7 Tips for Using Twitter for Business

Using Twitter for business has become one of the main social media activities. But effective tweeting for commercial purposes is easier said than done.

It boils down to the following 7 tips:

1. Getting more followers on Twitter

It is important to understand that the number of followers is not that relevant. What is far more important is the quality (or suitability) of followers. Once you get a notification that someone is following you, check who they are before following them back.

The same applies to the reverse: only follow contacts that are relevant for you, your business, and industry.

2. When to tweet and how much

If possible, find out when your target group is on Twitter. Research shows that the ideal number of tweets in the US is 10-20 a day; for Europe, this is a lot less.

3. Relevant Tweeters

Who are relevant tweeters to follow and invite?

• Users of your (or a similar) products or services
• People from your area and industry
• People that inspire (gurus, industry leaders)
• Your LinkedIn and Facebook contacts
• Subscribers to your newsletter
• Participants of your webinars or events
• Prospects you want to engage/land

4. Ideal Subjects for tweets

People like to see tweets about tips, highlights, hot items and news. Topics of tweets could therefore encompass:

• Trends and developments in your region/industry
• New products/services
• Discussion items
• Tips and advise
• Trends
• Hot industry and product news
• Webinar, promotions, news items
• FAQ
• Blog posts

5. Time to Tweet

It takes around 15 to 30 minutes daily to tweet. Research of finding relevant trends, articles and news items to tweet takes longer. It might pay off to enlist a subcontractor to tweet on behalf of your company. It is in many cases more cost effective and ensures quality and consistency!

6. Follow Up

People react in various ways. If the tweet contains useful tips or (news) articles, you need to retweet. Asking for advice is also a good way to get more exposure. Do not forget to put the hash tag in front of your question!

7. Monitoring

There are several tools to monitor your Twitter presence and progress. They include: Klout, PeerIndex, TweetRank en Twitalyzer.

Do you have more tips or tricks for tweeting for business? Please leave a message!

IKEA Bank – Taking Advantage of a Weak Economy?

IKEA has silently launched its banking business. Its latest target is the Netherlands. Ikano Bank is fully owned by the Kamprad family, the founders or the IKEA outlets. 

The Ikano bank is not supervised by the Dutch National Bank and is therefore not part of the guarantee safety net that applies for current (and official) Dutch banks.

Ikano Bank is planning to allow consumer credit lines in its outlets.  According to the Chamber of Commerce, it encompasses interest free loans as well as loans up to 10,000 Euro.

According to its annual report, Ikano issues debit cards and is planning to issue credit cards in order to “provide a range of credit products”.

Since Ikano is not supervised by the Dutch National Bank, it resembles the IceSave structure. If you remember, the Icelandic bank folded and was not supervised and covered by the Dutch bank guarantee system.

Currently, Ikano is only supervised by the Swedish system, but not the Dutch one. Caveat Emptor!

As far as I can tell, it is taking advantage of the current economy. According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, credit increase with 16 percent compared to the previous year.

Ikano started as a division of IKEA that manages real estate. In 1995, Kamprad established the bank, with one branch in Sweden. In 2009 the Ikano Group reorganized and clustered various financial activities.

Ikano Bank is currently a bank with branches in 16 countries Assets accumulate to Euro 203 million with outstanding loans of Euro 2.1 billion.  Income was reported at 342 million in 2011.

The bank is mainly active in Sweden, Denmark, Great Britain, Germany, Finland, Russia and Finland.  

The question remains: is IKEA taking advantage of consumers not being able to pay for IKEA merchandise the ordinary way? In that case – IKEA might find itself be caught up Dutch courts like Wehkamp once was....

Prison Fashion - Clever Marketing Ploy or Sincere Social Conscious?

Three graduates from the Rotterdam School of Management started an interesting initiative. Dave Geerders and Roy & Sascha Oosterbaan launched a new clothing brand called Stripes Clothing.

The Stripes Clothing items are made in prison by inmates. According to the company’s philosophy, they “advocate the use of your freedom to the fullest and stimulate specialized labor in prison. This way, inmates will regain self-confidence and gain skill to be used whenever they are given their freedom back. This will not only increase their chances in society, society as a whole will benefit from this too.”

The Ministry of Justice supports the project. It runs prison production in its jails that serves a wide range of enterprises. According to the MoJ, they stand for “quality, sufficient capacity, appealing prices and tailor-made”.  

The garments are designed by Said Lechheb, a talented young designer in his early twenties from Rotterdam, the Netherlands. He studies graphic design at the Willem de Kooning art academy.

It looks like our dynamic trio purchased T-shirts in bulk (from China?)  and just had them tweaked. "Walls Heritage" for example features a “khaki pocket made randomly from a used inmate overall, so each shirt is unique.”

The T-shirts are sold for $38 up; not exactly a bargain. Considering the design and production costs, it leaves a hefty profit for management.

Which makes me wonder - is this sincere sentiment or clever marketing using cheap labor & design to rake in the big bucks? What do you think?

Microsoft Surface Tablets Feature On Walls in NYC – a Clever Ad Campaign or Urban Fan Mail?

Is Microsoft  advertising its Surface tablets in a brand new way; on walls in the streets of NYC?

The Verge first posted a gallery of photos showcasing Surface artwork on a building wall in New York City. The wall features three tablet outlines, including colored keyboard attachments. The wall was professionally highlighted by lights (beyond your average street lanterns).

The mural advertisement does not provide any pricing information or product details. It only displays the word "Surface" in the center of each rectangle.

This leaves the question open if  this is:
(1)  an official Microsoft campaign, or
(2) the product of a dedicated fan with (too much)  time on his/ her hands.

Microsoft declined to comment on the street art. An official spokesperson only remarked that "unfortunately, at this time, we have nothing more to share regarding the advertisements."

It would not be the first time that Microsoft used creative advertising tactics. Windows Phone 7 was featured in street graffiti in 2010 in San Francisco, which left the city's Department of Public Works at the time quite upset. Microsoft also used similar doodles during its 2002 MSN launch.

Microsoft announced its upcoming family of Surface tablets in June. According to the company, the devices are the newest platform for its next-generation Windows 8 operating system. CEO Steve Ballmer boasted that he expects Microsoft to sell at least several million Surface tablets following its October 2012 launch.

That still did not answer the question if the writing on the wall is a clever ad campaign or urban fan mail.......