On Tuesday, January 12, 2010, both Tom Riggins, President, and Bridget Willard, Office Manager, attended a free seminar presented by two Orange County Register social media experts entitled “Tweets2Win.”

The 90-minute workshop focused on “how and why you should be using Twitter to expand the visibility of your business and to better understand the markets that you compete in!”

The presentation, for their limited 90 minutes, did a wonderful job encompassing topics for the new-to-twitter folks as well as those who have been using it for years.

One of the main themes presented by both Jon Lansner (@jonlan) and Kevin Sablan (@ksablan) is the value and importance of using social media, specifically twitter, to listen.  It’s important to know what your competitors are doing. This is why Jon Lansner, a reporter for the Orange County Register (@OCRegister), follows The LA Times (@latimes) on Twitter.

People, known to businesses as consumers, now see through the strict scripts, glossy photos, and slick jingles of Madison Avenue.  Through social media, people are talking directly to corporations and building relationships.  The people have become information disseminators.

The demographic of twitter users puts even more weight into the need to engage.  The median age of a twitter user is 31 and 53% of them are female.  Twitter users, by the nature of the platform, want to be well informed.  In fact, 76% of them read the newspaper online. Continue reading →