Sean D'Souza: Being a Twit makes more sense than you think

I don't want to agree that Twitter is the next best thing. I didn't want to agree that blogs were the next best thing. But I didn't fight email or websites.

However, every business owner I knew back in 2002 fought them like crazy. My clients don't have websites, they said. My clients use the good ol' phone, they said. This website/email stuff is nice, but not for me, they said.

And I made that same stupid mistake in the year 2004.

I ignored blogs. Well, not actually. In fact, I embraced blogs. Typepad was just getting moving in October 2003, and by 2004 we were on Typepad and blogs.

Then I decided that I could afford to ignore blogs.

My clients don't read blogs, I said. My clients don't understand RSS, I said. My clients use good ol' websites, I said.

And today, most folks are using the same argument I did.

They completely believe in their hearts that Twitter is a distraction. A massive waste of time. And so did I.

I was in Chicago, speaking at the System Seminar last year. I ignored every single presentation on Twitter. I just didn't want to know.

Do you want to share the same sand I buried my head in last year?

Or do you want to understand this crazy medium that's doing stuff you never thought possible?

Because I joined Twitter kicking and screaming.

I joined it only because we had a bit of an experiment on my membership site. We decided: what the heck? Let's spend 15 minutes a day on this "twittery" thing, and see what happens.

So I signed up.

What happened next stunned me. I got a client off Twitter. She paid $1800 for a course.

I got in touch with customers I hadn't seen for years. I didn't find them. They found me! I got in touch with strategic alliances whose emails had bounced back and with whom I'd lost touch for the longest time.

I was afraid. Deathly afraid.

This freakin' Twitter thing was suddenly bestowing Kryptonian powers.

And freakin' is the right word to use, because I was really freaking out.

I knew so little about the technology. I knew so little about the etiquette (there's etiquette for everything). I knew so little about the ability to reach out, and be reached.

And you're not convinced...

Okay, so it's all hoopla.

Okay, so you don't believe me.

But I have a really simple concept. The concept is: if you hear or need something seven times a day, then you should kinda pay attention.

If I need something seven times a day, I buy it. If I hear something seven times a day, I pay attention to it.

And the reason you should pay attention is a concept called critical mass.

You only hear about something seven times a day if it's being broadcast 49 times (or more) per day. And if something is being broadcast that often, and you choose to close your ears, well it's a brave decision.

Because now you've entered the realm of those who said that websites/email were, um, just fancy stuff.

You enter the realm of those who thought of blogs as a passing shower. You enter the realm of those who thought: what am I going to do with a fax? My customers don't have one.

You enter the realm of those who thought: phones? Why would I need one when I can send a letter?

I'm telling you, this Twitter thing is freakin' super-duper.

Nope, it ain't the technology. YouTube is technology. Facebook is technology. Even blogging is kinda technology.

Twitter is a communication medium.

It's like the phone. It's like email. It's like SMS or texting.

It's even on your mobile phone, for crying out loud. It's not just some crazy techie stuff.

It's humans reaching out to humans. And since you qualify in that human category, you may as well get used to it and understand it.

There's another reason to hurry. Getting the Twitter name. Well, if your name is the same as mine, it's gone. Gone forever. So yeah, you may want to hurry a bit before someone else hangs on to your company or personal name. But no rush...

Of course, you may choose to bury your head in the sand.

Write to me, because I've got some leftover sand from my earlier stubborn days.

As for me, I'm off to Tweetland!

Sean D'Souza is chief executive of Psychotactics and is an international author and trainer.

www.psychotactics.com