Think Twitter is just some silly Internet fad with no real impact on your business? Think again! With an estimated 75 million people  sending over 1.5 billion messages (or “tweets”) a month, Twitter is an increasingly important way to connect with your customers and prospects – one you can’t afford to ignore!

First things first – what IS Twitter, anyway?

You’ve probably heard Twitter described something like this:

“Twitter is a social network where users connect with each other by “following” 140 character messages from people or companies they find interesting.”

Ok… but what does that mean?!?

Well, you can think of Twitter like a mini press release service where you send out headlines to people who are interested in hearing from you. Adding a new item to your menu? Running a special deal for this weekend only? Launching a new website? Twitter helps you get the word out quickly, and makes it easy for your followers to keep passing it along to more and more people.

Great – how do I get started?

1. Create your account – head over to twitter.com to sign up.  Choose a name that will make it easy for people to find you, like your business or brand name. Be sure to add a few details to your bio, and use an eye catching picture for your profile – a unique picture will help customers pick your tweets out of the flock!
2. Set up some searches – your name, business name, products, website, and competitors are all excellent starting points. When you’ve set up a useful search, you can easily save it, add it to your RSS reader or use one of the tools mentioned below to have the results delivered via email.
3. Start following – your existing customers, prospects, and partners (you can even import contacts from your email address book to make finding them super easy!) You’ll also want to follow experts and peers in your industry, and check out who follows them, as they could also be interested in hearing from you (more on that shortly).
4. Get a feel for it – how often do people tweet? Which tweets get your attention? How do you fit enticing messages into the 140-character limit? Experiment until you find a pattern that suits your style and generates the results you’re looking for.
5. Jump in – you can ask and answer questions, or request feedback on your website, products, or services. You’ll also want to share information that helps build your credibility and establishes you as a voice worth listening to (and following!) – like links to relevant articles, helpful tips, or special deals exclusively for your followers.
6. Begin building your own following – invite people to follow you on Twitter by adding a link to your Twitter profile on your website and in your email signature. By far the most effective way to gain followers is by interacting with other people and following the ones that interest you. Often, when you follow someone, they will follow you back – give it a try!

Tweeter beware – Twitter can be addictive!

Once you tap into this rushing river of tweets, it can be hard to pull yourself away!  Fortunately, you don’t have to hang out on Twitter all day, or even read every message – there are plenty of free tools available to help you stay on top of things while you’re busy running your business!

Google Alerts now include results from Twitter. If you already have Google Alerts set up for some of your key terms, you may have noticed a few tweets popping up.

TweetBeep and TweetAlarm are like Google Alerts, only focused on Twitter. They will find tweets that match your search criteria and deliver them straight to your email inbox – either right away, hourly, or in a daily digest.

While not free, you might also consider picking up a copy of The Twitter Book by Tim O’Reilly and Sarah Milstein. It’s a quick read, and a handy guide covering the basics all the way up to advanced tips and tools for using Twitter to grow your business.

Lastly, if you’re considering marketing your business on one of the Twitter advertising services that have sprung up in the last 18 months or so, be sure to check out our list of the 15 best Twitter advertising services for you to consider (so far!)

Best of all, there is no wrong way to tweet – so go ahead, get started!

Let us know about your successes and any questions you have in the comments section. You can also follow me and ask me questions on Twitter (of course!)

(Editor’s note: many thanks to Karri Carlson for this guest post)

We’re all members of one of the many social networking sites, right? You know… like Facebook, MySpace, or Ning. How can we not be if we like to meet people, share music, or just pass the time commenting on videos, recipes, or interesting news.

As a matter of fact, some statistics suggest that 2 out of 3 people now use a social networking site! Just keep in mind, when advertising to these community sites… the old rules no longer apply.

Consider these 6 points before advertising on a social networking site:

1.     It’s about building relationships. It’s not about generating clicks… so be patient and don’t look for immediate results from your ad campaign since the most effective element of social networking is word of mouth.

2.    You won’t have a lot of brand control. The social networking site’s content is created by users and recommendations are made by users. This means you won’t be able to control what content or user your brand is associated with.

3.    Don’t expect much from display ads. Users are not real happy with all the ads bombarding their favorite social network sites and this means response rates will be well below the Internet’s average.

4.    Use interactive and highly relevant ads. Ads that have the most promise with this audience are highly interactive such as videos, and especially relevant such as dating or music. Just remember, this community is used to seeing things “play” before their eyes.

5.    Consider developing a Facebook page. And link that page from your website so your customers can become “fans”. This will create a great audience for you to update with company news and happenings… to keep them very engaged with your brand.

6.    Speak their “language”. No matter how you decide to advertise, make sure and use the language of the community in your ads. Speak their language and you’ll have a better chance of connecting and getting your message across.

Just remember… social networks are all about creating and nurturing relationships. So be patient and focus on the long-term goal of developing new and lasting customer relationships.

Now start socializing! = )