I keep reading about Twitter everywhere. It's a service that lets users post 140-character-or-shorter updates on what they're up to. If you scroll through the public timeline, you might not immediately conclude that Twitter is a must have business app. (A few minutes ago, xboxbetty was eating chocolate and BrianWarren was making coffee. And as you can see, I am writing a blog post about Twitter.) But as LifeHacker points out, it can be a nifty communication tool.
1. You can use Twitter as a shorthand newsletter. The example that LifeHacker gave was a video store, whose employees can post new movies now available for rental, holiday business hours, limited-time sales promo, etc. Likewise, web hosting providers can keep customers posted on network status ("some DC2 circuits scheduled for maintenance @ 2-3am") or announce new products ("this just in: quad core servers for $199!"). As Amazon's Jeff Barr puts it, the 140 character limit forces you to be brief without wasting time on formatting. Customers can stay up to date via your RSS feed, which is both more reliable and less intrusive than email.
2. Twitter could also be useful for managers who are responsible for scheduling sales or tech support coverage, especially if your reps are scattered across multiple locations. You can subscribe to a feed that aggregates your entire team's real time updates ("running 15 minutes late", "leaving for meeting, back @ 3pm", etc), which they can post via SMS (or a web browser, or IM or an internal app that you integrate with Twitter's API).
3. Lastly, LifeHacker recommends Twitter as a to-do list, but Anne Zelenka says it might be better as a "already done" list. For instance, if you and your two partners are traveling to three different cities, you can use your aggregated Twitter stream to keep each other informed on important events that don't require follow-up action ("contract signed with Company X", "new batch of switches will be delivered next Tuesday", etc). It reduces email clutter and is more flexible than IM; each member of the group can catch up at his convenience.
Technorati, CNN, BBC Video and Google News all have Twitter channels; shouldn't you? It's free, it's super convenient - and according to Kathy Sierra's "Asymptotic Twitter Curve" (which I came across via David Terrar's blog), it might help you capture a little more of your audience's attention.
