Twitter is one of those things that people either totally get or totally do not get.  To understand how best to use Twitter, it is necessary to understand what twitter is.  Twitter is a micro-blogging platform.  In other words, it is an opportunity to blog in 140 characters or less at a time.

Why is this helpful to a business owner?  It allows those interested in what you do to find you based on your content!  Twitter users have a multitude of tools to use to find people using certain keywords as well as people who seem to have a large following.  People whose updates are reposted frequently by other Twitter users are especially powerful in the “Twitterverse”.  For this reason, it is really important to create interesting updates.

Updates like “going to wash my car” just won’t do it (unless washing your car has something to do with your business”.  You have to be entertaining, informative, engaging!  Mind you, not all businesses are well-suited for Twitter marketing.  For instance, if you happen to own a mortuary…

While there are many strategies used, I suggest the following:

• Have a goal (reach peers, stay updated on industry trends or attract clients)
• Do not ever try to hard sell on Twitter.
• Be personable & fun.
• Give valuable information/ content.
• Provide links to articles/resources
• Repost great tweets (Twitter updates) made by others.
• Try to direct your following to connect with you on your website, blog or Facebook page.

For more in depth information about using Twitter for business, I recommend this resource from John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing- http://www.johnjantsch.com/TwitterforBusiness.pdf.