The NY Times Small Business Guide has an excellent article up now on various ways you can use Twitter to promote your small business.

The first thing you should keep in mind when using Twitter to plug your business: listen.

What are people saying about your company? Unlike conversations by phone or e-mail, Twitter conversations usually are not private, and listening is fair game.

One company that has built a sophisticated listening post is Avaya, a global communications provider in Basking Ridge, N.J. Avaya uses third-party applications to track mentions of its brand name and has automated alerts for dozens of keywords for products and competitors, said Paul Dunay, Avaya’s global managing director of services and social marketing.

The company follows up to 2,500 Twitter postings a week, often from clients with technical issues, he said. “If we see those, we’re on them in 15 or 20 minutes,” Mr. Dunay said. “That’s providing killer support and customer delight.”

Avaya also looks for sales leads and opportunities to replace competitors. One day, a company posted about its quest for a new phone system. Mr. Dunay replied, introduced himself and offered to put this person in touch with an Avaya strategic consultant. “Within 13 days, we were able to convert that one tweet into a $250,000 sale,” he said.

Click through for more great Twitter marketing ideas.