Five Twitter Blunders Businesses Should Avoid

I'll admit that I am an avid social networking user for my businesses, especially on Twitter. Although it can be a time consuming task just like any other networking or marketing effort, I have begun to reap the rewards of my hard work on Twitter by increasing traffic to my websites and converting site visitors into buyers. I've also made some great business contacts that have led to opportunities I would otherwise have never had. It's a great time to be in business and to utilize the many online tools that are available to attract potential customers!

Social networking is a relationship building process; people need to have a certain level of comfort and trust in a business product or service before they'll commit to the buy. By providing useful information to your online prospects you can create that level of trust but only if it's done consistently and with purpose.

With a tool such as Twitter, businesses can build a favorable reputation online if they are well prepared before they send out their very first Tweet and avoid some common Twitter blunders that can make their business look less than professional. As a matter of fact, I seldom follow people or businesses who don't take the time to prepare for their appearance on social networking platforms. Here are five Twitter business blunders that in my opinion should be avoided at all costs:

1.) Please...no eggs! No excuses here! I want a visual of who you are or what your business does. If you don't want to put up a professional-looking profile photo of yourself, upload a company logo or a picture that best describes the product or service you're promoting. A Twitter business profile with the standard Twitter "egg" says to me that you're not credible or, you're incredibly lazy.

2.) No profile description - no follow! If you can't take the time to put down a few words about your business, I'm not about to spend the time guessing what the nature of your business is. Also, a link to your website or blog assures me that you're serious about promoting your business.

3.) I'm really not interested in what grocery store you're at. No offense, but this is Twitter for business, not Twitter for friends. Friends may want to know what you're up to every minute of the day and night but really, I don't need all that information.

4.) Avoid profanity. If you want to swear, that's your prerogative. But I tend to un-follow businesses and individuals who use profanity in their Tweets. It's just unpleasant and negative and conveys an unprofessional message that you're really not serious about building long term business social networking relationships.

5.) Don't use all 140 characters in your Tweets. Okay, this is not officially a social networking blunder as much as a pet peeve; sometimes I would love to re-Tweet something to help promote a fellow business but can't because all 140 characters have been used in the original Tweet. Try to be as concise as possible and perhaps your Tweets will get some extra mileage.

Using Twitter as a social networking tool for business is great. Take the time to learn the basics of Twitter and prepare before you launch into the Twitter universe! Follow businesses and individuals who you think would benefit from your product or service and treat your online followers with the same courtesy and respect as you treat the prospects you meet in person.