I have never found twitter to offer any real benefit for my business - it seems that all anyone is interested in is getting as many followers as poosible without following anyone else. For business, it is an unproductive use of my time (my opinion). I do use twitter to follow some leading companies in several industries - it makes finding relevant news stories easier to locate - saving a little time. But, i do undertand that other businesses have found success using this service - either via promoting new products or discounts or even doing reputation management.

Twitter Still Rocks for Businesses :- Let me tell you how - We all know twitter is very useful for business, but we are lacking behind as we dont know the proper ways to use. When i read your post i have search in google and i got amazing results (links). I am sharing few with you all, may be useful to all ( the link i am sharing is not my site):- According to the 2010 Social Media Marketing Industry Report from Social Media Examiner, 96% of marketers with years of social media experience are using Twitter (and 91% are using Facebook). HOW TO USE TWITTER FOR BUSINESS ----- flyte.biz/resources/newsletters/08/06-twitter-for-business.php How to Make Twitter More Useful for Your Business -----socialmediaexaminer.com/how-to-make-twitter-more-useful-for-your-business 4 Ways Companies Use Twitter for Business -------readwriteweb.com/enterprise/2009/03/4-ways-companies-use-twitter-for-business.php 50 Ideas on Using Twitter for Business ------chrisbrogan.com/50-ideas-on-using-twitter-for-business 16 Examples of Huge Brands Using Twitter for Business -----searchenginejournal.com/16-examples-of-huge-brands-using-twitter-for-business/7792 ( Note for moderator--above links are not for promotional purpose-- but after lot of research on google and reading lot i feel useful to share with you all, these are the best source to use twitter for business)

While Twitter brings real traffic to anybodies website who has more than the usual 50 - 100 followers, this is not allways the main reason people are tweeting. In the message section you can make real life contacts with real people. Don't try to sell them your product or service right away. Provide them with usefull information of your niche. Give them something to make them trust you. Show them that you know what you're talking about ...and then go and sell them something. And not once but twice and more beause when they where happy the first time, they are likely to come back in many businesses. Then there is another point to Twitter. As more followers you have, as better you look on your website or blog. So getting more Twitter Followers can show you as authority in the niche you're working. And that sometimes is worth the while to implicate a little Twitter Application to do the job. Not everybody has the time to tweet all day long... So yes, I think tweeting your stuff out to the internet is worth it at least if you know that someone is reading what you write. It's all about building relationships. ---This post was edited to remove a commercial link. Read our discussion policies for more Community best practices.

We've just started using Twitter a few months back and I have to say, we discover new ways of benefiting from it, almost daily. Is it right for every business? Probably not. But even a storage facility can reap rewards if used properly (i.e.. by directing potential customers to articles about the benefits of removing clutter, storing seasonal merchandise or overstocks, etc), then offering discounts or just point them to your website. The customer service end has potential as well. If a restaurant or retailer searches tweets that refer to their business, it can be used to identify customer complaints about its goods and services and then have the opportunity to correct it ('Sorry about your long wait @pixie587, stop in to our Main St store again and we'll happily replace your cold coffee'). They now have the potential to turn a bad visit into a good one and demonstrate to the world their commitment to good customer service. What it is not is for: is people collecting (sorry, but if you have ten thousand 'friends' on Facebook, you actually don't have any). It's not about quantity, it's about quality. It is a way to reach like-minded or interested people or groups and the chance to tell them about your goods and or services...in 140 characters. Of course, it's also free (my favorite price-point), easy to use and, in my opinion, one of the best ways to promote your business and or ideas on line. Regards, Tony O

Twitter is really one of those gray areas when it comes to advertising...the fact is that many business don't require business owners to interact with their customers on such a personal level.  Let's say you owned a storage business, could you really see yourself going back and forth with your customers all day about storage?  For this example all your really need is a website with a product and price list...   If you have a business that has a following like a music/band promoter or an art group...then twitter is a great way to keep your followers up to date with your happenings...But if you have a business that is pretty cut and dry, it's tough to make use of twitter...just my two cents.