I am currently attempting (I stress “attempting”) to create a list of the most influential business twitter users in Ireland.

I am basing this on three factors and weighting them in this order

Num of Retweets and @Mentions
Num of Irish Followers
Total Num of Followers

The results so far have proving very surprising to say the least. Here is a taster of what I mean.

#People with 10,000s of followers and virtually no RTs or @mentions.

#Big Irish brands with lots of followers, but very few RTs or @mentions

#Irish State/Semi State bodies with lots of followers, but very few RTs or @mentions.

#Irish Social Media/Tech Experts with very few RTs or @mentions.

#In fact if you take the top 100 Irish users with the most followers, a surprisingly large amount have very little no RTs or @mentions.

Now this was never going to be name and shame project. In fact my objective was rather to discover the people in Ireland I had most to learn from. That being said, I am very surprised with lack of effectiveness of so many Irish people and organisations with large numbers of followers.

To be clear, I am not questioning the tool here, I am questioning the people using the tool I think it raises an interesting question.

Why would people continue to put time and energy into a tool that appears to generate so little return for them?

Here are some possible causes in my opinion, please let me know if you can think of more.

#Many continue to be obsessed with numbers of followers. The fact that these same followers are paying no attention does not appear to resonate.

#Many continue to view and use Twitter as a broadcast tool only, they remain oblivious to its potential as a relationship builder.

#Many organisations start using Twitter because they feel it’s expected, rather than asking, what could Twitter add to this organisation?

#Twitter merely reflects a society where many are bad listeners or are only focused on the “what’s in it for me?”

#The wrong people within organisations are being entrusted with the responsibility to manage Twitter

#Much of the training/content spoken and written about Twitter is focused on the wrong places - It lacks the sophistication needed to teach people to get the most out of the tool.

The reality is that in most cases, it is probably a combination of above and more. The challenge as I see it is this. Twitter is an extremely easy tool to start to use, the amount of learning is minimal. Twitter is a difficult tool to use effectively, the amount of learning required is much more.

There lies the gap, most people can use Twitter but many struggle to use it in a sophisticated and worthwhile way. In many cases, followers aside, we are still struggling to get it.

Btb Guest Author

Claire Boyles

I’ve been on facebook a couple of years now, and I love it. It’s fun, I get to have a laugh with my friends- lots of my friends are living in England and I’m based in Dublin so it’s great; a cost effective way to stay connected to people I care about. It has gotten me reconnected with friends that I haven’t seen in 10 or 20 years. Often conversations have been sparked off by comments on friends status updates, and I’ve made new facebook friends in this way. I’ve also made new real friends through facebook- friends of people I already know, that I’ve had the pleasure of meeting in “real” life too.

Then there’s the random friend requests I receive from complete strangers, serial networkers, who, for the most part don’t even tell me why they want to be my friend. I’ve accepted these requests in the past, but given them limited access to my information. This has it’s pro’s and cons. I would like to make use of my online presence so that I remain open to business opportunities.

In fact I’ve got clients through facebook- from people clicking through to my website and reading my blog, from reading my status updates & initiating conversations with me. And that’s something I want to maintain and make good use of, especially as I coach because I love what I do- I love making positive differences to people’s lives. I had one experience where I had to remove someone from my friends as they were contacting all my friends and spamming them. I’ve also had to remove posts to my wall that were advertisements for their business!! I mean really, just HOW on earth do you think that is ok?

There is another drawback to this situation- facebook has now, more than ever become my public face. It’s become the way I am seen by the world, it’s become a marketing tool and I’ve become more and more prudent about what I do and don’t share. That has affected the social side of facebook- I can no longer be blaze and carefree about what I’m laughing about. I can no longer openly discuss, or have debates about personal views. Things can often be misinterpreted.

Also at times I want to let off a bit of steam to my friends, have a rant about something that I find irritating, sometimes even I ask for help. These things are not congruent with my brand. They make me human of course, but when people look for coaching/inspiration they want to see the solutions to their own issues, not someone in the middle of one! If you drink then you’ve also got the added risk of drunken photo’s being uploaded, thankfully I don’t have this one but I do attend parties and am in photo’s where others are in this situation!

One solution is to set up a business page- which I’ve done, but having separate status updates for another social media account is really not that attractive for me- I want to be more efficient and reduce the workload, not increase it!

Sadly this means that my facebook profile, although still very sociable, has shifted its emphasis. I’ll miss the open discussions I’ve had in the past. Sure I’ll still be able to keep in touch with my friends, and make new ones, but not in the same way.

Think carefully about how you use your online presence, social media is very useful and practical, but if you’re using it as a marketing tool the social aspect can be reduced dramatically.

It’s the age old dilemma, do we mix business with pleasure?

Connect with my personal account http://www.facebook.com/ClaireBoyles

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Claire Boyles is a leading Irish business coach. In 2007, she founded her own company called Management Matters . She has created a style of coaching which is totally client centred and specifically sets out to identify the clients’ skills, assets and weaknesses; this empowers clients to transform weaknesses into strengths.  Clients working with Management Matters have found that obstacles that previously seemed insurmountable soon appear like mole hills and they achieve far more than they ever believed was possible!

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Over at TSE today

Cold Call vs Warm Call vs Social Media

Tuesday July 28th 2009 6.00 PM GMT

Is cold calling dead?
Is email marketing ineffective?
Aren’t you on social media yet?
Feeling a little confused?

A panel of experts from each of these backgrounds will discuss metrics and successes for different sales strategies and YOU can be the judge. Will those on the panel agree? We guess not…. Join the call and add YOUR comments…

Part one received a great response. A BIG thank you to everyone who took the time to read it.

Are you being Talked About?

You hope so?

This is a very simple way to use twitter. You can monitor for mentions of you or your brand. If people are saying (tweeting) good things, and even when they are tweeting bad things; if you engage in the conversation - Twitter gives you an opportunity to market yourself in a positive way.

Get Talked About (RTed)

It’s easy, just SHARE

I am not a big brand, so when I started using twitter, I had only a very limited number of mentions in the twittersphere - I knew I needed to change this.

• The easiest way to get RTed on Twitter is through offering your Twitter friends (followers) great content.
• Get RTed by RTing your Friends - this is critical step towards building effective marketing on Twitter.
• Remember, the more you RT others - the more lightly they will do the same for you.

Now, if I twit a piece of information like a new blog post on Twitter, many others will RT which in turn sends additional people to my blog. So far, this has meant an additional 50-100 visitor per day.

Note: All this helps to build your friends (followers) organically. Simply put, the more you put in - the more friends and RTs you will get back out.

RT @nialldevitt #twittertip make sure you comment/recommend why someone should read the RT

RT @nialldevitt #twittertip if you want to be RTed, make sure you keep your tweets to less than 140 characters

Who are you Talking to?

The art of conversation

As I mentioned, I am at heart; a salesperson - this is the bit that really interested me about Twitter . Can it help me to sell my services? The answer is a resounding YES.

One big advantage, Twitter has over other social media is that it predominately happens in real time - hence you can have live conversations in the Twitter virtual world.

If you think about it, Twitter is the perfect online environment for the sales professional because:

• You have live opportunities to listen
• You have live opportunities to ask questions
• You have live opportunities to start conversations

And these are all key skills in developing relationships (prospects) …..Yippee!

Ok, so the questioning and listening skills that are required might be more subtle; than say those needed in a traditional face to face setting (meeting). I definitely believe it’s worth the effort, because the opportunity to do so is enormous.

Remember: RTing is at the start and heart of this process - In essence, it is both the seed and the building block rolled into one.

One of the reasons I really get Twitter is, I know that with the right amount of savvy - I can get to talk to key people within organizations right now. Going down more traditional prospecting routes, these same conversations could take me weeks to achieve. If you factor in the Twitter culture (the RT) you quickly come to realise - that Twitter is highly sophisticated business development tool.

Taking it Offline

VERY IMPORTANT!

If you really really want to maximise on Twitter’s potential, the next step is to take these relationships offline.  Again, this is easy, start by sending a DM and then arrange to have phone conversation, a coffee or a meet up.

RT @nialldevitt #twittertip every day, take one online relationship and make it offline

It’s Additive

I hope you enjoyed my Twitter Story thus far. I am off to tweet and retweet. You can catch me on Twitter @ http://www.twitter.com/nialldevitt

Please don’t be a follower, be a friend

As some may already know, I was once upon a time social media sceptic. While I could see a distant value in using these tools, I remained unconvinced as to how an old fashioned sales gun like me - could generate real B2B sales using social media.

If I was sceptical about social media in general, I was entirely sceptical about Twitter. It appeared to me at first glance to be a lowest common denominator kind of tool.

My initial impressions

Having thousands of followers appeared to be the name of the game. With so many tweets and re-tweets, how could a B2B salesperson like me develop anything that resembled a meaningful business relationship on here? Where is the sophistication I thought? This is a nothing but a school yard tool containing a myriad of little broadcasts and where no one appeared to be listening.

So about two months ago and against my own better judgement - I decided to persevere with Twitter.

I started with Three Objectives

1. While having thousands of followers might be nice, I was only interested in people who genuinely wanted to follow me.
2. I had to be able to take these on-line relationships to an off-line setting, if I was to realistically create sales opportunities.
3. This had to be doable in either faster or easier terms than my traditional business development efforts to make Twitter worth while for my business.

So what I have I learnt?

Is Unique because it’s Pick Up and Go

Twitter is unique; It’s a “pick up and go” tool. It is it’s simplicity of use that makes it so effective. As I said earlier, I initially thought that this was a failing, but now realise that this is what actually makes it so effective . This is also probably one of the main reasons behind its massive popularity.

It Takes Time to Truly Get It.

That’s right, even though it is easy to use, it still takes time to work out how best to use it. While its functionality may be straight forward, the potential of this functionally is not. This is where the learning is, and this is what takes time to master.

So it’s a Broadcast Tool, Right?

Yes it is, but that is less than half the story.

Twitter is a truly amazing broadcast tool. It allows you to instantaneously tweet and get information out there. If others see value in this information, they will re-tweet it, further maximising on your potential audience.

It’s about Followers and Lots of them?

NO ITS NOT!!

The term “followers” is in my opinion an unfortunate Twitter description. It is the interpretation of what is a follower? And why should I follow? That turns people off understanding and using twitter effectively.

I prefer to think of my followers and those that I follow as “friends” or perhaps a more approvite description might be “potential friends”

• Remember, having followers in not worthwhile unless the follower is worthwhile.
• If you are interested in using Twitter as a genuine business development tool – do not treat it as a popularity contest.
• Having lots of followers is a result rather than an objective of using Twitter effectively.

The Most Important Letters are R and T

RT @damienmulley: Advising to follow “influencers” on Twitter is downright ignorant/fatal. Everyone has influence due to 2 letters: R and T

Damien Mulley brilliantly highlights through one of his tweets why re-tweeting is the most important thing that you will do on Twitter.

Think of retweets (RT) as Twitter’s very own currency.

• RTs build your followers, If you re-tweet someone - that person is much more likely to follow you.
• RTs lead to more people RTing you, If you re-tweet someone, they will nearly always RT you back.
  
• RTs are the first step in building proper relationships on Twitter.
• RTs not followers are the real indication of your influence on Twitter.

In Part 2

In Part 2, I will be discussing why in my opinion, Twitter should be used as both a Sales and a Marketing tool and why if you only see Twitter as a marketing tool - you might very well be missing the Twitter boat.

Follow me on

In the News

Over at Top 10 Sales Articles, Diane Helbig has taken a commanding lead, but it’s still early days - have you voted yet?

I recently passed the 100 post mark on this blog.

To say that I have learnt a lot in between would be an understatement. To say that I have lots more to learn, would require an even bigger understatement.

It has been an enjoyable, frustrating and fascinating experience. I have gained readers; I have gained new customers and best of all I have gained many great new friends.

My posts have resulted in praise, in controversy, and in scorn. Readers have agreed with me strongly and readers have disagreed, with equal amounts of passion.

Perhaps, now is a good time to step back, and evaluate what has a 100+ posts taught me, about blogging and blogging for business.

Lesson Number 1 - Quality always Beats Quantity

With the amount of available information that is out there, you need to stand out from the crowd. To this end, it is always better to focus your efforts on the quality of your posts, rather than the quantity.

People now have a much shorter attention span, so to get them to actually read what you have written - requires that you offer something of real value. Spend enough time constructing each post, giving extra special attention to your headline (eye-catching) and your first paragraph.

Lesson Number 2 – Never Ever Sell

So many business blogs are merely a series or reworded advertisements for the particular business. It’s awful, awful, and awful and gives nothing of real value to the reader. Instead think Give! - give advice, give insight and give resource. Make your blog valuable, in the eyes of your readers.

So instead pose questions, stimulate debate, provide commentary, and invite other experts to write interesting posts. Remember, the more value your blog brings to your readers - the more lightly that these same readers will become your customers.

Lesson Number 3 – Popular won’t always mean Popular.

There can sometimes be a tendency to jump on a particular bandwagon, and post about what everyone else is posting about. While this can be sound strategy for more established bloggers - it is rarely sensible for new bloggers to follow suit. Where possible, try instead to come up with new ideas and new topics - or at least differing angles for your posts.

It’s perfectly OK to be controversial, so long as your opinions are considered, and that you truly believe in what you are saying. Be careful, because once you have committed a point of view to the public domain - you will need to be able to back it up.

Lesson Number 4 – Engage with Your Readers

The very best thing about blogs is that, they allow for you to engage and debate with your readers. If someone takes the time to comment and give their point of view, make sure to respond and thank them.

Don’t just engage with people through your own blog, instead follow them home to their blog and leave a comment. Reading and engaging with others bloggers, not only increases readership of your blog – but is a super super way of generating ideas for new posts. Be sure to credit the other person and invite them to continue to partake in the ongoing discussion.

Lesson Number 5 – Don’t Be Afraid to be Yourself

A big mistake many new business bloggers make is to try and write in a so called “professional manner” It’s much more important to try to be yourself and to let your uniqueness out itself in your writing. If you like a joke, well then - have a joke.

Don’t burden yourself with having to sound, or come across - all professional like. The most important thing is your message, and that you communicate it with language your readers will understand.

So it’s 100+ posts down, and hopefully many more to go.  I could say more, but I will save for it 200+.

Can I take this opportunity to say a BIG thank you, to the readers, to those of you who left such great comments, to those that republished my posts and to anyone from anywhere who ever stopped by.

Warning: By the way, blogging is bloody addictive and I still cant spell LOL.

Published by Niall Devitt @ BtbTraining  

Well, I think sales people don’t have a bad reputation. They are simply no more RELEVANT. Why? Read “death of a sales man”. No no no - I mean read it NOW - read it again - NOW. It will tell you WHY. If you don’t believe me - you don’t believe me like the main character in the plot didn’t listen to the youngsters who took over. Dave (Stein), you want to give them a “entirely different orientation” - wooo how cool is that. Terry, are you still hanging on to the old “solution selling stuff” from 30 years ago? Next comment may be about the “reference selling” method, or all the other good old ways of selling. Anybody up for the “killer instinct” Rarrrrrrr. How about the good schools from Miller Heiman…

Come on people what are you dreaming about at night? You are over fertilized and squeezed out people that try harder and harder to meet the commission, the forecast to walk through your “funnel” that is more like a “tunnel” with no light at the end. You get asked to work harder - you pull in more cold calls, you “align” you call centers… How about finding yet another more fine tuned sales methodology based on Yogi what’s his name. Don’t you realize that YOUR way of selling is DEAD

This is a comment by Axel Schultze from Dave Brock’s post “Why do Sales People have such a Bad Reputation?” on  The Customer Collective. This new type of pitch from a new type of salesperson refers to the role of social media tools in the B2B selling environment. Axel followed this up with his own post on this topic Death of a Salesman - Version 2009.

So REALLY, how effective are these new technologies in producing additional sales? and are they now, as has been claimed in some quarters already replacing established sales methodology and processes?

Well according to a new study by ES Research Group, Inc. (ESR), one of the leading research and advisory firms on sales effectiveness, social media tools such as Jigsaw, LinkedIn,Twitter, Plaxo, Facebook, Hoovers and OneSource may be useful for other purposes, but most of them aren’t helping sales teams close many B2B deals today. The survey was developed in cooperation with The TAS Group.

Based on a survey of nearly 400 sales professionals in the U.S., the report found that only LinkedIn (86%) and Hoovers/OneSource combined (61%) were used by more than half of respondents in their selling efforts. Facebook (50%), Plaxo (48%), Twitter (31%), and Jigsaw (26%) trailed in use.

Note: Hoovers and OneSource are separate companies but were combined for survey purposes because of their similar services.

Of respondents actually using the tools for sales, Hoovers and OneSource were the only tools helping more than half (54%) of them win B2B sales sometimes or often. LinkedIn was next at 42% and Jigsaw followed at 35%. Worst were Facebook (15%), Plaxo (13%) and Twitter (13%).

“The results demonstrate that with all the hype and buzz, most social network tools aren’t helping sales teams sell more yet,” Said Dave Stein, CEO and founder, ES Research Group. “For example, Twitter has not come into its own as a salesperson’s tool. It is presently a marketing tool that can potentially benefit the sales organization by contributing to the generation and nurturing of new sales leads. For now, the use of sales methodologies integrated with CRM systems and other sales enablement tools are proving far more successful in driving sales.”

Other key findings include the following:

• LinkedIn is clearly the favorite among B2B salespeople surveyed.
• The established for-pay information services (Hoover’s and OneSource) came in second.
• Free/low-cost information sharing services such as Jigsaw will rise in popularity over time.
• Twitter is an anomaly. It will have a high degree of uptake, but in a very narrow market. Marketing will find the tool much more valuable than sales for the foreseeable future. Presently it is not a valuable mainstream medium for B2B salespeople.
• For the time being, Facebook is best reserved for the personal and family sides of one’s life.

The ESR survey of sales representatives in a broad set of industries examined the prospecting process, the selling process, and the storage and retrieval of customer and prospect information.

No one doubts, the evolving role that social media technologies will play in the B2B selling environment, however the evidence clearly demonstrates that their present significance is no where near what some would have us believe. This is a topic of conversation that we will no doubt re-visit as the months and years go by. For now though, I applaud Dave and the ES research group for seeking out the facts of the matter, and for giving me the reassurance to continue to deliver the best advice for my customers and their sales people.

Buy the 10-page ESR/Insight™ Brief , The New Social Media: Do They Enable B2B Selling?

Over at Top Sales Experts,

Our Timetable for April includes:

First up in April is the inaugral TSE Roundtable- “The Future Of Professional Selling” featuring five of the world’s leading sales experts: Jill Konrath, Linda Richardson, Dave Stein, Nigel Edelshain, and Jonathan Farrington.

This an event you really should not miss out on - simply click on the banner below for full details and to book your place.

On April 16th, we launch the TSE Webinar Series, and I know that you are going to be very impressed with the line-up of almost FIFTY top sales gurus, who will be delivering top class presentations - simply click on the banner below to see the full schedule.

On April 21st, we launch “Sales Hardtalk” a daily dose of hard hitting advice, commentary and sales tips - easily downloadable and in bite size chunks, not to be missed.

Finally, at the end of April, the Top Sales Experts team will be launching their latest Ebook, packed with contributions from all of us - more details soon.