Creating Sales Through Social Media

For many of you, the opportunity to sell your business via e-commerce is great. Which is why social media is great. But in order for it to really be effective, you need to make sales from it. Otherwise, it’s a lot of time without a lot of value (unless you do it for fun, in which case this is more personal than business).

To help increase your opportunity for social sales, here are a few tips:

1. Announce new product arrivals or any other worthy news and monitor how much your traffic increases to your site as a result of your announcements. This allows you to also see sale increases during these times. It’s important to understand the relationship of sales and social media so that your time is spent wisely. Pay attention to what tweets & posts gain the most responses and link backs, as well.

2. Offer incentives to your followers on your social sites that would make them want to shop with you. Give coupon codes for purchases made during a specific time frame, for certain products or just because. Track the purchases made as a result compared to your total number of followers.

3. Allow old fashion communication to enter the picture. Social media is an extension of plain old socializing, which in shopping is part of the fun! People are familiar with this and some are even more comfortable with this. Include your phone number and email address as options for customers to connect if Twitter and Facebook isn’t their thing.

You should be open to the both the fun and the challenges of social marketing to allow for social sales if you want to be successful with online retailing. It’s tough, though. And competitive. Not only does your product need to be great (we know you have that covered), but your website and communication need to be great, as well. A balance of everything can equal to a wonderful reward of social sales.

Social Media… In Your Store?

Millions of conversations… and purchases… are taking place online everyday. Whether you are a smart phone addict who has Facebook at your fingertips or a retail pro who prefers out loud chit chat, the reality is social media is making strides – big ones at that – in the retail marketplace.

Let’s forget about you for a minute, and think about your customers. Do they use social media? Would they if it was a more accessible experience for them? Would your store sales increase if customers interacted with you more online… even if you only have a brick and mortar store?

The thing about social media is that it’s not always about selling (though really it is… keep listening). Social media provokes small talk in a very modern way. From chatting about the weather to discussing your weekend plans, social media encourages conversation, very simply. And if you and your store encourage this conversation, the conversation will naturally lead back to you (sales!). One way to do this is by introducing a Social Media Console to your store. This console would be a dedicated space that only has your social media outlets available for customers to engage in – in other words, not just a computer for them to play on. Twitter and Facebook tend to be the most popular for retailers, though there are a variety to choose from. The key is creating a space for customers to talk abut your business while they are experiencing your business… even if they have their own smart phone. The experience is the whole catch. And if they aren’t the smart phone type but still like to check in to their Facebook account every so often, your store console is a great place to do it… providing they are chatting about your biz.

No space for a console? That’s okay. Remind your social media fans walking through your store to “check in” on their phone. An inviting reminder to “tweet” and “update” where they are and what they are doing… or better yet, include a pic… is a great way to gain visibility to audiences that may not already  know about you. And if they do know about you, it never hurts for a reminder to let them know your doors are open.

Finally, your store introduces hundreds of ways to market itself, and social media should be one of them. If you have a few minutes to spare, log on. Only have  second? Log on! It’s not going anywhere, so it’s time to make it a (big) part of your retail life.

 

 

A Checklist To Ensure You’re Holiday Ready

It’s less than ten weeks away until the busiest time of year for retailers. Are you ready?

From creating impressionable window displays to offering festive gift wrap to planning for extra staff, the list is long. Let’s not forget stocking your store with this season’s must have gifts! Trusting your orders are already placed (we hope), here’s a look at some operational musts to ensure your holiday season is a success.

1. Create and start promoting extended hours to support the holiday season. If you are in a zoned area or shopping mall, these hours may already be determined for you. Either way, start marketing these hours so that your customers know you are there for them beyond your normal hours.

2. Plan for special marketing initiatives. These will vary based on your store and customer, but are likely to include (but not limited to) email marketing, a holiday open house, special shopping deals, customer appreciation days, a visit from Santa in your store, a shopping guide for customers, e-commerce only specials and more.

3. Identify your return and exchange policies on all receipts and near your cash wrap. If you are planning for altered policies specifically for the holiday season, make sure you also identify time frames they are specific to. It’s always a good idea to have customers initial receipts after you have explained your policy, as well.

4. Use social media as a marketing tool to post daily deals, special event details and more. If you aren’t already using social media, it’s not too late to get started. If you already are, you are a million steps ahead already! Identify how you can leverage your social media audience to not just hear you, but buy from you this holiday season.

5. Cross promote with like minded businesses. Create packages that overlap your products or services with other businesses in a “bundle package”, allowing you to gain new customers from their mailing list and customer outreach – and vice versa. Addiitonally, it’s a fun way to introduce new gifts to your local marketplace.

6. Get the media involved in your holiday plans. Radio stations, newspapers, local television stations, magazines and other local media outlets are crave great information to share with their readers. Let your store holiday plans be among what they share! Get on the ball now, though… The holidays are only ten weeks away.

7. Plan for additional staff. Possibly this means additional hours for current employees. Maybe this means holiday only help. Whatever works for you, it’s time to get it all identified so when the rush of customers keeps you busy, you won’t be stressing about extra help supporting you. Remember to train new hires, as well, on all your store policies!

8. Plan for Plan B. Extra help means extra people to worry about. If someone calls in sick, do you have a back up plan? Life happens – so you may as well have a plan of attack for when it does.

9. Have your holiday window and store displays ready to go. This means knowing what products and extra display accessories you need to support a dynamic display are ready to go for you to simply install. Don’t wait till the last minute to buy your own display extras at the store, either… Just like your store, they are likely busy and maybe sold out. Plus, you want your displays to be impactful and memorable, so don’t wait till the last minute to plan for them.

10. Offer above the top gift wrapping. Sure, everyone offers free gift wrapping this time of year. But does everyone offer beautifully wrapped presents that make a statement all on their own? While we can’t all get the same response a Tiffany blue box does, we can certainly try! The real challenge is to simply go above and beyond the expected.

Bonus Tip: Stay cheerful. The holidays are suppose to be a happy, beautiful time of year. Unfortunately, this isn’t only the case. If it happens to be stressful at home or in your store or both (hey, it happens to the best of us), try not to let your customers see this stress. By acting… dare we say… Christmas”y”, you help set the mood that then impacts your customers.

Finally, try to enjoy the season! From Cyber Monday to Black Friday to Christmas Eve, there is a lot to get ready… and to get excited… for. Have more tips to share? Let us know!

 

 

 

 

B2B Social Deal Sites – You’ll Love This!

Groupon is great. And Living Social is pretty cool, as well. But let’s face it… you won’t always need highlights or a fancy dinner out. Instead, you need deal purchases to help your business thrive. Luckily, the world of deal sites has caught on to this trend.

Smart and savvy in their deals, the sites below all cater to B2B expenses, overhead and more. Check them out for yourself to see what may be great for your business.

Bizy Deals, www.bizydeal.com

From Constant Contact deals to reduced credit card fees, these deals are worth checking out. They even have a 50% savings on leasing a sales rep! Their tag line  is “Money Saved is Money Earned”… enough said.

Market Blitz, www.marketblitzdeals.com

While this tends to lean heavily for Denver area deals, it’s starting to spread itself out around the country. From reduced press release services to office furniture to marketing services, their deals are designed for businesses of all kinds.

Group Price, www.groupprice.com

Their goal is to help your business grow for less… less money spent from you, that is. What they offer are unique and purposeful deals that help get your job done. While not everything they offer will be for you, a lot of it likely is. Worth the online visit to their site!

Office Arrow, www.officearrow.com

These guys not only offer daily deals, they have a lot of valuable business content on their site. Webinars, podcasts, articles and more make up their collection of tools supporting business owners – gotta love that.

Spending money is a necessity in making money sometimes, so why not spend less and still gain exactly what you need? These sites are worth checking out – and checking out often – for that reason alone.

Happy dealing!

Optimize Online Sales – 5 Must Know Tips

Looking to drive traffic to your e-commerce site? Who isn’t?! Now if you want to drive traffic AND get some sales, here are a few ideas to help optimize your e-commerce sell thru.

1. Offer comprehensive product information without a lot of junk in the middle. In other words, be concise but don’t waste your audience’s time with too many fancy words that just take up space. Give a clear understandinng of what the product is, including (if necessary) it’s purpose.

2. Cross sell products whenever possible. Include small photos of complimentary products that your customer may be interested in based on what they are currently viewing or at the very least, what they have already just purchased.

3. Provide multiple e-communication offers. Don’t have a 1-800 number? That’s okay. But give your customers options to get a hold of you in case they have questions about a product or placing an order. Email, phone number, online chat, Q&A list for frequently asked questions – include at least two.

4. Give the sense of touch even when they can’t touch anything. Selling apparel? List the product contents, such as 97% cotton and 3% spandex. Is there texture to a product? Include a snapshot and describe the touch of this. Review your inventory to see what can be described and shown in words and photos that may help your audience in their purchasing decisions.

5. Don’t ignore your SEO options. SEO – Search Engine Optimization – drives consumers to your site that don’t already know about your site. Make this matter for you!

Finally, make sure your check out process is easy for your customers. Include all necessary details of purchasing policies, return policies and payment options. Adding a coupon for a return purchase is a great way to get returning customers, as well!

 

Five Websites That May Help Your Biz

Retailers and wholesalers need all the support they can get when it comes to promoting their products and services in a competitive marketplace. So it’s a welcome relieve to learn fresh, innovative websites are being introduced to do just that. From a website that promotes (and sells!)  indie t-shirts to an online site that is known for offering steep discounts to its’ readers, retailers and wholesalers can reach new audiences simply by getting involved.

Groupon, www.groupon.com

[tweetmeme]Groupon offers steep deals everyday on everything from products to buy, services to have or activities to take part in. Restaurants, retailers, spas and more can gain from this popular site, which is now in cities throughout the United States and Europe. They have offered over six million deals to date and are valued at $1.3 billion dollars – and are still growing. Don’t wait to get involved! Learn more by visiting www.groupon.com.

Threadless, www.threadless.com

Have a t-shirt design idea? Each week this innovative site offers a $2000 prize for the winning design. On top of that, they sell the t-shirts and ship about $18 million in t-shirts a year! Want your design to be among the t-shirts sold? Get involved at www.threadless.com.

Bride Buzz, www.bride-buzz.com

If you sell anything that sells to brides, then this site is one you need to know about. Everyday they send out an email with a product highlight to brides across the country. That highlight creates business, so get involved – plain and simple! There is much more to this bride crazy site beyond bridezilla madness, though. Learn more at www.bride-buzz.com.

Viewpoints, www.viewpoints.com

Have an opinion? Of course you do. On Viewpoints.com, consumers can get opinions and leave them on everything from electronics to beauty care to baby products. With an average of 3 million viewers a month, Viewpoints is a worth wild website to help promote your biz. Visit www.viewpoints.com now to get in the action.

Swap Simple, www.swapsimple.com

Excess inventory? Too many beads left over from a jewelry order? Here is a great site to barter, trade or make your own deal on “swapping” goods. Trade credits are applied to make this site a return destination site. Get started at www.swapsimple.com.

Another great excuse to visit each of these websites? That they are all Chicago based, just like Retail Minded! Chicago based or not, though, let us know what sites have helped your biz. Please comment below.

Six Web 2.0 Tools Retailers Need to Know About

The change in marketing options for retail stores and small businesses from 10 years ago to today is shocking. Think how hard it was to keep in regular contact with your customers back then, and how easy it is now. Not only can retailers keep their customers and clients up to date almost immediately, and through several channels, but customers themselves can now serve as one of the best marketing means around.

How?  Through the Internet, of course. Or, more specifically, through the multiple social media platforms now available. These social media sites and applications are commonly referred to as Web 2.0, which is basically just a fancy way of saying “user-friendly”. The applications and websites developed under the guise of Web 2.0 are those that allow people easier communication and socialization with one another. In other words, Web 2.0 is the perfect marketing avenue for small retailers.

[tweetmeme]The simplicity and ease of use of these social networking tools makes the life of small retail business owners easier than ever. You now have the ability to contact, locate, and attract customers at any time of day, with just a few keystrokes on your cell phone, net-book or computer. 

Let’s take a look at some of the most popular web 2.0 tools you can use to grow your small business with ease.

Tool 1. Foursquare

Description: A social networking website that combines mobile devices, gaming and social interaction in one neat little package. With about 170,000 users, Foursquare has rapidly grown since being founded in March, 2009. The site allows members to sign up, connect with friends on the site and update their current locations by sending text messages through their mobile phones or devices. Once they do this, their friends can then see where they are in real time, or at least in as much real time as text messages allow for. Users can earn special badges whenever they check-in at places with certain tags. They can also earn the right to be the “mayor” of a place if they check-in from there more often than any other Foursquare user.  

Small Business Potential: As a way to merge the digital world with the real world, Fousquare looks like a neat innovation. For small business owners, especially retailers, it allows you to not only keep into contact with your customers, but also lets you in on their movements and habits. Your customers can see who else checks-in with you, and lets them know where you check-in from as well. Retailers who want to build a loyal customer bases might see a good return through Foursquare, especially by inspiring some friendly competition with the awarding of badges and even the coveted position of mayor.

Tool 2. Groupon

 Description: Groupon is a deal-of-the-day site that offers special coupons and deals in specific locations. Begun in November 2008, this site now serves more than 40 local markets by offering a single product or service per day, per market to its users. If enough users sign up for that offer, the deal becomes available to everyone.

Small Business Potential: Groupon is a great idea. By allowing local businesses to deal directly with their customer base, and by offering limited time deals that are only available if enough people sign up, Groupon is a buzz creating machine. If a deal is offered that gets people excited, they serve as surrogate marketers, trying to get enough people to get in on the deal so it is available. Essentially, Groupon gets your customers to want to spread word of mouth. Cool. Very cool.

Tool 3. Postabaon

Description:A relatively new service, this handy little application can be seen as the offspring between Foursquare and Groupon. With it, users out shopping who come across a particularly good deal can now let all their friends know about it instantly. All they have to do is update their Postabon account with details, and they then get disseminated to everyone else. Users get feedback for posting these deals as well, earning Karma points and competing with others to see how many good deals they can post.

Small Business Potential:Finding a great sale is almost as much fun as telling everyone else all about it. The hunting and gathering impulses that shoppers experience are well known, and Postabon allows them to share the wealth whenever they come across that great find. For retailers, Postabon can serve as a wonderful way to let customers feel like they’re in on a secret.

Tool 4. Facebook Pages

Description: People can connect with friends on Facebook so easily, it’s ridiculous. Fortunately, Facebook allowed businesses and organizations to tap into this connectivity by creating Pages. Just like a personal Facebook page, Pages allows stores, brands, retailers, and other companies and organizations to create their own profile page.  These profiles can then attract fans and keep customers up to date on all the goings on. Pages allows users to post messages as well, and the organization can update its photos, status, information, and all the other neat things Facebook offers.

Small Business Potential:With about a bazillion people using Facebook, the potential for Facebook Pages is unbelievably big. Everyone who has a Facebook page can become a fan, and they can stay updated with anything posted by your business. The ability to keep thousands upon thousands of people up to date at any time is invaluable, and serves as free, targeted, and personal marketing at any time of day. This is an invaluable resource for any small business.

Tool 5: Twitter

Description: If you’ve been alive in the past year and have had any exposure to the media at all, you’ve probably heard about Twitter. It’s everywhere. The micro-blogging site has absolutely exploded in popularity, and shows little sign of slowing.  Twitter is a free social networking site that allows users to post short, text-based posts to their Twitter page. As long as they are less than 140 characters, Twitter users can post whatever they want, whenever they want. They can also choose to follow other people’s Twitter feeds, and attract followers of their own.

Small Business Potential: Twitter is kind of like that song “Heard it Through the Grapevine”, only the grapevine is now 140 characters or less and can reach anyone at any time. Some people use Twitter religiously, posting updates all the time. For businesses, Twitter allows you the chance to not only keep up with your users, but serves as a means to get instant feedback on anything you do. Have a new product? Monitoring the Twitter feeds of your customers may tell you within minutes of a purchase what they think of it.  The ability to keep into nearly constant contact with your customers can be invaluable, and Twitter might be one of the best ways to do this.

Tool 6. Yelp

Description: Reviews are nothing new. From movie critics to book reviewers, you can usually find any number of opinions on what people think about things.  But what about that store on the corner that sells yarn? Or the mom and pop pizza parlor down the street? This is where Yelp comes in. Real customers post their thoughts about just about anything, from professional services, to churches, restaurants, and retail shops.  Yelp allows people to tell others what they think. It’s word of mouth from those who’s mouth’s actually count: customers.

Small Business Potential: Getting your store reviewed on Yelp can be great if it’s a great review, but not so great if it is a bad one. The key to this kind of site is telling your best, most enthusiastic customers about it so they can spread their joy with the rest of the world. Yelp is kind of like a digitally rendered reputation meter. If your business is great, your customers will shout about it. Or in this case, give out a Yelp.

Article contributed by Cashier Live, www.cashierlive.com. Cashier Live focuses on providing a low cost alternative to traditional Point of Sale software since 2009. By taking advantage of web technology, Cashier Live can provide point of sale software direct to retailers at a fraction of a cost of traditional software. A key benefit of using a Cashier Live is that it can help you run your store more efficiently. From conducting transactions to managing your inventory, Cashier Live gives you the tools to decrease costs and increase sales. When you know what products you have, how many are in stock, and which ones are selling then you can reduce loss and make informed decisions on what products you should be ordering. Cashier Live provides all these benefits and more. For more information about Cashier Live’s web based point of sale, please visit our website at http://www.cashierlive.com.

10 E-Commerce User Friendly Selling Tips

Whether you have a traditional, free standing retail store with an online site to support it or just an e-commerce store, the tips below can help increase how long customers stay on your website, support sales growth, and improve the overall design of your e-commerce website. As a result, you should see more returning customers and more sales. This is, of course, the goal… Right?

User Friendly Selling Tips

1. Don’t use animation in your home page. It slows down the page and some shoppers lose patience when waiting for animation to finish loading and doing it’s thing.

2. Show new products, sale products, or featured products on the home page. This will offer a sneak peak at some of the exciting things you have for sale. Change this often, though! That is key to keeping returning customers returning!

3. All products for sale should be within 2 or 3 clicks from the home page. Don’t make your customers get “lost” on your site or have them work too hard to find what they are looking for. Make it easy.

4. Support all products with an accessible, visible “buy” or “add to cart” button. By offering a buy or add to cart button next to each item, customers won’t lose their urge to shop by the frustration of having to find out how to shop.

5. Offer a great search option on your site. Customers who know what they want can quickly type in what they are looking for. Customers who don’t know exactly what they want can type in key words. This is a win for everyone. In a sense, it’s your own personal store associate directing your customer to what they want!

6. Never, and I stress this, NEVER make customers register to shop to buy an item on your site. This will lose customers, period. I don’t care if you want more names for your mailing list – get over it and move on.

7. Give payment options. Visa, mastercard, PayPal, money order. Online merchants offer a variety of solutions for easy online payments. Make sure you offer more than one.

8. List any costs associated with purchases clearly. This includes tax, shipping, and anything else that you may need to charge your customer. Do not have hidden fees EVER. In addition, list all details pertaining to your privacy policy and security for purchases made.

9. Avoid a long checkout process. By eliminating mandatory registration, tihs will certainly help. In addition, summarize the details you need in a concise, clear, professional fashion.

10. When the deal is closed, give back to your  customers by offering a coupon or incentive for their next purchase. And of course, thank them for their recent purchase!

Finally, remember to update your site often. This includes highlighting products on your home page, changing prices to accomodate sales, and incorporating new, user friendly features that will keep your customers happy.

Social Selling Through Social Marketing

Social marketing has left a permanent impression in retail and wholesale marketing. The question is no longer ”what is social marketing” but rather “how do I social market my business”.  With so many options, it can be overwhelming to get started. The goal, however, should never get lost – which is to sell as a result of social marketing, therefore known as social selling.

Social selling is when sales are completed as a result of social marketing. It does not represent the hits you get to your site from your social marketing, however. It ONLY represents the sales that take place from the hits from the social marketing. Have I lost you yet?

Social Marketing 101

First thing is first – in order to gain social sales, you need to be actively participating in social marketing. This means you should have profiles on such social sites as Facebook, My Space, Twitter and LinkedIn. You should determine which sites are most valuable to you and your business by understanding which sites you will not only use the most, but use effectively. Personally, I don’t believe you have to do them all but you should be a part of a couple to be effective. That said, the more the merrier. But it takes time, so be realistic with how much time you have to dedicate to social marketing so that you don’t create profiles that just sit there.

In general, to be effective with social marketing you should do the following:

1. Update your profile often with news about your business, photos if applicable, contact information and general profile information as necessary. Do not create a profile and then just let it sit without updates. Update it. Tell your audience about news of your business, what is new to your store, recent merchandisnig changes, exciting plans for the future and more. That’s key.

2. Be involved in your social marketing. If you have a profile on My Space and don’t use it, it is no longer a social marketing tool for you. You must be proactive in using the individual social sites you sign up with so that you gain recognition from your profile.

3. Most profiles will allow you to invite or be invited to gain “friends”, “followers” or “connections”. Don’t just wait to get invited – invite away!!! Look around the site to find who you believe your business and yourself would connect with, then reach out to them. This is how new people learn who you are.

4. Sell yourself, not just your business. Whether your are tweeting or posting updates on Facebook, get a little personal with your connections. This is what makes social marketing social. You don’t need to tell the world about your lousy afternoon at work due to being in the red from too many returns, but you can let them know you are having a bad day. This makes you real and utlimately, more approachable. Find balance in what you share about your business, promoting sales, and sharing details about yourself.

Making Sales Through Social Selling  

For many of you, the opportunity to sell your business via e-commerce is great. Which is why social marketing is great. But in order for it to really be effective, you need to make sales from it. Otherwise, it’s a lot of time without a lot of value (unless you do it for fun, in which case this is more personal than business).

To help increase your opportunity for social sales, here are a few tips:

1. Announce new product arrivals or any other worthy news and monitor how much your traffic increases to your site as a result of your announcements. This allows you to also see sale increases during these times. It’s important to understand the relationship of sales and social marketing so that your time is spent wisely.

2. Offer incentives to your followers on your social sites that would make them want to shop with you. Give coupon codes for purchases made during a specific time frame, for certain products or just because. Track the purchases made as a result compared to your total number of followers.

3. Make sure your design details, check out choices, and the general user friendly options that your site  has are easily understood by your customer. If it’s complicated, messy in appearance, lacks professionalism or doesn’t “wow” your customer quick enough, you are losing your chance for a social sale.

4. Know your competition and what they are up to. Online retailers are opening up everyday and as a result, it’s a tough market. Are you making your store stand out from the rest?

5. Allow old fashion communication to enter the picture. Social marketing is an extension of plain old socializing, which in shopping is part of the fun! People are familiar with this and some are even more comfortable with this. Include your phone number and email address as options for customers to connect if Twitter and Facebook isn’t their thing.

You should be open to the both the fun and the challenges of social marketing to allow for social sales if you want to be successful with online retailing. It’s tough, though. And competitive. Not only does your product need to be great, but your website needs to look amazing, as well. A balance of everything can equal to a wonderful reward of social sales, though.

If you have social selling ideas that have worked for you, we’d love to hear from you! Please comment below.

Twitter For Retailers & Wholesalers

Are you tweeting?

More and more retail and wholesale businesses are using the popular  social media site Twitter to promote their businesses. The question is – is it worth it? I believe yes… depending on your business and how you manage your time on Twitter.

When used properly, and some will argue what properly is, Twitter can provide a valuable outlet to promote your business. The catch is  that it really only works for businesses who can offer their product and / or service online. If you have an online boutique, then Twitter is definitely something to check out. If you have an Etsy, Artfire, Silkfair, or other community hosted site, Twitter is also a great site to promote your product. And if you are a wholesaler who is trying to gain attention, Twitter is definitely right for you.

What Is Twitter?

Twitter is a quick way of sharing news, ideas, thoughts, and more in 140 characters at a time. Your profile on Twitter is extrememly brief, but allows you to include a website address, a brief bio of who you are or what your business is and also includes  a small space for a photo or logo. Anyone can “follow” you on Twitter and you can “follow” anyone, as well, with some restrictions. For the most part, everyone on Twitter is open to anyone following them and vice versa.  As for finding people to follow, there is an easy to find people section that allows you to put in key words, such as fashion, that pulls up user names with your key words in it. This is a great way to then click on users you want to “follow”. By following them, you will then get quick updates from whatever they post in their brief update section which is only 140 characters or less. In addition, if you follow someone it does not mean they can or will follow you. But they might! I often check who is following me so that I can follow them back if I want. It really is a simple, easy way of communicating with complete strangers about your business. How you communiate will make the difference, though!

Twitter Time 

When I first started “tweeting”, I was lost in time. I could tweet for hours! Turns out, tweeting for hours kept me from doing the work I needed to get done. After my initital binge with Twitter, I found a way to control my time on Twitter while also gaining purpose. In my opinion, the key to tweeting really is to have a purpose to tweet. For me, it’s to link people to my blog and hopefully educate and support them by doing so.

Here are a few thoughts on how you can best use your Twitter time based on my experiences:

1. Stay focused on why you are tweeting – which for most of you will be to promote your business.

2. Offer tweets that give to your audience. For example, if you posted a new blog, let your Twitter followers know about it. If you have a contest going on, tell them. If you saw a great example of customer service at your store, share the details.

3. Make sure that you give for reasons more than just getting sales. Offer friendly thoughts, advice, humor, and more to keep your Twitter followers engaged. Tell brief tid bits about your day, such as “Just laid baby down. Time to make some more jewelry.” This gives a more personal connection to you without revealing too much. And because Twitter only allows 140 characters, you are forced to be brief.

4. Link people back to your website. If you dont’ have a website, than honestly I wouldn’t waste your time tweeting unless you really want to. If you do have a site, tell people about it. For example, you could tell them about new spring arrivals, sales going on, and anything else. Plus, you can include the link for them to click on!

5. Control your time. It can get addicting if you let it – easy, sometimes mindless thoughts and strangers to chat with – but don’t let it consume you. Unless you think it’s providing you valuable benefits for your business, only tweet as much as necessary to maintain a healthy growth from it in your business.

If you do end up on Twitter, check me out by following me! And DM (direct message me on Twitter) so that I can know you are there! I’d love to hear from you. http://twitter.com/RetailMinded

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