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On Saturday in my Twitter weekly recap post I mentioned how crazy it’s been around the world of Extreme Tan and Smoothies and Extreme John this last week, I know it probably sounds like something I say all the time. One of the main reasons I didn’t include the typical banter in my weekly Twitter retweet and tweet recap was because I wanted to get some of this weeks exciting things posted here before it ended up on the back burner like the Extreme Tan and Smoothies Christmas party pictures. That’s another story.

In any case there are plenty of you that read my blog on a daily basis that enjoy and utilize social media marketing and networking to support your customers, offer information and hopefully obtain a few new customers along the way. Now, for each one of those readers there are probably three other daily readers that will tell you they wouldn’t waste theit time kicking rocks at something called Twitter an d they certainly wouldn’t want to talk to anyone via a Facebook Fan Page either.

Different strokes for different folks, but if nothing else this post should serve as a pretty good example of the power of social media and using social media in your small business. I have written my social media success stories here before and I’ve showed you proof on how social media is right for business. Today I want to show you how a simple connection on the social networking / micro-blogging phenomenon Twitter has turned into a great connection and opportunity for not only one of my small businesses, but two of my businesses.

How Twitter Opened Business Opportunities for Me

I recently recevied a tweet on Twitter from one of the girls I have been connected with for almost two years now, she is local and lives in the Tampa, Florida area. Actually, she lives a little closer because I’ve seen her pop-up on my Foursquare stream and battled with her for a few mayorships at red lights in the area as well.

Twitter Success Story 1

Early last year I was contacted by this young lady on Twitter in regards to using the Barbie Pink H2 Hummer limo from the Insane Limos fleet for her birthday event. I think this was one of the first times that anyone had reserved one of our exotic limousines using Twitter and specifically via a connection made completley through Twitter with someone I had never met or spoken to before.

Twitter Success Story 2

I can’t remember exactly when I received the first tweet from this young lady (keeping her name on the DL for the moment), but it was about 3 weeks ago if I remember correctly. In short, my Twitter connection sent over an email using my contact form and mentioned that she might be on the show Bridezillas and wanted to know how we would feel about Bridezillas filming at one of our tanning locations.

A few weeks had gone by and I really had heard anything yet, not a surprise when it comes to dealing with TV production as I’ve learned since doing my part in the Insane Limos TV Commercial and Extreme Tan and Smoothies TV Commercials. On Wednesday I received an email from one of the Bridezillas event coordinators to get approval to film for the show in one of our tanning salons, after mentioning that I was aware of the potential filming the coordinator sent over the contract (below).

Bridezillas Contract for Extreme Tan and Smoothies

Click to enlarge.

So, with that being said I really have to thank KS for even considering to use any of my businesses services and especially for getting us involved in her special event and reality TV debut, that really is AWESOME! It’s safe to say that if it weren’t for KS and myself connecting on Twitter that I would have had one less limousine ride and certainly wouldn’t have had the chance to see one of our tanning salons on a Reality TV show.

As for my business owners and up coming young entrepreneurs, you can see that based on the examples of using Twitter in business above that it can have a powerful impact on how you interact with customers and even opens doors to new opportunities.

Reasons to Use Twitter in Your Business

1. Provide customer support
2. Gain customer feedback
3. Help potential customers off the fence
4. Create business opportunities
5. Advertise events and specials
6. Network with others in your niche
7. Track your competitors

Trust me, the list of reasons to use Twitter in your own small business is endless, these are just a few examples of how Twitter can help you in your business.

Parting Shots

If you don’t currently use social media in your business I can only hope that this post would serve as an eye opener as to where your business and customers can benefit from using socialmedia. If you’re a little shy, scared, confused or whatever else about trying social media, contact me and ask me a few questions. I would be more than happy to help, but please don’t make excuses as to why you aren’t involved in social media within your company, at this point in the game it’s just silly.

Your Turn

Do you have a social media success story that you would like to share? Leave a comment below and share one of your success stories with us and who knows maybe you can help someone else get motivated to get on the social media bandwagon too.