What Exactly is Twitter and Should You Be Using Twitter For Business?

What Exactly is Twitter and Should You Be Using Twitter For Business?
By Jeanne Kolenda

Twitter, twitter, tweet, tweet everywhere! It seems that almost overnight Twitter burst onto the scene and created quite a stir. At first, it seemed ridiculous that little short one-liners about inane things would be anything I'd want to involve myself with as a business owner. Well, I changed my mind, and I'll tell you why.

First, Let's Define Twitter
In simple terms, Twitter is a free service that allows one to say just about anything to anyone else in 140 characters or less. It's referred to as "micro-blogging." You go find people you want to follow and click on their "Follow" button and they usually click back on your "Follow" button, and it goes from there. It's not like Facebook, in that you don't even have to have a clue who these people are to follow them. Usually with Facebook, you start off with your family, friends, business colleagues, and it may grow from there. But not with Twitter. My general rule with Twitter is that I'll follow anyone who isn't being illegal, obnoxious or offensive. And I periodically go through manually (there are tools for this) and "Un-follow" people who have not followed me back, unless there's a compelling reason to leave them on my active list. So that's Twitter in a nutshell.

Is Twitter a Waste of Your Time?

So, the real question is why you would use Twitter. If you look at it on the surface, it really can appear to be a colossal waste of time. And it can be. Before you answer the question of whether or not you should use Twitter, it may be beneficial to analyze your objectives.

Reasons I Use Twitter

The best way to help you answer the "Twitter" question is to share with you the reasons I choose to use Twitter on a regular basis.

1. I find it is a valuable way to network and connect with other people in my line of work who have similar interests.
2. I have learned to quickly scan through those short little "Tweets" and stay in touch with business thoughts and ideas.
3. With all the links that are available in those brief 140 characters, I have access to a much broader and deeper knowledge base.
4. I find a steady stream (I sometimes refer to it as a rushing river) of ideas, links, resources, content and valuable tips.
5. Some of my current customers have found me on Twitter. Maybe they saw one of my Tweets, clicked on the link, read a blog post, and signed up for a free webinar, and then purchased a product. This is not uncommon.

Now, before you would decide to use Twitter for your business, you'd need to identify at least one compelling reason from my list above. If you can identify that reason, then start to focus on how you can learn to use Twitter to that end.

In closing, Twitter is not learned in a single day, or even a week. It's a process that evolves over time. But it's a good idea to get started if you think it's right for you.

I have produced a quality eCourse on how to make Twitter work for you. I invite you to check it out here:
Make Twitter Work

Thank you for reading. I wish you much success!

Jeanne Kolenda is a small business marketing coach, specializing in bringing offline businesses online. Logon to http://www.businesstrainingteam.com and download a free eBook entitled Local Business Marketing On the Internet. To contact Jeanne, email ]Jeanne@businesstrainingteam.com.

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