I am pleased to have Jennifer Davey contribute to my blog with the following post.

Twitter has proven to be an essential marketing tool for all small business marketing strategies. If you’re not sure where to begin, try these methods.

Go Local
You can use the search function on Twitter to find clients close to your area. Go here: http://search.twitter.com, and use the following format: “near:Brooklyn within:25mi”.

Use the directory at TwellowHood at: http://www.twellow.com/twellowhood. Zoom into the map around your area. This lets you see the number of Twitterers who are in your area.

Use Twitter’s search function to find people who have been looking for you. For instance, if you own a bar in Brooklyn, you can do a search for “Brooklyn bars,” and the results will show you users who have performed that search. Then, you can follow these people, which will make them much more likely to follow you in return.

Put your Business Out There
For the people who are following you, tweet about specials, discounts, coupons and events your business is conducting or will be involved in. Some people even get tweets on their phone, which is extra helpful for potential customers who are on the go.

Tweet about limited discounts and offers. For example, if you have a bar, you could tweet something like: “Happy Hour Monday 5-7 2 Draft Beers for $2.”

Ask people who are following you to forward your discount tweets to other users.

If you want to see a couple of examples of business that are effectively using these methods, check out The Coffee Groundz of Houston, Texas http://twitter.com/coffeegroundz, and the Luxor in Las Vegas http://twitter.com/LuxorLV.

Jennifer Davey is business coach and marketing strategist. For more information please visit her website at: http://jjscoaching.com/twitter-attract-clients-local-business