The simple knowledge that your direct and indirect competition is using Twitter and Facebook is one thing. But it’s far more valuable to know who they’re developing online rapport with, and what those people need that you can potentially provide. And while you may not stumble across a blatant tweet like “I’m ready to drop $500 on a ,” with service mindfulnesss, some patience, and a little research know-how your small business can take an organic approach to prospecting through social media.

Pluck low hanging fruit on Twitter

Look closely at who’s following your competition with some Twitter research. Here are the recommend steps you should take to leverage this monitoring:

1. View the competitor’s Twitter profile within a browser (recommend Firefox).

2. Click the link to view who lists the company.

3. Highlight all the list information, paste it into BuzzStream’s free link building tool.

4. Download the CSV generated by the tool. You may have to do some file formatting clean-up, but you’ll end up with the name, Twitter handle, and Twitter URL of people who list (and presumably value) your competition.

Armed with this knowledge, you can then spend some quality time researching any interaction between the company and the follower. You may spot some problematic areas you can tuck away for future exploitation – ahem, use – or you may just learn how active and supportive the competition is with its Twitter network. Either way, information is power. And now you have a list of people inclined to have an interest in your product/service category. These people are low-hanging fruit in the sense that they have a heightened interest in your market. It’s likely you’re not starting from awareness zero. Using the same workbook, create new tabs for each competitor and repeat.

And as you can see from the example above, people can use some pretty interesting names when building Twitter lists. I think the names can also be a clue for you to tuck away because it gives insight into how the list maker categorizes or perceives the company. Don’t place too much emphasis here – some people just go crazy naming lists. But in conjunction with your other findings, list names are news you can use.

Now, if you’re committed to digging deep into Twitter to uncover insights, you could extend the value of your new CSV file by adding other columns to help categorize or further identify each prospect. By checking out someone’s profile bio you may find a link to their web site. From there you may discern if they’re a consumer, supplier/vendor, or like-minded pro in another market. Jot all this down into the spreadsheet; it may help prioritize where you spend your time and who you woo.

Be Johnny-On-the-Spot

Furthermore, if a prospect has an RSS feed for their blog, don’t forget to subscribe. File them all under a special folder in your reader for easy access when it’s time to schedule tweets that promote their content. And yes, it’s important that you share other people’s content.

Tired of the CSV file? Well, you still need it. Use SocialSeek or Social Mention to hunt the interwebs and bring back info that fits parameters you set up (your brand name, your competitor’s brand name, the category, related categories, etc.) These tools will bubble up people having conversations relevant to your business. Consider appending their information to your file and rounding out the info you’re collecting. Then reach out while the conversation is hot with a no-pressure message like “I see you’re in a spot. Can we help with that at all?” See? Nice and subtle.

Not an exclusive deal

Of course, larger organizations can take these approaches, too. They’re not exclusive to small shops. Given limited resources, though, small businesses may find real opportunity in converting leads discovered this way, particularly once the basic leg work is set up and tasks become more routine.

Do you own or help out at a small business? What are your secrets for gathering competitive intelligence and prospecting on Twitter?

Author’s note:  I first published this post, titled “How small businesses can use Twitter to get a jump on the competition,” on the Oneforty blog July 8, 2011 as a contributing author. I’m cross-posting here so that Insights & Ingenuity readers might also learn and enjoy.

In some ways, the same disdain and frank aversion can be said for some of the early times in my career. Why did I ever think that Debbie whats-her-name would help me advance, simply because human resources fell somewhere under her vast sphere of influence? It was her job, and I was naïve enough to believe she’d do her job. And really, wasn’t the dubious title of Marketing Coordinator a euphemism for “Girl Who Fulfills Requests for Literature and Holds Key to the Tradeshow Giveaways?” Yeah, it definitely was (but at least I could still drink the nectar from the red can. The ancient 30-yr-olds I worked with were followers of Jenny Craig.).

Young people entering the work force today simply have higher expectations. Is that good? Maybe. I truly think new job seekers today are doing a lot more homework than I did all those years ago. But the new graduate who politely declined my employment offer a few months ago, well that’s another story. Yes, he held a shiny new MA in interaction design. But he’d never actually had a job in his life. He had a nicely prepared thesis, but bore no scars of turf wars, politics, irrational client demands, bookended meetings, overbudget photoshoots, physical ailment from bad clam chowder and a obese, malodorous seat mate on a redeye from LA (by the grace of all things holy, don’t ask!), misplaced coworker ire, or compromised family time. And frankly, I think those things count for a lot. Live and learn.

Which brings me back to my last post. Confronting and sharing (am I courageous, or just a stupid masochist?) my workplace vulnerabilities as a means to exorcising my demons and cathartic release preparing me for healing and earning a higher reward in workplace heaven. I’m a little afraid that someone else – I have someone in mind – might just outfox me. This person is poised, intelligent, friendly, attractive, self-deprecating while maintaining an air of confidence, a team player, resourceful, and otherwise one of those perfect people I’d love to hate (for most, I require much less provocation, truth be told. Don’t ever be in front of me and drive slow, and for God sakes, don’t stop at a yield sign.). Sigh, but I can’t. I tried, really, but I can’t.

This in and of itself might surprise some readers because hey, aren’t women naturally contemptuous of other successful people? Isn’t that when we sharpen the claws and get nasty? Frankly, I think this is a beautiful (figuratively speaking) person well suited for their position. And I’m overjoyed to find that rather than finding a million reasons not to like him/her, I’m taught at least one reason every day why I should, and do. And that gives me hope – for my character, my personal growth, and sense of self. Maybe I’ll even learn an ethereal Point or two (to help mitigate the Tia Brown subterfuge. Yes, it was a really long time ago, but “Tia” was ahem, a regular.).

After all, excelling and achieving aren’t necessarily individual games. They should be team sports, with medals all around for those determined and sharp-witted.

Holy cripes, I thought it was only me who worried about falling flat on my face.  Certainly not Mr. Accomplished.  But his revelation made me think about innate fears and vulnerbilities we all have, and how glorious it would be if we could all just let it hang out.  No laughs, no snickers or surprised faces, no wrinkled noses or involuntary cringing.  What a wonderful place – home or work, school or church – it would be if we all felt comfortable enough to say, “I didn’t know what to do when. . .” or “I didn’t know how to start my. . .”.

Summoning all of my courage (or course, inspired by this one guy), I’ll go first.  Here goes.  I’m afraid I might someday run into someone with as much drive and determination as me.  And it scares the hell out of me, for that’s where I hang my hat (we’ve already established I’m not the smartest gal in the room, previous post).

Got to run (sorry to leave you hanging!) – my chariot won’t wait for long (aka, my husband is impatient).