First of all I want to start by saying how amused I am when I see all the words that people merge when describing their world as it associates with Twitter. Like Twitterverse, Tweetup, Twitterites, Twitterati, or Twittertastic. Okay, I made the last one up.
I thought I would share this posting by Erica OGrady in which she describes how a Houston coffee shop double it’s clientele through the use of Twitter. In a practical sense Twitter was used to generate to-go orders and speed up the excruciatingly slow process of pouring a cup of coffee. In a less-than practical sense Twitter was used to build a javacentric community which ultimately translated into repeat customers and group get togethers at their coffeeshop.
Shortly after joining Twitter, Cohen started following members of the local Houston Twitterati and in no time had amassed over 1000 followers. Cohen is a naturally charismatic, giving, and friendly guy – traits that make him a natural on a network like Twitter.
Twitter & Profits?
As I review this story I find that I am hopeful even if slightly and persistently unfocused with regard to the opportunity of Twitter. While I love seeing examples, like the coffee shop, of the Twitter benefiting a business I have to admit we still struggle internally with how to harness this powerhouse for our own business advancement. We educate and promote the usage of Twitter to our customer base, but have honestly not yet quite figured out how to turn this into a revenue stream here at Pleth.
