How To Use Twitter To Generate Clients

There are a lot of people out there who would argue that social media doesn’t work, that maybe it will help you create a community, but that it won’t get you any REAL MONEY. While I would argue that there is value in a community, it is also without a doubt that anyone (yes, anyone) can make money using social media. The truth is I get a lot of traffic as well as new clients using my Twitter account, people from all over the world who I never would have met. And I’m going to tell you, step-by-step, how I do that.

Engagement.

This may seem obvious to some, but if your entire strategy for Twitter is just auto-posting from your Facebook page and never actually getting ON the platform (or onto Hootsuite where you access Twitter), you’re never going to make money. Yes, some brands or bloggers are large enough that they can just use Twitter to broadcast their messages, but for most of us, just being a broadcaster isn’t going to work. Nor should it, social media is supposed to be sociable!

If you’re relatively new to Twitter, I recommend jumping into conversations on topics related to your niche (or where you would be able to show you’re both helpful and knowledgeable). Use the advanced Twitter search to search for keywords that are being mentioned on Twitter. If you’re a local business, you can search for tweets within a specific area. You can also check the “question” box at the very bottom to find people asking questions on Social Media.

Also know who’s talking about you or to you. You would be amazed how easy it is for comments to slip past you without realizing it. I use Mention.net to keep track of who’s mentioning me on social media. You can also use Hootsuite for free and set up a stream to see who’s @mentioning you.

Direct Messages.

Okay, admittedly, these are a little controversial, and I understand why: all too often people use them to spam new followers. HOWEVER, I use them to ask an easy, open-ended question. It allows me to start conversations with the people who are following me. Now, admittedly, not everyone engages back. Many people ignore the question and go about their days and that’s completely fine.

I’ll admit that there are times I go a few days without getting in Hootsuite to read them. I get a LOT of messages and I’m only one person. HOWEVER, they are a fantastic way to start building relationships with your audience and I would recommend giving them a try.

Provide value.

Like the first tip, engagement, this may also seem like a no-brainer, but it’s still something many people aren’t doing. In order to be successful you have to give your followers content that THEY are interested in, which may have nothing to do with your products or company specifically.

If you are an attorney, instead of constantly posting about your services or any special deals you have going on, focus on providing information on topics that your audience’s lives, like cyber crime or outrageous laws that will make them laugh.

You know your audience better than anyone. What kind of content would they value that’s related to your niche?

Have a follow strategy.

One of the best ways to get more followers on Twitter is to start following people. Some people refer to it as the Law of Reciprocity, where people respond to a positive action with another positive action. In this case, following someone on Twitter would compel them to follow you back in return – or at least that’s the goal.

There are several different strategies for following new people on Twitter:

You could follow people manually. You could follow the people who follow your competitors, you could follow the people who follow local businesses (if you’re only looking for locals), or you could follow people based on keyword searches using the advanced search tool.
You could also try Manage Flitter for following people. You would follow essentially the same process for following people, but Manage Flitter speeds up the process. The following feature is not free. However, if you want to follow people manually, you can use the upfollow feature of ManageFlitter to unfollow people for free.
You could use Social Quant. You can use my affiliate link if you want to give it a try for half price: http://www.socialquant.net/TrueFriends. This is the tool I used to grow my Twitter account to 15.4k (and counting). It’s keyword-based so it will allow you to develop a targeted following, which is key for community building.

Final Thoughts

The most important part of the entire equation for finding clients or selling online is giving away value. If you are engaging but spamming everyone with your links and your agenda, you’ll never get anywhere. It’s like walking up to someone and trying to sell something without telling them your name. And don’t stress that you’re going to give away too much. In my experience, the more you give away the more you get in return.