by Susan Sweeney, CA, CSP, HoF

There is quite a bit of talk on the Internet these days about this new social media service called Twitter. So what is it? Well, basically, it’s a way to keep up to date with what people in your social circle are doing. This is what Twitter has to say about itself:

“Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co-workers to communicate
and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers
to one simple question: What are you doing?”

Just like other social media services such as Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn , you have to sign up for an account. From there you can post your messages, or as the Twitter family like to call it, your “tweets”. You can choose to “follow” other people’s posts which mean you will receive their posts once they  update, or other people can choose to “follow” your posts. You can even choose to keep your posts private so that only your friends can read them; you can even turn post updates on for some people and off for others.

Twitter updates are small, the limit is 140 characters, but users can send updates via SMS, instant messaging, email and the web, or by any one of the multitude of Twitter applications that are now available.

All in all it’s a great way to keep in touch no matter where you are and the best part is… it’s free!

So, can Twitter help your business?

Well, only you can decide that for sure, but let’s take a second to recap: Twitter is a communication tool, it’s instant, it can be updated and read no matter where you are (as long as you have an Internet connection or a mobile phone) and it’s free. Sounds like Twitter has the potential to be a pretty useful Internet marketing application.

Here are a few examples of how Twitter can be used in business:

• Personal Branding  Build your personal brand and establish yourself as a social personality that is connected and approachable.
• Get Feedback  Blast out a message asking for advice on how a Web site looks or send out your most burning questions and you’ll receive replies from other users.
• Direct traffic  When you send out messages, include your Web site information. Twitter offers a great opportunity to exponentially increase your exposure with viral marketing.
• Business Management  Use Twitter as your company’s intranet. Use it to connect employees to one another especially if they are working on a big project together. Be sure to set updates to private for security reasons.
• Notify Your Customers  Use Twitter to notify customers when new products are available.
• Event Updates  Inform event participants of the latest event happenings and/or changes as they happen. Or use it to provide real-time commentary on events coverage.
• Find Prospects  Twitter can be used as a means to find potential customers or clients online. Do a search for keywords related to your product on Tweetscan, Terraminds or Summize and then follow users. Tweet about topics parallel to your product and close prospects away from public channels by using direct messages or offline communications. Discretion and skill is needed in this area.
• Set up Meetings  Organize last minute meetings with Twitter. You can do this on your way back from lunch, at the doctor’s office or after a client meeting.
• Affiliate Management  Use Twitter to increase communication between you and your network of affiliates.

These are just a few examples of how Twitter can be used as a business application. It’s quick, it’s easy and it’s free. But only you can decide if it is right for your business.

Credit to Author
Internet Marketing and e-Business expert, Susan Sweeney, CA, CSP, HoF is the author of 8 Internet marketing books including the best-selling book 101 Ways to Promote Your Web Site. To learn more about Susan and what she can do for your business, visit http://www.susansweeney.com