How do you Tweet? Things I learned from 'Tweet N Eat'

So, I’m not in sales.  But I went to the West Des Moines Chamber’s ‘Tweet N Eat’ lunch and learn, because my personal Twitter account is…well, sad.

I forget about my account for weeks at a time.  When I do tweet, the entertainment level is mediocre at best.  That is, unless I’m retweeting something.  Nine times out of ten, it’s about stellar things New View is doing (Hint, hint!). 

Yesterday’s panel of professionals whom use Twitter for business were really helpful.  Not only did I learn how to tweet a bit more strategically, I learned I can branch out from my often-used hash tags.  That’s about as advanced as I’ve gotten in the year (or more) I’ve been on Twitter.

Whether for business or professional use, here’s what I learned:

1. Encourage a call to action! – This tip rang out most to me.  Twitter can’t and won’t do anything for you if you don’t motivate your followers to do something, right?  Whether you encourage followers to visit your business or simply reply back to your post with an answer to your question, you need to encourage action.  Be interactive on Twitter, not just active.

2. Give out your username or “handle” as often as you can.  – I have noticed more and more business cards are including Facebook and/or Twitter icons – but rarely do I actually see their specific username (How can I follow you, if I don’t know your username?).   Sure, I could go home or get out my phone and search for your name or company name.  But let’s face it, Millennials, we’re lazy.  We want it and we want it now. 

3.  “If you follow me—I’ll follow you. – There’s more to this.  You can simply request to “follow” someone and hope they will “follow” you back.  But no one in business will ever tell you they got somewhere because of hope.  Sorry, the truth hurts (Wanting and hoping better breed some motivation to take some action otherwise your dreams are going down like my 5^th grade “Invention Convention” attempt.  I called it “The Reminder Machine,” but it didn’t actually require anything you’d think a “machine” would.  It was basically some fabric and post-its.  But I digress…). Do everything you can to ensure those you “follow” will reciprocate.

4. When someone takes the time to give you/your business a shout out on Twitter, you should reply! – It’s polite and no matter what people say (including me), we Millennials really do enjoy and appreciate manners.

5. How you use your Twitter account needs to be based on your industry type and customer demographic. – A marketing consultant will not use Twitter for their business in quite the same way a restaurant owner will.   The marketing consultant may post links to interesting or insightful business articles that they feel their existing or potential clients would find useful.  The restaurant owner may post Saturday’s food and drink specials, in order to draw a bigger crowd that night.

The tips I learned from the panel were endless.   While I can’t possibly share them all, I do want to share a few last things:

·         No matter what type of business you use your Twitter account for, balance in your tweets, some should be links to business articles and some should be more personal.
·         Ensure some of your  tweets link to articles and business related material

·         In an increasingly tech-savvy world, it’s very important to find new ways to create connections with your patrons

Question:  Do you tweet?  If so – do you have any great tips to share?

Panelists from the ‘Tweet N Eat’ lunch and learn:

Phil James, Good Milkshake LLC -- @goodmilkshake

Katie Bradshaw, Jasper Winery --@jasperwinery

Jeff Garrison, EOS -- @jcgarrison

Jeremiah Terhark, DSM Daily -- @dsmdaily

Josh Poindexter, DSM Daily  -- @dsmdaily

Moderator:  Danny Beyer -- @DannyBeyerIA

Lindsey Mathews
New View Board Member & Outreach Committee Chair
Project Delivery Coordinator
Shive-Hattery Inc.

Turning dreams into reality

For years, I would pass storefronts with “For Lease” signs in them and my mind would instantly evaluate the space to see if it met my criteria to be a martial arts school. Most of the time something about the space didn’t fit, so I would nix it from my head. On other occasions, it was about the time; it wasn’t right. For a variety of reasons, my martial arts school wasn’t meant to be…Yet.

Since I moved to the Des Moines area, I have been training primarily in backyards and basements with a few people. During this time, I have fine tuned my teaching skills along with seeking new avenues of learning for myself. 

In retrospect, I had set the stage for opening the school long ago and the pieces finally fell into place in 2010. In April of this year, I opened the doors to Kapatiran Suntukan Martial Arts.

This isn’t to say it was easy.  I needed to figure out if I could afford it and did a lot of jumping through hoops to make it work, but I made it happen. I believe wholeheartedly that when we set our minds to reach a goal, we have it within us to achieve them.

The expressions of the martial arts I teach have a balance of understanding our surroundings and what to do when the fecal matter flies. These skills are transferable from physical aspects to conversational skills; however, both take practice to gain that understanding.

The basis for both styles I teach is movement. This movement is a combination of evasion and body english to put you in a position that will be advantageous to you while breaking down the structure of your opponent. This translates into a conversation of understanding the dynamic that is established, as well as what your goal is. This will show how you need to approach the discussion.

 Depending on the situation and the goal, you may need to confront it head-on, or you may need more subtle tactics to deflect attacks to get your point across. 

I offer one free class (in either style), so you can try them out and see which is better suited for you.

Drop by the school and give it a go.

To explore a little more, visit: http://www.ksma.us/desmoines.html

Email me at:mailto:%20jay@ksma.us

Or give me a call at: 515.255.9698.

There is a West Des Moines Chamber Ribbon Cutting at the school on June 22 at 5:15. We are located at 4930 Franklin Ave. in Des Moines. Stop by to check it out, have some food and soft beverages and ask questions.

Jay M Carstensen
Director: KSMA
Jay@ksma.us