Why Small Business Owners Have to Use Twitter
Maybe you have read this a thousand times, but I would like to encourage you once again.
You. Have. To. Use. Twitter. Period.
What is Twitter, anyway? In essence, Twitter is a social networking and micro-blogging site that allow you to connect and interact with fellow users easily - in real time and in 140 characters - basically answering this question: “What are you doing?”
Twitter is the fastest growing social networking site on the Net today (Goodbye Facebook!), with 1,382 per cent year-on-year growth, compared to Facebook’s “mere” 228 per cent year-on-year growth.
What does Twitter’s growth mean to small businesses?
Two things: More opportunities and a bigger market to target.
From business owners, such as Kevin Rose, the founder of Digg.com, to sportsmen, such as NBA’s Shaquille O’Neal, almost everybody use Twitter these days!
From a ’somebody’ to a ‘nobody’, Twitter can be used for a simple networking, chit-chat, or doing business. I love the last one, although I enjoy the first two to a certain extent 
The “business owners should blog” advice is a bit outdated today. These days, the small business owners, such as Nectar of Life Gourmet Coffee, use Twitter to keep in touch with their clients and prospects, as well as to promote their products and services.
So, in other words, if you haven’t blog for the sake of your business, you’ve got to start ASAP (I can help you with this), while learning to use Twitter (it’s only require basic Internet skills.) Otherwise, you are lured to lose your competitive advantage little by little.
How to use Twitter for the sake of your business
If you don’t take care of your business as an owner, who else will?
No matter how you do it - Do-It-Yourself or hiring an assistant to ‘tweet’ for you - you need to use Twitter, the sooner, the better.
I’m not a Twitter expert, but I’ve been socialising and do marketing on Twitter for a couple of months now. From my short experience, I learn that many people use Twitter to market their products and/or services - some in a spammy way, and some other in a more subtle way - on a regular basis.
I learn from my observation and my own experience that their keys in using Twitter for the benefit of their business are:
- Sharing valuable information
- having a genuine interaction with other Twitter users
- follow the right people in your niche.