My boss pulled me aside the other day and told me that I was too feisty, that I needed to relax a bit and not let other people - people I didn't even know - get me all riled up.  He was referencing the close watch that I keep on Twitter and what is being said about our company or our competition or our industry.  I have long felt that the power of Twitter is fantastically great and that it is our responsibility to keep tabs on what is floating around out there in the Twit-O-Sphere.

Maybe I am wrong.  Maybe the importance of this mode of communication is not as great as I predict.  But given the activity and increase of usage, I am guessing I am right.  And even a dear friend who swore it off, declaring its non-importance came back to the stream, reactivated his account and tweets quite regularly once again. 

The thing that makes Twitter so different and so impactful is that Followers have to physically click a Follow button in order to Follow you.  They make the choice to be one of your listeners.  Oooo..., there it is, the intro to a buzz phrase from 2010 - Permission Marketing.  Don't you love it?  I do, because it is why social media works, why Fortune 1000 companies are interested in products and services that make social media participation easier and less time-consuming.  It is also why smaller, lesser-known companies are engaging in it - because it levels the playing field.  The interested consumer finds you, instead of the other way around.  Of course, there are ways to ignite interest or to drive traffic to the various customized social media outlets, or use those outlets to drive traffic back to a company's website.

Twitter is another way to help consumers/clients/candidates know you.  There is something refreshing about it, something new, something dynamic, something different. And even better yet, it isn't for everyone.  But neither are internet ads with flash.  Or airplanes flying along pulling large printed banners behind them.  Or hi-larious television commercials.  Or mass emails. Or flyers stuffed under windshield wipers.  Or printed and mailed out postcards. 

We can each pick a sweet spot to hang a logo and a promise.  But it's the delivery of the promise that counts.

by rayannethorn

TWITTER-PATED