Impressive Use of Twitter

As much as I’ve tried to keep up with the whole social media thing, Twitter is one wrinkle I haven’t figured out yet. I’m on it, am following some people, and have some people following me. But I haven’t found a way to make it a valuable part of my marketing arsenal.

Not yet, anyway.

Which is why I’m awfully impressed today with Peter Shankman. Shankman, among numerous other projects, operates the “Help a Reporter Out” email service, which connects journalists and writers with sources. As I write this, he’s doing an all-day contest on Twitter. The short version is that he’s asking trivia questions on his Twitter feed, and giving away prizes.

Originally, the prizes were things he wanted to clean out of his office. But as it’s developed, he’s hearing from a bunch of companies who are giving him new things to give away.

It costs him a little bit of money for shipping, and the time to come up with the questions, put ’em out on Twitter, and choose the winners. In  return, he’s getting an enormous amount of attention.

So I’m once again thinking about how I can use Twitter to my advantage. Haven’t come up with the answer yet, but the cogitation continues.

How are you using Twitter to help your business? Leave a comment below.

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2 thoughts on “Impressive Use of Twitter

  1. Good question! We’re looking to do more “viral” marketing and building buzz using Twitter. We like the friendliness of the people on this media format.

    So, far, I’ve made close to 10 business connections – more than intros.. got them to post on our blog at http://carebuzz.com/blog – it’s been a good way to make fast and easy connections. But again, our primary purpose to create buzz in the elder care industry…

    Thanks for asking!

    Carol

  2. Phil – so ironic you’ve posted this. I, too, can’t figure out the best way to use Twitter (and to be honest, I hate getting overwhelmed with text messages on my phone!). And, like you, I’m planning on posting about it.

    Looking forward to the responses.