Twitter is a great tool for a lot of things. You can find out where people are, what they are doing or even who they are talking to. With 140 character blasts out into web space, we now know exactly what everyone is doing and when. But…there are still a lot of Twitter users that are not using this great social media outlet to its full potential. Yesterday, I used Twitter to outsource some work at a price that I could really get on board with. So how did I do it and how can you apply this to your blogging as you continue to use Twitter to promote your blog and solve your issues?
Using Twitter As A Resource
Wednesday night, I had a great recorded interview with Darren Rowse (@problogger). Over the course of 36 minutes of recorded phone conversation, we covered a lot of ground…and that meant a lot of text to type up. I don’t know about you, but I don’t have the time to sit around and transcribe all of that valuable interview content to text. It just isn’t happening in my schedule if I actually want to post a text version sometime in the next 6 months.
Instead of hitting up Google and finding who had SEO’ed their site the best. I went to Twitter and sent out one Tweet.
@robbsutton – Question: Anyone know a good, cheap transcription service?
Exactly 40 minutes later…almost to the second….a friend of mine, Yaro Starak, responded with…
@yarostarak – @robbsutton Try my good friend Becki at wordsintoprofits.com. Tell her I sent you 🙂
About an hour later…
@beckimaxson – @robbsutton Looking forward to transcribing your interview with @problogger!
It was seriously that easy. In a 24 hour period, I had my interview transcribed for a price that was incredible. To make matters even better, the quality of the transcription was better than I had seen out of any of the higher priced options out there. It was insanely easy and I got the price I wanted to pay at a quality that was higher than I was expecting. It really doesn’t get any better than that.
BTW…the interview with Darren will be live on RobbSutton.com on Monday morning. So be on the lookout.
Why Twitter Is Such A Great Resource
There is a lot of talk about the viral nature of Twitter and how you can use that leverage to promote whatever you have going on online (even if that is just brushing your teeth). But…you also have to remember that these same people you are talking to on a daily basis are using products and services that are related to your core subject matter. Why go to Google or another search engine find who has advertised the most that day? I would have never found the resource above on my own, and it was much better than anything I would have found through my own digging.
Twitter is a valuable resource to find real time, real world suggestions on products and services you are looking to use. All you have to do is ask, be a little patient on the responses and be open to suggestions.
It really does not matter what you are looking for…you can find it on Twitter.
7 comments
I would say no I’m not, but the fact that I just signed up on Tuesday probably has a lot to do with it.
I trying to find my voice with blogging (just started) but I do see the potential.
Every blogger has been right where you are right now. Keep at it!
I always post questions to Twitter, and I always get answers within a few minutes. It’s a great resource. I remember when I had big issue with my iMac. I posted a cry for help on Twitter and within 10 minutes I had fixed the problem.
I haven’t used Twitter to outsource yet, but it won’t be long until I do 🙂
Technical help is instant on Twitter. It’s amazing how many people want to reach out to help on Twitter when they wouldn’t normally anywhere else.
I love twitter, not only I got many of my questions answered, more and more of my business is coming from there. The other great thing is that I get to know more people with less travel.
Great post, Robb. I really like Twitter’s ease of use. However, to use Twitter to its full potential, as you describe, you have to have a descent following. This is not the case for me at this moment and the result is that questions don’t always get an answer. It is true, though, that Twitter has changed social media and the way we interact online.
Okay I have to say i really liked this post. Who would have thought of using twitter to actually take suggestions that you can use in real life. Well this has my wheels in my head turning a little bit now. I have a twitter profile myself and have found great results through just being personal and interacting on a regular basis.