The two characters in Lewis Carroll's The Looking Glass agree to have a battle but never have one. It is similar to the current opinions about the use of Twitter. I call this...tweeter-deed or tweeter-dumb.

For those that do not know about Twitter, it is a means to announce information in 140 characters (sound bites). It is immediate. It is current. It is in countries all around the world, people follow the sources most relevant to them and access information as it happens-from breaking world news to updates from friends. It is a broadcast of a thought to the world (or to only those that follow you).

Twitter can be an extremely valuable tool (tweeter-deed) or an annoyance (tweeter-dumb). How valuable depends on a clearly defined strategy.

Jim MacLennan (you can follow him on twitter) wrote an interesting post on the Five Stages of Twitter. His stages included: How exactly do I understand Twitter and it's relevance to my work day?

1. Pointless: This has absolutely no value-add, a complete waste of time - get back to work!
2. Cute: An interesting and different communication medium, but I gotta get back to work. Maybe over lunch...
3. Web-Based Texting: Conversations about nothing in particular, but at least you're starting to connect. Not sure how it is better than IM, but some don't even use that...
4. A Cocktail Party (or maybe the corner bar): Twitter is filled with cliques that are easy to eavesdrop / butt in on - a chance to develop your skills and awareness, and engage larger, targeted networks with pointed conversations about specific topics that I deal with every day. But no pressure, we're just hanging out ..
5. A Community: Like a trade group, guild, or local Chamber of Commerce, one that requires and rewards participation. At this highest level, Twitter is both a source and a use of awareness, knowledge and understanding; conversations are multi-directional, real business value is being generated.

In order to have Twitter become a strategic tool for your career, define your strategy to aim to be a Level 5. A person that provides valuable information that provides thought provoking questions or ideas that help others to ponder and think of you as a valuable resource. The key word to your strategy is providing VALUE. Achieving a Level 5 will put you in a rare category to be noticed and become a trusted advisor.

This does not mean that you need to be professional (translation...boring). You should try to let your personality shine through without being inappropriately personal. (Note: if you want to be more open but only to a selected few, have an alternate twitter id that only those you allow to follow can view the messages). You will increase your number of followers by being authentic and interesting.

I read in an article that KISS is the current term for Keep It Super Short (though I do believe that Keep It Simple Stupid still applies). Twitter has the 140 character limitation for each tweet. What can you say in 140 characters? A lot! To be a Level 5, each tweet needs to convey something a follower would find of interest...something of value that helps him or her immediately. It may not always be your own. It could be a RT (short mneumonic for Retweet that is the first 2 characters of a tweet) of what someone else said. Make sure you quote the source (@twitterid). The point is to ensure your tweet provides VALUE (oh, there's that word again) by providing interesting information that helps others.

Here are some ideas for tweets:

• Focus on ideas that will help ALL your followers.
• Focus on questions that will help ALL your followers think about how they can improve themselves.
• Let ALL of your followers be empowered by feeling your passion in what you believe.
• Offer points of interest in other conversations that is beneficial to ALL of them.
• Be inspirational that inspires ALL of your followers to motivate themselves into taking action.
• Provide ideas that benefit ALL of your followers.

Notice the key capitalized word in the above list (ALL). If you mix your message because your followers have a broad reason for following, you dilute your message. You do not look focused on others. You look focused on yourself more than them. You are blurting out things that are of less value and disrespecting your followers. Over time, your tweets become noise. Followers will either leave or ignore (which is worse because you don't know how successful you are). It's a tweeter-dumb thing to do.

Remember, you are trying to build a community. Small focused communities are far more powerful than having the masses linked to you. Small focused communities (or Tribes as Seth Godin calls them) allow you to make much more of an impact on people. People, or followers, will spread your word in a positive way. You become the leader instead of a follower of followers.

Make a separate tweet id to reflect the different audiences. Family notes should not be mixed with business notes even if your family is a family-run business. Keep them separated so readers can remain focused.

Make a separate twitter id specifically focusing on your business community, team, and family. For example, if you are in accounting, issue tweets about how to determine ROI. Use twitter to build your personal trust with your specific audience by providing quick tips daily that will help save them time! If you are not a celebrity, most business followers do not care what you ate today or that you are going out for a run...everyday.

How often should you tweet? That depends on your strategy. If you don't have something that adds VALUE (yes, that wonderful word again) to your followers...don't tweet. If what you want to say is different from your main focus (and why your followers are following you)...don't tweet.

If you have a lot to offer your followers, think about respect. If it really isn't important for people to know right this minute...you can wait. Tweets interrupt. Sure, followers can adjust when they are open to hearing tweets. Why make it difficult for them by providing a list of tweets for one day for them to read through...especially if it wasn't something that had to be tweeted at that moment. You will gain more of a following if you tweet only once or twice a day than by providing 15 tweets in a single day. With minimizing your tweets, you are illustrating that you respect the time and energy of your followers. You are providing them more VALUE (has this word stuck yet) by giving them time to think and absorb what you have to say.

The only exception that I've noticed is when you are attending a conference. Spreading what you heard in tweets is providing value. I still recommend minimizing the tweets to very important thoughts. Another way around excessive tweets in this scenario would be to post "heard great stuff at... Read more on blog post link". Twitter is an excellent means of announcing and enticing followers to read other digital content.

What is your Twitter strategy? Whatever it is, make sure you have the words VALUE TO MY FOLLOWERS at the core.

Tweeterdeed Tweeterdumb...does thou tweet too much?

SBDi speaks both Business and IT languages. Bring SBDi in to help communication between both organizations. Let us help you find the right flexible solution that will help business increase revenue.

Pat Ferdinandi, Chief Thought Translator