Small Biz Survival

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A row of small town shops

Twitter doesn’t make sense

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“Twitter just hasn’t clicked for me,” a young woman told me.

She works for an art gallery in a small town. She has a Twitter account to manage, but hasn’t found it useful yet.

Alva's Graceful Arts Gallery
Small town art galleries are
natural community-builders. 

We talked a little longer, and I gave her this advice. I thought you might like it, too.

Don’t think of Twitter as a megaphone. Think of Twitter as a listening device.

  • Follow smart people. Learn from them. 
  • Politely step into conversations when you have a question or something to add. 
  • Filter out the noise to focus on listening. 

Focus on what you can learn on Twitter first, then think about what you can share second. 

Who might be smart people for this art gallery to follow?

  • Customers 
  • Suppliers
  • Other locals
  • People who work in the same role at other art galleries

I don’t care how many followers you have. If you want a number goal, find 50 smart people to follow.

What advice would you share with someone new to Twitter?

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About Becky McCray

Becky started Small Biz Survival in 2006 to share rural business and community building stories and ideas with other small town business people. She and her husband have a small cattle ranch and are lifelong entrepreneurs. Becky is an international speaker on small business and rural topics.

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Comments

  1. I definitely use Twitter as a “news gathering” tool. It’s a quick way to get new information that is relevant to me. And that’s what I recommend to others who aren’t sure how (or why) to use Twitter.

    At this point I haven’t personally used it to connect with prospective or current clients. Maybe down the road!

    Have a great week!

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