Kate Holbrook from Turtle Doves
Small businesses everywhere use Twitter to connect with existing and new customers.
But it’s not just about increasing sales. It’s about fun, support, information sharing and making new friends. It’s a quick and easy way to tell people your news, receive customer feedback, market your product and interact with your customers. And it’s exciting.
At J&PR, we know why Twitter is important and we encourage all our customers to use it as much as possible.
One of our client’s, Kate Holbrook of Turtle Doves, is a Twitter pro and she uses it throughout the day to tell people what she is doing, what markets she is visiting across the county and to connect with people all over the world.
In fact, thanks to Twitter, she got in touch with Catherine Mack, a freelance travel writer specialising in responsible travel, and now Catherine has written a review of Kate’s hug on her website.
Kate first signed up to Twitter on June 10, 2010, on the advice of friends who also ran small businesses.
“I wasn’t sure about it at first,” she said. “I suppose, if I’m honest, I joined really to promote my business. “But I soon discovered the benefits of Twitter are more varied, personal and positive than I could have imagined.”
Using Twitter helps Kate feel connected when she is working at home alone.
“I feel like part of a community as it’s a very supportive network. I like meeting new people on Twitter and, if I travel to events far from home, I can link up with people easily and often find I have ‘Twitter friends’ when I arrive for a show.
“I also like the fact that communication is quick and easy and I often talk to customers and friends through Twitter to make arrangements.”
For Kate, Twitter provides a great way to share information about Turtle Doves, especially pictures and videos.
“It’s easy to spread the word about what we do. It’s also easy to link up with people of similar interests by using the hashtag so we find #eco #sustainable #recycled are really useful and help to find us new friends.
“I can sometimes attribute sales to Twitter but it honestly doesn’t feel as though that is what Twitter is all about; it’s more about a community of like minded people who enjoy keeping in touch and sharing information and positivity.”
On a good day, Kate tweets about twice.
“Sometimes if I’m really busy it can go by the wayside for a few days and occasionally I find myself pulled in and tweet for a morning whilst doing other jobs,” she said. “Be aware that if you are easily addicted to things it may be necessary to give yourself time limits on Twitter. It is a great way of avoiding those boring tasks that sit half way down your to do list!
“Recently I was involved in a great Twitter ‘live chat’ with @PositiveLuxury and @elvisandkresse and things like that keep you on for a while but are hugely fun and worthwhile…a great way to meet people who are willing to share their time and experience to help small businesses.”
J&PR are a Shropshire PR agency covering Shrewsbury, Telford, north Shropshire, south Shropshire and parts of Mid and North Wales. As well as working with businesses, organisations and events across the region on PR campaigns J&PR run regular DIY PR Training Courses and DIY Digital PR Training Courses at venues in the county.
