But there are lots of ways to use it. Do you need to find more case studies? Here’s a simple search for case studies: http://search.twitter.com/search?q=”case+study”+filter:links

Do you want to know who’s talking about burgers near San Francisco? http://search.twitter.com/search?q=burger+near:SF+filter:links”

Want some negative proof? I sniffed around for “site sucks” – http://search.twitter.com/search?q=”site+sucks” – to see who’s saying what about bad websites (note: don’t forget to speak the way your tweeters would speak).

Maybe you’re in pharma? I checked out “allergies plus meds OR medication – http://search.twitter.com/search?q=allergies+medication+OR+meds”

There are lots more opportunities to consider. One of my favorites? http://search.twitter.com/search?q=”looking+for”. It’s like permission to sell. Right there. (If you’re not a jerk.)

Oh that Twitter. Such a silly tool. Why even bother? (Keep telling yourself that.)

Bonus Round

Save your searches. Cook them up and put them in your Google Reader or your Seesmic Desktop or your Tweetdeck. Build STATIONS around these kinds of searches. Build response protocols for them. (I’ve barely scratched the surface, but wanted to start somewhere).

And you? Success stories?

This won’t apply to every industry, but I was quite surprised with the tests that I ran, because I was able to come up with prospects for most anything I could think of searching as a potential business opportunity. Let’s go through an example, step by step, so that you can try it out for yourself.

How to Listen for Opportunities on Twitter

1. Go to http://search.twitter.com
2. Enter a search term. In my example I put in “hosting.”

2. Review the search to see if it found accurate or useful results. If not, try several other potential search terms.
3. Click the “Feed for this query” button next to the orange RSS graphic.

4. Add this to your RSS reader of choice. I use Google Reader

5. Repeat step 4 on variations and alternate search terms until satisfied.

Once you understand this process, click the Advanced Search button to the right of the Search button. You’ll note there are all different kinds of variations on how you can narrow your search, including:

• Specific words, phrases, hashtags (#gnomedex, for example).
• Locations and proximities.
• Time spans.
• From specific users.
• With happy or sad emoticons. :) :(
• With links.
• And more.

With a bit of noodling, you can refine your searches such that they could potentially find business. For instance, on my above example for hosting, I found several people complaining about how their site had gone down, or that they were sick of bad lag time, etc. If I were selling web hosting, I’d at least offer a hand.

There are lots of variations on the theme. Have you tried it? What were your results? Would could you do next?

By the way, the Social Media 100 has been completed. I’m going to do “How to” posts as my next series. Feel free to suggest new ones.

Note: I use Skitch to do screenshots. It’s cool.

Photo credit, apbeatty

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