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How can I use Twitter for business?

by Tris Hussey on April 25th, 2007

Twitter is hot among us bloggerati, geekerati, digerati, etc.  All day long I get “tweets” (a message in Twitter) from my friends and other information sources (like CNN and the BBC).  Before I get into how you really can use Twitter in your business life, let me explain it (if you don’t know about it).

Twitter is a site/service where you send messages (max 140 characters).  The messages can be submitted via the web, SMS, IM, or some third-part clients.  They are received in the same way.  People add you as a “friend” or “follow” you and receive your tweets as you send them.  The 140 character limit is for SMS (which I wonder if will change if SMS isn’t being used often).

I signed up for Twitter when I joined PodTech.  Really didn’t use it much.  I wouldn’t remember to update it.  The real idea is to let your friends and colleagues know what you’re up to.  I didn’t have many (or any) people following me, so why update.

Then came SXSW.  Twitter exploded onto the scene.  It also imploded on itself, which almost killed it, IMHO.   During SXSW we really saw what Twitter can do.  There was breaking news from conference sessions.  Updates on blog posts.  People there could use Twitter to self-organize for dinner and parties.  Traffic to twitter must have just exploded.  So much so that for several days it was useless.

The blogosphere hasn’t been the same since.  I get updates from friend, breaking news on the blogosphere, posted breaking news on the blogosphere, and just commented on stuff.  Fine, but rather boring and banal isn’t it?

Yeah, a lot of it is, but that’s not the point, let’s look at the business application of it.  You can your co-workers can use it for travel updates, if you’re running late, if you have an urgent message, a piece of news.  Really anything that you might need to communicate.

Yeah, but I can call or e-mail or IM, can’t I?  Yes, but to how many people?  What if you’re on the road and can’t get online?  Because Twitter is a distributed communication system you can send a tweet from your cell phone via SMS and your followers get it (via the web, IM, or SMS as per their choice).

Now what if you want to use Twitter for fun too?  Won’t my business friends get sick of it?   Just have two accounts.  One that is strictly business, one for “fun”.  Me, I just have one and you can find me here.  I use it for a mix of fun, updates, and short messages to friends.

Give it a shot.  If you’re on the road a lot and need to keep several people updated, I think you’ll find it useful.

 See also Robin Good’s Twitter for Beginner’s Guide.

Eric Rice (aka spin) is lobbying for Twitter groupings … which would solve the business vs personal Twitter accounts.  Twitter competitor Jaiku, has them … but I only signed up for Jaiku to see it and I’ve never used it.

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POSTED IN: Collaboration tools, Cool tools, Instant messaging, Internet tips

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