From Twitter Virgin to Twitter Peer – Donna Wren
In February 2011 I posted a blog Does Social Media work for Small Organisations, looking at some local social media success stories. 18 months on, having trained 100’s of organisations, I still get asked if social media really can help grow your business, or organisation. So I have decided to produce some case study blogs from local business owners and charities who have been through my workshops, to see how it has worked out for them.
I wanted to start with this story from Donna Wren, a Lancashire first aid trainer of Wren Training, who talks about her experiences of twitter…
I attended a Twitter workshop some months back run by Jane Binnion of Jane’s Social Media. I had no idea what Twitter was or how to use it, I was a complete Twitter virgin. I enjoyed the workshop, met some new people, my first followers on Twitter and took away some knowledge on how social media might help my business. I must admit I was not sure if it was me, or would even be worthwhile doing for my business.
Well that was a few months ago. I now have over 1700 followers and have become a bit of a Twitter addict. You only get a few words for your profile bio and so cannot really sell your business or yourself. I like that actually. It means people follow you to talk to you; they ask questions, they discover what you are all about.
I think business wise Twitter has definitely been a great move. I have gained bookings through it. I also think it is a great way to refer work to others too. If someone Tweets they need a plumber in Norwich or a Physiotherapist in Glasgow you can guarantee the retweet stream will go mad as everyone tries to help them.
I have met so many of my followers and they all say I’m a great Tweeter. Fancy that eh! I wasn’t even sure I was going to bother with it. Credit for that goes to Jane Binnion as she embedded the seed that now sees me teaching many of my followers.
If anyone is in any doubt about how Twitter could help their business, my advice would be give it a go, it’s all free. It won’t happen overnight so stick at it for a while. If it’s not for you then it cost you nothing.
Donna Wren can be found on twitter @Wrentraining