Among the business shoptalk you hear nowadays, you hear Twitter again and again. What is it?
Plain English: If I find a useful website/video/blog/picture/resource, I post a “microblog” or a 140 character update on Twitter to say “Just found a blog that talks about good marketing. [insert link]“. All of the people that subscribe to my updates can get this great info. I, in turn, subscribe to people who share information that is useful to me.
Want to see an example of the power of Twitter?
Last week, I noticed a tweet from a person I subscribe to, Rick Sanchez, who is a host on CNN. He tweeted to his subscribers from the studio, “Hey, we’re on the busted water main & wondering about infrastructure issues. you worried about stuff like that? water/bridges/rail/etc”. I then learned about the 60inch water main break in Bethesda,MD. I happen to know from my last job at a software company that if counties and cities use software called “GIS”, they can manage infrastructure (roads, pipelines, bridges, telephone polls, etc) maintenance and emergencies more effectively than without it. In an emergency like that, time is precious. I posted a tweet to Rick Sanchez, “@ricksanchezcnn It’s emergencies like water main breaks that you hope counties are using GIS to manage infrastructure to quicken remediation.” On CNN, they scrolled all of Rick’s Twitter replies for an hour. My message and my name scrolled across over 15 times.
Who cares? Maybe not you, but what about a city or county official dealing with aging infrastructure? If they read my scrolling message anywhere in the country, they may have asked “Why would GIS help? What is it? Who is using it?”. My hope is that they were curious enough to google “GIS” and find some info from the top search result & GIS world leader, ESRI. CNN putting my username DanaTwichell next to my quote positioned me as a knowlegable resource on GIS and infrastructure. People are looking for solutions and want to know who has them.
So what will be your CNN? What questions or urgent needs out there can be answered with the solution your business provides, and are you answering them? For Christian camping professionals: If Rick Sanchez ever tweets “We’re covering the breakdown of the American family unit. Any thoughts?” you can bet your bottom dollar my tweet will scroll across CNN saying “Families need a place to connect that isn’t a hotel or Disney. Christian family camp is known for bringing them together again. www.ccca.org”.
The bottom line is that Twitter is one of the top places that people are sharing solutions and information. It’s not a place to broadcast, “BUY MY STUFF.” It’s a place to listen, build relationships, and seize the opportunities to answer questions when they come along.
Camping professionals: Somewhere, someone is asking “Where can I go to get away from it all and grow closer to God again?”
Everywhere, someone is asking “Where can I get what I need?” Are you ready to answer?
