Top 10 Quora Tips for Small Business

To get started on Quora, try these ten tips:

Be authentic:

Be real, human and complex. Demonstrating your knowledge and your personality will attract followers. Talking knowledgably and objectively about topics, including your business and industry, might attract customers.

Know your stuff:

Don’t answer unless you know the information or have very good sources and links to back up statements. Accuracy is important. Context is key.

Give credit to others:

Up vote answers that you think are valuable, rather than repeating an existing answer.

Comment wisely:

Comments are nearly as important as answers and should be treated as such. Fair, reasonable and contextualized comments will help a debate and reflect well on you and your participation on the site.

Be informational, not promotional:

Quora is not a place for hard sell and spam. It’s okay to speak from your POV as a business owner. Just keep content information-based and restrain yourself from too much self- or business-promotion. There are guidelines and the community takes a dim view of self-promotion, and will down vote and collapse answers that don’t pass. That’s bad for your brand.

Expect push back:

Quora members will disagree with your statements, so be prepared to take some criticism for viewpoints or facts. This is part of a lively debate and should be encouraged. You might learn something new. Don’t take the criticism personally.

Stay professional:

Quora answers are tied back to individuals and are searchable on Google. All of your answers can be part of the public record so remember to comport yourself accordingly.

Get in early:

Lots of questions have no answers. Some attract a lot. Experience suggests being one of the first few answers is better for attracting attention than coming into a debate late – that is, unless you have a totally different take on the question that pushes the debate in a different direction. Spend your energies on unattended questions.

Respect the community:

Early phase Quora has a very strong culture of information sharing and respect. Play by the rules and you and the Quora culture will benefit.

Expand your interests:

There are many threads to follow on Quora and many smart people contributing who are at the forefronts of their fields. By branching out, you might expand your own interests and uncover new business and retail opportunities. Ask some questions, too. Quora is an amazing resource.