I was lucky enough to get an invitation to Google Wave from a friend of mine, and in the last couple of days, I’ve been exploring the features it contains.

While I’m not extremely impressed with it yet, I can foresee some big uses for Google Wave coming about.

1. Forum Integration

With Google Wave’s ability to imbed Waves into existing websites and allow for comments within each embedded wave, this could be a very awesome change for forums.

Currently, in order to reply to a thread in a forum, you have to register for that forum, type your reply then wait for the page to refresh in order to see it posted.  And if others are posting comments at the same time, you could miss conversation posted while posting your own.

Google Wave allows you to reply to each individual sentence and see all comments and threads as they are typed, in real time.  It will also allow you to read the forum and make comments via your Google Wave account, so you can participate in many different forums from one location.

Forum participation has declined since the creation of blogs, but I think forums will make a huge comeback with the implementation of Google Wave.

2. Blog Integration

Much like forum integration, using Google Wave to imbed your posts onto your blog will allow other Wave users to add to the content (much like a wiki), and hold a conversation dynamically with other blog readers.

This integration could help increase your blog community by allowing you to interact with your readers as they visit your new posts.

The only downside I see to using Google Wave for your blog posts is those who try to add to your content that don’t know anything about the topic. And it could cause less visitors to your actual blog, meaning those advertisements you have will not be seen.

Sponsored Conversation, much like that created through Izea’s new Sponzai, will be the future of making money through your blog when Google Wave starts being implemented.

3. Education Integration

Google Wave will make a huge impact on education.

The ability to collaborate as a team will help promote a better learning environment and a place for students to work together to solve problems whether at school or at home.

Students will also have the chance to continue asking the teacher questions and receive help after school hours, through shared waves.

I think education will have the biggest opportunity for change using Google Wave!

4. Conference & Team Integration

Because Google Wave allows for real time communication between individuals, it will make amazing headway for company teams working together on a single project as well as conferencing.

Virtual businesses will be able to communicate with each other on projects much easier and give them a better chance of surviving against brick and mortar businesses.

This will also allow companies to save money by converting their employees to a telecommute position and decreasing electric, water, and so many other costs involved in operating a physcial business.

5. Email Marketing

Email marketing has been around for a long time, but with the popularity of social media websites and blogging, it has become something few do anymore.

In the past couple of years it has started making a comeback.  But it’s difficult for those new to email marketing to really get involved because they aren’t sure of how to create amazing content for those email lists that are being created.

With Google Wave, email marketers will be able to send out truly dynamic emails and respond to questions and comments as they are asked. This will also allow everyone in the email list to see and questions and answers based on the material and could possibly persuade them into performing a desired action based on an issue they may have had but was cleared up by someone else.

If the product is good enough, it could also help to build trust between the email marketer and the client by allowing them to see real-time testimonies and compliments.

There are probably many other ways Google Wave will make an impact, but I see these as the biggest uses for Google Wave.

What uses to you envision for Google Wave?

Twitter, while not new anymore, is a very powerful tool for individuals as well as businesses, and we are all still learning the capabilites of Twitter on an almost daily basis.

The majority of regular Twitter users seem to be bloggers who have started using it because other bloggers have as well, but there is a growing usage of Twitter from businesses trying to reach their target market to create more sales and a better customer relationship.

This is very important, especially with our economy the way it is.  So as a business, whether your blog is your business, or you have a more traditional business, here are very important ways in which Twitter can help further your efforts, and fatten your wallet.

Customer Relations

Recently I made a comment on Twitter about how Crocs were the ugliest shoe ever made, but within a matter of minutes, @georgeGSmithJr, the social media representative for Crocs, reached out to me and offered a view of different styles of Croc shoes that I had never seen before.

My view of the shoe as well as the company changed dramatically.  They actually do have some decent looking shoes. (I even own a pair of the flip flops for men, now.)

The fact that the company had a representative reach out to me gave me a view of them as real people and not some giant machine that sucks everyone in.

I’ve even met George at a couple of blog and social media conferences since that time and have realized he is a really cool guy.

Had Crocs not been on Twitter and not reached out to me, they would have one less customer, or even less depending on how many other individuals they’ve reached out to in the same way.

Your company will be talked about, whether you’re using social media or not.  Your best bet is to jump in and help direct the conversation in a way you want it to go.

Increased Sales

I have Tweetdeck to help manage my Twitter efforts, and recently I added some search columns looking for any conversations involving web design and other variations of the topic.

My intentions were to monitor who on Twitter was looking for a website designer and to offer my services.  I was hoping to get one or two new web design projects using this method, but what I wasn’t expecting was to get so much business from it that anything else I’ve been working on would get neglected (such as this blog).

But I’m finding that it doesn’t bother me, because all of this new work is putting money in my pocket to better take care of my family and build my business.

By doing the same thing, you can use Twitter to build your business, while spending virtually no money in marketing.  Which brings me to our next benefit of using Twitter for your business.

Free Marketing

While you don’t want to simply blast your marketing campaigns on Twitter (I explain why in a recent post that shows how Twitter is A Sports Bar), it is still a great platform for marketing your business.

Traditional methods of marketing often cost thousands of dollars and offer very little chance that you’ll actually get any return on investment from it.  You may be marketing your business to a huge audience, but what percentage of that audience is even in your target market?

With Twitter, you can market your business for free, and can even target your product or services to an audience that is interested in what you offer.

Social media websites like Twitter are putting many traditional companies with non-internet limitations out of business because they offer your company increased profit by decreasing your overhead.

How do you use Twitter to build your business?

I’m sitting here in the middle of the room in Orlando’s Sea World Ports of Call conference room listening to all the great speakers of IzeaFest.

If you couldn’t make it, don’t worry, you can join in on the conference too.  Here’s the live stream from IzeaFest:

Free Webcam Chat at Ustream

This live stream is only available between October 2, 2009 and October 3, 2009.

I talk to a lot of people, both individuals and companies who still don’t really understand Twitter and how it’s supposed to be used.  And simply telling them that it’s for conversation rather than blasting your stuff out to everybody who can read doesn’t seem to ever work in getting my point across.

So I’ve come up with a real world analogy to better understand how Twitter can only work if used correctly… through real conversation.

3 Major Uses Of Twitter

There are 3 ways you can use twitter.  Each producing a much different outcome than the other.  But only one of these 3 uses of twitter will produce the outcome you desire, unless you’re some kind of psycho stalker.

Here’s the scenario:

“You just got off work and you’re on your way to the local sports bar for a drink and to check out the local hotties.  As you’re enjoying your beer at the bar, you spot the most amazing girl you’ve ever seen.  You’ve got 3 things you can do…”

1. Observe & Leave Alone

You prop yourself up against the bar and whisper quietly to yourself, “Damn, she is fine!” Then you continue to watch her all night, never making a move to go speak to her.  Eventually she leaves with another guy, and you go home to spend more time with no one but yourself.

In this scenario, you are observing.  The relation to twitter is simply watching others have a conversation.  You don’t choose to follow anyone, or participate in a real conversation, you scan others profiles and read about what they have to say to each other.

2. Make A Feeble Attempt At Being Social

You prop yourself up against the bar, whisper quietly to yourself, “Damn, she is fine,” and take a shot of whiskey.  Then you scribble your number down on a scrap piece of paper, non-chalantly make your way over to her, and without a single word, slip your number into her back pocket.  She doesn’t even notice, and again, you go home to spend time with yourself.

In this scenario, you make an attempt at being social, but in the wrong way. The relation to twitter is following others, never saying a word to those you follow, and blasting out your latest product or offering every chance you get.

3. Engage In Real Conversation

You prop yourself up against the bar, whisper quietly to yourself, “Damn she is fine,” take a shot of whiskey, and walk boldy up to her.  As she makes eye contact you say, “Your eyes are as blue as window cleaner.”  It’s probably not the best thing you could have said, but you’re trying, and she giggles.

You spend the rest of the night talking about both of your likes, dislikes, your careers, and anything else that comes to mind.  You being a relationship and she’ll remember you the rest of her life.

In this scenario, your akward attempt at making a real attempt at connecting work.  And this time it may have been akward, but as you do it more and more, it will become second nature, and you’ll find yourself becoming more and more successful each time.

The relation to twitter is following others, but making an attempt at engaging in conversation with each and every person you follow.

When you truly care about what others have to say and join in the conversation, you’ll notice that others will come from all over because they want to be a part of that conversation.

Being real, causes others to realize that there is more behind a company, product, or service than the cold corporate exterior.  They soon will realize that you are just as real as they are.  You laugh, hurt, sing, and cry just like they do.

Twitter is exactly like a sports bar.  What you make of it, will determine what it makes of you! Rather than asking others to follow us on Twitter, shouldn’t we be asking them to join us in conversation?

So how do you use Twitter?  Are you engaging in conversation and listening to what others have to say, or using it as another tool to talk about yourself?