Hello everyone, it has been some time since my last post – for those of you who followed the last post, or follow me on facebook or Twitter, you know that I’ve recently had a little one. And, if you were following me on any of those closely, I can update you and let you know that yes, my dad found out I was in labor and going to the hospital by checking Twitter. I posted updates throughout the process and was overwhelmed with the amount of good wishes that I received – social media truly is an amazing thing.

Now I would like to get my posts active again here on our AIM Group blog, and as I’ve been preparing several topics it occurred to me that much like I advise our media clients to encourage two way conversations on their sites, I’d like to do that as well. I am an avid collector of best practices, and am constantly using Twitter in particular to survey my followers and get feedback on a number of different topics. Our site here at AIMGroup.com is also designed to serve as a forum for discussion, and I’d like to take the opportunity to engage you all in sharing your experiences as well on the topics we’ll follow. Please also feel free to email me or tweet me if you’d like me to explore any topics of particular interest to you, I’d love to hear from you. I will be sharing with you much of what I’m hearing out in the markets, and more.

For today’s topic, we’ll discuss Twitter and many of the interesting tools and business models around it. While we have covered this topic before on our site, it remains one of the topics that I get asked the most questions about from our clients and peers.

The latest business launch is Topsy, a search engine for Tweets. Topsy was founded in 2006 and has raised nearly $15 million to date in venture and debt funding. More information on the funding and founders is on the CrunchBase page for Topsy . The tool is amazing, and I’ve used it to find Tweets written about me or other topics I’m interested in.

Another favorite of mine is Local Tweeps which allows you to search by zip code for Twitter members in your area. You can also easily add yourself to their database. You can also add #LT to the end of your Tweets to customize your Tweets and move the top of your city.

For small businesses, Twtqpon allows them to create Twitter coupons and special offers just for their followers. And, for those of you trying to build your network – Twollo and MrTweet are excellent tools. If you’re looking for a job, try Twitter Job Search.

So, are you still asking yourself whether to Tweet or not to Tweet? You’ll be surprised how powerful of a tool it can be, give it a try! And of course, look me up!