Summary: So much social media, so little time! Many business owners believe that if they can’t do EVERYTHING, they shouldn’t even try to do SOMETHING. Which is why we hunted down small business owner and Twitter expert, <a title="Don't let the open mouth fool you!" href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuabking" target="_blank">Mr. Josh King</a>. As a small business consultant, Josh recognizes the need to keep the social media workload light. If Twitter is one of the places your target customers hang out? Then the 15-minutes-a-day Twitter strategy is something you’ll want to have started *yesterday*.<br> Some background on Josh King (outside of what you can learn about him on <a title="Josh's tagline: "Creative. Barely." Haha!" href="http://joshbking.com" target="_blank">his blog</a>). He is known as “the Tinderbox Consultant,” a brand of endearment whose goal it is to leave every owner smarter, better, and more successful. His consultant practice (and <a title="His Spokane Twitter meetups? Excellent." href="https://twitter.com/kingylingy" target="_blank">his Twitter following</a>) is a local one and his strategies contrarian to the oft-held mentality of “build you following, more more more, bigger is better.” For Josh, Twitter is like a virtual telephone, NOT a virtual megaphone.<br> A couple caveats about this interview: (1) Gary and Josh engage in exactly ZERO foreplay. Be prepared to dive right in once the interview starts. (2) We tried using a new method of guest-recording. While it came out perfectly in tests, it came out less-than-flawless in the final recording. You can still hear Josh just fine, but be forewarned. And finally? (3) This is NOT a podcast about “here’s how to setup your account! Make your profile look nice! Make sure you retweet people (duh)!” This is a strategic right-hook from a guy who knows how to build responsive audiences.<br> Facebook is the living room of social media, Twitter is the front-yard. The connections you make on Twitter are unconditional. <a title="Look brilliant to your amigos & amigas!" href="http://ctt.ec/ka33n" target="_blank">(Click to Tweet)</a><br> Listen and Learn…<br> <br> * Josh’s ‘help people first’ strategy and how that’s led to massive word-of-mouth for his business.<br> * Twitter strategy in a nutshell: three times per day is the champions way. Listen for details.<br> * How to put a consistent brand out there across multiple channels by creating a master social document.<br> * The importance of an editorial calendar for brainstorming and systemization. Boom.<br> * The power of notifications and how to “clean up” at the end of the day.<br> * The ambiguity of small business ROI – is my social marketing moving people forward?<br> * How <a title="No better time to get started then... right now!" href="http://thesmallbizexpress.com/sbx-15-creating-killer-business-blog/" target="_blank">starting a business blog</a> has kept Josh sane.<br> <br> Action Steps from this episode:<br> <br> * <br> Define Success. Know what the purpose of your time on Twitter is. In most cases, it’ll be to drive people to your hub (your website) or get them into your store (brick-and-mortar folk). The surest way to fail is to not know what you’re aiming for. Duh. With the objective clearly defined, you’ll then be able to comparatively measure how one 15 minute strategy compares to another 15 minute strategy. What interactions / tweets are getting the most response? To use Josh’s analogy from above:<a title="Totally retweetable." href="http://ctt.ec/ka33n" target="_blank"> by playing in the front yard, people will want to enter the house</a>. You don’t need to stand out front begging people to come in. Twitter (and all social media) is ineffective as a self-promotional megaphone.<br> <br> * <br> Make a Plan. When you first start out, you’re probably not going to hit it out of the park right away.
