I’ve been following Tony, the CEO of Zappos (Follow him on Twitter! @Zappos) for a little bit now, and he is a totally normal and cool guy. He is also a huge fan of Twitter and is a frequent updater, which might make one wonder how much CEO work is actually getting done, but nonetheless he sees value in Twitter. In fact, he is trying to convince the President of shoe maker Skechers to join Twitter.

Not being one to just jump into the great unknown, Mr. Skechers decided to run an experiment to experience the power of Twitter. Tony sent out a message to followers stating the first 10 people to visit the Skechers shop in Manhattan Beach, Cali and say “Zappos” would receive a free pair of shoes. Results of this experiment are still to be seen, but this is such a cool way to do business.

I love this for many reasons. First, what a super way to convince someone on the fence with real interaction and physical results, rather than the usual “Oh but there are 30 million users and growing at xyz%…”

Second, its instant consumer interaction. Twitter allows marketers an active audience that are more likely to respond to unique promotions.

Lastly, I just think its great how transparent companies can be if they embrace Twitter like Tony and Zappos does. His tweets aren’t corporate BS; he is funny, honest and actually enjoys the service.