How much can you really accomplish with just 140 characters? Quite a bit more than you might think. With just a few words and a bit of strategy, you can reach thousands of prospects and spread your message around the world in a very short time.

Twitter may seem at first like a jumbled, confusing impenetrable jungle, but push on and you can hack a clear path.

Recently, my path on Twitter led me to Michael T. Sheen, an artist in Utah who designs websites for authors and other artists. He also organizes writers’ conferences with his partner, international best-selling author and writer’s coach Angie Fenimore. (They’re having one this weekend )

This post is an indication of the potential of Twitter. Here’s how it worked in this case: Something Michael wrote caught my eye, so I checked out his bio and was intrigued enough to go to his website. Then, I emailed to ask if we could talk so I could learn about his online strategy. I found his story to be fascinating, and now I’m writing about it, giving him even more exposure.

Before I contacted Michael, I noted that he had more than 5,000 visitors. I wasn’t surprised because he had a succinct, focused Twitter bio and an inviting, clear website. What I didn’t know was that just over a month ago, he had only 12 Twitter followers and not one of his new followers came from paying to boost posts or promote his page. He did put in some intensive effort and strategic planning, but it wasn’t particularly complicated. Here are some tips he offered to help you build your own audience:

1. Be clear on who you want to reach and why. The more you understand about who you want to reach, the more direct you can be in your Tweets, and the more your target audience will be interested in what you have to say.
2. Post. Michael puts up 2 to 3 posts a day. About 40 percent of them are his own thoughts and comments, the rest are curated. He finds things he thinks his audience will be interested in and re-posts them.
3. Be attentive. Michael uses a service to send out an automatic message to those who follow him asking if they are a writer or artist in need of a website. He personally follows up with those who respond.
4. Be interactive. Retweet and like the posts of others. Michael pays attention to those who comment and like his posts and will comment and like theirs. He also notes those who haven’t returned a follow and will comment and like their posts to get their attention. This often wins a follow from them.
5. A little friendly battle can be a great motivator. Michael and Angie challenged each other to see who could get the most follows. It helped both of them to stay committed to the process. (Angie now has more than 5,000 followers also.)
6. Show personality. Even when it’s about business, people want to get to know others.
7. Develop a social media mindset. Be on the lookout for material such as interesting stories, photos, and short videos of your own – all of this can be used.

Does having a big audience matter? In the first month of his push on Twitter, Michael picked up two new clients. He typically gets more at a three-day writer’s conference, but he puts a lot of extra time and effort into organizing those. It’s also early in the process. Of thousands who are following him now, some are likely to need websites in the coming months.

If you want to learn more about how Twitter can benefit your business or need some help with your strategy, please contact us to set up a call.