When I first saw banner ads marketing Twitter — A little “tool” for instantly broadcasting a play-by-play recap of your day, while the trivial dribbles of others — I simply could not imagine a bigger waste of time! Another way to lower the productivity of an office! Just more nonsense traveling across the net!

I ASKED MYSELF — Why would anyone care about what I ate for breakfast, what I was working on or where I was headed in my day? Why would a business person add more noise to the signal to noise ratio?

I SAID SELF — maybe Twitter is the unavoidable conclusion for an A.D.D. culture forced to short attention by an overwhelming amount of data, fascinated by fame and fed a diet of sound bites.

I CHUCKLED TO MYSELF AND SAID — Well, as is often the case, Twitter is not the end of the world as we know it; it may in fact be a peek into the future of communication and marketing. At its nucleus, Twitter is just a communication tool. Like the Web, and phone and the telegraph before it, it’s just a tool to let us connect with each other.

How’s it all work?

Basically, you have 140 characters to respond to the question, “What are you doing?” As a member of Twitter you can “follow” others, seeing their updates on your home page. AND IT’S ONLY FAIR, they can follow you, creating an elegant form of permission-based marketing. Finally, you can send 140 character responses back and forth, creating a mini dialog with followers.

WHAT’S AWESOME — Twitter updates can be viewed and updated on the Web, through desktop apps, and even on your cell phone. Having this kind of device flexibility really makes Twitter a truly next gen communications tool. Personally, I like making my updates right on my personal Twitter homepage, giving me the option of seeing other’s “tweets” before I write.

I KNOW GET TO THE POINT

how will this help my business

FIRST, forget about the ever prevalent audience of exhibitionists, there really is a growing number of people who are using this awesome toll for business. NOT just the geeky, technosavy and aggressive Web marketers who tweet every blog post they make and create links to all their online activities.

REALLY THERE ARE PROFESSIONALS USING TWITTER AS A COMMUNICATIONS TOOL

YOU SEE — There’s both a social/play and a social/communicate aspect to Twitter that makes it an exceptional promotion tool to point out interesting things you’ve found on the web, as well as, a device for building credibility and influence. At first glance, such updates can be mundane and uninteresting. However, followed over time, you gain insight into people you may end up hiring, getting hired by, working for, partnering with or simply socializing with.

Twitter builds a real personality for your business unlike any media before it. From a brand building and networking standpoint, you don’t look at micro-blogging as snapshots, but think of the overall impressions and value that can be created over time. Every 140 character or less tweet serves as a seed of an idea for an overall objective. Soon, you’ll build a footprint and identity within the Twitter community. To make the most of your footprint and identity keep the BIG PICTURE in mind when posting, rather than random snipits information. Unless of course you want to be seen as a scatter brain.

Apple uses twitter to bypass the normal media channels and get its news out FAST. JetBlue is using Twitter not only to promote specials, but to interact with customers and answer questions. And, online giant Woot promoting their wacky form of online retailing by posting deals throughout the day. Political candidate Barack Obama has gotten in on the action by posting updates from the road. News organizations Fox News, CNN, NBC are using this tool to communicate breaking stories fast.

BRINGING IT HOME — A local retailer can promote new products while building a sense of community by responding to customers. The gym or health center can encourage clients, review diets and give tips on fitness. Real estate professional posting new listings. Car dealers running specials. Cafes and restaurants posting daily specials. The options are endless.

As I said this is not the end of the world — it’s a glimpse of a brave new frontier in marketing and business promotion.