Twitter is a buzzword today. Many people, however, still do not realize or think this tool can benefit their business in any way. To some, it seems like a waste of time and a way for people to participate in useless chatter. I have heard people’s hesitations and reservations when it comes to taking the plunge into the Twittosphere.

For the unbelievers and skeptics, may I offer a brief list of some benefits to using Twitter for your business. Keep in mind, conversations about Twitter (and social networking in general) can go on and on and on… and they do!

Benefit #1: Twitter can help you gain and share important industry insights. For example, if you are a landscaper, you can follow others who are in the industry to learn important information and stay current. At the same time, you can also become the expert in your field by giving thoughtful advice to those in need of landscaping. If someone is interested in this kind of information, they will seek it out.

Benefit #2: You can see what other people are saying about you. Is your business a restaurant? Use Twitter to regularly search for your restaurant and monitor if people are talking about it and what they are saying.

Benefit #3: Informing Loyal Customers. Twitter is an excellent way to keep in touch with your loyal customers. Encourage people to follow you on Twitter for regular updates about promotions, sales, contests, and news updates. Also, listen to your customers and ask them for feedback on what they would like to see.

Benefit #4: Interact with potential customers. This is a sticky subject. Twitter is not the place for spamming or having a hard selling approach. What it is, however, is giving out relevant information and encouraging people to follow you since what you are posting is of value to them. Another example: if you are a retail clothing store, post information about spring trends, new accessories, and the cool new shoes your store received last week. If someone is interested in spring fashion trends, they can easily search you out and read your information. This can be more powerful than taking out a traditional advertisement because the potential customer can talk to you!

Twitter has many benefits for a business. I hope this may have changed some skeptical minds out there.