Chat with me

I contemplate new professional endeavors, for growth, on a daily basis. Some ideas come and are developed into strategies, others cease and desist; but I’m constantly thinking of new ways of learning, channeling my experience to teach others. I take risks – to say that I enjoy them may be taking it a little too far – but I like to experience anything and everything that I can that will enable me to grow into the professional that I am becoming.

I have truly learned to become Fearless.

As such, I’ve contemplated a new business strategy in order to increase client leads. But before I pitch it to my superior as a tactic we could follow for business development, I would like to test it on my own.

Let me introduce you to Tweet Chat, a platform that utilizes the popular hashtag to start and maintain conversations with Tweeps. Even though you can search for hashtags on Twitter, there’s another platform that you use to chat – tweetchat.com – it’s an up-to-the-second chat platform with your followers.

 

Best practices:

Pre-CHAT

Search desired hashtag to make sure that it is not already in use.

Searching for a hashtag is as easy as typing it into the search box on Twitter. If it doesn’t come up, then no one has used it. Be selective, make sure that it’s unique but not to the point of not being recognizable.

Schedule it

We are all creatures of habit; as such, it’s important to schedule your chat at the same time every week, and hosting a chat once per week is frequent enough. Promote it on social media, and post it on the tweetcalendar.

Timing

Before starting a chat, brainstorm your overall communications plan including topics that may be of interest to you and to your target market. Make sure that you have a complete understanding of the main topic, otherwise you lose integrity.

How long is too long? People have jobs, lives, and families, scheduling an hour or more chat may be extreme. Start with 30 minutes and then judge its popularity, or ask for feedback, then measure and adjust if necessary.

CHAT

Welcome people to the chat

If someone signs in to the chat, welcome them, or ask them to introduce themselves. A great ice-breaker and conversation starter as well.

List your topics clearly

When you introduce a new topic to the chat, make sure that it is clear and concise – this avoids confusion. If you’ve participated in chat previously, those making comments on the topic will also make it known which one they are contributing to. On that note, you should have a list of topics clearly laid out for the length of the chat, DO NOT come unprepared – especially when you are hosting.

Post-CHAT

Follow and tweet connections after the chat

Whether they contributed insights to the chat, or not, connect with them after the chat is over and tweet them, or send a DM.

Keep it educational, the best sales pitch is sometimes the most subtle. If you make yourself known as knowledgeable in your industry you will establish trust with your peers and it may even help generate new leads, and they may turn into new clients.