CHARLESTON, SC -
By Hatzel Vela bio | email | Twitter
CHARLESTON, SC (WCSC) - Nowadays, 140 characters are all it takes to get you fired.
On Wednesday, Ashley T. Caldwell and Cheryl Smithem showed other women business owners the dos and don'ts of social media, specifically Twitter.
"People forget that Twitter is a broadcast medium," said Smithem, a public relations consultant.
"No matter, if you're the consumer, if you're working for somebody or if you are the boss, you need to take what you say seriously," said Caldwell, who specializes in social media.
"Twitter is a great medium to connect to other people," Smithem added.
And if you use the right way, the pair said it can build your clientele.
"People do business with those who they know, like and trust and social media is the way to demonstrate that kind of side of you as a business or as a brand," Caldwell said.
But they warn their clients and advise them to be careful with what they say because it could haunt them later on.
"Even if you're in a good job right now, you're not probably going to be there forever. So these are things that can come around 20 years from now, it's still going to be there," Caldwell said. "Our future president for example is using Twitter right now. He or she, we're going to be able to see exactly what they were doing."
Rebecca Rand, a licensed psychotherapist, wants to learn to use Twitter the right way so she can advice her clients on the best practices.
"When I advice people and counsel them, it's important that I have a good understanding myself of what the risks are and when people make themselves vulnerable out there," said Rand, who runs Executive Counseling Solutions.
"Just like television and radio and newspapers, magazines, this is yet another way to share a message and I think because it enables us to be genuine, person to person, it will continue to grow and it will be something that can be used with success," Smithem said.
Smithem and Caldwell both agreed before you post something on Twitter, remember these two things: Once you tweet, they can repeat it. Once you tweet it, you can't delete it.
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