I encountered Twitter was at the South by Southwest Interactive conference in 2007. They had computer monitors set up throughout with these obscure messages detailing what someone or other was doing. I didn't get it, and honestly, I didn't have any desire to get it. I thought it was just some geek thing. (Isn't that how all these fun social media applications come about?)

Recently, I've noticed folks "tweeting" (that's twit-speak for "updating" via Twitter) on their blogs. I've also noticed more and more bloggers talking about Twitter and how it was working for them both personally and professionally. That did it. I decided that I had to find out for myself. So, of course, I posted about it in my blog asking for someone to explain it to me.

That's when it became clear to me that Twitter isn't so easy to explain. But...it is easy to learn. More than one person told me that to get it, you just have to do it. In fact, a common response to "what in the world is this Twitter thing?" seems to be "much like sex, you can't explain it, you need to experience it to get it."

No Really, What IS Twitter?

Twitter is a micro-blogging platform. I like to think of it as a cross between blogging and IM'ing, publicly. Basically, you have 140 characters or less to tell your group of "followers" (twit-speak for "friends") what you're doing.

Your followers can be your friends, your co-workers, your clients, your customers, or anyone else who thinks you're worth following. Your followers could be your favorite stores, small or large businesses, your favorite authors, environmentalists, your friendly Ladies Who Launchers, or even presidential candidates. You have complete control over whom you chose to be friends with and who you allow to follow you.

Yeah, But How Can It Help Me With My Business?

Think of social networking as your sales and marketing time. The more you put into it, the more you'll get out of it. Twitter as a tool can be made into whatever you want it to be. If you want to do giveaways, you can. If you want to use it to hand out coupon codes, you can. Basically, Twitter allows you to directly connect to your clients and customers. It's all about having conversations with clients, not at clients, through authenticity and transparency.

10 Ways Twitter Can Help Your Business

1. Allows you to communicate directly with your clients and customers as well as others in your field or niche.
2. Offers up brand recognition every time someone sends you a public message.
3. Attracts new clients through conversation and community.
4. Allows you to manage your own reputation and helps you keep track of your name/brand and what people are saying about you.
5. Through Twitter you have the chance to expand your network beyond your current circle of friends and acquaintances (the very definition of "networking"). You can meet new customers, new friends, or even mentors.
6. You can automatically set your Twitter account up to send out a message every time you've got a new blog post (using TwitterFeed) or you can manually promote your new content.
7. By posing a question to your followers, you can get answers to almost any question, whether it be about cooking, manufacturing, the Internet, or software. It's almost better than Google, because you get answers in real time based on personal experiences and recommendations.
8. On top of simply posing questions, you can use Twitter to conduct research or interviews for your products, books, or articles.
9. Notify customers when you've having a contest, sale, promotion, or event, or anything you want them to know about.
10. Helps your SEO and search-engine rankings since most tweets are written in shorthand, using keywords.

Why Would I Want to Waste My Time With This?

As outlined above, Twitter can be good for business. It's all about building community, sharing your knowledge and expertise, getting your name out there, and being accessible.

Just remember, like many forms of social media and new technologies, Twitter can be addictive. Remember how we used to check our e-mail only a couple of times a day? Well, now many of us can't sit through dinner or a movie without pulling out the Blackberry or iPhone. Twitter can be like that. When something great, not so great, funny, interesting, or embarrassing happens, you can't wait to reach for Twitter and announce it to everyone you know. Yes, even while on vacation or at a conference.

Twitter Tips

* As with all social media services, even if you're not yet ready to use it, do register your name-you never know when you might need it later.
* Don't make it all about you-community is about the give and take.
* Do embrace the community and share your knowledge or links you find helpful.
* Do ask questions and be active; have fun with it.
* Do check out the followers of your friends and their friends. That's how you build your own group of followers.