Milwaukee locals divulge how ‘Twitter Works’ in new book

Phil Gerbyshak, founder of the Make It Great! Institute and a self-proclaimed relationship geek recently partnered with social media mavens and restaurateurs Joe Sorge of AJ Bombers and Scott Baitinger of Streetza Pizza to launch their new book “#Twitter Works”
The book debuted at the National Restaurant Association’s annual conference a few weeks ago, but is applicable to any business seeking to increase their interactions with customers.
“The main illustration of the book is reflective of how restaurant 1.0 has morphed into restaurant 2.0 which is a model that can apply to every business that has had to change under the spotlight of feedback,” Sorge said. “Every business can thrive in this way because what used to be a one way style of pushing out your content product or service now lies in a two way conversation that allows you to get your customers involved.”
Back in December, Gerbyshak noticed that a lot of people were struggling to understand that Twitter wasn’t just a conversation about what people were having for breakfast, he said.
“I noticed early on that Joe and Scott had been using Twitter for their businesses and connecting with people, with customers, in a very real way,” Gerbyshak said.
According to Gerbyshak, the stories resonate most with Sorge’s and Baitinger’s experiences in the restaurant industry but other firms can benefit from knowing the basics of how Twitter Works for a business.
“The worst thing you can do with any social media outlet is ignore it,” Gerbyshak said. “This book has many components that can really help people leverage Twitter even if they only have thirty minutes a day to do it.”
According to Sorge, his portions of the book are written in a very “how-to” format.
“It’s a great example of how the digital world and the real world are very much the same,” Sorge said. “I wrote about stories of how we interacted with our guests and how we do things as a company, and I realize now that we do the same things for customers in person every single day. Twitter just gives us a wider broader audience to do what we do everyday at the restaurant, interact with our guests in a meaningful way.”
The book is written in a very easy to understand 101 format for readers who may not know everything or anything about Twitter, Sorge said.
“We’re only talking about scratching the surface here,” Sorge said. “This book is as much about our customers as it is about us.”
The book is available now from any of the three authors or on the website www.twitterworks.tv, the website also features a preview of the book.  The book sells for $22.95 and will also be available for the Kindle, the iPad and on Amazon.com in the near future, Gerbyshak said. Follow the authors of "#Twitter Works" on Twitter here: @ajbombers, @philgerb, and @streetzapizza.