Social networking has become the norm in our world. Facebook allows us to keep up to date with what our friends and favourite businesses are doing, while Twitter provides us with micro-updates from those that we follow to give us an insight into a range of marketing messages or personal updates. It’s impossible to turn a blind eye to these websites anymore, and in running an online selling business it’s vitally important that you understand how to use these tools for your own benefit in increasing your profit and finding some great niche markets to operate within and products to sell on.
In this article I want to give you a bit of an introduction to using the Twitter website as a tool to research hot products for your selling business.
Twitter is a bit of a strange social networking website. Upon its launch reactions were mixed, largely because any updates that you wish to provide on the site are limited to just 140 characters. Initial scepticism surrounded the ability to communicate anything useful in such a short character limit, but it turned out that the public adored this idea. Instead of being bombarded with long updates they could see at a quick glance what those they followed were up to. Twitter has changed the way that many businesses think about their marketing messages and with the information provided being so brief you can quickly skim through relevant items to find potential niche markets and products.
I’ll be honest. Twitter is a bit hit and miss when it comes to finding specific products to sell but just occasionally it can turn up a real gem. I don’t recommend spending too much time perusing this social networking site, but it is one to keep your eye on and check out every now and then to help you to research some hot products that potential customers are after right away.
So how to use this tool? Well here are a few useful methods that can help you to keep an eye on what’s going on in the world of Twitter.
Trending Topics
When a lot of people start talking about the same thing on the Twitter website then those topics appear within the Trends section of the 
website. These Trends will always appear on the left hand side of your page when you are logged into Twitter, and you can also select the ‘# Discover’ link at the very top of the page for additional information on those topics that are currently popular.
You will find that recent news topics tend to dominate the top trending topics, or alternatively random discussion items that the Twitter community are currently debating. Having said that, just occasionally you may notice a topic that could suggest a new niche market to you, or even a particular popular product.
Searches
The Twitter website has a search bar that allows you to search for a particular key word or key phrase. Why not try entering your niche market or a particular type of product to see what sorts of results are returned to you? In conducting a search for the term ‘fetal dopplers’ I can see plenty of parents discussing the benefits of checking the heartbeat of their baby in the womb, along with information about specific products and brands. Keeping an eye on these sorts of searches is very useful as you’ll be able to see if your niche market is still popular. If people are using the products that you are selling then they will talk about it.
Following Other Users
Along with keeping an eye on Twitter trends and performing specific searches for products or niche markets, you may also find it useful to actually sign up for your very own Twitter account to start following useful accounts. There are a few different types of people that you may wish to follow:
- Your competition. It’s worth keeping an eye on your competitors on Twitter as they may announce the sale of a new product line or release additional information that could be useful to you as a seller.
- Product providers. Following brand name manufacturers or retailers of the products that you wish to sell can help to keep you in the loop about any new items appearing on the market that your own customers might be interested in.
- Interested individuals. Occasionally your Twitter searches could reveal a person specifically interested in the products that you have to offer. Following them could enable the start of a potentially profitable discussion should you be able to meet their needs with a specific product.
Twitter is a very powerful tool, and one that you can start to take advantage of right away so if you haven’t already done so why not take a bit of time right now to search for your own niche market and have a look at the trending topics to see if you can spot any new niches.