You know the kind of day I am talking about. The kind of day where you sit down in the morning to start your work day and then you look up to finally take a breath and it is 5:00. The kind of day where you realize you forgot to take a lunch break and you’re starving. The kind of day, that at the end, you realize you haven’t spoken to another adult all day.

On one hand, these days make me feel awesome. I know I was totally focused, in a groove, in flow, and making a lot of progress and headway on my open projects.

But on the other hand, these days also remind me of how much I sometimes miss the corporate water cooler and the interruptions of co-workers stopping my my cube or office (depending on the job) to say hello, talk shop, or chat about the weekend!

I was talking to my husband the other day, explaining to him why I ALWAYS have TweetDeck open and he said something that I think represents much of what Twitter is.

Twitter is the Internet Water Cooler.

Twitter is that quick burst of instant connection and conversation that fills a break when you’ve got a creative block, a few minutes between meetings, a lunch break, or even a lazy unmotivated afternoon.

Whether you’re interested in dishing about the latest episodes of Heroes or So You Think You Can Dance, hashing out the latest Obama political news story, or sharing some business tips, resources, or links, Twitter provides the ability to have a quick Internet Water Cooler conversation with people all over the world instantly and in real time.

And, not only can you connect and chat with people all over the world on Twitter, You can build even stronger relationships by attending LIVE Tweetups – Twitter’s version of the Meetup group – to meet your Tweeps in person. Last week I went to the monthly SacTweetUp to hang with others from my Twitterverse at MIX in Downtown Sacramento.

In honor of my promise to not clog my followers streams with meaningless Tweets packed full of Twitter Handles, My #FollowFriday recommendations this week go out to those Sacramento Area Tweeps from this month’s #SacTweetUp.

Here goes my #FollowFriday recommendations for this week:

• @successfool – Organizer of #SacTweetUp, inspiring speaker and entrepreneur, and truly cares about helping people succeed
• @sierrafriend – Organizer of #SacTweetUp, WordPress & StudioPress Diva, and great connector of people
• @jerrykennedy – Sales trainer and motivational sales expert, speaker, and totally authentic friend
• @meghanwood – Because she is a rockstar, just got married, and knows that Twitter is where it’s at
• @SacComedy – Because I am having a blast following you and the first time I met you, you invited to to join your party.
• @bradasbury – Because knows his biz, networks in my circle and is just a nice guy
• @Nachhi – We finally got to meet in person for the first time and I so enojyed meeting you face to face!
• @rosevillerocklin – A fun and funky lady who doubles as a designer and a one-woman realtor support team!
• @ashleegadd and @Lesley3fold – Awesome ladies I would love to get to know more about!
• @JeffMarmins – for teaching people how to be effective with social networking and social media
• @JimPelley – Because we share the same birthday and he is an amazing wealth of great information
• @joshunfried – Because he is totally committed to helping mompreneurs have a voice, make a difference and grow their businesses
• @LuxxLimo – for donating the limos for the #ScavengerTweetup for #SacTweetUp
• @Johnnie_O – for being another cool designer who gets the importance of networking and relationship building
• @KatrinaSawa – Because she helps entrepreneurs think big and play even bigger!
• I also had a blast meeting @cakegrrl @julieMarg @drjared @juniperjames and @SuzHOPkins @rbiv @John_M_Ross @JenKleinSac

And, if you’d like you can follow me too at @jenniferbourn

I wholeheartedly agree with Andrea, which is why I have put a lot of mileage on my car this past week. My schedule has been completely jam-packed with normal business meetings, several awesome networking events, and a fun family night out (see my hubby, kids, and father-in-law in the picture)! Check out what my week looked like:

• eWomenNetwork Reno Chapter dinner event on Wednesday night
• SacTweetUp event at Mix on Thursday night
• River Cats baseball season finale game with the family Friday night
• Simplie Indie Writers’ Workshop all day on Saturday
• eWomenNetwork South Placer County Think Big Summit all day Tuesday
• BNI Roseville Visitor’s luncheon yesterday

I met so many fantastic entrepreneurs, business owners, writers, mompreneurs, and social networking addicts and have had so much fun! Needless to say, I am now up to my eyeballs in follow up emails, phone calls, and thank you notes!

While social networking is all the rage right now, it is important to remember that meeting face-to-face is one of the fastest ways to start new relationships, build on existing relationships, and reconnect with old relationships.

Networking in person at events, meetings, conferences, meetups, and seminars is also a great way to build your “Know, like, and trust” factor, which is what tomorrow’s post will be all about!

It’s obvious the media thinks we’re stuck in the middle of a bad economy, and maybe we are. It’s on the front of almost every newspaper and at the top of every news station on television. It seems as if it is all doom and gloom.

But I am here to tell you that many entrepreneurs may not agree. In fact several small business owners I know are taking advantage of this economic downturn to grow their businesses, expand into new markets, refine their skills, and systematize their processes. They are taking action now to ensure that when things do pick and up people starting spending money again, they are at the front of the pack leading the way for their industry.

Here are five simple things that you can do right now to build your brand and market your business in any economy:

1. Networking. This is not the time to pinch pennies and stay home to save money. Now is the time to be very selective and strategic about how you spend your marketing dollars and who you spend time networking with. Find out what networking events your target market frequents and attend those events. By networking strategically, you will expand your reach, connect with more prospects, and see a greater return on your networking dollars.

2. Allow for negotiation. You will find that there are many people that want to work with you and love your work but just feel like they can’t afford you. Make hiring you easy by providing options and allowing for some negotiation. You could offer payment by credit card or by payment plan, accept a barter arrangement when applicable, or set up the work to be done in phases. By being flexible, you are showing your client you understand that budgets may be tight and that you want to help.

3. Offer free events. By providing valuable and relevant information that your clients and prospects can use to make a difference in their lives or business you are positioning yourself as a go-to resource and expert. Host a free educational event at your office, in meeting space (often restaurants) will donate the space to gain the foot traffic), or even by telephone. Teleseminars are a popular way to host an event without the facility cost. My favorites are Free Conference Call and Instant Teleseminar. Combine a free networking opportunity with some great information and you are sure to grow your prospect list.

4. Use FREE tools. There are several tools available online to help you work faster and smarter. Utilize the power of social media to your advantage – Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn are the big three. By utilizing the tools and resources available on those sites you can promote your business and share valuable information with your networks. For example within three days of posting a page for my business on Facebook, I gained four new clients who saw my page and emailed me. You can also start a blog using WordPress, Blogger or Typepad among others for free. Blogging and commenting on blogs is a great way to get yourself out there and create better link-ability for your business. Several email marketing providers also offer free trials you can take advantage of.

5. Build strategic partners and joint-venture relationships. The best thing you can do to expand and build your brand is to have ambassadors out in the community promoting you. Look for other service providers that target the same market you do and offer and complimentary (not competitive) service and see how you refer business to each other to mutually benefit both businesses. You also want to look for individuals you can partner with on projects. By having both types of relationships in your pocket you can not only help your business continue to grow and expand, but you can feel good about helping another entrepreneurs business grow too.

The bottom line is that your customers and prospects will hire you or buy from you when they are ready, not when you are ready. The key is to stay consistent, keep networking and continue to market your business, because your efforts to build your brand today will provide you with the results you want tomorrow.