This has been a very common question amongst small business owners. This, along with, why do I need a Facebook Page/Group, LinkedIn account, MySpace account, Flickr account, or YouTube account?

Well, being a consultant, my favourite answer is, “it depends.” And truthfully, it does depend on what industry you’re in. Twitter is a social media websites that are hot topics these days. By definition, social media is a user contributed medium constructed through interactions. In other words, people sign up and connect with each other and communicate with each other by posting messages, pictures and video. The website is a collection of all of that. Why is this important to your business? Well, again, it depends.

Does your business need interaction with the customer? If yes, then you will most likely benefit from getting on Twitter. Below is a list of activities of how Twitter can help:

• promote new and existing products
• read customers comments
• provide answers to customers questions
• find new customers
• display new promotions
• ask questions and gain customer insight
• free promotion channel

This may seem like a lot of work but there are many tools that can help. Why not sign up for a Twitter account and experiment with it. The very least, when you sign up, you reserve your username so no one else takes it. Unfortunately, “memuri” is already taken.

Are you already signed up for Twitter? Post your experiences here.