Don’t Discount It; Twitter is a Great Business Tool

If you are ignoring Twitter because you “don’t want to know what someone ate for breakfast,” you are missing out.

When you’re using Twitter, you can ignore the people who are just blathering on about their latest meal. Instead, use it to see what your competition is doing; learn the best ways to ways to market your business with social media and scope out the top places your customers are hanging out on line. Twitter is not just a land of self-absorbed Kanye West and Kim Kardashian wannabes. It is a great business tool if you use it correctly. 

Think of Twitter as a place to scan headlines from all your favorite sources of information, a place to learn and a place to have fun. Once you sign up for your own Twitter page you can start following people you like to make up your Twitter feed.

One of my co-workers said looking at Twitter was like scanning an online newspaper filled with headlines. When you find one you like, you can click a link to learn more. If you’ve got an account, you can click the follow button and all the tweets from that account will show up in your Twitter feed.

Here are five sites that will help you learn more about Twitter, good business practices and social media in general. If you visit these five sites a few times a day, heck even once a day, you’re sure to be ahead of the game. It is important to know that if you are reluctant to start a Twitter account, you can just type these names into a search and you can bring up the pages without having a Twitter account. (However, you really should be using Twitter.)

@TweetSmarter - This is a great place to start if you want to learn more about Twitter. Since September 2007, husband and wife Dave and Sarah Larson have been providing the best tips, tools and tech support related to Twitter. The Minnesota-based couple has nearly 350,000 followers and they post new information three to four times and hour. They are considered one of the most influential users on Twitter and have had one of their tweets retweeted more than 20,000 times.

@jeffbullas - Bullas’ recent blog posts include “How to get started with social media marketing,” How to use social media to close more deals without being a push salesperson” and "6 tips for marketing your business with Instagram.” He’s considered one of the top social media power influencers and his blog has more than 300,000 hits a month.

@BizTipsDaily - Rich McKinney offers a wealth of business tips related to social media, marketing and business development.

@smexaminer - Michael Stelzner, founder of Social Media Examiner, offers advice on the best social media platforms to use, and ways to boost marketing using social media tools.

@SCOREMentors - Learn more about how SCORE can help you build your small business. In addition, you’ll find resources and information on everything from sales cycles to planning budgets and finding more referrals.