SOUTH SHORE COMPUTER REPAIRAPRIL 2012

Twitter: For Business and Pleasure

What Is Twitter?

For an individual, Twitter is an information network. On Twitter, anyone can read, write and share messages of up to 140 characters. These messages (called “tweets”) are public and available to anyone interested in them. Twitter users subscribe to your messages by following your account. Followers receive every one of your messages in their timeline.

As a business owner, you can use Twitter to quickly share information, gather market intelligence and insights and build relationships with people who care about your company.

Twitter Terminology

Twitter has a language all its own...

If you see… It means this…

RT

Example: RT @SSCRepair: Local Author’s Book Now Available On CreateSpace - http://t.co/nEXp2JHL

RE-TWEET

A re-tweet is a way of sharing with the people who follow you on Twitter something you think is interesting (or that you think your followers will find interesting)

MT

Example: MT @SSCRepair: Local Author’s Book Now Available On CreateSpace - http://t.co/nEXp2JHL. Perfect for kids (big & little)! #fb

MODIFIED TWEET

Similar to a re-tweet but slightly changing the original tweet message

@USERNAME

Example: @SSCRepair’s Marketing Chick is really looking forward to talking with @AnyPCservice on Monday afternoon!

MENTION

This is a way to publicly direct your tweet to any Twitter user. It makes your message stand out a little more but is still public for all to see.

D or DM

Example: DM @AnyPCservice: What would you like @SSCRepair to talk about on Monday’s radio show?

DIRECT MESSAGE

A direct message is private between you and anyone you include in the direct message. This is good for quick conversation or information sharing that you don’t want the world to see.

Twitter Terminology

Twitter has a language all its own...

If you see… It means this…

#FF

Example: This week’s #FF goes out to @FlatIronCafe and @AnyPCservice. Great food from first; interesting chat w/second!

FOLLOW FRIDAY

Following someone on Twitter that you think your followers might find interesting or useful? The Follow Friday trend was started to call attention to other tweeps

That last Twitter term brings us to perhaps the most confusing of all Twitter lingo: The Hashtag (#)…

Users often prepend # to words in their Tweets to categorize them for others. Think of hashtags as the theme of your Tweet. Users can then click on a hashtag to see other similarly-themed tweets and find yours in search.

Example Tweet: Upside of #CSCGSC? Seeing peeps & great presentations. Downside? I had to wear shoes for four days. #homeworkerproblems

Got a problem with a particular product or service and can’t get a resolution via customer service? Send them a tweet – you’d be surprised what happens when you direct a public tweet to a company. It can be easier and faster to get better customer service via Twitter.

Want to follow a breaking news story? Use Twitter’s search engine (http://search.twitter.com) to find out who’s tweeting about the latest local, national or global breaking story. You can either start following their tweets about that story or see which hashtags are being used to report on that story and follow those.

Looking for local businesses and services or something to do on a Saturday night? Twitter is a great way to find out local news, information and resources from people, business and government in your area of interest.

Individual/Consumer Twitter Usage

Build your following, reputation and customer's trust with these simple practices:

1. Share. Share photos and behind the scenes info about your business. Even better, give a glimpse of developing projects and events. Users come to Twitter to get and share the latest, so give it to them!

2. Listen. Regularly monitor the comments about your company, brand, and products.3. Ask. Ask questions of your followers to glean valuable insights and show that you are

listening.4. Respond. Respond to compliments and feedback in real time5. Reward. Tweet updates about special offers, discounts and time-sensitive deals.6. Demonstrate wider leadership and know-how. Reference articles and links about the

bigger picture as it relates to your business.7. Champion your stakeholders. Retweet and reply publicly to great tweets posted by

your followers and customers.8. Establish the right voice. Twitter users tend to prefer a direct, genuine, and of course,

a likable tone from your business, but think about your voice as you Tweet. How do you want your business to appear to the Twitter community?

Source: business.twitter.com

Business Twitter Usage

How Are Local Businesses Using Twitter?

http://www.twitter.com/SSCRepair

Middleboro’s “Computer Guy” tweets out technology and marketing information and advice as well shares information about local businesses, services and events.

http://www.twitter.com/FlatIronCafe

Flat Iron Café loves to talk about their daily specials and what’s happening in and around Middleboro, Massachusetts.

http://www.twitter.com/TauntonToGo

Taunton’s favorite local newspaper shares links to various articles in the latest edition as well sharing information from in and around Taunton, Massachusetts.

Twitter Resources

Sign-up for Twitter by going to Twitter.com. You can use their website to start finding people and businesses to follow and start tweeting immediately.

If you want to use a Twitter desktop client (not your web browser) to read and send tweets, check out Windmill Networking’s list of the top 20 desktop clients for Twitter at URL: http://windmillnetworking.com/2012/01/31/top-20-twitter-clients-2012/

Smartphone users (Apple, Android and Windows) have a variety of mobile Twitter options as well. Android: Check out Nerd

Magazine’s 7 Popular and Best Twitter Apps - http://nerdsmagazine.com/7-popular-and-best-twitter-applicationapps-for-android-in-2012/

iPhone: Check out Mashable.com’s 5 iPhone Twitter Apps That Do More Than Tweet - http://mashable.com/2012/02/03/iphone-twitter-apps/

Windows: Back to Nerd Magazine and their listing of the 5 Best Twitter Apps For Windows 7 Phones - http://nerdsmagazine.com/5-twitter-applications-for-windows-mobile/

AFFORDABLE IT SERVICES FOR EVERYONE

South Shore Computer Repair

THE TRUSTED IT SERVICES PROVIDER AND PARTNER FOR INDIVIDUALS, HOME OFFICES AND

SMALL BUSINESSES IN SOUTHEASTERN MASSACHUSETTS

South Shore Computer Repair was created in January 2007 with the sole purpose of providing superior PC and IT services to home and small-business clients. We provide these services in our store, in your home or office or remotely.We are a small, family-run business that prides itself in not only reacting to your computer needs but providing proactive service, news and information to all of our clients.

Who Are We?

John Neely, The Computer Guy

John’s career has spanned a variety of industries, interests and talents but has been a computer geek since day one. He started South Shore Computer Repair after repeatedly hearing computer repair horror stories from friends, family and colleagues. Finding a trustworthy computer repair shop among the dozens in business in this area can be a challenging task and John’s goal is to offer affordable, reliable and trustworthy support and services to individuals and small businesses in Southeastern Massachusetts. John is a native of Carver but now lives with his lovely wife, Sherri, in Middleboro.

Sherri Hartlen-Neely, The Marketing Chick

Sherri has over 20 years of communications, marketing, public relations and event planning experience. She has put these talents to use in the publishing, insurance, museum and consulting industries. Sherri is not only responsible for marketing and communications for South Shore Computer Repair, but also offers a variety of marketing services to our corporate clients. Sherri grew up in Boston and Newton but chose Middleboro as her home in 2005.

Contact Us Any Time; Operators Are Standing By!

South Shore Computer Repair238 Centre StreetMiddleboro, Massachusetts 02346Phone: 508.947.1966Email: help@ssc-repair.com Web: www.ssc-repair.com Twitter: www.twitter.com/SSCRepair Facebook:

www.facebook.com/SSCRepair

You can also find us on Angie’s List, Foursquare, Google+ and Yelp

Shop Hours

Tuesday through Thursday3:00 PM to 6:00 PM

Friday1:00 PM to 5:00 PM

Saturday10:00 AM to 2:00 PM

If our shop hours do not fit within your hectic schedule, please contact us to setup a private appointment.