The whole world's a-Twitter or so it would seem.  Every day there's a news story in the paper about a celebrity who uses it or about how twitterers have spread the news about an event.

I'll be honest.  I didn't get it.  It looked like the biggest waste of time ever.  After all, did I really want to know what someone had for breakfast or read details of their latest bowel movement?  That was until I actually tried it.

Micro-blogging.  That's what it's called.  You update your profile throughout the day with the answer to a straightforward question, “What are you doing?”  You can post details of what you're up to, links to the articles you've written, share links to funny stories or interesting news and put just about anything on there.  But that's not really the point.  The real power of Twitter is in the networking.  It gives you direct access to people who might not otherwise return your email or have a PA send you a standard response. 

When I started out on Twitter I added a few people I knew and then looked at who they knew.  I was quite surprised that a lot of the people I knew, knew each other.  I could see who knew who and who chatted to who.  It seemed more instant and more interactive than Facebook.

From what I can see, if you're thinking about using Twitter for your business it's a great way of building your network and chatting to other people who serve the same market with a view to collaboration, joint marketing, cross-promotion or joint ventures.  Don't treat your Twitter ‘followers' as newsletter subscribers.  If you do, you'll come across as spammy and self-centred.  Instead get to know them, share stories, comment on their status and generally get involved. 

If you're not already on Twitter, it's worth getting yourself on there – even if it's just so you have a profile listed and nobody else registers your name or company name.

To get you started, here are some people who I suggest you start following once you've activated your account:

Yanik Silver @yaniksilver

Alex Mandossian @alexmandossian

Bernadette Doyle @bernadettedoyle

Krishna De @krishnade

Karen Skidmore @candocanbe

Sandra de Freitas @techcoach

Biana Babinsky @bianababinsky

Hannah McNamara @hannahmcnamara – me!

All of the people above publish information, products and services on marketing yourself – all are suitable for coaches, trainers and consultants.  Of course there are many, many more people who I could mention, but half the fun of Twitter is discovering them yourself!