A partner in a small Internet entertainment firm admitted that the company had spent very little on marketing and that the company’s marketing was all over the place.

He also said that he was having an intern represent the company on Twitter – and when the intern showed us what he was doing, we immediately saw the missed opportunities of not having a coherent brand/vision for the company.

Let me make this perfectly clear:

Having an intern do your company tweets when you don’t have an overall Twitter/Internet marketing strategy is NOT a good idea.

While many Internet marketing gurus do use virtual assistants to help keep up with social media marketing, these gurus do so only after a consistent strategic social media plan is in place.

This person said that he keeps his eye on the company’s finances and leaves it to his partner to keep his eye on the future.  But keeping your eye on the future is not the same as gathering your chestnuts before the winter sets in.  Watching is not acting.

While no one can predict whether Twitter will be replaced by an even more ingenious application, if you have established relationships on Twitter, you’ll be able to migrate these long-term relationships to a new “hot” platform. 

And if you’re not using Twitter now for your Internet marketing, each day you delay is costing you a larger and larger opportunity cost.

If your brand, book or business is something that you take seriously, then you should be taking social media marketing seriously.  And right now, in my opinion (although it’s not for everyone), Twitter is the name of the game IF YOU USE IT STRATEGICALLY.

If you want to learn how to use Twitter strategically for your brand, book or business, check out the Miller Mosaic special Twitter strategy offer.

Phyllis Zimbler Miller's company has recently launched the monthly program www.WeTeachWebMarketing.com and she's a National Internet Business Examiner at www.InternetBizBlogger.com.