3 Smart Ways to Use Twitter
 By Amanda C. Garrett

If you’ve been wondering how to use Twitter to promote your small business, you’re hardly alone.

Twitter, the social networking tool that lets you send short text messages to people in real time, launched in 2006. Today, it has millions of users and is experiencing an extended phase of exponential growth. That kind of success story is a natural draw for business owners who are looking to do the same, if on a smaller scale.

Here are a few ideas for how you can use Twitter to enhance your small business.

1. Strengthen relationships with employees, colleagues and customers
You can build business relationships by finding new ways to connect with people on a personal level. Some experts have even labeled Twitter as a form of “micro-blogging.”

CEOs of large companies are using Twitter to show another side of their personalities—what they do during their downtime, for instance—to employees or to the public. And businesses like online shoe seller Zappos are using Twitter to strengthen connections between employees, to promote a tight-knit company culture, and even to enhance customer service.

You, too, can apply these personal branding principles to your own small business.

2. Use it as a free marketing platform
For now, at least, Twitter is free, so it’s a great time to experiment with it as a marketing tool.

Before you post your first message (called a Tweet), find out how other people in your field are using Twitter. Type keywords relating to your product or service into the Search field. (You can seek out potential customers in the same way.)

Later, include hyperlinks or pictures in your Tweets to increase the chances of your message going viral—that is, spreading across a network larger than your own.

3. Take advantage of Twitter’s immediacy
Part of Twitter’s appeal is that it combines the directness of a text message with the far reach of a mass e-mail, which means it’s a great tool to use when you need to gather or distribute information quickly.

Use it to direct people to a new post on your Web site, then ask for feedback. Let people know about a new product, service, promotion or event. Reach out to your network for quick recommendations when you need to hire, say, a graphic designer or a plumber.

Tweet With Caution
While Twitter is easy to learn and simple to use, it can be addictive. Just keep in mind that your goal is to enhance productivity, not waste valuable time.

And don’t let the medium’s informal nature let you lose sight of two important ground rules: grammar always matters and no one wants to hear what you had for lunch. Write as if your high school English teacher is reading. And choose your topics carefully.

Get Help Tweeting
Not sure whether Twitter is right for your small business? Don’t know how to make the best use of Tweets? Check out these books for guidance:

• “Twitter Power: How to Dominate Your Market One Tweet at a Time” by Joel Comm (Wiley, 2009)
• “Twitter Revolution: How Social Media and Mobile Marketing is Changing the Way We Do Business & Market Online” by Warren Whitlock and Deborah Micek (Xeno Press, 2008)
• “Twitter Tips, Tricks, and Tweets” by Paul McFedries and Pete Cashmore (Wiley, 2009)

(Posted June 2009)

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