Rocket science?

OK guys, let’s talk about how to use Twitter...and how NOT to use it. Twitter is all about creating a conversation. It can be a conversation about ministry, business, music or cupcakes. It really doesn’t matter what it’s about, it’s simply a way to share ideas. It is not a Magic 8 Ball. You cannot wave your magic Twitter wand and make it rain money from the sky.

Twitter is a networking tool. Here’s how you use it:

Connect to others - You do this by “following” people and by being “followed” by people. As you build your followership, you will build your circle of influence. You’ll be able to connect with more people through Twitter than you would in everyday life.
Share - “Tweet” (or post) your ideas, thoughts and messages. Remember to always be real and be honest. People can smell a phony a mile away. If you’re in ministry, tweet about ministry successes and failures. Others in ministry will begin to converse with you and share their successes and failures. If you’re in business, tweet about what your company’s doing or about a new product or service. Regardless of what you’re tweeting about, use it to build a buzz about your cause or product or service.
Get a response - Depending on what you’re trying to accomplish, you may ask for a response. That response could be in the form of a reply, a visit to your blog or website, a sale or even a donation.

Once people are following and conversing with you, you have a platform. What you choose to do with that platform is up to you.

Now that you know a little about how to use Twitter, here are my suggestions on how NOT to use Twitter:

Don’t overpost - Nobody is interested in knowing every time you take a sip of coffee or every song you’re listening to on iTunes. Overposting will cause people to unfollow you.
Don’t be so negative - Nobody wants to read about how much you hate your boss or traffic or your computer. If you continually post negative comments, people will unfollow you.
Don’t be phony - I already said this, but it’s worth mentioning twice. If you’re posting JUST to get people to do something for you, they will unfollow you. Be genuine. People want to know who you are and what you’re all about. Once they feel like they have a connection with you, they will be much more willing to respond to you.

Here’s a good example of using Twitter effectively:
I know a couple who were in the process of adopting two sisters from Ethiopia earlier this year. They had been blogging about their journey for some time. They even had a PayPal link set up on their blog to accept donations. In April, they found out that their court date was being moved up by several months...they were going to get custody of their adopted children in a few weeks instead of a few months. They needed to raise a large amount of money for their final adoption and travel expenses.

We leveraged the networking power of Twitter by posting something like this: “Help give two orphans a forever family. Visit (their blog). Please retweet & update your Facebook status.” And that’s exactly what people did. They visited their blog, retweeted, updated their Facebook status and many of them donated. Because of the retweeting and Facebook status updating, their request spread to a huge number of people very quickly. Within 3 days, they had raised most of the money they needed for their expenses.

REMEMBER - I said earlier that Twitter is not a Magic 8 Ball...and I stand by that!

This would not have worked if they had not already been blogging and tweeting. Did you catch that...they were genuine. People already knew who they were and what they were about because they had been blogging and tweeting. People felt a connection to them, read their story and gave them donations.

Now, I’m not advocating that Twitter become a fund-raising platform...that’s just what worked in this situation. What I am saying is that Twitter is a powerful tool. But just like any other tool, you need to know how to use it for it to be effective.