the content I share

There are many more things I could add to this list if I had a week to think about it, but bottom line is this: Twitter continues to be incredible if you invest in it. Sure it can evolve, improve and change, but if you align your participation on Twitter to what you want to achieve, amazing things happen.

Besides, I’ve invested in it deeply for years, so I’m not going to move off it just because of the media hoopla around it. It’s like Ikea furniture. You don’t throw out what you put your blood, sweat and tears into. I feel like Twitter has been a similar investment and I don’t regret it at all.

Twitter is unique, it’s powerful and if you’re a newbie, I encourage you to get stuck in. Twitter can help you achieve SO much, but you won’t know that until you get on it and really start using it. To get going, watch what your thought leaders do on Twitter. Learn from them. See how they use it every day and find your way from there.

As with all things personal branding, the first thing you must do is define your voice on social media – what you want to be known for – and next is finding the social platforms that will help elevate your message to your community. My community is definitely on Twitter. I encourage you to see if your community is as well. If they are, time to get off the bench my friends.

Let me know what you’d add to the list?

And if we’re not already connected on Twitter, you can find me here @AndreaTEdwards.

Cheers

Andrea

And please, if you like this, I’d love a comment, a discussion or a virtual hug. The age of chaos is almost over! Of course, please also feel free to share with your communities. That’s what this is all about today – sharing and giving to each other. If you like my style and what I talk about, feel free to follow me on LinkedIn, Twitter or on Facebook. Thanks for reading.