Why I use Twitter?

Lately I have found myself explaining what Twitter is to many coworkers and friends. In doing so I thought maybe it would make a good blog entry to share with others too. I would like to preface this by saying that Twitter was a little confusing to me at the start. I didn't see the real value for a while and I didn't gain anything from my activity there until I learned about why you follow other people and how to really use the tool for searching and communicating. Then it's like a light went on in my head and I got it. OK, so here goes.

Twitter is a community of your own making. Some call it a "micro-blogging tool" or "another social media gizmo" or "a waste of time". For those of you who understand Twitter, you know that it is so much more than that. Yes, Twitter is a tool, and it has constraints but within those constraints, it is what you make of it. Twitter allows you to create a community of like-minded individuals to share thoughts, ideas, research and friendships. You have the ability to follow and be followed by people all around the world who share similar careers, skills, hobbies, spiritual ideals, political ideas, etc. And sometimes, there are conflicting ideas that get expressed and thus a dialogue occurs and people learn about other people. There is so much you can learn and be a part of by being actively involved in a twitter community.

From a marketing perspective, Twitter is a valuable tool and environment to have one on one exchanges of information and ideas with customers/clients past, present and possibly future. Some companies get it and some just don't yet. If all you do is post the latest mortgage rates, the latest product w/ links and prices, or whatever it may be - you are not utilizing twitter effectively. Sure, it may lead to a few more sales, but if you aren't also actively participating in and encouraging a dialogue with those customers, the benefit for both you and your customer is minimal. Don't be shy. Get in there and be friendly, resolve problems and get them excited about doing business with you. If you do, they'll talk well of you with their friends and so on.

Get it now? If not, get in and give it a try. Ask questions and search around. There are lots of willing people out there to help you along.

You can follow me at http://www.twitter.com/hippity