During the past few months we’ve set up a number of Twitter accounts, with varying degrees of success.   One has 711 followers as of today, but another is still lurking at under 100.

The question is, are they doing any good?

In terms of the way we use them – occasional notes, and reports of updates now available on the web sites – they only take a moment to set up, so even the conversion of one reader into a client every couple of months would be a cost effective way of using Twitter.

The people who are getting worked up about Twitter however are the big players who are now saying that if you really want to get something talked about a lot on Twitter then a well placed article in the traditional media will do far more for you than a huge amount of Twitting.

But on the other hand, doing a few tweets a day and getting people to follow you can help remind them all the time you are there.  Providing of course that you are coming up with something new to say each time.   (If you have not used twitter – it is at www.twitter.com – and if you want to find someone to follow without getting swamped follow @HHMailings.   You can always cancel when you have had enough.)

If you are playing big time with Twitter the you will know it includes within it “Trends” – issues that suddenly everyone is tweeting about – and what makes a trend is a matter for debate.   If you are getting huge numbers of followers and think you might be able to start one, the key fact to remember is that just sending out lots of Tweets doesn’t actually achieve very much.

If you want to know more, call us on 01536 399 000.  We’re now making Twitter part of the Velocity programme (www.Velocity.ac) at no extra charge.

Tony Attwood