Here at the National Technology Conference, it seems everyone is getting their "twit" on...or their "tweet" on...or whatever you want to call it.  They're looking at their phones to catch messages from the Twittersphere. Twitter is a "social networking and microblogging service utilising instant messaging, SMS or a web interface."

Basically twitterers create an account and then select their friends, colleagues, or topics they’d on which they’d like to get short updates. Lots of people use it to exchange quick notes by phone-based text messages, instant messenger, and/or a web based interface.

Someone who works for an international relief organization asked me recently, "What should my organization's Twitter strategy be?" I looked at her and said, "Nothing. You shouldn't have one."

Called me old fashioned. Call me a troglodyte. Call me whatever you want.

It's not that I don't love web 2.0 applications as much as the next guy. It's just that I think there are a ton of new, cool, awesome tools emerging every day; BUT, very few of us have used the current technology to its fullest. In seeking to use the latest and greatest, many of us forget that we’ve barely made use of the last great thing,

I should probably be clear. Developing a Twitter strategy today probably makes sense for your organization if:

• Your organization already has an awesome online presence with lots of useful content and you need to drive more traffic to it
• Your organization holds lots of events where people who are attending will benefit from a live, collective conscience
• Your organization is visitation focused, like a museum

If at least one of the three conditions don't apply to your organization, I'd say wait on developing that Twitter strategy. Instead here are five things you can do today to improve your online presence that will return real results.

1. Think about your audience
Take ten minutes to write down who the primary audience for your web site is. Think about what motivates them to support your organization. What tasks do you want them to perform on your web site? If you were in their shoes, what kind of content and features on your web site would compel them to action.

2. Tear apart your home page
Take a long hard look at your web page...then tear it apart. If this was someone else's home page, what kind of advice would you give them? Take five minutes and make a quick hit list. Is the home page too busy? Does the design look professional? Don't forget to make the changes you identify.

3. Make an editorial calendar
Lots of people get overwhelmed by the daunting task of keeping their site up to date. Make this large task a simple one. Start by planning out web content for the next year. Depending on your staff resources (1 or 100), create a plan for your content. Time new content based on the calendar. Will you need holiday content or content around events you KNOW will happen like Earth Day, the presidential election, or your annual report? Put these things on a calendar then plan around them.

Maybe I’m wrong about the immediate value or lack thereof Twitter. I was wrong about those blogs.

I'm not saying Twitter is a bad thing...I just think that there are more important things we can invest time and energy in. If you must, however, investigate how Twitter can enhance your online presence, here's a Twitter guide for newbies. And if you want to follow me, check out my Twitter feed, here.

But please, have a heart, I'm just getting started.