Twitter is a way of communicating with your audience. It has the same potential as any other medium, including advertising and networking, to reach large numbers of people.
It is free (no cost), but it does require an investment of time. On this basis it might be worth thinking of it as an “instead of”, not an “as well as” means of communication.
It relies on you being informative and interesting. If you fulfil these criteria your audience will find you, like you, and follow you (read what you say). If you are pushy, people won’t follow you.
Twitter communicates to everyone who wants to follow you – so one message reaches a far greater audience than a single telephone call or email can. If someone likes what they read, they can forward the message to everyone that is following them.
What particularly differentiates Twitter as a mean of communication is the way that serendipity plays a part. More so than any other medium, it works through referral, over which you have little or no control.
Twitter is used by everyone, from teenagers, to CEO’s of major blue chip corporations. Your next major client, or customer, may just be looking for you on Twitter…