Originally published in Businessweek.
Twitter is the darling of social media and social web but like so many web 2.0 applications, it is a solution trying to find a problem.
I am contrarian to those old-school sales pros because I think you can actually close deals via Twitter. It was not really discussed at the Twitter conference known as “140tc” but alas you can read in ten minutes what I would have dragged out into a 90 minute keynote.
Here’s how I close deals via Twitter.
-1- Hijack a Hashtag
Hashtags (#vcSecrets, #sxsw, #tc50) serve to categorize a conversation. Close a deal by adding value to the twitter stream hashtag.
For example, if there is a conference on venture capital, I tweet, “9 VCs you Don’t wanna meet http://om.bit.ly/16irv”. It is something snarky and there’s a link to funny stuff that is right on the money about the venture capital industry.
-2- Have a Twitter Focus
My twitter stream is about sales, entrepreneurship and people. It’s just like my book’s focus and just like my blog’s focus. I have a higher chance of closing a deal via Twitter because it attracts like minded individuals who have to listen or read some of my tweets because I have a little influence in this community. If you have 50+ followers, you have influence.
-3- You Can’t Close What You Can’t Contact
Twitter does not let you contact those that don’t follow you.
Your choice is to “@” message them directly or do this sneaky little trick:
Follow.
(wait 7 days for reciprocal follow)
If unsuccessful,
Unfollow. Follow. At 3pm
(wait 2 days)
If STILL unsuccessful,
Unfollow. Follow. At 10am
This sends a message to them that you’re following them and serves to jerk the leash to say “Yo buddy, I am following YOU”. Brian Cuban did this to me and got me to follow him (or was it vice versa?)
-4- Use a Third Party Advocate.
This is a fancy term for either going up over their head or using a third-party reference. By trying to close a deal via email, you’re in essence going head to head.
Third party advocacy in short is trying to influence them from their flank. If you have two third party advocates, then you can influence them on three fronts.
-5- Bribe That Conduit.
I write about ‘Tipping Bribing Comping and Tipping‘. Its about offering a gift to lubricate that conduit so you CanDoIt. OMG, I am retarded. Comp your conduit to introduce you or pass a message via Twitter.
If you need a message passed to a tier one tech blogger @arrington @bradStone @gigaOm @KaraSwisher @daveMcClure @KimMaiCutler @veronica @eldon @rafe and paypal your favorite non-profit $20 bucks. Direct message me a receipt with the message you want passed. I am serious as toe jam on a steamy Chicago summer night :-)
-6- What’s Old is New: Email Marketing
Remember, the open rates on emails from social media sites are 70%
This means when Twitter (or Facebook) sends the person you’re trying to sell and email, there’s a 70% likelihood that the email will get opened. Industry open rates on email is closer to 0.4 – 10%. When they click open the email and there is a 50-50 chance they will click to see your twitter stream profile (i.e. your last ten tweets) Make sure the last ten tweet are very good. These numbers will only stay this phenomenal for a short while.
-7- Don’t Game the System Retardedly
The old way was to retweet (RT-ing) constantly to get followers. Retweeting to badger potential followers is horrible. Also, don’t follow and unfollow random people just to boost your Twitter ratios (Read How to Work a Twitter Party).
-8- Hack Using Genius Maneuvers
Twitter lets you bait and switch.
- Start your persona off as a woman cartoon character (aka Dave Peck) and watch your followers SOAR.
- Start your persona off as a cause and you’ll get followers that think and support your cause.
- Start your twitter off funny.
In short you bait with sex, a cause or humor and later switch to influencing or selling them.
-9- BIO Should Add Value and Brand You
My link is to something that can help them. I give away free content that is inside of my $27 book. I also invite people to guestpost to my BusinessWeek blog.
-10- Start a Twitter War
Sour is good with the sweet. General Chiang’s Chicken tastes better when it is sweet AND sour. A twitter war can be good in that people know you won’t take bad treatment laying down.
I call out conference donkey’s that treat me and conference attendees badly http://tinyurl.com/donkey9 Twitter wars can help let people know you take a stand and have balls. People that have balls close deal because as Alec Baldwin so eloquently stated, “It takes BRASS BALLS to close deals”
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