Should Small Businesses Follow Everyone Back on Twitter?

Marketers know that Twitter is a valuable tool used to reach thousands of customers. But it's not just the output of content that's valuable—the people and other businesses you follow on social media are of equal worth.
Unless your account is private, you have no control over who is following you (unless you block them). But as a business with thousands of followers, is it wise to follow every single person who follows you?
"Don't fall into the trap of something I call a 'courtesy' follow—that is, following someone that has followed you out of a desire to appear grateful," advises Sheena Medina, community manager at Fast Company.
Medina, who says this "does nothing but fill your stream with noise," cites President Barack Obama's account, @BarackObama, which at one point was following 702,586 users—the most on Twitter. The account, overwhelmed by tweets, is in dire need of a bit of damage control. But, unable to dump seven hundred thousand followers at once, the admins must slowly reduce its followers in order to keep the President's social media-friendly image intact.
On the other hand, some say that businesses should follow back so that their followers may DM them privately.
"Here's a way to look at it: would you put up a Web page without adding your e-mail address or a contact form so that people could reach out to you privately?" asks Laura "@Pistachio" Fitton, inbound marketing evangelist for HubSpot, and lead author of Twitter for Dummies. "As a business, not following someone back means you're telling them, 'Thanks for your support, but you're not important enough to us to be willing to listen to you privately.'"
Fitton says she tries to reply to all of the genuine direct mentions, and when possible, she will thank or respond to @-mentions and retweets.
"Above and beyond that, stuff like retweeting their content, asking them questions and truly listening to their answers, giving them interesting stuff to interact with are all good ways to engage your community," she says.
Both Fitton and Medina encourage businesses to refrain from using an automated "thanks for following" mention. If you do decide to follow everyone, authenticity is key. Your followers will be able to tell whether they're talking to a robot or a person—and a real person is always more valuable on Twitter.
If you do decide not to follow everyone on Twitter, Medina advises to be strategic about curating your stream on Twitter—knowing your audience helps, but you must also think about what sort of content is going to be useful and entertaining to you.
"We're not one-dimensional people," says Medina. "And increasingly, businesses are using Twitter to show how multifaceted they are. Your stream should reflect the dynamics of your personality and business."
As a small business owner, do you follow every follower back? What ways do you show appreciation to your fans?
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5 Leadership Lessons From Successful Small-Business Owners

No two businesses and industries are alike, but successful leadership principles are largely universal. So, learn by emulating what successful business owners and leaders have done to succeed.
We asked several successful business owners for their best leadership advice. Some fundamental concepts were cited over and over again.
1. Communicate vision and goals
It's not enough for successful leaders to simply have a clear vision. A true leader must communicate that vision and those goals to employees, investors and customers. Without a clear sense of goals, it is easy for everyone involved to lose sight of the larger picture and get lost in the details.
“Much time is wasted in the entrepreneurial process, because the entrepreneur is not clear on the desired outcome," says Dr. David Washington, founder of Washington and Company. "The lack of clarity is then passed down to the followers, which results in missed objectives.” Washington is the author of Life is a Choice: A Guide to Success in Life.
2. Listen
Leaders must be able to listen and understand, as well as communicate.
“Leadership has a core fundamental for me, and that is dialog," said John Spiridigliozzi, vice president of business development at Infinit Technology Solutions. "I have had instances where I was sure I was communicating only to find out I was publishing.
"Engaging in a dialog with team members [is an] opportunity for clarity…. Learning to listen is not simply keeping quiet while others talk. It is comprehending what is being said, assessing the value and responding accordingly.”
3. Build relationships
People are your greatest resource: clients and customers as well as employees. Find ways to strengthen the level of trust you have with everyone involved in your enterprise.
“Be considerate. Be transparent and consistent. Be fair. Be constructive. Be realistic. Be decisive," says Larry M. Elkin, CPA, CFPR and founder of Palisades Hudson Financial Group. He says it all comes down to trust. "We all say we want team players, but many leaders forget to act as part of the team. It is not only important that your workers trust each other: It is vital that they trust you as their leader.”
4. Set the tone
Company culture, tone and attitude come from the top down. A passionate and compassionate leader can energize an entire company. Set an example of cooperation, trust and openness. Focus on solutions and positivity instead of blame and backstabbing.
“You can go through thousands of dollars in consultants to shape your culture, but it will still come back to the owner's approach," says Kristi Hedges, leadership consultant and coach at The Hedges Company.
Hedges favors a hands-on approach. "If you're motivated and happy in your role, then others will follow your lead. And if you're burned out and tired, that energy will permeate everything. Owners need to make sure they shape their role, and their company, to make them fulfilled and excited. If you put yourself last, you're hurting the entire organization."
5. Share ownership
In a tough economic climate, it is more important than ever to be open-minded and employ a community-style approach to leadership. It's a “many heads are better than one” approach.
A good leader allows both employee responsibility and creativity to encourage growth and new ideas. Successful leaders understand the value of customer and community input. Soliciting and listening to feedback and suggestions can lead to a better understanding of what needs to be done and also generates company loyalty and a brand following.
“In our business, we've learned that a little transparency can go a long way toward increasing employees' confidence, commitment and energy,” said Ethan Willis, CEO of Prosper Inc. and co-author of "The One-Minute Entrepreneur."
Royale Scuderi is a freelance writer and success coach. She is the founder of Productive Life Concepts and has been featured on Stepcase Lifehack and The Huffington Post. You can find her musings on life and business at GuardWife.com and Twitter.com/RoyaleScuderi.

The 7 Fundamentals of Building a Successful Business

First comes the idea, then a bit of follow-through and, ideally, in the end you have a business.
But if a company thrives, it's not because its founder filed all the right paperwork, got a P.O. box and had business cards made up. There's much more to building a successful business than those initial basics.
In fact, to make sustained growth more likely, small businesses need a smart, strategic plan. Whether a company is in its infancy or has been around for years, there are a few things every savvy small-business owner needs to keep in mind.

Identify your customers
It's important to share word of your business when you start out and as you grow in order to maintain a customer base. But instead of the cast-a-wide-net approach, try something a little more focused, strategic and rooted in research. Invest in market research—which you can either hire consultants to do or informally conduct yourself—to best identify who your customers are, then compare that data with who you would like your customers to be. From there, you can make an informed decision about where and how to reach them and launch a marketing initiative with a better chance of yielding a return on your investment.
Make sure you've got a professional keeping the books
If you don't think you're a numbers person, it'll be difficult for you to be a truly successful entrepreneur. If you're not qualified to keep your company's books yourself (and you should have an accounting background to do so if you expect any significant growth), you need to understand at least the very basics of accounting so that you can make a good hire of someone more adept to take on that work.
Foster good office culture
Retaining your talent is important for a number of reasons. It's costly (in terms of time and money) to train new employees, and it's be a huge burden to lose a staffer who's led projects for your company. One of the best ways to keep your people on board, and attract new hires, is to cultivate a solid office culture. You know, the kind of place people want to come to. As a small business owner, it's up to you to champion that welcoming, friendly, fun, productive environment. (Read more on creating a great office culture.)
Invest in the basics
Experts have said time and again that a business's success ultimately comes down to its people. Be prepared to pony up the time and energy it takes to vet, recruit, hire and train employees that not only are qualified but also fit within your organization. That means looking ahead to figure out which positions you'll need to hire for, and networking to find the best candidates. Another fundamental element of a successful company in 2012 is its website. Having an amateurish online presence will hurt your credibility and steer people to your competitors with more refined web content. There's a price tag on a good website, but its payback makes it worthwhile.
Listen, especially when you disagree
You started a business because you had an idea and a vision. But your business will only grow if you pay careful attention to your stakeholders and customers. Your board, investors, colleagues and customers can each offer you valuable insight, whether it's about the inner workings of your company or an outside perspective on its functionality and service. It's particularly important to listen when you disagree, like if a board member critiques your methods or a customer isn't happy. That's where you can best learn about your deficiencies and how to improve (translation: It's where you learn how to stay successful).
Plan conservatively
Do everything you can to avoid being surprised when you don't reach financial goals. Set realistic expectations, and have a clear plan on how to get there. Undershooting your revenue estimates will help ensure that your plans, which are based on how much money your business makes, won't derail the company. If you aim high and fall short of reaching your expected margins, it can be disastrous to your firm. (Get more tips on forecasting.)
Find a mentor
There are professionals, entrepreneurs and industry experts in your community who have already gone through the business-building process. Learn from them. They have suggestions to share and failures they've learned from that can spare you the pain and cost of making those same mistakes yourself. It's valuable to have an experienced, trustworthy advisor to review your ideas and help position you to improve and succeed.

5 Ways to Retain Your Top Performers

Your best employee comes into your office Monday morning and gives their two weeks notice. Your heart drops and you start to panic. How will you replace such a stellar performer?
Hopefully you haven’t been faced with this scenario. And if you keep reading, you may never find yourself on the receiving end of such bad news. That’s because the following is some of the best advice on how to retain your rock stars. Take this list to heart and you may land a top dog for life.
Learn their language
You may think you know what motivates your top employees, but have you sat down and asked them? Tom Gimbel, founder and CEO of LaSalle Network, a staffing and recruiting firm in Chicago, sets aside time on a regular basis to learn what motivates his best employees. Then, when they do a good job, he rewards them accordingly.
“I have one guy who loves sporting events; I can’t give him enough tickets,” he says. “I have another sales person who loves to share her stories with me. She wants time with the CEO, to get my insights, so I schedule about 30 minutes every few weeks and that time keeps her happy and motivated.”
Involve them in company decisions
The more invested an employee, the more likely they will stay, so “bring them into the inner circle,” suggests Ralph Neal, vice president, educational services at Employers Resource Association in Cincinnati.
Consider bringing your top dogs into strategic planning meetings. Let them offer suggestions and seek their opinion about issues that will affect the organization as a whole, he adds.
“They will appreciate being part of the business planning process; it can be a big motivator,” says Neal.
While Gimbel agrees with this suggestion, he also offers a warning: some top performers don’t want to be involved.
“It all comes back to spending time with them and getting to know what they are thinking,” he says.
Give them ownership of their work
A micromanaging boss will only drive away a high achiever. Lori Dernavich, an employee performance advisor based in New York City, suggests letting them complete tasks on their own.
“Allow them to have a say on how to solve a problem; managers shouldn’t have all the answers, so give them a chance to own it,” she says.
Get rid of low performers
Top staff members don’t want to hang out with unmotivated, low performing employees, says Gimbel. Consider showing your bottom feeders the door.
“The majority of really good producers would rather work more than clean up the mess of an underperforming employee,” he adds.
Help design their career path
Don’t assume you know the desired career trajectory of a top performer, says Dernavich. Work with them on a personal development plan. Even if you can’t give them everything they want, your eagerness will land you a few brownie points.