I highly recommend SmallBizTrends.com to help you stay in the loop and give any small business owner the resources and expert opinion that can help move the needle in your business.  Recently the folks at SBT asked readers to send in their best Twitter tips for small business owners.  The list is in and the ideas are plentiful.

Take a look at the PDF here.

My favorite recommendation out of the 137 submissions was from Matt McGee at SmallBusinessSEM:

“Many small businesses rely on local customers, so it’s imperative that they find and connect with
local Twitter users. You can use these sites to do that:

• Twitter Advanced Search
• ChirpCity
• Nearby Tweets
• Tweepz

Bonus tip: Since you’re essentially trying to connect with complete strangers, before I go out and
randomly follow local people, I make sure my most recent tweet says something like “I’m going
to look for other Tri-Cities folks to follow on Twitter.” That way, when they get followed by me and
check out my profile, the message explains to them why a total stranger is suddenly following them.”