Business and Blogging

Can Twitter Be Used For Business?

by Laura Spencer on March 28th, 2008

When I first heard about Twitter last year I viewed it as just another social networking tool. I didn’t give much thought as to whether it could be used for business, but rather I saw it as another means for folks to communicate online.

To tell you the truth, I was also afraid that it would be disruptive to my work schedule.

But Twitter has really taken off!

Lately, I’ve been reading a lot of posts on how Twitter can be used for business. (See the lists of posts about business uses of Twitter below.)

In fact, I’ve read so many posts on the topic of using Twitter for business that I’ve decided to take another look at Twitter. Today I set up my first Twitter account as an experiment to test the business benefits of Twitter.

This post examines three questions:

1. What is Twitter?
2. Can Twitter Help a Business?
3. Should All Businesses Use Twitter?

What is Twitter?

Twitter is a microblogging system. Each user is provided with a page where they can post 140 characters at a time. You can find an interesting explanation of Twitter in this post from Char Polansky at Essential Keystrokes.

Can Twitter Help a Business?

Apparently many bloggers believe that it can.

Here’s a list of bloggers (and their posts) that seem to support the idea of using Twitter as a business tool:

• B.L. Ochman, The Beauty, Secrets and Utility of Twitter for Business
• Paull Young, Examples of Twitter Providing Business Benefit
• Maki, 17 Ways You Can Use Twitter: A Guide for Beginners, Marketers and Business Owners
• Paul Wilson, Internet Money: Five Ways To Use Twitter For Business
• Lee Odden, Guide to Twitter as a Tool for Marketing and PR

To be fair, there are bloggers that seem to have their doubts about the business use of Twitter. Here are a few:

• Matt Deegan, The Trouble With Using Twitter for Business
• Stan Schroeder, Using Twitter For Serious Stuff - Great Idea or Utter Insanity?

What’s my take on using Twitter for business?

Right now I would say that if your customers are using it, then you should be too. Personally, I’m still in the experimental phase, but as Kevin Palmer points out on Buzz Networker, there are a lot of people using Twitter.

Should All Businesses Use Twitter?

Based on what I know now, I would say “no.” I don’t think Twitter is for every business. Also, I still think that there are probably more benefits to be gained for most businesses from traditional blogging.

Still, if your target market is on Twitter and you’re not, then you may be missing valuable opportunities to build customer relations.

Want to Follow Me?
Here I am: http://twitter.com/TXWriter.

Be patient, I’m just getting started. There’s no fancy stuff just yet.

I’ll let you know if I find Twitter to be helpful for my business.

Tags: Twitter, Micro-blogging, Twitter and Business

Image Source: Laura Spencer of WritingThoughts

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POSTED IN: Social Media, Social Networking, Web 2.0