Twitter Boom

Twitter is a social network and micro-blogging platform that allows you to
send 140-character “tweets”. With these tweets, you can let your friends
know what you're up to, share links and cool resources, communicate with
your customers, drive traffic to your website, and much more.
According to the Twitter website, Twitter allows you to answer the question,
“What are you doing?”
Twitter allows you to communicate without the hassle of writing out long blog
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posts or emails. The format of the Tweet allows you to get away with a link
and a few words that can be sent on the go from your cell phone.
And this tweet can potentially reach thousands of customers or business
prospects, driving them to your website or blog, and drawing attention to your
products.
In turn, you will receive notices whenever someone you are following Tweets
something. You can receive instant notification in your browser, cell phone,
email, and even on IM clients like AIM or MSN Messenger. Basically, it's more or
less impossible NOT to keep touch with your Twitter friends & followers, even
if you're out and on the go.
Twitter's extremely simple interface and ease of use is probably one of the
reasons why it has caught on like crazy.
Twitter was launched in 2006 by Jack Dorsey, and in 2008/2009 it practically
exploded in popularity.
All kinds of celebrities use Twitter on a regular basis to communicate with
their fans and followers, from musicians and actresses, to professional
athletes and even political figures! Twitter allows us to sneak a peak at what
our favorite celebrities are up to. Politicians like Obama use it as a campaign
tool
Even large corporations and television networks use Twitter, such as CNN,
Amazon, Dell, and ESPN.
Twitter has also been recognized as serving a role in journalism. When US
Airways Flight 1549 crashed into the Hudson River, the first photograph was
taken by a Twitter user and sent to Twitpic – long before the media arrived.
Twitter users on the ground tweeted about the 2008 Mumbai attacks,
compiling lists of the dead and injured and offering important information like
emergency room numbers.
Twitter has also been heavily used to organize and rally political dissent and
keep a stream of communication open between protesters when governments
have tried to suppress them, as in the 2009 Iranian presidential elections.
Okay, so none of that stuff really has to do with internet marketing, but the
purpose is to show you that Twitter is indeed an incredibly powerful tool
capable of reaching out to thousands or millions of people!
Marketers not utilizing Twitter to its fullest benefit are definitely missing out
and I'm about to show you why!
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Why Twitter Is An Effective Marketing Tool
Many marketers fail to see what the big deal is regarding Twitter. They read
Tweets about what someone ate for breakfast or what color shirt they're
wearing. They might sign up only to stare at a bare, lonely screen with zero
followers.
Initially, it might be difficult to see the potential. But once you get started,
Twitter has a tendency to “snowball” into a HUGE deal for marketers – one
that is absolutely essential for the growth of their business and their exposure
on the internet.
How Can You Use Twitter?
Here are just a few of the ways Twitter can help to benefit your online
business:
Establishing repertoire with your customers / readers .
Twitter allows for a bit more personal, less formal, more fun mode of
communication. It allows them to catch a glimpse of you just as a regular
person sending SMS texts from Wal-Mart, rather than as a serious, detached
blogger or business owner.
Why is this useful? It allows people to connect and relate to you on a personal
level – it makes you look just like a “regular Joe”, especially if you include

random/fun tweets among the more serious, business-driven tweets.
Keeping your customers / readers updated .
With a blog, you might only update once or twice per week. With Twitter, you
might send a handful of tweets per day, keeping your followers “in the loop”
and reminding them of your existence.
Of course, it's not recommended to send a million tweets per day. This will
only serve to annoy people and they will likely unfollow you.
Building a loyal, steady customer-base:
“BUILD A LIST!” As a marketer, I'm sure you've heard this refrain many times
over. Building a list is one of the most vital steps you can take in the
advancement of your online business. Twitter is pretty much the same as
building a list – although it might be even more effective in the long run.
When it comes to...