Twitter sure seems to be in the press a lot lately. Oprah is using Twitter. If Oprah uses Twitter, you can be sure that there are millions of people that are joining Twitter right now. So what’s Twitter really about?

I’ve come across a couple of different uses for Twitter:

• Social networking
• Constant contacting

I’m sure there are more things to use Twitter for, but for the purposes of my blog, I like to stick to what I know and understand.

Here’s how Twitter works: sign up for an account and then post “tweets” on your account. Tweets are 140 character or less messages. Other people sign up to follow you, which means that they receive your tweets in one of a couple of ways. Either  they can login to Twitter.com and check who they are following, opt-in to receiving the tweets by email, receive them on their SMS via cell phone, or use one of the many Twitter apps that have sprung up over the last couple of years.

I have to admit something now: I signed up for Twitter a couple of years ago, and until this year didn’t really know what to do with it. I was recently talking to the marketing manager of Western Rivers Expeditions and they have a Twitter account and aren’t doing anything with it. I imagine a lot of you have Twitter accounts and aren’t doing much with them.

I suppose Twitter is about being connected. The origins of the site revolve around text messaging. Originally, you signed up, sent your tweets to Twitter via your phone, and received other people’s tweets the same way. I think the original model has had to embrace the other delivery methods. I don’t really know.

What I do know is that for Twitter to work for your business, you need to have something to say. Not just something to say, something relevant. Oprah could post anything to Twitter and it would be relevant. You and I? What do we post about our businesses that people will want to tune in to?

I have a couple of answers to that question: specials, alerts, coupons, or news. Two weeks ago I started a new business (part-time) cooking and delivering authentic Italian food. I use a Twitter account to tell all of my followers when the next menu is going up on the website. I only do one day a week, one dish, and very limited amounts. Twitter helps me get the word out to past customers that the new menu is available and that they can make their orders. The same would go for specials or coupons or special industry news. Maybe you could continually feed your followers with interesting quips or ideas relevant to their business or lives.

The point is relevancy. If your Twittering is not relevant, it will not help your business. On the other hand, if you can make Twitter a place where your followers can go to get more info to help themselves, it will stick for you.