Posted By Industrial Web Solutions Marketing Team on May 22, 2009

This is not me, but whoever it is is probably Twittering.

Twitter has been around for quite a while.  Longer than most people think.  But now, the power of typing 140 characters at a time is beginning to show itself in some surprising places.  Particularly among industrial manufacturers.  We here at IWT are looking for every manufacturer we can so we can follow them and see how they are using the tool.  And it IS a tool.  And from what we have seen so far, everyone is using it differently.  Now, I am not saying there is one way to use it, but I will tell you what I do, and I would really love to find out how you use Twitter.

• I don’t follow people automatically.  Just because they followed me does not mean I am going to reciprocate.  If I get a follower who is following 957 people and they have only posted three things (or if everything they ever posted was a link) I will often skip them.  With anything – there are going to be spammers.
• Anyone who has anything in their profile about getting rich is immediately discarded.  If they know how to get rich, why are they trying to tell everyone on Twitter?
• I LOVE when people ask questions.  Think of Twitter as Instant Messaging that everyone can see.  If someone has an issue and I have some time, I will try to help them out.  I am not sure if Twitter has karma, but I am hoping it does.

I ask a ton of questions, and to be honest, sometimes I don’t get a ton of answers.  And I think that’s because a lot of the people I follow (at least so far) seem to be looking at Twitter as a one way street.  And that’s the piece I see some people missing.  I see tweets about a blog post, a new product or a press release and that’s all it is.  A link.  Will some people click it?  Sure.  But if you build up some relationships then you will get more.  And you will also know that you are participating in the Twitter community beyond self promotion.  Not to say that self promotion is bad (Go check out Industrial Web Search)!  But if everything I do is a link (and I am not a news service) I am going to lose followers fast.

Now – one of the things I did today was ASK if people wanted to be linked in this post.  I got two replies.  Not a lot.  But, I am going to do this every Friday.  So we will see if it catches on.  I will need some feedback, so let us know how you use Twitter, and make sure you get in on next week’s link list!  Check out the links after the jump.

The first link is to the company’s twitter page, the second is to their site.

• Tweetdeck – this is not a manufacturer – it is a great way to use twitter without having to keep your browser open all day.  I highly recommend it.  And it’s free.
• MFGcrunch – they are building a global online manufacturing community.  Check them out and see if they can help you.  Their main site is here.
• Balluff Sensors – I just met them today.  They responded to my request quickly and seem very nice.  So go check out their sensors.
• QC Industries – technically they did not respond to my request, but they are one of my best Twitter friends because we exchanged retweets a while back.  Anyone who retweets you is a good friend.  They make Low Profile Conveyors.

So – week one of project Twitter did not really set anything on fire, but I am really banking on that karma thing.  Let’s use Twitter as a walkie talkie, not just a one way radio.

Categories: industrial marketing, networking, Technology
Tags: links, twitter