This post, part 3 in the series on Twitter for business, talks about some of the tools that have been developed thanks to Twitter's open API. I focus on a number of the ones I use, but provide a links to others as well. In preparation for the "money post," part 4 (which I hope to have ready Monday), I'm following this post with one I'll refer to a part 3.5, which list a number of other blog posts that talk about how to use Twitter, which I'll have ready later today.

Twitter tools of the trade

While Twitter.com is a great place to start, its functionality has been eclipsed by a whole host of other tools that have developed around it which extend and amplify its use.

Here are three four of my favorites:

TWhirl - This is my app of choice. It's a desktop application you can download that runs on something called Adobe Air (Heh. It runs on air!) which has to be downloaded and installed as well. So far as I know, it's platform agnostic and runs on both Windows and MAC.

The beauty of TWhirl is that, once opened, it sits on the side of your desktop constantly updating the Twitterstream. It even fades (there is a transparency control) when not in use so as to become less conspicuous. I like it as do many other veteran Twitter users for both its usability and elegance.

Twitter Search (formerly known as Summize.com) - Want to search a given keyword to see what people are talking about and whos talking? Twitter Search is the place to do that. It's where you can input all those hashtag phrases too.

Tweetbeep - Want notifications via email when your Twitter handle, name, company name, etc. is referenced? Tweetbeep does that very well. Not that you can't subscribe to Twitter RSS feeds for those things via search, but it's nice to get "tickled" via the inbox. I think so anyway.

Tweet Deck - Though I don't use Tweet Deck nearly as much as TWhirl, it offers some advantages in that it put's useful function into one interface via the use of multiple columns. For example, one column contains the public timeline of all the people you're following. The next column contains your replies and direct messages.

You can also create ad hoc groups based on keyword searches. A Twitter search function is built right in as well.This app can truly serve as your Twitter dashboard.

The problem I find with Tweet Deck is that, if you only have one monitor, it can take up a lot of space. Unlike TWhirl, which runs almost in the background, you're either using Tweet Deck or you've got it minimized. In my view, it best works with those using dual monitors where it can be housed out the way on one when not in use.

A couple of others I'm checking out:

Tweetworks - I'm just familiarizing myself with Tweetworks, but it's premise is that not only do people like to talk, they like to form communities with other like-minded people. What the app facilitates is the formation of communiites, including private ones.

Part of the problem with Twitter (which new applications like Yammer are intended to solve) is that there isn't a convenient way to create private groups whose messages don't appear in the public timeline. Tweetworks addresses this.

Tweetag - This app is a search utility that searches tags (you know, those user-generated labels used for categorizing content by topic)

For example, in I input the keyword "motrin" and Tweetag returned all the tags related to it. In keeping with convention, the more a particular topic was discussed, the larger the font size of the tag associated with it. Just try it out and you'll see what I mean.

Other Twitter apps

There are more Twitter apps being developed than "Carter has liver pills" as my mom would say. Here are two places to go and find them: Twitter Fan Wiki and Twitter downloads page. Both include links to mobile apps as well.

Now, how about you. Got a favorite tool? Feel free to share it with the rest of us in a comment. Got questions? The handyman is here to help.

And, be patient. The money post is coming. In preparation, I want to put together a list of links to other bloggers who are talking about how to use Twitter for business. That's coming later today.