Twitter 101 Comes at the Right Time

As you’ve probably already read, Twitter released “Twitter 101,” a kind of how-to and best practices guide for SMBs and brands. It’s very smart, timely and puts Twitter in context for those who might otherwise not understand it or its uses.

A potential/”preemptive” substitute for some of the Twitter books that have been written or are being contemplated (I just got a manuscript for one that’s being published in Sept), it offers:

• Case studies (which are a mix of large and small businesses)
• Best practices
• Slides to pitch/explain Twitter

There’s also this piece from the blog AllFacebook: 9 Rules of Facebook Promotion Every Small Business Should Know

Sites like Twitter and Facebook will see heavy “self provisioning” by SMBs because of their nature, simplicity and the fact that they’re free.

There’s lots of promotion/marketing to be had at both these sites for SMBs but no advertising revenues for the sites themselves. Presumably Twitter will have some sort of simple ad product for SMBs in the relatively near future. These guys know how many SMBs are using the site and they’re very smart. Facebook is more focused on brands and larger advertisers, although it does see itself as an SMB ad vehicle. I previously gave some people at Facebook a number of ideas for SMBs but I don’t think those will make their way to implementation. We’ll see.