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Practically everyone agrees Twitter has established its self as a new channel of social communication in the online and mobile world. Movie Stars, athletes, politicians and well known people from @OprahWinfrey to @AlisonSudol to @EwanMcGregor to @AlGore and beyond, are all on Twitter.

But Twitter is much more intimate than that. What a lot of people do not realize is that Twitter is a local based connection tool too. It’s likely your town government is on Twitter, your local news channel, your local Fire Fighters, your library, your local college, even the gal that cleaned your carpets last week. If they aren’t on Twitter today, they’ll likely be on tomorrow.

But there’s another force moving fast and furious on Twitter. It’s an amazing transition of a more serious nature whereby business owners (both large and small) including entrepreneurs and home-based businesses are starting to tap the enormous potential of Twitter. When we observe companies like: @PopeyesChicken, @intuit or @theBKlounge begin lining up on the Twitter bandwagon, it’s unmistakably time to take notice.

It is likely that this “craze” boils down to the enduring fact that a lot of business actually occurs in social gatherings, at cocktail parties, on the golf course, and at numerous other social events. Now, through Twitter it’s become possible, if not down right easy, to benefit from the internet version of a non-stop 24 hour, 7 day a week cocktail party of unimaginable proportions.

It’s hard to overlook some of these statistics and stories:

• “Twitter helps drive repeat customers and word of mouth.” ~Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos.com
• “Global Twestival used Twitter to raise over $250,000 as of February 2009 providing clean water for just over 17,000 people in Ethiopia, Uganda and India”
• “The TOP two “social media” topics marketers were most interested in learning more about: Social Bookmarking (58%) and Twitter (57%)”
• “By a long shot, Twitter, blogs, LinkedIn and Facebook were the top four social media tools used by marketers, with Twitter leading the pack.”

How should I interpret all this? It means that if you are an entrepreneur or are involved with any business, you must not hesitate to head over to Twitter and set up a free Twitter account.

Could it possibly be that easy?

Well, not quite. Once you have your account opened, that’s when the for most people, the challenges begin. It’s a very very rudimentary concept, but like a Rubik’s Cube, unless you have a clear strategy, you’re going to soon be scratching your head.

Fortunately, there is help. Internet strategist and social media marketing expert, Dan Hollings has spent over a year researching and testing Twitter strategies for business. Along the way, Dan wrote 100 extremely helpful Twitter tips for business. Next he created a browser toolbar for Mac or PC that puts about 240 Twitter tools, tips and apps easily within reach. Recently, he released his powerful Twitter training program called, “Twitter Twenius” (that’s Twitter-talk for genius).

Here is a basic Twitter tip, to get your juices flowing:

When Twitter is used in marketing, it’s a soft close. In other words, people can get to know you without giving you a name and email straight away. It’s far easier to move a Twitter follower along your path (or funnel) to more engagement later, than to go from cold contact to full close in one fell swoop.

It goes without saying that there’s a lot more to learn, but if you’re looking for killer strategies for making money using Twitter or a way to accelerate the Twitter afterburners on all your promotional campaigns whether locally or around the world, I recommend Twitter Twenius.