How I Built a Business Using Twitter
I found an advantage I don’t see with any other social platforms.
Before we start, here are two disclaimers:
- I don’t advocate any social media platform because they numb your senses. My only reason to talk about Twitter here is that it can do you good if you play your cards well (I’ll teach you how).
- I’m 7 months old on Twitter and have under 4000 followers. So you don’t need to be ‘big’ on the platform for the further steps.
Now, let’s get started.
The only resources you need are your laptop, wifi, and your beautiful brain.
No business knowledge. If you know nothing about starting a business, that makes the two of us.
“How dare you settle for less when the world has made it so easy for you to be remarkable?”― Seth Godin
Here’s exactly what I did to get two additional income streams and start a business.
How It Started
Four steps — intention, observation, execution, and evaluation.
1. Intention
I joined the platform because I heard the cool writers hang out there. And then I realised that I can also use it to provide value and impact others and grow an audience.
Provide value — read this three times.
Whatever your expertise is in, talk about it. Don’t worry about ‘niching’ down or something, just be out there. Starting is better than worrying about your niche and never starting.
I started automating my tweets so I only need to sit for 1–1.5 hours per week and repurpose my content.
I’m mindful of where I spend money because I’d rather invest, the scheduler is the only resource I use for creating that I’ve spent money on. And it’s paid off in multi-folds.
2. Observation
If you start a business to make money, it may or may not work out; you may or may not be motivated.
If you solve a problem people face, then they’ll be willing to pay for the solution if it makes their life easier. I pay for services like Amazon Prime and Hypefury because it helps me save time and makes my life easier.
What is something you pay for, and why?
Answer these to get closer to what you can solve for:
- What are some issues people face?
- What's your strength?
- What can you solve for that complements your strength?
- What is something that could’ve helped your past self?
Really, get a paper and write this and you may find a link.
Twitter is a brilliant place to get a pulse of the problems that people face because they’re vocal about it.
3. Execute
After you find the answers, it’s time to get the two steps into action.
Step 1: Release a freebie. People love free stuff. And this can be your ‘lead magnet’.
This freebie can be a checklist, an ebook, an email/ video course, etc.
Why Twitter? Because a tweet like this can help you even if you don’t have a huge following. So far, I don’t know any other platform that has this potential.
Having an online scheduler also helps me automate these DMs so those who comment get the link in their inbox. This saves me from opening 152 profiles and sending them a message.
Step 2: Move to a paid product. Start small. Don’t just immediately go for an expensive product because people need to trust you before they pay. I’d say start with a notion template or an ebook and then move on to something bigger, like a course, if there is a requirement and the freebie does well.
4. Evaluation
Not everything you do will work out, but this helps you strategise your next move and create something bigger and better.
- What has the response been?
- What was your feedback? (ask for it)
- Can you publish updated versions of current products?
This will help you modify your current product and create additional products/versions.
For e.g. somebody DMed me that my Notion checklist is good, but it’s difficult for those who don’t even use Notion. It took me 3 minutes to upload a PDF version of it so more people can benefit.
It was low effort for me but high value for the customer.
3 Quick Tips To Accelerate Your Journey
Do these three things so you can prevent common mistakes and get better traction.
- Don’t chase followers: Build relationships instead. People > followers; and building relationships will help you be a part of a community that roots for you and supports you no matter what. I know Twitter can be distracting which is why Twitter tools help you put up a few usernames you want to interact with, and only see what they tweet. Of course, when I have more time I browse around as well.
- Don’t just ask: Don’t directly ask somebody to buy your product because you can ‘help them’. That stuff sounds shady. Have a conversation with people without expectations, treat them like humans. Jeez.
- Frequency: If you want to ace any online platform, you have to be consistent there to gain traction. It’s important to build your credibility and trust.
I tweet anywhere between 7–10 times a day by sitting for an hour on Mondays and scheduling tweets and on the other days, putting thoughts on my notes app. If you have nothing to say, comment and engage with others — that adds value too.
Doing these three things will help you massively. It helped me gain over 1000 followers a month as opposed to 300 followers/ month like before.
Lastly
“We’re here to put a dent in the universe. Otherwise why else even be here?” — Steve Jobs
For me, doing this led me to create a cohort-based course on consistent writing because that’s a problem I observed. And now two writing guides that are out for pre-launch.
I used the same questions I asked you to figure out that my strength of consistency comes from being a fitness enthusiast for 8 years who turns up to work out each day no matter what.
Sometimes, your strengths at work don’t come from work at all.
I never wanted to create a course. It was never on the agenda, as I’m happy with just writing. But all the above steps led me to create it.
With the first cohort getting overbooked by 80% and the second one selling out, I guess it was my duty to put in the work and keep helping others.
Now go and find out what you’re meant to do. And leverage this platform for reach because I’ve been doing stuff online for eight years and I’ve never seen things blow up as they do here, for good.
Click here to grab your free Side Hustler Checklist. Enjoy reading on Medium? Buy a membership for full access.
If you enjoyed reading this, you might relish:
