let's have a little chat about the power of twitter... because it's spoken about all the time yet i feel like people still struggle connecting the dots on how to actually develop relationships via twitter and then turn that into something actionable or measurable. so, let me share a story because pretty much, i met my last boyfriend because of twitter. yep. you read that right.
it started with us just following each other. i dunno if i followed him or he followed me first... but we stumbled upon each other some how. and it was natural enough to follow each other because we knew of each others organizations/blogs as well as some of the same people since we run in a similar professional circle. but following doesn't quite equate to a relationship... which i hope you know, but read on... i actually did a search of our "conversations" to find out how we first started chatting and things began simply enough with a reply from him to me that included a link to a blog i had never heard of that echoed the sentiments of tweet i had put out there. i thanked him for the introduction to a new resource and that was actually our initial exchange. we didn't quite converse frequently from there - but, he had given me enough to think that it was worth having some conversation with one another. so, it was just whenever it seemed appropriate that we'd have exchanges - all purely professional, and i never really thought twice about him in any way except for being some guy on twitter who worked in the same industry.
as it would turn out though, probably months after we began following each other on twitter, we were going to be at the same event and i wanted to make sure that i met him for the sake of networking. so, i replied to a tweet of his and asked how could i find him since we'd be in the same place. he said he'd be around and asked when i'd be getting into town... and we tweeted back and forth a few times. he didn't use his actual picture on twitter though, so i wasn't completely sure how i'd find him in a sea of a few hundred people but we did have a mutual twitter acquaintance who i was able to spot at this event, and i asked that acquaintance for an introduction. connection made. mind you, again, still, it was still just a professional twitter relationship at that point... and i had wanted to connect for only professional reasons... but, you meet someone interesting with whom you have good chemistry and then a few more @ replies turns into a direct message or two or three where i began to flirt with him... and direct messages turned into going out for drinks. ha.
the rest as they say, is history. but that was the beginning of our relationship and honestly, i dunno if it would have ever happened without twitter. so what exactly do we take away from this? well, if you're on twitter or want to get on twitter to build more relationships - whether it's personal or professional, including to recruit candidates for your organization - my story is your roadmap. first, find the people you want to potentially recruit (good how-to here at this post by The Recruiter Guy, Chris Hoyt, on conversational recruiting) but then, remember that the true value of twitter - and how you'll develop you relationships - is through conversation. and if you haven't figured it out on your own yet, well, it's easy enough when you break my little story down:
it started with us just following each other. i dunno if i followed him or he followed me first... but we stumbled upon each other some how. and it was natural enough to follow each other because we knew of each others organizations/blogs as well as some of the same people since we run in a similar professional circle. but following doesn't quite equate to a relationship... which i hope you know, but read on... i actually did a search of our "conversations" to find out how we first started chatting and things began simply enough with a reply from him to me that included a link to a blog i had never heard of that echoed the sentiments of tweet i had put out there. i thanked him for the introduction to a new resource and that was actually our initial exchange. we didn't quite converse frequently from there - but, he had given me enough to think that it was worth having some conversation with one another. so, it was just whenever it seemed appropriate that we'd have exchanges - all purely professional, and i never really thought twice about him in any way except for being some guy on twitter who worked in the same industry.
as it would turn out though, probably months after we began following each other on twitter, we were going to be at the same event and i wanted to make sure that i met him for the sake of networking. so, i replied to a tweet of his and asked how could i find him since we'd be in the same place. he said he'd be around and asked when i'd be getting into town... and we tweeted back and forth a few times. he didn't use his actual picture on twitter though, so i wasn't completely sure how i'd find him in a sea of a few hundred people but we did have a mutual twitter acquaintance who i was able to spot at this event, and i asked that acquaintance for an introduction. connection made. mind you, again, still, it was still just a professional twitter relationship at that point... and i had wanted to connect for only professional reasons... but, you meet someone interesting with whom you have good chemistry and then a few more @ replies turns into a direct message or two or three where i began to flirt with him... and direct messages turned into going out for drinks. ha.
the rest as they say, is history. but that was the beginning of our relationship and honestly, i dunno if it would have ever happened without twitter. so what exactly do we take away from this? well, if you're on twitter or want to get on twitter to build more relationships - whether it's personal or professional, including to recruit candidates for your organization - my story is your roadmap. first, find the people you want to potentially recruit (good how-to here at this post by The Recruiter Guy, Chris Hoyt, on conversational recruiting) but then, remember that the true value of twitter - and how you'll develop you relationships - is through conversation. and if you haven't figured it out on your own yet, well, it's easy enough when you break my little story down:
- begin following, and hope for a follow back. and make sure your twitter bio is clear and comprehensive so they have a reason to follow.
- start conversing. reply to the person's tweets. retweet where it makes sense... but this has to be organic. don't stalk. just let things evolve naturally.
- use direct messages where appropriate or to get more personal but do wait until you've started to develop some rapport through @ replies.
- if you're going to be in the same place at the same time, request some time together. (and i'd say, use your real picture, please? it makes it easier to connect!)
yep. so, that's how one little love story began, and interestingly, here's how another has developed - a twitter marriage proposal! not quite how my love story ended. and, i'm just waiting for the day that someone tweets out, "it's over!" to end their relationship via twitter. who knows, it could be me in the future because i seem to be teetering pretty close to there... because my twitter love story? well, we kind of used IM to end it. ha!
I met my husband at work. I'm so early 21st century and lame. :)
Posted by: laurie ruettimann | Monday, 02 March 2009 at 09:51 AM