Because they have to work within the confines of a curriculum they planned weeks or months in advance, your MBA professors can only give you so much up-to-date info on the world of business. That’s where Twitter comes in. Searching for informative hashtags on your own time is a great way to find the latest tips, pointers, news, views, and more from others around the world who love to talk business. Although you can’t actually “follow” a hashtag on Twitter like you can follow other users’ accounts, third-party platforms like Tweetdeck make keeping up with topics of interest to you a snap. Here are 25 tags to get you started.
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#MBA
A bit on the nose perhaps, but searching for this hashtag brings you everything on the spectrum of a Master of Business Administration. It’s especially helpful for tips on getting into an MBA program and articles about being an MBA student.
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#mktg
In this fast-paced world, you don’t have time to spell out the whole word. Run a search for #mktg and tweets from business-savvy folks like you pop up with posts about viral ad campaigns, social media, SEO, and more marketing topics.
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#business
A good mix of results comes up on searches for this tag. There’s a smattering of tweeters starting debates on business practices, links to market and economic news, and a healthy dose of quotes like: “Take risks. You are a lot better off being scared than being bored.”
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#entrepreneur
Chances are good that as an MBA student, you either plan to be an entrepreneur or already are one. Either way, keeping up with this tag is a smart way to sharpen your skills as a mover and shaker.
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#VC
Insider slang like “VC” (for venture capital) make great hashtags to search because it’s mainly only knowledgeable businesspeople who use them. If an MBA is part of your plan to start your own company, you’ll want to know something about real-world venture capital deals sooner or later.
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#finance
Tweeters often pair this tag with tags like #money, #business, and #invest. The results are heavy on business news, with handfuls of job listings in the field of finance thrown in. (And in this job market, reading through a few job listings never hurt anybody.)
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#revenue
Like #VC, #revenue is a great term to search as it is strictly a business term and you won’t get off-topic results. What you will get are projection models, trends, tips on increasing your revenue stream, and more.
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#networking
If you’ll couple it with #business when you search, #networking turns up some handy articles that will interest businesspeople like you who never miss a chance to make connections. You’ll find real-world and online networking opportunities, plus discussions on maximizing your reach and effectiveness in networking.
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#biztips
Like mini-MBA lessons, #biztips hooks you up with hundreds of posts with helpful hints for conducting a successful business operation. Recent tweets include “10 Ways to Improve Your Sales Team” and “Want to get more work done and make more money? Delete Facebook.”
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#startup
There is a wealth of free advice on Twitter waiting to be seized by you before you launch your own company. See how others are handling their new ventures and mimic what they do and learn from their mistakes.
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#consumers
For some reason, the plural seems to turn up more helpful hits than #consumer. As it’s kind of a technical term, it brings up scholarly and informative articles on buying trends and consumer habits that should be right up an MBA’s alley.
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#womeninbusiness
If you are a female MBA candidate, this search will be of particular interest to you. It will give you an idea of what to expect of your life in the business world, as well as ways to deal with issues that affect women like work versus motherhood, wage inequality, and even workplace fashion.
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#Ecommerce
Where better to learn about e-commerce than the home of all things “E?” Many Twitter users also happen to be experts in online business, and you stand to learn quite a bit by spending some time reading results from this hashtag.
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#management
MBA holders are management material, as you are no doubt aware. Check in with this hashtag periodically for help for everything from helping employees find their #workplacemojo to how to avoid making a bad hire to quotes from Winston Churchill.
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#innovation
Your professors can teach you how to exploit a good idea, but knowing how to improve or redesign a product or service is something that more frequently comes out of experience. Use this tag to help you sharpen your innovation skills and hopefully find inspiration for your own million-dollar idea.
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#operations
As in, #business #operations. As the guy or gal with the MBA, you may find yourself heading up some division of operations at your company. Make use of this tag to find advice on shipping, e-commerce, production, and more.
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#custserv
“Customer service” in business lingo, this tag makes a nice entrance point for learning about customers from the viewpoint of a business. There are articles like “4 Ways to Use Twitter for Customer Service” and “10 Reasons to Pay Attention to Customer Service.”
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#strategy
Surprisingly, you don’t get bombarded with thousands of posts about Age of Empires. What you do find when searching #strategy are tweets from fellow tweeters about how to be in the business game to win it.
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#branding
Even if you use your MBA to start a one-man operation, creating a brand for your company is a must. Find tips on using Pinterest, Facebook, and all the other social mediums for branding, plus see examples of skilled marketers in action.
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#leadership
Being a good leader is a topic you may not hit on very much in class. If so, your fellow Twitter users are constantly posting articles like “Communication Secrets from the Best Leaders in the World” to help you succeed when you’re at the helm.
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#employees
Want to know four warning signs that your employees hate you, or how to build a dream team of employees? Then search this tag; you’ll find these articles and more regarding your company’s most valuable asset.
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#ethics
No doubt you’ll have at least one class in MBA school that touches on ethics, seeing as it’s such a huge issue right now. But this hashtag opens you up to much more news and opinion on the subject than you could ever get in a single course.
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#culture
Pair this one with #business and you’re rewarded with insights about fostering healthy workplace environments, like avoiding favoritism and decreasing the possibility of disloyal or unhappy employees.
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#smallbiz
Major corporations like Visa and Verizon join other Twitter users in offering free advice for running a small business. Topics run the gamut from branding and web development to hiring and cost management.
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#CEO
Got your sights set on bigger things once you score that MBA? Searching this hashtag connects you with knowledge and tips every CEO needs to be successful, as well as news on what your chief executive peers are up to lately.
There is a wealth of free advice on Twitter waiting to be seized by you before you launch your own company. See how others are handling their new ventures and mimic what they do and learn from their mistakes.
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