How To Sell Your Clients On Twitter
A couple of weeks ago, I was meeting a prospective (now current) client in a Starbucks. Behind me, there were two gentlemen discussing how they found it impossible to “sell” their clients on Twitter. Once I left, I started thinking up methods that they could have used.
1. Find Articles in Business Magazines
Business people trust business magazines and magazine websites more than anything else except the advice of their colleagues. Within seconds of searching, I found this excellent article on Twitter at Entrepreneur.com. Put together a print dossier of 2-3 business magazine articles to send to your clients who are still on the fence about Twitter.
2. Take a Deep Breath
Web designers and other digital media professionals are early adopters. We have often spent so much time researching these things for ourselves that we are amazed when others don’t “come around” the way that we do. With Twitter, you have the added bonus of people actually getting mad about being told that they should adopt it, with the oft-cited phrase “I don’t have time!”. If you have time to play Farmville on Facebook, you’ve got time to tweet. Problem being, you can’t say this to your clients. Just take a deep breath when someone gives you attitude about Twitter, and move on with the facts. You can still “sell” them on Twitter, just keep in mind that they need to go through a different process than you did.
3. Go Tweet Yourself
The best way to “sell” anyone on anything is to consistently use it well yourself. Change your e-mail signature to include your Twitter username. Do the same with your business cards. Then tweet whenever you have anything interesting to add to a conversation or to say to the world at large. You can then point to your own profile and give your own testimonials about how Twitter worked for you.
The client I was meeting in that Starbucks? I direct messaged them on Twitter and I have undertaken two copy projects for them so far, with a third on the way.
Twitter works. All you need to do is show your client results and they’ll be sold.
