A Guide to Threads For Coaches

Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk really don’t like one another.

Zuckerberg is supposedly envious of Musk’s reputation for risk-taking.

And it seems Musk is envious of Zuckerberg’s success in building an empire on what he believes to be shaky software.

Their cock-measuring antipathy reached new heights (or rather, lows) recently when Musk challenged Zuckerberg to a cage fight.

I doubt there is a ring this side of Saturn big enough to house two such gigantic oversized egos.

But whether that fight takes place or not, Zuckerberg has already landed the first blow with the Meta launch of Threads.

A Guide to Threads For Coaches

What is Threads?

Threads is the latest social media platform from Meta (owners of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp), and it looks a teeny bit like Twitter.

And when I say it looks a teeny bit like Twitter, I mean in the same way a porpoise looks a teeny bit like a dolphin.

Or a crocodile likes a teeny bit like an alligator.

In other words, you need to be a fucking zoologist to tell them apart.

Threads basically is Twitter.

Or rather, Twitter minus the DM function, and at least for now, the racists, ads and spam.

Even the name, Threads is straight from Twitter, as it’s the term used to describe Tweets stitched together to allow people to get around the character count limitation.

Sadly, Threads isn’t currently available in the EU (more later), and you cannot use Threads without having an Instagram account.

The latter makes life easier if you have one because you can import all your details, including people you follow.

But I can imagine it’s a bit irritating if you don’t have an Instagram account but want to use Threads.

If that is the case for you, I’d advise you to bite the bullet and open an Instagram account.

The time you spend setting up Instagram is time you will save when you import everything into Threads.

Is Threads this year’s Clubhouse?

Probably not.

I was sceptical of Clubhouse from the get-go.

The intense hype they generated by getting influencers onto the platform and making it invite-only, to begin with, was pure genius.

But the underlying premise of a voice-only social media platform was shaky. There was no proof of concept.

There is proof of concept with Threads because Twitter has close to half a billion active monthly users.

Secondly, and more importantly, Threads has the most successful social media company on planet Earth behind it.

There are almost 4 billion monthly users on Facebook and Instagram combined, and WhatsApp has a further 2.7 billion.

And thirdly, Threads hit 30 million uses on the first day and was over 100 million in 5 fucking days!

Contrary to popular belief, Clubhouse is still growing and has 10 million weekly users, but it’s a minnow compared to Threads.

How do I sign up for Threads?

You cannot sign up for Threads from a desktop; you need the app and, as previously mentioned, an Instagram account.

1. Download the Threads app from the App Store or Google Play Store.
2. Open the app and select “Sign in with Instagram.” Ensure you’re logged into Instagram.
3. If needed, switch to your desired Instagram account.
4. Update your profile picture, bio, and links or import them from Instagram.
5. Look for profiles to follow
6. Click “Continue”, choose your profile privacy settings.
7. Review the terms, tap “Create profile.”
8. Voila! You’re good to go, so you can go and follow me and say hello.

Should I open a Threads account?

Absolutely you should!

Then again, you should open an account in either your name or your coaching business name on every major social media platform.

The question isn’t whether you should open one; it’s whether you should invest time into it.

I’ve had an Instagram account for the best part of a decade, but I’ve never posted to it. Even though (somewhat bizarrely) I have over 200 followers.

I opened it to protect my brand, and in case I wanted to use it at some later stage.

It’s no different to buying a domain name associated with your coaching business but that you have no immediate plans to use.

Is there any reason not to open a Threads account?

Probably not.

Even if you don’t plan on using it in the foreseeable future, things can change.

Having said that, if you hate Twitter with a passion purely because of the format, you will probably hate Threads too.

Similarly, if you hate Meta as a company, Threads isn’t for you.

Quite honestly, I don’t like Meta, but I see them as a necessary evil and part of my overall marketing strategy.

Is Threads better than Twitter?

That’s a judgment call.

But seeing as I’m a judgmental bastard, I will make that call and say, absolutely it is.

At least for now.

And definitely, if you don’t pay Elon for a Twitter blue check mark to make your tweets visible to a reasonable amount of your followers.

I have over four and a half thousand followers on Twitter, and I rarely have more than 30 or so people see anything I post.

And the sheer amount of bot accounts and racist and homophobic idiots trolling celebrities is exhausting.

Most will eventually make their way onto Threads.

But even though the Facebook algorithm struggles to separate hate speech from friends joking (yes, I have fallen foul of that), it at least attempts to rein in personal attacks and fake accounts.

Twitter does next to nothing, and what it does do is dependent on Musk’s mood that particular day.

Another reason Threads is better is that you have a limit of 500 characters per post on Threads compared to 280 on Twitter.

So you have more room to express your undoubted genius.

There is also no limit on reading on Threads, unlike on Twitter.

I got over 20 paying clients directly from Twitter between 2008 and 2011.

And Threads feels very similar to how Twitter felt back then.

Very little of the negativity, aggressiveness and downright hostility you see regularly on Twitter.

That may well change, but I suspect a bit like coaches using AI, there will be a competitive advantage to be had by those coaches establishing themselves early on.

Should I close my Twitter account?

If Zuckerberg hits his goal of 1,000,000,000 users on Threads, you can stick a fork in Twitter because it’s done.

However, anybody thinking Musk isn’t going to fight back hard is delusional.

Twitter is already threatening a lawsuit claiming Meta is infringing its intellectual property rights (which doesn’t seem unreasonable to this layperson), and it could all get very messy.

But for now, nobody knows what will happen.

I’ll advise my clients against closing their Twitter accounts down, especially if it is helpful with inbound traffic or client attraction.

Are there things to be aware of with Threads?

I highly doubt Meta would admit it, but Threads is, to all intents and purposes, an MVP (minimum viable product).

An MVP is a product that businesses will launch (usually software) to get feedback on bugs and things that can be improved on – a bit like a beta test.

I would imagine at Meta Central, there were a few coders staring at their shoes as they ate pizza and drank Red Bull at 3 am when Zuckerberg burst through the door.

‘Launch Threads now!’

‘But your royal Zuckness, it’s not ready yet. We haven’t got hashtags working, there’s no way to find shit, and you cannot even DM people.’

‘I don’t give a fuck; Musk just put a read limit on people using Twitter, and we can make him look like a bigger tool than usual.’

I’m not sure if that conversation happened verbatim, but it certainly seems like Threads was rushed to market at a time when Twitter users were up in arms….again.

So understand, this is clearly not a finished product, and as per any coded unfinished product, it’s a tad buggy.

Almost every time I post, I get a message asking me if something has gone wrong.

I suppose it could just be asking me about my life in general, but I prefer to think it’s asking if my comment failed to post.

It never has, but the error message is a minor irritation.

Also, be aware that if you open a Threads account and decide to delete it, it will also delete your Instagram account.

This feels very naughty to me because it’s not apparent when you sign up.

But, at the end of the day, this is a free platform from a profit-driven company, so they get to set the rules.

Currently, as previously mentioned, Threads isn’t available to all people in the European Union.*

Meta is clearly worried about infringing on GDPR (general data protection regulation) laws and the subsequent fines it may face

Look for that to change because there is no way Meta will ignore a market of close to half a billion people.

*Somebody has reported in the Fully Booked Coach Facebook group that it is available in Spain on an Andriod device. Maybe this is an Apple iOS thing. I will try and find that out and update this post accordingly.

Notice, too, that it’s Thread.net which is weird as fuck.

At first, I thought it was a spam site piggybacking off Meta, but presumably, Zuck couldn’t afford the cash needed to buy the dot com.

I bet the person who owns the dot com is seeing tens of thousands of new visitors per day to the site, and the value of their domain skyrocket into the millions.

How can I get clients using Threads?

With ANY social media platform, you need to have a strategy.

And that strategy can be summed up by the acronym EAT.

Demonstrate Expertise

Build Authority

Develop Trust

And you do those things in the same way as you would on any other social media platform.

• Share valuable and relevant information.
• Help people
• Build relationships
• Ask and answer questions
• Position yourself as a resource

And do all that regularly and consistently.

Should I follow you on Threads, Tim?

Damn straight, you should!

About the only thing thinner than the hair on my head at the moment is my follower count on Threads, and my ego is fucking livid.

If you can wade through cute Doberman pics and dark humour, you will find the occasional nugget of pure marketing wisdom.

I am committing to posting multiple times per day for the next three months so I can report back to my newsletter list and also update this post.

Click here to follow me, and presuming you have a photo in your bio, I will follow you back.

What’s your take on Threads?

It’s crazily early to predict what will happen with Threads, but I’d love your thoughts.

Please leave a comment, and you are very welcome to leave your Threads name in your comment if you want more followers.