Do you think Twitter can affect your business?

Interesting article today in the Baltimore Sun about how the opening weekends of summer movies is being affected by people using Twitter to post their thoughts about the movie as soon as they see it or in some cases from in the theater during the movie.
Some smart movie marketers think they see a big connection and are taking steps to ensure that they are visible not only on Twitter but other social media sites as well.
So what about you? Are you paying attention to what’s being said about your brand online? Even if your business is a single local retail operation, chances are good that something is being said about your company online. Be it in an online review site or yellow pages site or on Facebook, you need to pay attention to what’s being said. If you haven’t done so, Google you company name and see what comes up. It just might surprise you. If it’s positive, great! If it’s negative, you need to take steps to fix the problem. Direct message the person and see if you can correct the problem and once you do, ask them if they’d please amend their negative review.
You can and should take charge of your online reputation and the first step is monitoring what’s being said in places like Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and review sites. Do it now!