Oprah is. President Barack Obama is. Martha Stewart is. Same with Shaquille O’Neal and John Mayer. Zappos.com CEO, Tony Hseih, entrepreneur Mark Cuban and AOL co-founder, Steve Case are all tweeting away too… and that’s barely scratching the surface of the popular microblogging service’s users.

But Twitter isn’t just for the rich, famous and successful. There are 6 million users currently signed up with the service and, according to predictions by eMarketer, that number could double by the end of 2009.

Twitter is also not just for individuals. More and more businesses are tweeting, to varying degrees of success. Should your business jump on the Twitter bandwagon? Signing up for an account may seem simple enough (it’s easy and free), but the question I often hear is “then what?”

Here are a few tips for navigating the Twitter landscape as a business:

1. Pay attention. Twitter is a virtual focus group that never stops. Leverage the Twitter Search feature to keep tabs on what people are saying about your brand, your industry, your competitors, your products and your services.
2. Talk to your customers. Companies like Comcast, Starbucks and Whole Foods are using Twitter as a way to reach new customers, address customer service issues and provide an additional channel of communication outside the usual phone/email/live chat paradigm.
3. Discover sales opportunities. Take what you’ve learned from tip #1 and start following people who are twittering about what is relevant to your business. Reply to them if it’s appropriate. Many users treat Twitter as their own personal search engine and if they’re asking the Twitterverse which live chat service they should evaluate for their business, you can bet I’m replying back and telling them to check out BoldChat. The response has been positive thus far.
4. Don’t spam – engage. Twitter users don’t want to follow someone who only posts links to their website every day. And it’s unlikely that you’ll get many followers if you’re not following anyone else back. Twitter is based on reciprocation. It’s about participation and conversation. So go ahead and post news and links to information that you think your followers might find interesting, but make sure you’re talking to them too.
5. Be human. Part of Twitter’s appeal is the ability follow users without requiring approval. For many, it’s a much more intimate way to connect with celebrities, enterpreneurs and brands than has ever been possible before. Don’t forget that while you are representing your business, your followers want to know more about the people behind the Twitter username. So post TwitPics of your team, talk about office outings and show your personality.
6. Follow us. Ok, so this isn’t really a tip, but we would be honored to have you follow BoldChat on Twitter. We’ll even follow back.

With that in mind, here are 5 technologies that may be helpful for your business in a tight economy:

5. Pitchengine:  Pitchengine is a great way to publish your own press releases, for free, and have them indexed by search engines quickly. PR is valuable, but can be expensive and Pitchengine provides an inexpensive option for self-managed PR.  If you have to make cuts to your PR budget, Pitchengine can help you keep PR alive during the downturn.

4. GoToMeeting: GoToMeeting is a low-cost alternative to Webex, and is a no-brainer for any firm looking to reduce expenses.  Does EVERY meeting need to be face-to-face?  Is it really the best option to leave tomorrow for a same-day trip?  If you can, schedule meetings via web/teleconference using GotoMeeting.  It’s near impossible to find a flight for $49- GotoMeeting’s per month rate for 1 license.

3. LinkedIn: LinkedIn helps keep you connected until the next conference or tradeshow.  Get involved in groups, build your own group, request introductions through existing contacts.  Linkedin offers a free version with huge value to sales/marketing teams looking for ways to grow their network and find prospects.  Most importantly, it keeps you connected with contacts you’ve already made in between those face-to-face encounters. Get further involved for more top-of-mind awareness. Being more active and involved on LinkedIn will generate results.

2. Email management software: Ignore the obvious bias; adding this technology will improve your business- I guarantee it.  You will improve the response time on emails for sales and support, you will have better accountability and reporting and it’s simply more efficient than any other method we’ve seen.  BoldMail solves a real business problem and in a tight economy provides the big three – low cost, high efficiency, increased productivity.

1. Live Chat: Here’s the obvious point – you can have many quality chat interactions at one time and only one call.  No matter how you slice it, chat is inexpensive and helps you connect with more potential sales with less resources.  In this type of economic environment, if you want to capture more sales online, there is no faster way to do it than to add live chat to your website. Live chat improves conversion rates, helps reduce shopping cart abandonment, and will positively impact customer satisfaction.  Name 1 other technology that you can implement in minutes that will do all of that.