Why Should I Use Twitter? well, why not?

Lately, I have been trying to get a lot of my friends and family to use Twitter. But they always ask “WHY SHOULD I USE IT” or “HOW DO I BENEFIT FROM IT?” From now on, I’m directing them to this blog entry.

So what can you do with Twitter? Let’s break it down:

From a Social Aspect: “BRAND YOURSELF”

Ultimately, it’s a great tool for Personal Branding. You can use Twitter as THE social media platform to develop a casual persona. If you can design the right Twitter Persona, you have the opportunity to interact with many other personas. Your Personal Brand has the potential to become connected and approachable.

• Stay up on Breaking/Current News. As a user, you are able to link to other useful news accounts. These accounts Tweet out links to newly-released articles and news scoops. You can also subscribe to Twitter feeds for specific websites/conferences, which allows you to receive and view content quickly. This is very useful for active social news participants.

• Interact/Make New Friends. As with other social media networks, Twitter allows you to “Add as Friend” and track messages of others. You can find others who have interests in the same stuff you do! Just make an effort to search for similar subjects, add the people, and read up and comment on what they tweet about! This is an easy way for you connect with people outside of your usual circle.

• Make To-Do Lists. Use Twitter to record down what you need to do while you are away from the computer. Mark the tweet as a favorite to file it for referencing. Another alternative is to use an Online task management service that is synced with Twitter.

• And if you’re concerned about the privacy of your Tweets, you also have the capability of “locking” them, so only users that are approved through you are able to view your Tweets.

• And if you’re STILL reading this- and NONE of the above has sold you, how about the fact you can follow some pretty interesting people that are currently using Twitter. Barack Obama, Lance Armstrong, Britney Spears, Al Gore, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Carr, Michael Phelps, Perez Hilton, and Denise Richards. Just search for anyone of interest in the built-in search bar to see if they’re using Twitter!

From a Business Aspect: “BRAND YOUR COMPANY”

Many companies are on Twitter for the sole purpose of PR. They are able to monitor what people are Tweeting about in regards to their products- a great way to “fix” anything that may be going wrong. Think of it as an affordable social media monitoring tool! In addition, they are able to bring in prospective clients by Tweeting interesting articles, links to their sites, or promotional incentives that are going on currently or in the near future. The possibilities are truly endless… and it seems there are competitions to see who can be the most creative with how they position their marketing on Twitter.

• Hire New Employees. Are you looking for a creative designer, an accountant or programmer? Tweet out a message asking for recommendations. You’ll be very surprised at how many replies you get. It’s a great way to hire freelance work or employees based off of familiar recommendations from others.

• Get Feedback. Do you have a new marketing idea? Are you releasing a new web site soon and need some input or the right course of action to take? New promotional ideas or products? Just Tweet out a message asking for opinions. If you’ve got the right followers, advice from others can be very beneficial.

• Direct traffic to YOU. Twitter can be used to get traffic to your websites or the sites of friends. Just include links in your messages- and even ask your friends to tweet about it. You’ll notice an exponential increase in your Click-Through-Rates on sites that you direct users to. It works as a great viral marketing tool for news.

• Notify Your Customers About YOU. Set up a Twitter feed for the specific purpose of notifying customers when new products come in. Customers can subscribe via mobile or RSS for instant notification. Twitter can also be used to provide mini-updates for one-on-one clients.

• Just a few companies that have really used Twitter to their advantage: Apple, Starbucks, Carnival Cruises, Detroit Pistons, Comcast, Home Depot , Dell, and Red Cross .

Hopefully that answered a few of your concerns or questions. Follow me on Twitter and let me know how you want to use the platform or how you already are using it! I would really enjoy hearing from you. I have made some great connections and keep up-to-date on my Twitter. So get Tweetin’ and take my poll question below! thanks!

- @jeffbobick