Are you using Twitter? Have you heard of Twitter? Maybe, you’ve recently heard about it in the press: celebrities, like Oprah and Ashton, tweeting to their fans, or people breaking news to a worldwide audience. While Oprah, CNN, Ashton Kutchur and others may bring Twitter to mainstream audiences, business owners can use it as a marketing powerhouse. In Twitter Power, author Joel Comm shares his expertise in social media and online marketing. His advice: Twitter is one of the best places to market your business, yet few people are using it, much less using it effectively.

What is Twitter? It’s a social media platform: a way to connect with friends, family, and contacts. Twitter asks users to answer the question "What are you doing?" in 140 characters or less. Don’t dismiss its easy platform as trivial; it’s an excellent way to keep clients, contacts, and customers aware of your latest news. Twitter is unique in that users can also broadcast tweets, or Twitter posts, through their mobile phone. By sending a mobile text message, you update all your followers at one time and broaden your ability to connect online. The cost? You only pay your mobile provider for one message.

How do you start tweeting? Twitter’s registration is simple: username, password, and email. In order for others to read your tweets, you need followers. The best way to get followers is to follow other people (who will usually follow back). Don’t jump into finding people until you have your profile set up correctly. Followers will decide to follow you—or not—based on your Twitter profile. Readers will understand each step through the provided screenshots and detailed explanations. Fourteen chapters describe how to build a following, tweeting etiquette; connecting with customers; unique uses, such as leveraging Twitter for team communication, brand building, and influencing behavior; and various third-party tools, like Twitterfeed, TwitterCounter, and Twhirl. In "Play Nice: Legal Considerations," readers will learn that mean messages not only tag you as a not nice person, they can also tag you in a lawsuit. In the last chapter, a 30-day marketing plan outlines steps, from day one to day you dominate Twitter.

I’ve been using Twitter for six months, Joel Comm being one of the first dozen people I followed. Trying to figure out social media in general, and Twitter specifically, I wish his book came out sooner. Twitter Power is a jam-packed business resource. If you market anything—whether it’s online or off—you’ll benefit from Comm’s advice as an expert social media and online marketer. The book targets business people and companies, though individuals wanting to just connect on Twitter will find great information on all the basics. Highly recommended, and should be required reading for business owners and marketers.