Here’s my latest for iMedia Connection, the online trade covering the marketing and advertising industries. It’s the first article I ever pitched (not counting little things) that I got approved, wrote, and then published. I’m pretty proud of that. The article is a quick look at a couple of different ways companies are trying to monetize the micro-blogging service. Here’s an excerpt:

Like MySpace and Facebook, the young social networking tool has to grow up, move out of its parents’ house, and probably engage in a little youthful experimentation.

Is Twitter for marketing? Bringing in customers? Developing a brand? Improving company performance in other ways? Since Twitter is such an open-ended tool, there’s no obvious approach to using those 140 characters to benefit your business, but many companies have been willing to take a chance and see what it can deliver. That means trying new things and diving in without a life preserver.

Read the rest right here.