Twitter at the tipping point

Social Media Congres - "Blogging Business"

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Authority Blogger Chris Garrett outlines the the basics of business blogging -- and how Twitter fits into the picture -- in this slideshow for the Social Media Congress

Twitter has reached the magic tipping point where it is no longer a specialized or 'ahead of the time' resource, but has become a business essential for leading-edge marketers. I certainly had been aware of the idea of the instant blogging/SMS/email/phone resource some time ago but thought: "Who needs this? I'm not interested in tracking and receiving dozens (or hundreds) of daily messages through my cellphone."

But last week, our neighbour Dave Thorpe (aka Dave the Tiger) told me "You've got to do this" as our sons got ready for their minor hockey game, a large business page article on Twitter appeared in the Globe and Mail, and I understand from Chase, he learned about Twitter at the Canadian Home Builders' Association Conference this weekend (and signed on).

If you are like most readers of this blog (in the construction industry) you aren't quite ready for Twitter yet. That's okay. I've found I tend to catch onto marketing/technological resources about a year before most of the industry served here appreciates these resources -- and then, wham, others follow (often doing the actual work better).

You can see this in the blogging community, for example. Back in November/December 2006 when this blog started, you couldn't find anyone else in the Construction Marketing space blogging -- now you can see hyperlinks from here with truly high quality blogs.

I still need to get good enough at video blogging to consider the work sufficiently suitable for mass audiences -- and Twitter skills will also take some time to develop (but I sense it will be easier to learn how to Twit (or is it Tweet?) effectively than set up video messages).

Should you engage these resources? Yes, while remembering the core values and essential elements of marketing are not the technology but your attitudes and how you connect with your clients and potential customers. After all, I'm only 'on' Twitter because of the in-person recommendations of my neighbour.

Follow me at http://twitter.com/Publisher10 if you wish. I will certainly be happy to follow you!