Small businesses in Lee County, Florida (Fort Myers), are all a twitter over engaging with locals above and beyond the traditional means. As discussed in this News-Press story, small businesses are using Twitter to promote lunch specials, entertainment information, weekly activities and even Tweetups, which merge the online world with the offline world. There are even groups offering free “how-to” seminars to help other local small businesses get their Twitter on.
Facebook, Myspace and LinkedIn are other social media tools also being used by many of these local small businesses because of their ability to interact with people and customers.
Twitter has been taking small business by storm this year mirroring its overall explosion in popularity. Simply put, Twitter isn’t just for social media enthusiasts. Plenty of “old-school” small businesses are flocking to it as well. A fresh-food eatery offering daily specials and whose chef tweets about nutrition; a fresh fruit market whose owners use Twitter to share their love of food; and a gourmet coffee shop which fosters a sense of community are all examples of small business that use Twitter to grow their following - online and offline.
New Twitter applications to help the small business owner with productivity and business operations sprout up almost daily. Tweetdeck, Hootsuite and Tweetlater are a few favorites but there are always new opportunities to leverage the power of Twitter for small business - at least that’s what a little birdie told me. And it’s even becoming easier to track the success of your Tweets, which is always an important exercise for any small business person. Here are five ultra-hip Twitter applications for small business:
Track This: Track your FedEx, DHL, UPS or other parcel shipments via Twitter.
BubbleTweet: Use this application to make a video bubble tweet to your followers.
Twitxr: Need to upload product photos on the run? This application lets you easily do a professional job and save time.
Twtqpon: This application is a must-have for any small business looking to offer coupons to customers via Twitter.
CoTweet: You want to encourage your employees to get involved with your Tweeting without handing ultimate control over to them. This application allows employees access to also join in the fray and Tweet on behalf of the company.
Also, be sure to follow this list of the Top 20 Twitterers for Small Business, according to America’s Best Companies.
I don’t want to ruffle any feathers. So go ahead, what are you waiting for? Jump into some of these hot Twitter applications and help your small business take off. Do you have any experience in using Twitter applications? Tell us all about it.
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Nice post - I’ve forwarded to a small business client of mine who is exploring social media for his company.
lori