At times I find myself Twitter’s round the clock cheerleader. I love this place!

Part of why I love it is that it educates me, introduces me to great friends, and makes me better.  That and it has totally exploded my small business, fleur de leigh photography. So this blog is for the sceptics, the naysayers who think that small business can’t benefit from places like Twitter and Facebook.  Here’s a true story.

Late one evening fully sate with Pinot Noir and bad hair that was driving me crazy, I decided to wield the scissors. I know. I know… Having seen the wreckage the next morning, I tweeted:

Being the savvy marketer that she is, Cindy who manages the Twitter account for Michael’s Salon & Spa (@MichaelsSalon), a beautiful local salon who follows me retweeted mine tweet and ALSO sent me a DM saying. “We’d be happy to fix those bangs for you. Give us a call and we’ll fit you in quickly.” Which I immediately did.  Kinley (shown above) fixed my bangs…free of charge!   Now several months later, I am a faithful client. I switched salons because she reached out deliberately with an act of kindness that CONNECTED with me.  Now Michael’s earns the $150+ month business for my hair care. (being blond isn’t cheap) Thank you Cindy, (@CynthiaDeVelvis) you ROCK!

This is just one way the Big Bang Theory grew business through social media. Here are 3 ways to springboard your local social media connections deliberately.

1. Pointed search: Utilize Twitter search for your local people. (ie; enter words like Dayton, Centerville, hair) and follow people who appeal to you or your brand. Then use tools like Listorious to access lists people have made related to your search terms.

2. Reach out: Having followers you don’t communicate with is akin to window shopping. You get nothing of value in your bag.  Say hello to people. Take time every day commenting/engaging/befriending people (or potential clients) you follow. You’ll find that these people will return your follow, engage with you, and potential become advocates for you.  Beware of the hard sell. Build relationships earnestly that’s what makes friends that sometimes become clients for you.

3.  Be a community evangelist: Share the successes, inspiration, stories of your community (people you follow) through RTs.  Attend or coordinate Tweet ups (where you can come face to face with your tweeple!) Tweetvite is a great way to find or initiate your own tweetup.  Embrace those in your community who are advocates of social media universes like Twitter.

Dig in and try it. While I can’t guarantee your business will prosper for it, I can predict that you’ll probably make a friend or two. Which isn’t all bad

I’m not going to lie to you and tell you that social media doesn’t fit me to a T.  By nature social (middle child,) prone to marketing (my lemonade stand was the bomb!) and inherently extroverted (to follow me is to well, know everything about me,) I’m not going to gloss over the fact that I hold my followers dear and have no inhibition about broadcasting in their excellence or going to them for advice in an instant. True blue friends flank me now that weren’t here pre-Twitter. Clients seek me that were otherwise unknown to me.  Alliances thrive because of it.

I am not going to claim that the interchange that happens in 140 characters doesn’t soothe the ego or make happy surge. I am going to tell you that the education that I have received about my field of photography, small business ownership, social media, motherhood, and life in general in this incredible teeming forum in 2009 is remarkable.  I’m not going to pretend that my penchant for social media hasn’t caused tension in my marriage to a non-Twitterer (aka, “the twitter police” pictured above And I wish I could put into words the impact of Twitter in the last year for me personally.  I am a writer by trade…yet I have no good words for this.

Instead. I will start with what I know has cultivated the social media harvest I enjoy now. My advice to you.

1. Be You. You are the only one of you out there.  There is an appropriate mix of “you-ness” to add which I do not know because I talk about cheese, super-heroism, camera love-a-doveness, beer, unbelievably stupid stuff I do WAY to much to be an authority on what AMOUNT of you to sprinkle into your tweets. But I know this. People relate to you, when you’re genuinely unapologetically, you.  I regularly remind myself to also provide tweets with value otherwise I wouldn’t even want to follow me. Be yourself, be a positive value.

2. Make contact. We all fall into categories whether we want to or not. I am a photographer. Not a renown one at all but I have a community of my peers because I walked up to many of them (metaphorically speaking) and said hello on the playground. Make the introductions and you will make friends and make and impact on others. Cross borders delving into other categories too. If you have any questions on this, DM me. I am here for you. I had 67 followers (last year) most of whom I knew in real life the others I revered in the photography community when I started retweeting and @replying. This may sound so simple but it is the CRUX of Twitter.  When my tweet stream became less journal and more two way street my destination got interesting. Engage. Scott Stratten @unmarketing single handily taught me this. Follow him and look for his daily reminder.  It was nothing short of Twitter metamorphosis for me.

3. Do good. There is NO better universal world wide classroom than social media. Believe me. That appeals to me as an ENFJ, a teacher. On Twitter, 10K people are opting to tune into my (98% wacky) message here and there.  Mostly, I see my role as one that can a) unify my #photography community and enhance my craft  b) provide humor and slice of life-ness to masses and c) genuine touch someone and alter their course toward positive.  Each of us can make an individual difference. I’ve seen it. Take time to make some connections, spread coolness, illuminate the beautiful and you’ll feel good.  May be as simple as a “Hey look at this rockin website.” that becomes a daymaker for someone else. Twitter is not a numbers game, it’s an opportunity to connect human spirit for greater good. Never forget that.

That’s my two cents.  I feel grateful for the connections, education and support I have gained from Twitter and want to share simply what allowed me that privilege. Thank you for your connection, your follow and your retweet of this message.

Just 100% me,

Leigh

social-write-tographer