The Power of Finding your Community on Twitter

What if I told you that a place existed where you could interact with hundreds of entrepreneurs, lawyers, accountants, bankers, investors and more, all from your seat on the couch? In that same place, these people share ideas, tips, and stories from their years of experience. And the best part—you can gain access to this vast base of knowledge at your fingertips, and all for free. That place is Twitter, and no matter what business or industry you’re in, you’ll likely find that there is a Twitter community catering to it.

I signed up for Twitter over 10 years ago, and I’ve been a consistent user ever since. Twitter is a fantastic place to find news, sports commentary, and of course — memes. But over the last few years I discovered the incredible power that Twitter holds in giving you access to movers and shakers in all sorts of different industries. When I began my career as a lawyer, I knew that I had a strong interest in Mergers and Acquisitions. I also knew that I enjoyed working with family-owned businesses and entrepreneurs. On Twitter, I stumbled across a community that combines those two interests and gives me direct access to others working directly in the same areas. That community is SMB Twitter (small and medium businesses).

The community contains all sorts of professionals working with small and medium businesses: business owners themselves, accountants, bankers, lawyers, brokers, etc. The conversations in SMB Twitter are interesting and informative. People share what is going on in their world: an issue they may be having, how they solved that issue, trends they are seeing in different industries, changing regulations, and more. If there is an issue that businesses face, chances are someone in SMB Twitter has shared that concern and received feedback and input from a number of people with experience with that same issue.

One of my favorite parts of Twitter is the explanatory threads, and there is no shortage of threads on SMB Twitter. SMB Twitter users post threads on a wide variety of topics such as F-Reorganizations, Qualified Small Business Stock, hiring tips and advice, and much, much more. These threads are invaluable because they break down complex topics into plain English and — based on the thread author’s real-life experience — highlight issues that you’re likely to come across as a business owner or someone who is business owner-adjacent.

While conversations and knowledge-sharing are important, I think the most beneficial part of a Twitter community is the resources with which it puts the user in direct contact. One such example is this: @SMB_Attorney tweeted out to his followers that he had a client with an issue — the client had recently bought a business and their search engine optimization rankings had plummeted. Amazingly, over 50 experts reached out to offer assistance in under an hour. As @SMB_Attorney put it, “Twitter is the most powerful business tool in the world!” — and I wholeheartedly agree.

If you’d like to gain access to the vast pool of knowledge and resources that Twitter has to offer, it is very simple. All you need to do is search for the specific industry or area in which you have an interest, and find tweets which have gained lots of traction. From there, your involvement in the community will only continue to grow.