Josh Shear

I wrote last week that if social media isn't working for your business, one thing you might want to do is change your expectations.

Let's say you own a coffee shop. How does your Twitter presence compare to your cafe's presence?

Your cafe

1. You open a store front
2. People get to your parking lot
3. People walk in your door
4. You talk to those who walk in the door about your shop and your menu

Your cafe on Twitter

1. You join Twitter
2. People follow you on Twitter
3. People actually read what you post on Twitter
4. You engage your Twitter followers in discussions

You still haven't made a dime in either case. You still have to have a good product, at a good price, and you still have to close the sale.

Doing steps 1-4 in your shop will hopefully lead to conversion, and hopefully after that your product and price point sell themselves.

But how many people these days do this sort of shopping? More than likely, if someone wants a cup of coffee, they go to the cafe they know. So if you introduce yourself on Twitter and bring them in with engagement and maybe a special, you've done your selling to all your followers, not just the one person who has walked in your door.

Twitter is no more a conversion tool than hanging an open sign on your door is. But if you're the sort of person who can sell me coffee when I'm standing in front of you, you can probably sell me coffee on Twitter, too.