Twitter should give me a paycheck. Seriously. I might as well be a rep, for how much I talk about them. I’ve brought them at least a dozen new users in the past month. But even though I feel that the potential of Twitter is limited, they could still stand a lesson or two from Facebook.

Can you Hear me Now?

My last few blog entries have revolved around Facebook and some of its new updates. Facebook has spent a long time listening to its users and then implementing their suggestions. I think its fantastic.

We all know how great it feels when someone takes your suggestion and puts it into action. I remember once suggesting a new approach on a friend’s website. I wasn’t getting paid, it was just friendly advice. I remember my friend came back ecstatic that she got so many compliments and it just felt good to know I helped.

The opposite is also true. When you try to offer thoughts or suggestions and someone isn’t listening, it hurts. Especially if they blatantly ignore you.

Twitter has some growing pains but its important, even during these times, to listen to your customers. Twitter has a single major avenue of communication: email. And right now if you email them a question it takes up to two weeks for a response. Even then, your response may be: “Please check with our other open tickets.”

Hopefully Twitter will realize the importance of listening soon. I already know people who had a question or couldn’t retrieve their password and stopped using the service because they never received an answer.

Have you contacted Twitter before? Was the experience positive or negative? Did it impact the way you use Twitter?

Image by DuChamp

About a month ago, my watch broke. I’ve been meaning to get it fixed but just haven’t found the time. So the other day, I’m at a party with a group of friends (all in their twenties) and I happen to ask: “What time is it?” Every single person in this group grabs their cell phone to check the time. Of course, I had my blackberry with me, so I could have gotten it out too, but it didn’t even occur to me that not one of my friends would bother to have a watch. Then I thought, why have one? You’ve got a phone.

Of course, this made me think. Cell phones are becoming more and more important in our everyday lives. So the question of giving your business a mobile presence looms. People of all ages are going the “smart” phone route. The average business person has one because either their work or their kids talked them into it. I’ve said before that paying a ton of money to get a mobile website isn’t the best solution for everyone (unless you are a social or shopping website). However, there are a few things you can do to help mobile-savvy users learn about you.

First, have you bothered to check out how your website looks on a mobile phone? If you haven’t, try an emulator. Some websites look better than others. This website is readable but the images are wonky. However, other sites can be unfathomable. So here are some tips:

1. Make sure your information is in all the major online directories. Have you bothered putting your business info into Yahoo, Google and the YellowPages? I do searches for information on handy-men, car shops and restaurants from my phone on a regular basis. If a business’s information doesn’t show up in one of these directories I won’t even know they exist.

2. Get a blog. One of the few things a mobile browser doesn’t ruin is text. The majority or Wordpress sites, even basic ones, are relatively easy to navigate on my phone. So if you’re not already blogging, here’s another reason to do it.

3. Social Media. A number of social media sites are already geared for mobile users (Twitter, Facebook). So take advantage of that. Even if your website isn’t iPhone-perfect, you can still stay in front of your clients and customers by being active on one or multiple social media sites.

4. Opt-In Email. If your blog has an email option, or you send out a regular newsletter, you can reach your mobile audience this way as well. If you haven’t considered an email option for your blog or some kind of e-newsletter, you might want to!

These are just a few quick ways to make your business accessible to mobile users. I’m sure there are lots more, feel free to add your suggestions!