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Twitter for Business
Yet another Web 2.0 social networking tool got you puzzled - ready this guide

Oh, about twice a day now I get asked if this twitter thing is a tool for business. Sometimes the requests are muddled with puzzled tones of “I just don’t get it.” Other times folks are sort of pissed off. I mean, yet another thing to keep track of and do.

I happen to think that twitter has some fabulous business uses, and not just for the ultra connected techie, for the typical small business too.

Maybe the siren’s call of twitter - http://www.twitter.com  (everybody’s doing it) has become too much and you’ve jumped in. Or, maybe you have no clue what it is or why you would care. I get asked enough about this mircoblogging tool that I thought I would create a practical guide for business folks wrestling with yet another social media outpost.

What is it?

In simplest terms, twitter is a free service that allows anyone to say anything to anybody in 140 characters or less – it’s the “what are you doing right now” kind of micro-blogging that permeates online social communication.

So, now the question is – is that all? Well, no, not exactly. While people are using it to tell no one in particular what they had for lunch, millions are leaning on twitter pretty hard as a way to network and communicate with contacts new and old. twitter is outfitted, like most social media tools with the ability to subscribe, share, friend or follow as many twitter feeds as you like. In addition, developers

How do I use it?

First thing, sign up for an account. It’s very painless – http://twitter.com/account/create

Your next stop should be to the twitter help guide - http://help.twitter.com/index.php?pg=kb.book&id=1 this is where you get all of your basic how to questions answered. Read it, it will save you some time and anquish.

Once you create an account you will be given a home page and a profile page – ie: my profile is http://twitter.com/ducttape. So my twitter handle is @ducttape. From these pages you can find others Twitter streams to follow, post your own messages and even watch the entire public stream of comments flow by. (I don’t recommend that unless you are really, really bored.)

Why would I use it?

Now that is the real question isn’t it? Many people look at twitter on the surface and conclude that it’s just one big waste of time. I can’t say I disagree completely, but like all social media and marketing tactics, before you can determine if something makes sense you need to analyze your objectives. So, instead of asking why you would use it, ask how it might help you achieve some other already stated objectives.

Before you really jump into a service like twitter, it’s important that you identify at least, and initially only, one objective from the list above and focus your efforts on learning how to use the tool to that end.

Getting the most from it

I’ve put together my “Beginner’s Guide to Using Twitter for Business” and offer here to all as a gift. This is not the definitive guide to all things twitter, this is a nice, simple, practical road map to show you how to start using twitter to reach some of your business and marketing objectives