I have been asked several times why do I think Twitter holds any benefits for Nigerian and African brands. The reason to some is that the population of Nigerians and Africans on twitter is still negligible compare to the western world. The concerns Ihave noticeds on the faces of those who asked such question  has made me to conclude that many do not want to pay the price Twitter requires to be successful.

Unlike Facebook which is easier to operate. Couple with the fact that facebook comes with a lot of fun, I always consider twitter as more for serious professionals, brands that want to pay the price to make a mark. This is based on the premise that it forces users to think, it demands that brands say what it has to say within the limit of 140 characters. Unlike Facebook, Brands (individuals) may not have the luxury of creating events- there may be possibility soon, fan page among other factors. With regards to fan page, there is an argument that bothers on quality over quantity of relationships (followers).

Some believe that the quantity of brand’s followers will determine its influence when others play more emphasis on quality. I am more of quality than quantity. Whichever way an individual falls, each has its own benefits and this should be weighed against the objective, goal of twitter usage. Those who think of quality argue that it allows faster brand’s message spread and visibility while quality school of thought believes in effectiveness of relationship, engagement, commitment among followers. But let us leave the argument for some other days.

For those who see twitter as very demanding and uninteresting, they always missed out in the game. A  Harvard University study shows that sixty percent of twitter users just signed up and use it only once. My research has shown also that many African users fall within this category. To overcome the inertia most brands in Africa have towards Twitter, it will be good to pen down these thoughts.

Twitter has exponential power for brand awareness, visibility. When twitter is properly annexed and incorporated into brand’s communication tool, it can be used for brand activation, product development and launch. It can also help to foster engagement. Other usage of Twitter includes advocacy, customer support. Needless to say is that to get the best of twitter, it is out of place to use all the brand’s tweets on self promotion, pitching. Engagement, strong bonding is not guaranteed when someone else continues to flaunt his ego. Instead always ensure you give quality content, ask for your followers’ opinion, get feedback and respond accurately without getting angry about any issue. Also it may be good to acknowledge the good in others by promoting them if it is possible.

To get the best, brand must first listen to the conversation, then follow the trend, issues, conversation, then create your own relevant content, support system which will help your brand engagement. Do you have success story using Twitter? Share it.

Attention deficit disorder is a coinage of the new age. No one seems to have time for anything except those things that are of utmost importance to them. No one is extremely interested in your brand except if it adds value to them. The noise level is not even helping the matter. The noise level online today is just to high but that does not nullify the fact that everyone has a chance of making meaningful impact if one has taken time to know how to join the conversation.

In order not to be infected with this disease, your brand need to maximize every potential opportunity to make a lasting impact. For your personal brand to enjoy immunity against A.D.D, it is expedient that you continually show, market your competitive advantage. Getting attention today is huge work. Promoting a strong brand ‘you’ competitive advantage that qualifies you for targets’ precious time is important. To do this successfully, it is important that individual put a lot of effort in in preparing for their opportunities. When the teacher is ready, the student will show up and vice versa is still relevant. Treat every opportunity in form of attention given you as precious. You can also create your own opportunities by ensuring that you give out a compelling offer that will equate or surpass targets’ time investment.

Remember optimism alone will not do the magic of getting attention from your target. Opportunity without enough time invested is a dangerous syndrome. Let me conclude here that the world is indifferent about who you are. Everyone wants attention. Yours is an extra baggage on them. They will only tag along if you have a compelling offer that will not make your extra baggage a burden but a delight to them. No one wants to waste his time. So beware, do not allow Attention Deficit Disorder to catch up with your personal brand. It has infected many brands. The result of this disease is that many brands have lost their relevance.

Twitter has become a major influence in the social media networking platform. According to Wikipedia,this source states and outlines benefits, popularity of twitter “Twitter is a social networking and micro-blogging service created by then Cornell student Jack Dorsey that enables its users to send and read other users’ updates known as tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters^{[verification needed]} in length. Updates are displayed on the user’s profile page and delivered to other users who have signed up to receive them. Senders can restrict delivery to those in their circle of friends (delivery to everyone being the default). Users can send and receive updates via the Twitter website, SMS, RSS (receive only), or through applications such as Tweetie, Twitterrific, Twitterfon, TweetDeck and feedalizr. The service is free to use over the web, but using SMS may incur phone services provider fees.

Twitter has received extensive visibility and popularity worldwide. Twitter is often described as the ‘SMS of Internet’ in that the site provides the back-end functionality (via its APIs) to other desktop and web-based applications to send and receive short text messages often obscuring the actual website itself. Four gateway numbers are currently available for SMS: short codes for the United States, Canada, and India, and a United Kingdom-based number for international use. There is now also a short code for Vodafone users from the UK. Several third parties offer posting and receiving updates via email”. Are you on twitter? Are you utilizing the opportunity offer by twitter to enhance your brand visibility? Following the right people also enhances your personal and corporate brand or whatever you want to use it for. I strongly recommend you follow me on Twitter as I have made the list of 30 Personal Branding Experts on Twitter in the world. This has been acknowledged by an article by Jacob Share, a job search expert, creator of the JobMob, one of the biggest blogs in the world about finding jobs. Follow him on Twitter for job search tips and humor. For further details on this please visit: http://personalbrandingblog.com/30-personal-branding-experts-on-twitter/

Just log in and create an account today at www.twitter.com and follow me www.twitter.com/pathfindernig. For update or corporate tweet follow www.twitter.com/misagelagos

I see you there.

 30 Personal Branding Experts on Twitter: The definitive list of who to follow for the best personal branding information on Twitter.

Personal branding Twitterers

• Dan Schawbel, @danschawbel   Beverly Macy, @BeverlyMacy Jacob Share, @jacobshare ,Katie Konrath, @katiekonrath, Monica O’Brien, @monicaobrien
• Jun Loayza, @junloayza , Liz Lynch, @liz_lynch , Chad A. Levitt, @ChadALevitt , Maria Elena Duron, @mariaduron , William Arruda, @williamarruda , Wendy Marx, @wendymarx , Hajj Flemings, @HajjFlemings who runs @BrandCampU , Lesley Everett, @LesleyEverett
• Ola Rynge, @Rynge , Kirsten Dixson, @kirstendixson , Jeffrey Blake, @jeffrey_blake , Dave Saunders, @davesaunders , Trace Cohen & Pete Kistler’s Brand-Yourself, @Brandyourself , Megan Fitzgerald, @ExpatCoach
• Gillian Kelly, @Gillian_Kelly , David Sandusky, @DavidSandusky who runs the @YourBrand forum , Char Brown, @charbrown,
• Rob Cuesta, @RobCuesta , Yinka Olaito, @pathfindernig , Louise Mowbray, @louisemowbray, Emilie Ogez (in French), @eogez , Fadhila Brahimi (in French), @fbrahimi , Tom Scholte (in Dutch), @TomScholte ,Tessa Faber (in German), @MakingSense