I just soaked up a lot of fresh information by reading Chris Brogan’s 50 ideas on Using Twitter for Business. This semester in my strategic communications research class, we have been learning how important social networking tools are in the PR field. They are readily accessible and within the social media world can be a vital instrument in your business.

Twitter is a social networking device that is brand new to me. I literally made a twitter account about a month ago. I still find myself very confused by it. Reading this article answered a lot if the questions that were on my mind. I am beginning to understand the ways of Twitter and the importance it can have in my field. I am thankful that I am being enlightened on this tool so that I am able to use it to my advantage.

Throughout Brogan’s article, he provides helpful tips. These include getting started, what an individual should tweet about, how to stay stable in the twitter world, negative twitter stereotypes, and the positive aspects of twitter. The section that struck me as most informative concerning my uncertainty towards twitter was the one that addressed what to tweet about. I often found myself wondering this. Here are some of the suggestions that I found to be helpful:

• Instead of answering the question, “What are you doing?”, answer the question, “What has your attention?”
• Ask questions. Twitter is GREAT for getting opinions.
• Tweet about other people’s stuff. Again, doesn’t directly impact your business, but makes us feel like you’re not “that guy.”
• When you DO talk about your stuff, make it useful. Give advice, blog posts, pictures, etc.
• Don’t toot your own horn too much. Or, if you do, try to balance it out by promoting the heck out of others, too.

One of the overarching thoughts under this section is that when you tweet, it shouldn’t come across that it is all about you. This seems to apply to the social media world in general. This is one of the first details I learned about blogging. This can be a huge turnoff and may compel other people to not bother paying attention to you anymore. When you tweet, you want to incorporate information and advice that is going to appeal to others. When addressing aspects of your business, it is fitting to talk about yourself but make sure that it is beneficial to the public. No one wants to constantly view pieces of information that directly concern you. When it comes down to tweeting in your business, remember that they are the number one focus and not yourself.