Recently, I passed 10,000 Followers on Twitter…

I’m still waiting on my pony.

“Twitter officials” have informed me that I have not yet reached the Follower count at which ponies are granted. Boo.

But I still can’t quit you Twitter. Let me count some of the reasons why I love you.

Twitter is a great source of business opportunities

Because of my presence on Twitter, I’ve gotten speaking engagements, consulting opportunities, candidate referrals, coaching clients and interviews with major publications. It’s not uncommon for me to get a Direct Message, an email or phone call that starts with “I follow you on Twitter and we have a need for ___ (something I do) and I thought of you.”  While not all of those contacts result in paying clients, a good portion of them have. Enough to classify Twitter as a solid business development channel for me. Win!

Twitter is a great source of referral opportunities

As a Connector, I’m always on the lookout for opportunities to help or to refer someone. Because Twitter is a place where people network, ask questions or mention needs, I’ve spotted a number of opportunities in the last three years where I’ve been able to introduce one of my contacts – which resulted in new clients or new jobs for them. “Social networking” works the same way old-fashioned networking does. It’s about building relationships and connecting people!

Solid professional relationships & friendships developed in 140 characters

Twitter has provided me the opportunity to build relationships with top recruiting and HR leaders that I likely would have never come in contact with in the past. For example, I interviewed China Gorman – former COO & Chief Global Membership Engagement Officer at SHRM while at a conference, where she shared her perspectives on being a business leader in HR. I asked Chris Hoyt – Talent Engagement & Marketing Leader at PepsiCo – if I could get his advice on some work I was doing with a client and he graciously shared an amazing amount of information with me via a phone call. I had dinner and a great conversation across the pond in the United Kingdom with Arie Ball – VP of Talent Acquisition at Sodexo, where she shared more about the Sodexo story and we found that we have much in common. These conversations only happened because I initially “met” all of these folks – and many more – on Twitter. (Follow them on Twitter at @ChinaGorman, @TheRecruiterGuy & @Arie_Ball.)

Twitter doesn’t take that much time – if you manage your time

I’ll be the first to admit that Twitter can be a time suck, but so can the internet, people in the office, clients, email, etc. I’ve had to develop systems for managing these other types of distractions throughout my career and I have to manage Twitter’s influence on my day as well. For example, I log out of Twitter while working on projects and rarely tweet on weekends or in the evenings. I’m in constant communication mode during most of my workday and as an Introvert, I need time away from the “noise” to recharge. Thanks to the saved searches that I’ve set up, I don’t miss tweets or conversations that I want to be a part of that took place while I wasn’t logged on.

The right tools make Twitter use easier

I’m a big Fan of TweetDeck, because it allows me to create groups and save searches so I don’t miss mentions or replies involving any of the Twitter accounts that I manage. I currently manage my own account – @JenniferMcClure, one for my business – @UnbridledTalent, one for my LinkedIn Group – @LinkCincinnati and I’m one of the tweeters behind my local HR association’s account – @GCHRACincinnati. TweetDeck also allows me to schedule tweets, so if I read a blog post or article late at night or want to share it on more than one of my accounts, I can schedule the tweets throughout the workday rather than all at the same time.

The love story continues…

I joined Twitter on March 26, 2008 after reading a blog post from Jim Stroud commenting that there were only 85 Recruiters on Twitter. At that time, like many people today, I didn’t understand the concept or really have an interest in joining, but I did want to keep evolving as a recruiter and a business person, so I decided to try to figure out how to utilize it to develop business, build relationships and recruit talent. Nearly three year later, I’m marking that experiment as a success!

Thanks Twitter for all of the entertainment, information, business deals, relationships and friendships!

Twitter Member #14,221,435 aka @JenniferMcClure

But don’t forget, I still want one of these.

Image Credit: Shetland Pony by suvodeb