Hampshire Hour is a Twitter Chat Hour which takes place each Tuesday between 8-9pm.
It is hosted by Miranda Rock (@RocketLaunchUK) and occasionally other members of the #HampshireHour community.
Why You Should Participate in #HampshireHour
Hampshire Hour and hundreds of chat hours just like it are all about networking. That may seem like a throwaway statement, but think carefully about what networking really means.
First and foremost, you should be seeking to contribute to the Hampshire Hour community, to help other businesses there or just to be social. If you’re just looking to show up and sell your product or service, that’s just not what networking is about – you have to invest in relationships and build your reputation.
If you’re just looking for some cheap advertising to a captive audience, this isn’t for you. It might feel like a simple way of getting your name in front of other local businesses without much effort, but it really, really doesn’t work that way – you’d be wasting your time and probably harming your reputation and brand more than you’d be gaining.
If you’re seeking to be part of a great community of businesses across Hampshire, to engage, chat and have a little fun, if you’re happy to offer advice or recommend someone else who can help, if you want to build relationships and make friends, Hampshire Hour is just perfect for you.
What is a Twitter Chat?
Twitter Chats take many forms, but the most common is a simple concept around a specific hashtag, in this case #HampshireHour.
Users across the Hampshire region use the #HampshireHour hashtag in their tweets during the chat hour, engaging with other local businesses and sharing content.
Activity in a Twitter chat usually takes two forms;
Proactive: Monitoring the #HampshireHour hashtag, favouriting, retweeting and replying to tweets which feature the hashtag.
Reactive: Monitoring Twitter notifications for replies to your own tweets.
#HampshireHour Etiquette
This is a summary from How to Get the Most from Twitter Chats
Do
- Be present, commit to joining in frequently if you expect to build relationships in the community.
- Engage in conversation. You’re here to create relationships and build your reputation.
- Look for opportunities to help others in the community. Invest in the relationship before expecting the community to help you.
Don’t
- Spam. Just posting your sales tweets in to the chat without engaging, as far as Twitterers are concerned, is the worst crime.
- Try it once and decide that it doesn’t work. It takes time to build valuable relationships and trust in a community that doesn’t know you.
- Use multiple Twitter Chat tags in the same tweet. Have one conversation at a time.
- Participate in irrelevant chats. There’s a degree of consideration here. If you’re in or near Hampshire, fair enough. If you’re in Harrogate, you’re wasting your time – this is a Hampshire business community.
Recent Tweets from the #HampshireHour Community
#HampshireHour Elsewhere Across the Social Web
Speak with a SpecialistLearn Social Media with a Pro
