Let me first explain what Twitter does. Basically you create an account and can send updates, called Tweets, about what your doing or something you want people to know about. They can only be 140 characters, so you need to pack in a lot into that space. For example, I posted "Check out our latest website http://www.discoversouthwindsor.com". People noticed the post and went to the site to see what it was all about.

You can also find, and follow people. For example, I like to listen to keep up with the latest tech news. So I follow people who write tweets about tech things. It's a great way to learn about different things that you are interested in or to give information to people who are interested in what you do.

So, go ahead. It won't bite. Check out http://www.twitter.com

~Tim

Web services make it easier to share information and system functionality. Although we use web services quite extensively our customers and their vendors rarely take advantage of the benefits of web services to ease business processes. Take for example our customer, Custom Impressions, Inc., a leading promotional products company with an e-business arm. Custom Impression's website, www.ImpressYou.com , has thousands of products from dozens of vendors, but only one vendor supplies their product information through web services. This made automating product imports very difficult and time consuming.

Web services would serve both the vendors and their distributors as it would make it easier for the distributors to display accurate and timely product data. In fact if the vendor exposed a web service of their catalog they could themselves have a more dynamic and useful website.

Now when it comes to content management systems, a web services architecture opens all kinds of possibilities. Popular content management systems, such as Joomla ( www.joomla.org ), claim to be flexible and customizable. But they fall short at becoming a truly flexible content management system because the customizations you can make do not benefit other potential users of the content.

The MyWebDept.com Web Services Based Content Management System offers more flexibility in terms of sharing content on the web. Users of the system can expose their content through the MyWebDept.com web services. Whether it be menus, page content, contact forms, blogs, calendars, or any one of MyWebDept.com's many components, content can be shared and even edited from any other web site or web application that is configured to consume the web services.

It won't be long before other content management systems begin to take advantage of web services to allow users to share content with other web sites and applications. The combination of web services and content management just makes too much sense.

It used to be that if a local business wanted to attract new customers they would make sure their business was listed in the Yellow Pages and perhaps pay extra for a bolded heading, color, or a display ad. While it is still important to have your business listed in the Yellow Pages it has now been shown that more people are using search engines to research products and services.

Achieving good results when potential customers Google your products or service requires that you know what the search engines are looking for, an understanding of how your web site is built, and the ability to change your web site to be what the search engines are looking for. All of this takes time. (And more words than I have for this article!)

The bottom line is that getting good local search results isn't as easy as spending thousands (or even tens of thousands) of dollars on a Yellow Page ad. But it is increasingly becoming more cost-effective.

Consumers of all types are increasingly using the web to do research before buying products or services. Google alone reports a 44% increase in searches between 2007 and 2008. This, with only a 3% increase in the number of households with access to a computer, shows that search engines are quickly becoming the method of choice for consumers to connect with a product or service provider.

Internet usage is also increasing dramatically as users become more sophisticated and look for more interactivity and personalization in the web sites they visit. Advances in broadband, security, and programming technologies have made it much more feasible for the average business to deliver a more refined version of their old "brochure-ware" style web site.

In order to stay competitive businesses have to start looking seriously at the role of the web in their strategic planning. Businesses need to look not just at their web site, but also their use of email marketing and Internet advertising. Companies should look at how they integrate with vendors and distribution channels, and at how they can streamline and improve customer service. Creating such a plan requires a commitment from business owners and management teams. There are time an financial investments that need to be made.

The good news is that companies that make the investment in a solid web strategy reap the benefits early and often. They can stay in touch with customers and be in tune with their wants and needs. They are also positioned to take on future change easier and more effectively because their people are used to technology.

A professional web development firm should be able to help you with your web strategy. For starters you will want to have clear goals for your company. Then you want to have an understanding of how you want the Internet to help in achieving those goals. Next you will need to determine what you will realistically be able to invest in your site over the next three years. Your web professional should then be able to tell you if and how you can reach your goals. A good web development firm will not only suggest a technical solution, but also a business solution.

Developing a web strategy for your business does require time and effort. But the sooner you integrate the web into your business the easier and less expensive it will be. It will also be easier to keep up with your competition and adapt as future changes in technology become common place.

When presented with the opportunity to do so I try to ask them to think of their web site as an employee. The truth is their web site can do a lot more for them than just be a marketing piece. True, that is one important job of a web site typically. But a web site can also perform other tasks that we would typically associate with an employee.

Customer Service
A web site can perform customer service tasks. It can answer questions for your customers. It can direct inquiries to the right party. It can provide training and even do demonstrations of products.

Sales
A web site can help close a deal. It can provide important product information and can demonstrate product features and benefits. A web site can show your companies experience in a portfolio section or by showing customer testimonials. Your web site can even conduct the transaction with the customer in certain instances.

Operations
Web sites can be a big help on the operations side as well. Employee-only sections can provide training, benefits information, and cost saving tips. It can cut down on expense by providing contact forms instead of forcing a phone call. It can also provide instant contact with your customers through the use of a live chat tool.

Marketing
Of course a web site can be used to market your company, products, and services by being there 24 hours a day, 7 days a week when found by search engines and Internet marketing.

These are just a few examples of how a web site can be seen as an employee. When you think of your web site as being an extension of your company it will help you to prepare the type of content your customers are looking for. It will also give you a better idea of how much to invest in your web site development and marketing.