I started to use twitter maybe 2 months ago. I am not sure as time flies when you are having fun. And I have witnessed first hand how twitter has become a key tool in my marketing efforts. And please understand, I don’t only use it for marketing. It has also become a great way to stay in touch with old friends and new friends. In the last couple of months, I have become well aware of the additional uses of twitter.

Since I spend some of my time visiting with real-world friends and business contacts and individuals online about twitter, I thought it might be time to provide a post on “how I use twitter.” In addition, Cheryl Smith who publishes Culture Smith Consulting Blog had an interesting post called 6 Ways You Can Use Twitter Today which got me to thinking about how I use twitter myself.

1. Follow leaders in any field. I have been able to follow the going ons and conversations of some of the biggest names in many different fields. With twitter, I have followed conversations taking place between individuals and even heads of companies I never would have had the opportunity to do without it. It is almost like going to business school without paying the tuition. And you can do it with no strings attached. You can actually follow conversations if you want without adding one single thing. Not the best plan, but possible.
2. Do your own R&D. We have one mouth and two ears, use them that way. I spend a lot of time listening to conversations going on in twitter. I am amazed, but shouldn’t be, at the quality of individuals on twitter. Listening to the conversations they carry on with have been a great source of ideas and free input to me. Not only listening, I ask questions. You can get some great answers to questions you have or bounce your own ideas off your followers too. That is why I call it my own R&D department. Ask questions and listen as your research.
3. Breaking News. I have just started to use twitter for this. However, a prime example of how twitter can be a great source for breaking news was the coverage on twitter when the major earthquake happened in China. Even the major news agencies watched twitter to keep up on what was going on in China.
4. Follow Trends. Because I follow individuals in my niche and other areas, I am actually able to keep up on trends and new developments in my field. I have also been able to get some of my best blog post ideas from twitter by following the conversation going on about a certain trend, product or subject.
5. Get Noticed. I have to say, my blog traffic and my own online visibility has increased since I started to use twitter. You can generate traffic to you own blog by feeding your new blog post to twitter. While I would not recommend this as the only posting you do on twitter, it is a great way to get noticed. In addition to the constant posting I do, I do feed my new blog post to twitter.
6. My Second RSS reader of choice. Since I follow many in my own niche, I appreciate it when they post to twitter their own new blog post RSS feeds. I have found twitter has become my second RSS reader of choice. I actually get a lot of my feeds with twitter and tend to look at them before I even visit my RSS reader in the morning.
7. Water Cooler. Cheryl is right on with this one. “While working from home has many great advantages, solopreneurs can sometimes feel isolated or disconnected. Twitter is like an online water cooler or break room, providing you with a venue for conversations about daily happenings.” I too have found twitter is a great way to take a break from the day to day task we do while working in our home offices to just stop and have a conversation with friends.

If you have not started to use twitter, you should. And if you are already using twitter, let us know how you use it day to day. Add your comments here to this post or to Cheryl’s and lets keep the conversation going.