When you think about Twitter, do you throw up your hands in overwhelm? Most business owners I speak with tend to echo this, saying that they just don’t understand it, discounting it as fluff. I felt the same way until I attended a presentation by Laura Fitton ‘@pistachio’ at Webvisions in Portland, Oregon in 2012. Her “Whither Twitter” talk

was a revelation for me. I recommend taking a look at the slides viewable here: http://www.slideshare.net/pistachio/whither-twitter-12989237

I suspect that the 140 character limit contributes to the thought that Tweets are too short to be anything important, and that they must all be in the category of trivial announcements like “I am having cereal for breakfast.”

To the contrary, each little Tweet has the potential to spread farther and wider than larger posts, spreading like little seeds in the wind. Each tweet is essentially a miniature website with it’s own url, it lasts forever, and because they are short, the likelihood of them being read is good. They can also contain links to other pages with larger content. Their size encourages immediacy, thus lending themselves to events, emergencies and political actions—as well as little nuggets of helpful tips and tricks that encourage others to “follow” the writer. When you offer good content it gets passed along, building your traffic and growing your tribe. It is also considered good etiquette to follow those who follow you, increasing the likelihood that they will remain in your tribe. Tweets can be written in advance and scheduled for posting, relieving concerns about the potential for distraction. Consider the mighty Tweet!

To your business success!