This was my very first Tweet “Working on my website, http://www.besthomeschoolpl… 11:25 PM Jun 29th from web” and now it’s 136 pages & 2719 tweets later. Not quite 6 months ago I started blogging, and of course with blogging comes social media. And social media begets Twitter. Blogging is definitely the gateway “drug” of all that falls under the “Social Media” umbrella. And if Blogging is the MaryJane equivilant then Twitter is Crack!

Now that I’m done with my metaphors I’ll explain to you what twitter is and why you as a WAHM should use it.

Twitter is a way of chatting, updating, text messaging, instant messaging and marketing all rolled into one great and simple platform. Your marketing reach is nearly endless and instantaneous (which for a gen xer, the instant gratification is highly appealing). Twitter reminds me of the ancient and legendary AOL & CompuServe (have I dated myself enough yet?) with the steady flow of conversation that people jump in and out of 24/7. There are games and giveaways going on, events such as SiteWarming parties and Girls Night Out. And yes there is marketing going on all the time, from sending out tweets about your latest blog post to advertising a telesiminar or sales item.

What Twitter is, is what you and everyone else on twitter make of it. It can be a great way to meet people near and far, a way to stay in touch with family and friends, or getting your message out to the most amount of poeple in one single post. But you get out of it what you put into it. That includes the people you follow and who follows you.

You may have heard more about it during this election year because of how well our president elect used social media. He twittered away right along with everyone else (though truth be told, I doubt it was actually Mr. Obama himself). You can see on Twitter.com that Mr. President Elect has more than 130 thousand followers. Of course we haven’t heard a tweet out of him since he won the election. I wonder if we’ll hear more from him after Jan. 21?

You may be asking yourself (and my blog, yes I know you’re talking to your computer, I can see you) “Why would this be a good thing for my home business? Seems more like a waste of time than anything else.” Well I’ll tell you missy, just hold your horses and let me get to it. (i’m trying to be funny, but in case it doesn’t work, please feel free to ignore it)

The reason you should use twitter is for the same reason you go to networking parties and other social business events… Marketing by word of mouth. In my particular business industry, the Trucking and Transportation Industry, word of mouth is just about the only way you can market yourself. One customer likes doing business with you and tells his friend, who in turn calls you, likes doing business with you and tells his friend. Well twitter is just like that only to the power of 10 or 100.

I have more than 1200 people following my twitter stream. According to Twinfluence.com, my “Reach” is 1,448,664 people. Can you imagine a small business owner being able to have that kind of marketing reach? Now sure, not every person who follows you will see every tweet. And not every person who follows you will recommend you to everyone that follows them. BUT (and yes, I’m going to say it, that is a big BUT!), the possibility is there! The possibility to reach not hundreds or thousands, but millions of people on the internet with one single tweet of 140 characters. That’s just amazing to me!

Now, don’t get twitter stage fright (or should I say Twage-Fright?)! Tweeting isn’t as hard or scary as it sounds. The hardest part about tweeting is figuring out how to put something really complicated into 140 characters. But if you’re familiar with txting you’ll get the hang of it (KWIM?).

The most important thing to remember about twitter, and really any of the “Social Media” services, is that they don’t call it “Social” for nothing. These are your friends, some closer than others, but friends none the less. So don’t treat them like you’re a telemarketer calling them all day long with time shares in Tornado Alley! Talk to them, ask people questions, tell them what you’re doing and thinking and why, be silly, be happy, be bored, be angry over who didn’t win the election! The more you talk and socialize with your twitter friends, the more your twitter friends will talk to and about you!

And that, my WAHM friends, is the power of word of mouth marketing and the power of Twitter!

But don’t take my word for it! Take a look at what other great twitter/PR people have to say about the power of twitter in business.

Duct Tape Marketing by John Jantsch

Twytter Tips List of Books On Twitter