Recently, I received a Foursquare notification from Phil Gerbyshak mentioning that he was at a local Milwaukee coffee house. At the time, I was running dangerously low on coffee beans at home, and therefore replied, asking if he might be interested in splitting a bulk order. Though he declined, he connected me to Sarah, a friend of his that was also a coffee junkie like myself.

Boom, goes the dynamite! With just a few texts between Sarah and I, we eventually split a 5lb. bag of Stone Creek Coffee. We both ended up getting what we wanted (and at a discounted rate), however, a caffeinated friendship began because of it.

The latest social connecting tools like Foursquare and Twitter give all of us the opportunity to express ourselves and ask for what we need from others like never before. If we’re smart, we use them to our advantage, providing value to one another, knowing our efforts will be rewarded.

Are you using social media effectively? What ways are you using them positively? How can we use them even better?

Duane Drzadinski is a marketing professional, father and social media enthusiast. Connect with him and continue the conversation on Twitter and LinkedIn.