So, I’m showcasing a few solid examples of how to make Twitter work for your business without being just another advertising space.

Updates via SMS

One of the best examples of Twitter usage was at the Frankie95 dance event in New York City May, 2009.

They leveraged the Twitter mobile features to feed updates via SMS to hundreds of event participants.  They encouraged attendees to sign up for Twitter, follow them and then set up mobile updates via SMS for their tweets.

By doing so they created a way to quickly and effectively reach their attendees with changes to the schedule, last minute updates, and more with minimal cost.

For large conferences, dance events and workshops with fluid schedules this kind of notification system works wonders to keep your attendees in sync with what’s going on.  Whether your party has moved down the hall or the workshop has been pushed back an hour, your attendees will get an SMS notification delivered to them.

SMS is a direct line to your participants and Twitter’s mobile update feature leverage that connection well.

Connecting

One of the most common uses of Twitter is as a networking tool.  There are many dancers and dance studios on Twitter who you may not be aware of in your area.

Whether you are looking for dancers for your company, looking to hire a new instructor or looking to network with out of town studios and instructors for possible joint projects, Twitter is a great place to find and connect with individuals.

Using services like Twellow, which function as directories of Twitter users grouped into categories, you can find dancers, musicians, DJs or organizers throughout the world to connect with, share information, tips and more.

Customer Service & Brand Management

While we all hope we don’t have too many complaints or issues to address, Twitter is a great tool for tracking issues and connecting with the individuals who have problems and addressing them directly.

Having an ear on the Twitter feeds for your brand name, your dance studio, your dance style, etc. allow you to monitor and deal with issues that may crop up with your business – and especially with your website that may get lost in the shuffle of e-mail.

Searching for mentions of your brand name, dance style, dance studio or instructors can give you a pulse on what people are saying about your business and the world of dance.

Sharing Content

Whether you want to share a photo of the latest dance competition highlights, a music track you just discovered or a video of an inspirational dance video; Twitter is another way to deliver this content to your customers.

With a camera in every phone, you can easily snap a picture of a dancer and immediately send it to Twitter through a service like TwitPic.

If you have a Flickr stream you can feed your photos to your Twitter account, so once you’ve got pictures from your most recent recital, show or even rehearsal you can feed them out to your followers automatically.

Many music streaming services like Last.fm, Blip.fm, and Pandora allow you to share the song or channel you are listening to with your Twitter followers with the click of a button; so if you just caught a song that inspires your dancing – share it.

By sharing content of your dancers, your DJs, your inspiration and your studio you create a stronger community connection with your followers.

Dance Mobs

Who doesn’t love a dance mob?

Whether you are organizing a random club bomb where you descend en masse upon a specific club, a flash mob dance event, or a spontaneous dance party, Twitter helps you setup and share the details needed with dancers.

If a favorite DJ or band is playing at a club it’s a quick way to gather your friends to join you.

With the use of other online media, like YouTube or another video platform, you can share a dance to be learned, and then organize the meetup and performance entirely via Twitter.

These kinds of performances, jams and meetups are a great way to spur interest, engagement and media attention.

If you want an impossible way to do business, it’s to never mention it.

Your first priority in a dance business, whether you are advertising private lessons, group lessons, or performance availability, is to put the word out.

Then repeat it.

Whether you a performer looking for work, a dance teacher looking to organize a class, or a studio owner looking to fill their classes, you need to learn to spread the word that you’re there–ready, willing and able to fulfill the needs of students or theaters.

These days it’s cheaper than ever to target your market with online tools, and even more important to keep track of which tools work best for your target market. Traditional print advertising is expensive and untargeted, you don’t have the budget of Coca-Cola and you don’t want to emulate their marketing strategies.

People look to Google to find local classes, events and performance artists, not your local classifieds section anymore. Location-dependent networks like Yelp.com showcase businesses of all types within specific neighborhoods and cities, are you listed?

Putting the word out is really about hanging out your shingle for everyone to see.

Tell everyone you know that you are teaching dance classes, looking for teaching opportunities, opening a dance studio, putting on a performance or looking to perform at events.

It rarely hurts to ask, it never helps to remain silent.

Services to Get The Word Out

Google Local

This is Google’s local business index that comes up in Google searches before even the the top ranked websites. It’s incredibly easy to add your business to Google Local, all you have to do is go here and they walk you through the process.

Yelp.com

One of the most trafficked location-based index of businesses, Yelp.com is a great way to add your business to your local digital map (you’ll have to create an account and tag your business). Yelp includes ratings and reviews, so it helps to get a few current customers to jump on Yelp and give their feedback.

Facebook

Creating a Facebook following allows you to tap into an existing and very active online community.  You can create a Page for your business and create events that users can share with their entire network with the click of a button. A great way to take word of mouth to the next level.

Twitter

While not a location service, Twitter is an incredibly vibrant and active information network. Local communities often employ hashtags to post local events and happenings which can help spread the word about your business. A word of mouth information network that can spread swiftly.

Website

If you don’t have a website for your dance business, you’re missing out on business. The internet is #1 when people look to find dance classes usually, and if you don’t have a website it’s very unlikely they’ll go to you first.  There are some exceptional and affordable options out there for basic website creation that let you easily manage your own content.  If you need a website created, I offer basic services to that effect – just e-mail me.

E-Mail Newsletters

In this day almost everyone has an e-mail address and collecting them is even better than collecting phone numbers. Creating a mailing list of individuals who have attended your events, and classes, gives you the opportunity to easily reach out to them again. And former customers are often your best customers.

Flickr photo by Caveman.