As a former Twitter skeptic, I can say I didn’t really understand what Twitter was about at first myself. It seemed to me that I didn’t really need to know what all my friends were doing at every point and time. Now I see that there are more uses for Twitter. I think it is a valuable tool for any company who wants to boost their on-line presence.

Top misconceptions about Twitter.

• Having to read every tweet
  You don’t need to catch it all. You can’t really. Just scan the Tweets sometime and follow what you’re interested in.
• Needing to care about people’s trivial tweets
  Some people Tweet about random nothingness, others Tweet about information, most Tweeters are in the middle. If you don’t like someone’s Tweet style, un-follow them.
• Needing to spend hours on Twitter
  Spending a few minutes a day can help you keep connected and can be a great way to break into new arenas.

10 Great uses for Twitter

1. Tap into new markets and meet new people.

   You can’t be everywhere at one time but you can connect with people from all over the place on Twitter. You can even connect with people who you’d never get a chance to connect with any other way such as CEOs, business owners and celebrities.

2. Discover new resources and connections.
   

   That is one of the great things that I found out really quickly on Twitter. You can meet new people and find out new tools or web sites that you probably would have never found out on your own.

3. See real feedback on products/brands/services.
   

   Instead of getting information about how great a product is from the company that made it, read what people are saying in Twitter in real-time.

4. Get answers to questions.
   

   Have a question you need an answer to?  Shout it to your Twitter followers and get replies. If your Tweet doesn’t get much response, try connecting with people directly. Example:  Does anyone know a program that would edit pictures for less than $100?  > Pixelator….

5. Get new ideas from others in the Twittersphere.

   There are so many great ideas going on all the time with Twitter. Search a particular topic and see what the buzz on the topic is. Chances are you’ll get some ideas about the topic that you hadn’t thought of before.

6. Create a dialog and connection with your followers / clients.

   See what your followers / clients are up to. You may catch one of their tweets that mentions they’re in need of a service, or are having an event. By following them you’ll be in the loop to what’s going on in their world.

7. Self Promotion.

   If you have a company, blog or personal project that could benefit from people checking it out. You can use Twitter to share your stuff with others. Just don’t abuse Twitter with spam, people don’t like it and won’t follow you.

8. Get breaking news and read interesting articles.

   See what’s going on in the world in regards to various topics. Remember you don’t need to read them all, but you can do a quick scan and catch a lot of things. Following the news, weather, shows, celebrities, blogs and other Tweeters can be fun and interesting.

9. Get feedback from ideas before putting them into action.

   If you have an idea that may take time to execute or money to invest, perhaps you could get a little feedback from some Twitter followers before you take the plunge. Example if you’re creating an ad to run in a magazine maybe you’d want to get several ideas together and then share with your followers. See what get’s the best response, you may be surprised.

10. Share news in little bite-size clusters.

    Creating good blog content takes time and effort. Tweeting takes seconds to do and can get ideas across really easy.

Remember to:

• Have fun
• Be yourself
• Engage with others

There are plenty more reasons to use Twitter but this should be enough to get you going.

Helpful links:

• 60+ Twitter Tools: http://mashable.com/2007/09/29/twitter-toolbox/
• Firefox Twitter Toolbar: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/4664
• Tweet Deck: http://tweetdeck.com
• Tweet Deck Video Tutorial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRpZLQhq7ig

Next I’m working on some YouTube videos showcasing some Twitter Techniques, subscribe to http://youtube.com/keytheory or http://facebook.com/keytheory to keep up to date with new posts.

Below are some of the websites that I frequently use to market a business online and track results.

1. Google Analytics: Site Statistics & More

   A free tool by Google to check your website stats. You can get some good marketing data; see who came to your business website, from where, how they clicked through your site, how long they were on each page and much more.

2. Quantcast: Monitoring Demographics

   Quantcast is a free tool to get demographic data about your business site’s online audience. Combined with Google Analytics, you can see trends in people’s viewing behavior, see what’s working for you and what’s not.

3. Facebook: Social Networking

   I created a Facebook page for Key Theory a few months ago, and now have over 200 fans. Facebook is a great way to get your business more good internet exposure; connect with people and make new friends, business partners and potential customers.

4. Twitter: Micro-Blogging

   Although I didn’t get it at first, now I understand the business marketing benefits of using a tool like Twitter. You can follow topics you’re interested in, connect with others in your field, see what people are saying about your company and just keep people up to date on what you’re up to in 140 characters.

5. YouTube

   With YouTube you can have your own channel and share your message with the masses for free. I started a YouTube channel and I’ve posted up some test videos to get my feet wet. YouTube makes it easy to share your video messages.  The more videos I do, the more I learn.

6. LinkedIn: Professional Networking

   LinkedIn is a great site for professionally connecting with others and marketing yourself and your business. You basically upload your information and connect with others in your industry and with your clients. You can receive referrals as well as make them. You can join groups and participate in discussions to share ideas and for more social networking. At the very least it’s helping me remember people’s names.

7. Delicious: Access your bookmarks from anywhere

   Delicious can help you to access your bookmarks from any computer, import your current bookmarks, share your bookmarks with your friends, and much more.  To start using Delicious, you need first to set up your personal account, and then you can download a Delicious browser toolbar for FireFox (my preferred browser) and make bookmarks to your account.  If you like keeping track of good websites, use Delicious.

8. Digg: Keeping up to date & self promotion

   Digg is a great place to be inspired, keep up to date with trends and news. The best content is voted to popularity by anyone uses Digg. You can also submit your own content to Digg and get some good exposure. You must keep in mind that nobody wants spam. I have Dugg a few things but haven’t submitted anything… as of yet.

9. Stumble Upon: Discover the best of the web in less time

   Instead of blindly surfing through the internet wouldn’t it be better to look at stuff that peers found worthy? Choose a topic that interests you and start Stumbling into new things. Go places you probably would  have never gone to prior.

10. Web Site Grader: Grade your site and make improvements

    Quite a handy tool provided by HubSpot. Enter your site and see how it ranks. It will give you tips to how to improve your score and get better search engine ranks.

Well, these are just a few of the sites that I currently use in business marketing online, and some ideas how you can use them to help your business.

Have you found some of these websites helpful, too?  Do you have some other helpful suggestions to share?  Please share your comments.