Inside the Marketers Studio - David Berkowitz's Marketing Blog

The Truck Stops Here

Here's today's Social Media Insider, originally published in MediaPost. Photo credit: Me.

In the future, will all of our restaurants turn into roving trucks? You may not ask yourself that question every day, but answering it will reveal a few things about the evolution of social media.

This megatrend of trucks serving gourmet food is one of those cataclysmic events that can only be brought on by a slew of events that were never supposed to happen at the same time (think "The Day After Tomorrow"):

·  A recession that caused consumers to be thrifty when eating out while also giving the jobless and underemployed more time than they're used to.

·  GPS technology accurate enough to locate restaurants on wheels.

·  The advent of Twitter, which allowed truck-food proprietors to economically broadcast where they are, along with empowering consumers narcissistic enough to tell people they are on line waiting for a truck chef to serve them.

·  Finally, the emergence of Dr. Scholl's shoe inserts so comfortable that truck chefs can be gellin' without having their feet resemble snapshots from the podiatric-themed issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

New York City has a multiplying fleet of truck chefs. Battles for the streets have become so intense that one truck food purveyor told The New York Times a few weeks ago, "I should not have to carry a baseball bat on my truck in order to sell cupcakes." I've visited two trucks for food this month alone: Van Leeuwen artisan ice cream by the High Line park (after trying the vanilla, "artisan" must be a synonym for "bland"), and the CupcakeStop.com truck that I found via a colleague's tweet, which served the best red velvet I've had east of the Mississippi (either side of it, you can't top Sprinkes).

The most famous, uber-hip food truck isn't driving near my office anytime soon. It's Kogi, the Los Angeles-based Korean barbecue truck fleet with over 35,000 followers on Twitter. Proprietor Mark Manguera seems to have an Oprah-like command of his followers, with hundreds of them lining up for Asian-Mexican food whenever his trucks tweet.

How much further will this trend go? Here are a few ideas:

·  The locations of these trucks will be crowdsourced. It's the converse of the drive-thru: instead of the truck saying where it is and people tweeting about it, people will tweet and the truck drives to where the most buzz is.

·  Mobile applications will instantly show which food trucks are in your area. Trucks will be sorted by cuisine type, location, and the length of the line.

·  A market of line-savers will emerge. Someone spending $10 on dinner from a truck may well pay another $20 not to wait on line for an hour or two (I couldn't find anyone offering or requesting this on the Los Angeles Craigslist boards). A secure arrangement between the parties using SMS and PayPal could ensure timeliness and accuracy. A more sophisticated system could have the person on line periodically checking in via GPS to confirm their location.

·  Trucks will eliminate all of their selection and will tweet the day's option along with the location. One day, it might only be steak fajitas, while another it's shrimp tamales. And the same people who waited two hours to get what they wanted from the truck would wait four to have no options to choose from.

·  Trucks will tweet the wrong locations intentionally. This will weed out the fans from the superfans. Anyone can follow a truck on Twitter and find it and wait on line for food while telling all their friends about it. But imagine if people had no clue where the truck was, and even their friends tweeted the wrong locations to throw them off? The same people who waited four hours to eat food from a truck with only one menu item would spend another four hours trying to find out where the truck really is before waiting another four hours for food.

Thanks to social media and the mobile technologies facilitating it, these trucks may in time lead to a super-race of Twitter users. Consumers already too thrifty to gorge themselves will spend four hours running around after a truck and four hours longer standing in line, all to consume undersized portions designed to easily fit in their hand for on-street consumption. While engaging in these tweets and spending ample time with their fellow line-waiters, they're bound to comingle and eventually reproduce. These offspring will in turn exhibit the genes for fitness and tech savvy that will give them disproportionate advantages in the centuries ahead.

I'm not sure I'll be one of them. Sunday night, while walking home, I discovered a Vietnamese restaurant in my neighborhood and ate my first banh mi sandwich. I had read no reviews, whether by professionals or consumers. I saw nary a tweet about it, and didn't tweet it either. Monday night, I went back for another banh mi. It won't be my last. The whole time, the restaurant stayed in the same location, there was no line, and I sat down while waiting. I'm clearly not cut out for the future of truck-based food consumption, though if it's carrying red velvets, I may make an occasional exception.

Google CPG Blog Guest Post on 4 Questions for Social Media Marketing Success

Let’s Ask Four Questions, via the Weighty Matters Blog

A quick note: I have a guest post on Google’s official CPG blog today, a new one for me. I’ve been focused on this vertical quite a bit more lately so if you are doing some interesting work helping consumer packaged goods brands engage with consumers through social marketing, I welcome chatting more.

Here’s an excerpt:

When CPG marketers are assessing various social marketing opportunities, answering four questions can help determine whether or not the opportunity makes sense for the brand:

1) Does the opportunity meet your brand’s objectives?

2) Does the opportunity leverage your brand’s existing arsenal of assets?

3) Does the opportunity abide by the social media rules of the road?

4) Does it provide significant value exchange?

These questions, as well as other tips and best practices, are detailed in 360i’s recently-released Social Marketing Playbook, a freely available 56-page guide on how to develop, execute and measure a successful social marketing strategy.

The rest of the post looks at examples relating to all four questions.

As far as where the examples came from, I often hear some from multiple sources, but two came from conferences I’ve been to recently, one came from a personal contact with a vendor, and one came from reading industry trades. It does help having multiple arenas to draw from, and I always welcome personal connections to hear more.

Thanks to Tyson Foods, Red Bull, Oscar Mayer, and Vitamin Water, along with Facebook, House Party, and MySpace (it’s safe to say Twitter didn’t have anything to do with the Tyson execution while the other vendors played more active roles).

The Fastest Way To Lose Money: The Western Union Scam That Keeps Plaguing Facebook

An even worse brand endorsement than the Western Union Scam, with apologies to Getty Images and Pepsi

Here's today's column, originally from MediaPost, with more information on the scam alert I recently discussed.Oh, and MediaPost butchered my title - not the first time. They changed it to "SocialMedia: The Fastest Way to Lose Money?" I think that changes the meaning of it. Griping over, the column's below.

The Fastest Way To Lose Money

Friday night, a friend of mine instant-messaged me on Facebook saying he needed my help. On his profile, there were several messages urging people to contact him right away. I was of course concerned.

Soon it became apparent that it wasn't my friend at all. His identity had been hijacked by a scammer who posted the messages to his profile and IMed his friends. The Nigerian scam has been going on in this form at least since January, when Silicon Alley Insider and TechCrunch reported on it. It's a reminder that wherever consumers go, scammers and other malevolent elements will follow. In this case, it's also an unfortunate brand association with Western Union, as you'll see momentarily.

Excerpts of the conversation are below, and you can read the entire transcript on my blog. I've changed the name of my friend to Walter Jenkins, but otherwise it's verbatim.

Walter: I had to visit a resort here in London on vacation and I got robbed at the hotel Im staying... Its really sucks and scary here... I got robbed at a gun point and all my money and stuffs got stolen but im lucky I still have my passport with me. Well, can I ask for a favor?

David: what do you need?

Walter: What i need now is just some cash to complete my tix till im back home to refund you back. Can you help with some money?... $390 pounds is all i need more. I can get it from the ATM for you first thing as soon as Im back home... You can get it to me here using western union. You need just my name as written on my passport and the location here. Do you know how to go about with the western union thing?

David: Using paypal to transfer funds won't do anything for you?

Walter: Im glad you are helping Dav. Western union is very easy to transfer money and to receive money. [An aside: this is just about the worst brand endorsement a marketer could ever receive, which would be topped only if Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was shown drinking a Pepsi while jailing election protestors.]

David: If you're online, can't i just use paypal?

Walter: I don't have paypal acct [He's a technology entrepreneur. If the red flags weren't up already, they're signaling major alarms here.]

David: what's the location

Walter: United Kingdom London... Do you know any western union location around you?... You will be given a confirmation number

David: yes i found many locations. i can help. tell me more about where you are. [At this point, I'm stringing him along to get as much information as possible in case it's helpful later.]

Walter: I'll be needing it to pick up the money. You need just my name as written on my passport and my location here. Name:Walter Jenkins. Location United Kingdom, London

David: okay but there are many locations in london, tell me more about where you are

Walter: I can pick up the money at any western union location

David: Okay, great. so tell me why you only need 390 GBP if you were held up at gunpoint

Walter: I need it to complete my ticket and fly back home.

David: how about i just buy you the ticket? i'll go online and buy it for you. tell me which flight you want, which airports

Walter: I'll need the cash for some things more

David: Well if you already have some money for the ticket, use the money you have for the other things. i'll buy the ticket [This exchange went on for awhile, leading nowhere.]

Walter: Im in a library here using the comp here to get on facebook for help

David: a friend of mine happens to be at heathrow right now, i just IMed him. can i have him meet you there?

Walter: Well, Its okay if you can't help

David: i can help. what flight are you taking?

Walter: B.A. Why can't you go to the store and have it done now?

David: What time is your flight?

Walter: I don't think you really want to help. Its okay. the manager will be helping me to purchase the ticket here

David: oh that is SOOO nice of him, then you can use your money to buy whatever else you need. which library are you at? that way i can look up how far you are from heathrow.

Then it abruptly stopped talking. I managed to save the conversation just in time, as soon he defriended me. I still had access to read his Facebook Wall (though not post on it), so I emailed a few people who responded to the scammer's posts there and let them know. The next day, my friend had his account back and we were friends again.

If your account is compromised, Facebook will disable it. It can be reinstated after contacting them via a form. A Facebook representative told Silicon Alley Insider, "We're reminding users to be very suspicious of anyone, even friends, who ask you over the Internet to send money.  Please verify their circumstances through some other means than the web (e.g. call them or mutual friends)." You should also make sure they share information about themselves that isn't publicly available on Facebook or elsewhere.

As for Western Union, there's a section on its site about scams, but no mention of this one. That's a shame. In the meantime, the Walter Jenkins impersonators out there are doing a good job representing Western Union's brand. "Walter" is doing well spreading the word, as the top city by far searching Google for 'westernunion.com' is Lagos, Nigeria. If you run into him or his buddies, don't send cash. See if he'll go for a Facebook gift instead.

Six Ways to Improve Conferences

Try to keep these people engaged (140 Characters Conference by David Berkowitz via Flickr)

Today's Social Media Insider, originally published in MediaPost

In May and June, I participated in 13 events as a moderator (six), panelist (four), and featured or keynote presenter (three). They weren't evenly dispersed; May brought a stretch of four events in two and a half days, while June had a span of three events in three cities within 48 hours. It was both thrilling and tiring, and I'm glad I get to return to the day job for a while.

Along the way, I came up with a few thoughts on what can make events even better for all participants going forward. Some organizers have a real knack for this; Jeff Pulver in particular deserves a lot of credit for his thoughtful considerations that he incorporated into his 140 Characters Conference. Ultimately, participating in so many events spanning a range of topics mostly around social media topics gives me a way to cross-pollinate some of the best of what I've seen. Here's what can be done:

• Mix it up. A number of events suffer from panel syndrome. When you have a large number of panels one after the other, they all start to sound alike. Get some solo speakers, even for short presentations as interludes. When you have a panel, also request speakers sit in the order they're listed in on the screen. If someone's a minute late to a session or distracted with an email during introductions, it's impossible to tell who's who without that arrangement. It's even harder for panels with four or five white males. As one of them, I can tell you from the back of the room, we all do look alike, especially with the social media uniform of the blazer, button-down, dark jeans, and loafers (sometimes we wear khakis).

• Include speakers' Twitter handles on screen during their sessions and in the programs if the events have anything to do with social media. I've been lobbying a few event producers to do this, and I'm hoping it will become standard practice soon. The people tweeting about events are providing pro bono exposure, often to hundreds or thousands of others. It's even more effective if those tweeters can refer directly to the speakers' handles. Speakers are especially likely to have handles, and it makes it easy for speakers to continue the dialogue with tweeters after the session.

• Know how to pace a panel. The 140 Characters panel with Rick Sanchez and Ann Curry was remarkable for a number of reasons (Ann Curry may be the best panelist I've ever seen). One first I witnessed there was that Pulver let the conference go twice as long because the audience was so engaged (watch Part 1 and Part 2). Most people I spoke to felt that panel alone made the conference worth their while. Another event I attended was so off schedule that by the afternoon, they couldn't find speakers since no one had a clue when they were speaking. Delays need to either be accounted for (like with a shorter lunch) or clearly communicated. Organizers should be conscious of extending some sessions when people are hooked, even if it means cutting others short when they fall flat.

• Rework name badges. I'm not the first to say this, and I do see thoughtfully designed badges more often, but the majority of events I go to force unnecessary squinting. Priorities should be given to first names and companies. If it's a really geeky event, Twitter handles merit the same prominence. The smallest amount of space should go to the event name -- everyone knows what event they're at, and if they don't, the organizers have bigger problems.

• Treat bloggers like the press, or don't include them. If you want people blogging about the event, give them the same courtesy you would to credentialed journalists, ideally with reserved seating and easy access to panelists. I declined to attend one event as a blogger when they tried setting restrictions on how much I could blog, as they feared live blogging was conveying too much information. I emailed the organizer, "If people who aren't there think they can get their money's worth from an event by reading a transcript, perhaps you should cancel the events and sell the transcripts."

• Follow up with shareable content. For social media events, participants are especially likely to be active across social channels. Let them promote your event for you. Post multimedia to services where photos and videos can be embedded, tagged, and downloaded. Aggregate links to others' multimedia and blog posts in a single area. Provide a convenient list of everyone who was tweeting about the event.

Several of these suggestions include ways to extend the experience beyond the event itself. Here's one thing organizers don't need to do: create a new social network just for attendees of that one event. With rare exceptions, they're a waste of time, and participants would be better served with groups on existing networks like Facebook and LinkedIn.

Event organizers aren't the only ones who can keep providing more value to attendees. Speakers and moderators can also step it up, and they may be addressed in a future post. Share your other suggestions in the comments.

A Playbook for Planning Ahead - Behind the Scenes of Marketing the Social Marketing Playbook

I was traveling this week so I didn't get to post this week's Social Media Insider until now. The column appears after the embedded Playbook, which you can freely download and share.
360i Social Marketing Playbook

One of the best lessons you can learn while engaging with social media is that you can never plan too early, as it's hard to tell when you'll really reap the fruits of your labor. If you're actively building a brand through social media and you're doing it right, you will be incredibly grateful down the road.

I'll share an example of this from a company I rarely talk about here directly -- my agency, 360i. It's where I've worked as Director of Emerging Media (or related roles) for over three years, so I've been able to witness the agency's evolution firsthand. Earlier this month we released our first Social Marketing Playbook, a freely available 56-page guide for marketers on developing and executing social marketing programs.

I wasn't the lead on managing this project, nor the lead on marketing it; this was a collaborative effort by a dedicated group in our social media and creative practices. Admittedly, the interest in it was greater than expected, as it reached 10,000 downloads within a few days of its launch, and it continues to be a draw. As a marketer, it's easy to look at the end result and say  there was a great marketing push for it, while others might chalk it up to luck; there are countless other ways to interpret what happened. The most important work we did, though, was in the months and even years before it came out. Self-serving as the story may be, I hope it's at least a good reminder for the value of planning ahead with social channels.

Distributing the Playbook relied on two efforts where agencies are notoriously weak: marketing themselves, and using the tools they're promoting to their clients. For 360i, this meant building out a blog and a Facebook presence in 2008, and joining Twitter in early 2009. With Twitter, we weren't the first agency to join, and there are many others using it well. By the time we did it, though, we had evaluated it through our own strategic lens (a concept explained in detail in the Playbook) and answered these four critical questions:

1.       Could we use it to meet our objectives?

2.       Could it leverage our arsenal of assets?

3.       Could we use it to abide by the social media rules of the road?

4.       Could it provide a significant value exchange?

Twitter, the blog, Facebook, and other channels like Slideshare, Scribd, Flickr, and LinkedIn all met those criteria. There was a fifth criterion that also had to be answered for all of them: Did we have the resources to use them effectively? I'll spare an impossibly objective or unbearably vainglorious analysis of how we did, but all of this was working at least well enough before the Playbook was written. There was also a clear architecture for it, with the blog as a hub, and all of the spokes, including our corporate site, relating coherently to the hub and to each other.

Twitter proved to be especially important for the Playbook's release, with the blog as the hub for much of the linking. We had our own version of brand ambassadors, myself included, who helped get the word out. Scribd, the document-sharing site, was a useful tool, one that Guy Kawasaki chose to tweet. A digital word-of-mouth program helped inform some influential bloggers, tweeters, and executives, though almost all of those relationships were established well before the Playbook was planned.

At Jeff Pulver's 140 Characters Conference last week, someone in the audience asked the panel I was on what we'd advise a brand like Domino's Pizza, which endured a brief but viral brand hijack by a couple of its own employees. I responded that brands need to establish open communication channels as early as possible so that they're ready to use when a major event happens, whether it's a promotion or a crisis. While relatively few brands will go through crises that make headline news, almost all brands -- even agencies' brands, as I've learned -- can benefit from building up a presence well in advance of when it's needed.

Fresh Eyes on Social Media

Here's today's Social Media Insider originally published in MediaPost

If you think you've read everything you need to know about social media, maybe you should get your eyes checked. When you go, with any luck your optometrist will be Nathan Bonilla-Warford, O.D. in Tampa, Florida, as he can teach you a few things.

Nathan reached out following last week's column about my optometrist uncle,  who said my article was posted on an optometrists' forum. His email signature included links to his Web site, Yelp listing, Facebook page, and Twitter account, and he later revealed he's a blogger too. I thought his practical experience as a business owner grappling with social media should be shared with others. Here's an exclusive interview with Dr. Bonilla-Warford.

Social Media Insider: How did you decide to tweet? What's it doing for you?

Dr. Nathan Bonilla-Warford: Another optometrist turned me on to it. Because I blog, it was a no-brainer. It gets my message out about news and events. Twitter has led to new patients and new sales. Now that I have been tweeting for a while, I truly see Twitter (social media more generally) as "The Chamber of Commerce for our generation."

With Twitter you get to see the people behind the business a bit more and, in this day where we are all fed a steady diet of overhyped, irony-dripping marketing, it is nice to see real people. Add local tweetups to the mix and it is awesome, especially for a small business like mine that likes to work in barter when possible.

So I love it. And being the ONLY eye doc in Tampa Bay who tweets, I've got that self-selected demographic all to myself -- for now. And I am taking advantage of it while I can.

SMI: How much time does it take you to manage your social media presence?

NBW: Well, my wife thinks it takes me a lot of time. Really, though, social media is so integrated with other tasks such as administrative and leisure time that it is hard to quantify the time put in. Perhaps 30 minutes a day total, apart from stand-alone marketing time. I don't think of it as taking a lot of time, because it is fun and rewarding. An important note is that this really only applies to maintenance of social networks. Setting up a new presence DOES take time and effort at first, deciding on what image to present, literally and figuratively, and what the written and unwritten rules are of the new network.

SMI: Are any social media channels more important than others?

NBW: I'm not a guru on this subject, but I think it all depends on your goals and perspective. I pretty much see my blog as the central hub of the Web presence and then other systems/networks making use of that content. However, this is changing as I am becoming more active on Twitter. I am starting to dislike Facebook due to all the quizzes and applications, but I know that it is still popular.

SMI: Is it just you managing it? Do you have anyone in your office helping you?

NBW: I have talked about this with other optometrists. Historically, optometrists are not great at delegating. I'm not sure why. I have introduced social media to my office staff and asked them to participate by writing blog posts. I would like to get them more involved and tweet about office events and allow me to focus more on clinical topics, but we are not there -- yet.

SMI: Who's your target audience? Is there a certain demographic?

NBW: The target audience is tricky. Initially and ideally, the target audience is people (specifically mothers) who live in the area and who are patients or potential patients of Bright Eyes. However, we also provide specialty services of infant & pediatric care, vision therapy and orthokeratology, and there is not a large number of these specialists using social media nationwide. So I am simultaneously creating a national and international audience of people who are interested in this niche care.

This has caused me to realize that I have to create different entities to address these audiences, and I am now working toward this, in conjunction with national professional organizations within these specialties. To some degree, I am leading them to it, because they are thinking about the message spreading from more conventional channels.

SMI: What's your advice to other business owners about using social media?

I think that virtually any business could benefit from social media. There is a small, local house cleaning company that I think is doing a great job (@serranocleaning ). I plan on using their services in the future. Ikea opened a new store in Tampa, and they have been the example of "doing it right" with @IKEATampaFans. They listen to tweets and encourage exchange without spam.

So to any business, especially one that deals heavily with human interaction such as sales or consulting, I would say, "Come on in, the water is fine." But do spend a little time dabbling with a personal account to think about what style and approach works for you, before you commit.

I also feel very strongly that businesses should separate their personal and business social media identities. I know others disagree with me on this point, saying, "You are your brand." But I just think it is confusing if you are using your office/business name and then sending a bunch of tweets that have no relation to your core concept. I'm not saying to refuse to show some personal side because that is a good and important aspect, but to keep it relevant to your brand.

CNN’s Rick Sanchez Goes from Mocked to Hero to My New Bud

CNN’s Rick Sanchez and I have had a pretty crazy relationship.

First I mentioned how he brought out the best and worst of cross-platform journalism thanks to integrating social media comments in ways that didn’t always add to the value of his show.

Then Rick actually responded on his own blog, and even on his TV show, in as transparent, humble, and authentic a way as anyone could ever do.

I came around and shared what a great listener he is. Yes, I’m still impressed.

Now, at 140 Conference (the Twitter event here in NYC today), I got to meet him, and even enjoy a photo op. Couldn’t resist. We even look a bit alike.

Gotta love social media – and how cross-platform has taken us through blogs, Twitter, TV, and ultimately an in-person meeting, which is what it should really all be about. It doesn’t get more social than that.

 

Technorati Tags: 140conf,conferences,events,rick sanchez,cnn,ricksanchezcnn

Facebook Turns a Design Flaw into a PR Coup

I've been commenting over on Scott Hoffman's Cliqology about Facebook's username registration.Scott wonders aloud if Facebook left $3 million in revenue on the table by not charging for the names.

I responded:

Facebook here is giving people something they expect on any other service - MySpace, Google, LinkedIn, etc. Creating a barrier to entry would have stood in the face of the democratization of social media. That customized names were needed at all was a design flaw. That they made it a PR coup was brilliant. That they left revenue on the table was a smart business decision.

As an aside, it wouldn't have been anywhere near $3 million. I'm sure a large number who did it enjoy the bragging rights and badge of honor, but it's not something they'd pay for.

There's more discussion on Scott's blog, so check it out.

You can also connect with me on Facebook via my new vanity URL, www.facebook.com/dberkowitz. (Send me a note if you know me through the blog - I often ignore people when I have no clue why they're connecting.)

360i POV and Ad Age Coverage of Preparing for Facebook Vanity URLs

Consumers and marketers have something in common: Friday night, they’ll both get to claim vanity URLs on Facebook so that they’ll have names like facebook.com/joeshmoe.

Marketers, or anyone with Pages (as opposed to profiles) have a harder time, since they need to have 1,000 fans as of the end of May.

To read up on this, I’ve got two ways you can do so:

1) Check out the Ad Age post I wrote on the Facebook Brand Grab.

2) Click below to view, download, or even share 360i’s POV. Both are similar, so go to Ad Age if you want a quick skim or read, or use 360i’s POV (also on its blog) if you want a more official version to keep or share with others.

360i POV on Facebook Page Vanity URLs

Publish at Scribd or explore others: How-to-Guides & Manu vanity urls 360i

Technorati Tags: facebook,social media,social media marketing

Ten Ways To Decide If Your Business Should Tweet

What's up with all the Twitter talk at Applebee's? by Thomas Hawk via Flickr

Originally published in MediaPost's Social Media Insider

During a late lunch (for me) or an early dinner (for my wife's grandparents) at Applebee's in Reading, Pa., I was distracted from figuring out how to eat my riblets when I heard the conversation inevitably turn to Twitter.

It wasn't the most senior members at the table who were interested in tweeting -- thank goodness, as that would have made me fall off my chair faster than an Applebee's Top Shelf Long Island Iced Tea. Instead, my uncle, an optometrist, had been hearing about Twitter and wondered if he should tweet professionally.

When I answered Uncle Glenn, I brought up a number of factors that he should consider when evaluating the service. I also compared his situation to that of Jeff, my father-in-law, a plastic surgeon in Dallas. Glenn and Jeff have several things in common: small businesses in healthcare targeting older-skewing customers who aren't particularly tech-savvy. There are key differences though, and those are described below.

Here are ten factors Glenn, Jeff, or anyone else should consider when deciding whether to tweet:

1. Domain squatting: Is there any value for you to register your business name or even real name (if you own your business or are the face of it) as a Twitter user name? I covered this recently, and there are a number of reasons why you should, even if you don't plan to actively use it.

2. Brand mentions: Is anyone talking about your actual business already? For a small business, this isn't as likely, but you absolutely must check. For this search and others discussed here, use Twitter Search at  search.twitter.com. While Twitter offers search functionality on its own site, it's only available to registered users, and Twitter Search is more robust.

3. Topical mentions: Are people on Twitter discussing topics relevant to your business? For Glenn, this might mean posts about getting glasses. For Jeff, it might be concerns about aging, or about certain products like Botox. These signal opportunities where you can respond and be a resource. I once tweeted about a friend needing a WordPress programmer; the person who responded wasn't following me but was getting alerts for relevant terms, and he wound up with the gig.

4. Location mentions: If your business is based in or focused on a certain city or region, search Twitter to see what people are saying about it. Then use the advanced search feature to find posts from people based within a certain area. There may be ways to be a resource about your area. You should also run location-specific searches for your brands and relevant topics. The potential reach also matters; Glenn's target is residents within a small radius of Reading (population: 83,000), while Jeff's customers live in and beyond the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, home to one-quarter of all Texans.

5. Target audience: If there are lots of relevant mentions, click the user names to see if they look like they could be in your target audience. If the volume of tweets is high enough, you'll find a sample of people who are sharing information about themselves, whether from their Twitter profiles, the links to their sites, or what they're talking about.

6. Competitiveness: How cutthroat is your business? Do you need to do anything and everything to stay ahead? Twitter could be a competitive advantage, or a necessary defensive strategy. Jeff's business is one of those fields where his competitors will shamelessly copy whatever he does, from marketing to innovative surgical procedures and technologies. Glenn's field is toward the other end of the spectrum, where he spends a lot of his time sharing what he knows with his peers. Someone like Jeff is thus more inclined to use Twitter because they have to, while someone in Glenn's situation would use it if they want to.

7. Sales cycle complexity: How involved is the purchase decision? For Jeff's business, there's a lot of complexity in terms of understanding the procedures and technologies involved. Plus, if anything goes wrong, it will often be very visible to everyone the customer knows. This means Jeff must invest a great deal of energy in making prospective customers feel comfortable with him and his business. With Glenn, trust is no less important, but his customers don't need to conduct as much research online; he'll wind up earning most customers' trust in person.

8. Purchase frequency: This can vary considerably for both Glenn and Jeff. For Jeff, many customers need to return regularly for maintenance. Glenn, meanwhile, has an opportunity to provide services for the whole family, from eye exams to glasses. How valuable is it to stay top of mind?

9. Acquisition vs. retention: If most of your business comes from existing customers, then just ask them if they use Twitter and if they'd want to keep in touch with you that way. If you're continually prospecting, then you need to review these other factors.

10. Bandwidth and resources: Even if your target audience is on Twitter and there are a million reasons to connect with customers there, do you work with anyone who understands Twitter well enough to participate, or can you afford to pay someone else to train you or run your Twitter program?

That's the long answer. The short answer is, "Are your target customers on Twitter, and do you have the resources to reach them?"

Jeff gave these factors a lot of thought and is already tweeting away, even if he's still figuring out the best way to use it (like most everyone else). Glenn will probably hold off unless his Twitter research uncovers surprising results. Both can periodically return to this guide to assess whether Twitter has the potential to help them grow their businesses. Even if it's a little challenging to understand, it's all much easier than figuring out how to eat a riblet.