If you asked crème brulèe cart owner, Curtis Kimball, why his mobile business is so successful, he’d tell you straight up, “Twitter”!

Just three short weeks after starting his part-time business, Kimball asked a new customer in his line up how he found out about his cart. The stranger told him he’d read about it on Twitter. The power of Twitter’s digital word of mouth marketing was immediately apparent.

Today, Kimball works his cart full time (the success of his business meant he could quit his day job as a carpenter) and he uses Twitter to post his current location and flavors of the day to his over 5,400 Twitter followers.

Kimball’s is a good lesson for any small business with no marketing budget or a large business with a website in development.

Twitter offers the following benefits to businesses:

1.  It’s free

2. The service provides a sole means for marketing a mom and pop type shop

3. Twitter status is easier and faster to update than a webpage or even a blog

4. It’s ideal for a business on the go

5. It takes advantage of word of mouth marketing—Twitter culture urges people to spread news to others in their own social networks

6. It can spread word locally or nationally—depending on your business focus

7. It offers the ability to ask questions and share knowledge with other business owners

8. It allows businesses to talk directly to customers

Read more about how Curtis Kimball’s crème brulèe cart, a sushi restaurant, an antiques merchandiser, a bed and breakfast, a day spa and more businesses are using the power of Twitter’s digital word of mouth marketing from the New York Post.