This is Chapter 9 of my book in the making — Twitter for Skeptics.
If you’ve ever worked in fast-food (as I have) you may recall seeing a sign like this: “If you have time to lean, you have time to clean.” The idea of course is that you should never be idle — there’s always work to be done and even the smallest increment of time can be put to productive use. But do we really put this rule into practice in our everyday lives?
In an online poll conducted by Slashdot.org, 63% of the respondents admitted to actually working less than 6 hours out of a typical 8-hour work day. So when people in my seminars voice a common objection and say they don’t have time to tweet, what they often mean is that they don’t want to spend their time tweeting (mainly because they don’t yet understand why they should).
Not having the time to tweet is not really the issue. We can see from the results of the poll above that in a typical workday for a lot of people, at least one-quarter of their day is being under-utilized. In other words, people have the time to tweet, and could make this activity a productive part of their workday, if they chose to make it a priority.
What Can Happen When You Make Time for Twitter
Still not convinced you have the time to tweet? Consider the story of Kyle Clayton, owner of an industrial cleaning service, Jackrabbit Janitorial. Even with the demands of running his janitorial business as a sole-proprietor and its sole employee, Kyle still finds time to tweet in between his regular cleaning duties. Says Kyle, “if I have one hand on the vacuum I have the other on my phone reading incoming tweets.”
In his case, he uses a mobile phone to stay connected with his network on Twitter. You may be asking what kind of network an industrial janitor could possibly have on Twitter that would justify the time that he spends there. Well, according to Clayton, his consistent updates on Twitter — whether it’s posting pictures to congratulate a client on its recycling initiatives, or simply using the platform to develop lasting customer relationships — have resulted in over 30 new clients and a 49 percent increase in sales!
Strategies to Make Your Twitter Time More Effective
Firstly, you have to make the time to tweet. Then you have to make the times that you do tweet more efficient and effective. For example, if you’ve just finished writing a proposal (or some other time-intensive task) at your job, take a few minutes to check Twitter and send a tweet or two before moving on to the next project. Or if you find yourself in a waiting room somewhere, there’s a good chance it will have free wireless access, so what better time to whip out your smartphone and get in a few tweets while you’re waiting around doing nothing?
At the very least, try checking your incoming tweets for a few minutes every day. If you’re really pressed for time, log in first thing in the morning, then again around mid-day, and one final time at the end of your day (that could be 5pm or 5am, depending on your personal schedule). That way, no messages that have been addressed to you personally will go unanswered for very long. You can also use tools like Twitter Lists to group specific individuals together and to keep track of those people you are particularly interested in.
On Twitter you have 140 characters to play with — not everything needs to be Shakespeare. Make your tweets interesting yes, but don’t overthink it. Heck, you can even tweet about your breakfast if you want to! When you make Twitter an organic, enjoyable part of your day, you’ll have no problem finding the time to tweet!
Connect with Don
Don Power is a Social Media Consultant, Professional Speaker, Editor, and soon-to-be Author of “Twitter for Skeptics.” Don inspires individuals and businesses to view Social Media as the world’s most powerful Opportunity Engine.
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
