the difference it makes

People wonder about developing an online presence. People question the value of using twitter. People debate whether twitter should be used for marketing or PR or anything significant.

One such conversation was happening at a conference on blogging one Saturday morning recently, with marketing professionals passionately making claims.

During the conversation, I leaned over to the two guys sitting next to me. "Can I do ___ with my Network Solutions domain?" (it doesn't matter what I was wanting to do. I don't want to lose you in the technicalities).

Both of them said, "yes." One of them said "I've done that myself."

I met one of these guys through twitter. You've seen him here, writing about a small business in Chicago.

Here's the point: Shashi is on twitter as part of his job with Network Solutions. When I was looking for a new place for a domain I wanted, I wanted to go to a place I could trust. Because I knew Becky knew Shashi and I had seen him online, I decided to talk to him.

In the same way that we do business offline with people we know, I love to do business online with people I know. Shashi isn't selling, he's conversing. And so I talked to him about buying from his company, in the same way that I choose hardware stores based on good service and the way I look for car dealer recommendations from friends.

You don't have to sell to bring benefits to your company from being online.

Just be helpful.

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