Not Using Twitter to Grow Your Environmental Business, Why Not? 

Social networking sites like Twitter have been growing at an astronomical rate during the past several years.  Twitter has been ranked as one of the top 50 most popular websites worldwide by Alexa's web traffic and as of February of this year Neilson.com ranked Twitter as the fastest-growing website of its type with a monthly growth of 1,382%.  Millions of individuals, and companies, now have Twitter accounts and regularly post messages - or "tweets" about their lives or businesses.
 
The incredible power of Twitter came to light during the recent unrest in Iran that saw the social networking tool being used by protestors to get their messages out to the world.  Even celebrities and politicians like Barack Obama, Ashton Kutcher and Oprah Winfrey post messages on Twitter that are followed by millions of readers.  Industry has also taken notice of the power of Twitter and thousands of savvy firms now use the tool to communicate quickly and efficiently with their customers and potential customers. 
 
So why have so few environmental and indoor air quality related firms begun using this powerful marketing and networking tool.  One reason may be that it is a fairly new form of social media having been created in 2006, but here are the reasons you should take advantage of this marketing tool.  The fact that Twitter is free and is one of the fastest growing websites in the world should make you take notice, to top it off it's so easy to use.
 
Simply visit www.twitter.com and open an account.  The process takes about 5 minutes and you are now ready to post messages.  To post a message you simply type in your message or copy and paste a link, or an article, to your account.  These text-based posts are limited to 140 characters so the messages are short and easy to do. 
 
Your message has now been instantly sent and it didn't cost you anything but a few moments of your time.  One thing to consider when you are setting up a commercial account is you want to allow as many readers as possible to view your posts and there are various options provided by Twitter regarding who can see your "tweets" or posts during the setup process.  Also be sure to take the short amount of time (as little as one to two minutes is all that's needed) to post 3 to 5 times a week to keep your site fresh and give your readers a reason to be connected with you. 
 
Once you have opened an account and begun posting you need to have readers for this tool to have marketing value.  Get the word out to your customers and prospects about your "tweets" by:

You can even entice followers to join by announcing that your company will be offering special promotions directly through your Twitter account with posts detailing the specials.  As more readers begin following your posts you may be tempted to jumpstart your number of readers through offers you receive via email by companies promising instant followers.  Be cautious if considering going this route and please read this recent article from MSNBC.  Also, just like your online bank account never give out your Twitter login information to anyone.
 
Cochrane & Associates, LLC, the environmental, mold and indoor air quality industries' only dedicated marketing, public relations and business development consulting firm recently began using Twitter to provide tips, articles and resources to industry professionals.  Interested parties can follow the tweets by clicking here or connect to a link at the company website www.cochraneassoc.com.  
 
Connecting with the industry through Twitter is a great tool for all marketers to use.  It is one of the fastest and most economical ways to reach people and provide valuable information and environmental companies should be using it to grow their businesses.
 
While for many companies their website may be their business hub, the use of social networking sites like Twitter allow companies to create other avenues to drive customers back to the website.  

These are just a few tips to help you market your environmental and indoor air quality businesses using social media.  I hope you give social media a chance to enter your strategic marketing plans as it is a free and successful tool to use in growing your environmental business.
 
About the author:
Paul Cochrane is the founder and president of Cochrane & Associates, LLC.  The company is a business development, marketing and public relations consulting firm specializing in the IAQ and environmental industries.  Mr. Cochrane is a 13 year veteran of the industry and has been a frequent guest author in numerous industry publications.  
 
For more information about how Cochrane & Associates can help your business thrive in a tough economy please visit: