Do Montanans Use Twitter? - Web Design Billings MT SkyPoint Studios

Have you been tasked with assembling your companies social media profile and pondered whether to include Twitter? You’re not alone. Most small business owners in Montana are just starting to get the hang of Facebook, and really don’t understand Twitter. Or feel like they have time for it That is understandable, as the traffic on Twitter from Montana is still relatively low compared to other states(California, Texas, Colorado).

This may make you wonder whether it is really worth the time to have a presence on Twitter. That decision really should come down to how much time together you have to dedicate to social media. If you are on a limited time budget, it may be most efficient to create a profile only. Updating tweets although beneficial for marketing and search properties, can be time consuming. Having a profile however only takes 15-30 minutes to establish, and will bring a lifetime of value in search.

Of course, if there’s time, it is recommended to update this Twitter account regularly and check for correspondence from other Twitter users. You might wonder what it is that you should go about “tweeting?” That is a great question, and truly content moderation is an art form. But to get started, focus on information related to your business industry that is making headlines and considered news worthy. A good test would be, if I was reading an industry journal would this story make the front page as a headline? If so, then it is probably good content to share on the Twitter page.

Sharing is made easier with tools like Bit.ly which shorten links to free up more space for words and also track the number of clicks on each link. It even allows for a dive in for more information about how engaged your audience is (very helpful for the aspiring web content creator). Get a free Bit.ly account here.

Now that the page is up and running, it is time to find and be found! Location is going to be important, so make sure that the location on the page is set to the closest town or city. If you’re in Montana, it can seem like there isn’t any other businesses in your area on Twitter. Try checking this list of 10 Ways to Find People on Twitter by Mashable for great tools that will help to connect with Twitter users in your area.

Is it all worth it? Yes! Think of Twitter (and the rest of the social media network/web) as a virtual land grab similar to that of the homestead days. There may not be much value now, but someday these digital sounding posts could be the key to upswings in market reach and improvements on revenue quarter over quarter.

One more analogy about Twitter:

Twitter is like the lottery, you can’t win if you don’t play!

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Written by: Jophiel Silvestrone

Jophiel Silvestrone has written 326 posts in the Tech Blog.

Jophiel grew up on a ranch in Paradise Valley, Montana near Chico Hot Springs. Working on the ranch instilled work ethic and self motivation. Filled with this drive, Jophiel started mowing the local school's yards twice a month throughout the summers, at the age of 12. He moved to Billings in 2004, where he has been deeply involved in the local business community ever since. A serial entrepreneur, Jophiel has ran multiple businesses in our local community. The first business, a janitorial and carpet cleaning company, founded in 2005, has employed over 50 locals. Moving on to the media industry, Jophiel and several partners founded Green Directory Montana in the spring of 2007. Green Directory's sustainability ranking software awarded points based on sustainable or "green" actions. These points counted towards a business's total "Green Score," which in turn ranked them against other businesses in their category and throughout the entire site. It also featured a limited edition print version distributed annually. A business acquisition allowed Jophiel to focus on new projects, and a few close business colleagues and Jophiel started Rocky Mountain Mr. & Ms. Magazine, a lifestyle publication for men and women in the Magic City. After a year and a half at the helm of RM3 Magazine, the business was purchased. He now runs a web development company SkyPoint Studios and fathers his son Jaoquin, who plays football, basketball, soccer, and is learning snowboarding from his dad. Recently, has expanded to locations in Havasu, Arizona & Vegas. SkyPoint Studios is a market leader in both Billings & Havasu and Jophiel is working on building that same level of market dominance in Vegas. Specialties: Extensive experience in online and offline business. Especially savvy at WordPress, and operate several sites, one example is the blog: skypointwebdesignbillingsmontana.com/tech-blog. Check out skypointwebdesignbillingsmontana.com for the latest projects from SkyPoint Studios.