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More and more people, businesses, organizations, etc. are using Twitter to communicate with the world. Using a maximum of 140 characters, users answer one simple question, “What are you doing right now?” It’s another form of social networking, but many are now using it in their own marketing efforts. I currently have a Twitter account, and although I’m fairly new to the Twitter-verse, I’m hoping that it can be another way of getting my company’s name out to the public.

Type in “Using Twitter for Marketing and PR” in your search engine and you will find a number of web pages giving out advice on how to use Twitter to market your business. Of course you will also find a number of people who feel that Twitter should be used as a social outlet only, not a selling platform. Just look at the advice from the site HowToUseTwitterForMarketingAndPR.com

Regardless of where you fall in the debate, it’s obvious that some business owners have seen tangible results from utilizing Twitter. A coffee shop owner in Houston, Texas credits Twitter with doubling his clientele. News outlets use Twitter for keeping the public up to speed on the latest headlines. Job sites around the world are now using Twitter to help people find the job they’re looking for.

The bottom line is that social networking is still in its infancy and there are no hard and fast rules for what you can and cannot do with a utility like Twitter. However, social etiquette that we use everyday in our face-to-face conversations should certainly carry over to a portal like Twitter, if you hope to gain a following and expand your network. Consider these Twitter Do’s and Don’ts.

The panelists of Freelance Radio frequently discuss social networking sites on their podcast, and they have some great insights into what you should and shouldn’t do with these tools. Bottom line is that if you want to be listened to, you have to contribute something to the conversation. Don’t simply set up a blog, Twitter account, Facebook page, etc. and sit back and wonder why you have no readers. Get out there and write comments on other blogs. Contribute. Become a part of the conversation.

Sometimes the key to a successful business is being able to apply existing technologies in new ways, while utilizing creative marketing strategies to get your name out to the public. Dutch Umbrella out of Philadelphia is a young company finding success by offering local business owners the opportunity to advertise in a unique way - on umbrellas. Here’s how it works:

The founders of Dutch Umbrella noticed that after a rainstorm, people simply leave their umbrellas behind. So, they stock local Philadelphia establishments with umbrellas that the public can take with them free of charge. The umbrellas are paid for by the local businesses who agree to purchase ad space on the umbrella. That way, their logo is transported all over the city as pedestrians move from one place to another. But for advertisers, it’s important to know where these umbrellas are going, so Dutch Umbrella installs a radio tag into each umbrella which allows them to track them all over the city. You can view a brief video about Dutch Umbrella here.

As we all work to succeed in our own business ventures, I think it’s beneficial to read about the lives of those who demonstrated the kind of resiliancy and determination it requires to be successful. With the release of the Will Smith film The Pursuit of Happyness, the story of Chris Gardner has become readily recognizable. Just reading what he went through in order to provide for himself and his son motivates me to reach above and beyond what is expected.

To succeed in business, one must often look to other well-established CEO’s and entrepreneurs to gain helpful insights into the world of success. So, I thought I would start a series on “Success Stories,” highlighting men and women throughout history who made a name for themselves in the corporate world. Some stories you may find helpful, others you may find simply amusing; still others are just plain odd. The following story is of the latter. It comes from the humorous book Uncle John’s Supremely Satisfying Bathroom Reader.

Born in Malden, Massachusetts on January 22, 1747, Timothy Dexter worked first as a farmer, and then, in Boston, became an apprentice leather tanner. At age 20, with his lfe savings in his pocket, all of nine dollars, he moved on to the thriving town of Newburyport, where he met and married a wealthy widow.

Dexter fancied himself a shrewd businessman. Using his wife’s money, he copied what other businessmen were doing - he bought stocks. With no understanding of which stocks to buy, he simply bought the cheap ones. Somehow, their values rose and Dexter was able to sell at a profit.

Competitors laughed at the semi-illiterate Dexter and amused themselves by giving him lunatic business tips. One merchant told Dexter that the West Indies was sorely in need of warming pans, mittens, and Bibles. Having no idea of the extremely hot weather in the West Indies, Dexter took the tip and proceeded to buy more than 40,000 warming pans, 40,000 pairs of mittens, and 40,000 Bibles and shipped them out.

One day he began to wonder what people would say about him after he died. He proceeded to announce his death and to prepare for a burial. About 3,000 people appeared for the wake. However, Dexter’s wife refused to cry for his passing and so he decided not to appear to his guests at all. Timothy Dexter died for real in 1806.

By incredible luck, when Dexter’s shipments arrived, there was a religious movement beginning and his Bibles were purchased at 100% profit. More luck: a fleet of Russian trading ships visiting ports in the West Indies had their agents immediately buy up the mittens. And a planter used the warming pans as a ladle for storing molasses into vats. These sales brought Dexter an estimated $150,000, making him enormously wealthy.

Jealous of his dumb luck, merchants in Dexter’s town purposely sought to ruin him by urging him to invest every dime he possessed in shipping coal to Newcastle, England. The unschooled Dexter, not knowing that Newcastle was the center of England’s coal mining industry, hired scores of sailing ships, filled their holds with soft Virginia coal and sent the cargoes to England.

But instead of becoming an international laughingstock, Dexter’s amazing good fortune held; a massive strike in Newcastle had left mines empty and there was a shortage of coal in the area. When Dexter’s ships arrived, his coal was purchased at enormous profits, making him twice as rich as he had been.