Thirty years ago, my mother-in-law, a gourmet cook, didn’t think she would ever use a microwave.   Raised in an era of slow cooking, taking all afternoon to prepare a meal she couldn’t imagine ever using a microwave to cook a roast or bake a cake.  And she was right, the microwave was not the right tool for that type of cooking. However, as she began to experiment with it she did discover that there are things the microwave did extremely well.

Today, at 81 years old, the microwave is the most used device in her very active kitchen.  She still bakes and roasts in the traditional oven, but she defrosts, boils water, parboils vegetables, reheats and steams vegetables in the microwave.

There is a lesson there for small business owners!  Tools become mainstream, when we figure out how to use them as part of things we already do.  For example, Twitter.  I wouldn’t use it to replace a press release or sales brochure, but it has a place in my marketing mix.  It is great for the quick hit, and little extra juice to my overall marketing plan.

So if  you are still sitting on the fence, unsure about Twitter and other social media, take a lesson from my mother-in-law and try it out! Boil a little water and see the results! Roundpeg, an Indianapolis social media marketing firm, can help you with your overall strategy if you seem to be stuck in rut.