Tit for Tat on Twitter?

March 2, 2009 by Marge
Filed under Make Money Blogging, Online Marketing, Search Engines

I really don’t expose my personal life on social networking sites. I tend to be all business with a dash (if even that much) of what my hobbies, music and movie interests may be.

I know that makes me not the norm because I see folks blending business and personal Tweets on Twitter and on their social pages all the time. Whatever works for you; but to me that’s a very fine line to walk.

Think about it… Do your friends and family want to know every business move you make? Maybe… But, do your contacts, associates and potential customers want to hear about what your son just did that was so funny, the latest video you watched or how much you drank the night before, then followed up by your favorite hangover cure? Don’t count on it!

What I find interesting is the little game of if you don’t follow me, I won’t follow you. Whenever someone follows me on Twitter, I’ll watch their Tweets for a bit. If there is nothing of value to me, I stop following them.

I don’t know these folks personally, I am always pleased they found my Tweets interesting enough to follow me, but does that then mean I am obligated to follow them? I don’t care about the size of their cat’s latest hair ball, nor am I interested in “fab” shirt they just bought on sale or the jerk who cut them off in traffic on their lunch hour.

My Tweets are about useful business, online marketing and e-mail etiquette issues. All stuff important to anyone who wants to succeed online. I don’t over Tweet — only 3-4 times each week to ensure that my Tweets are of value and not a PIA. That’s how I choose to use Twitter.

But guess what? The very folks who need my info, then stop following me because I stopped following them. Who cares about getting useful info in easy bite sized pieces — “…she isn’t following me so I won’t follow her!”

Their loss. I don’t have a Twitter account to brag about the number who follow me — as a matter of fact I don’t know what that number is right now. My goal is to use Twitter as just another tool of making info available in hopes of getting the reality of this gig out there (without all they hypey sales pitchy BS that you find everywhere else).

And if I gain a client or two, sell a book or few, then that’s what happens. But I’m not going to waste my time following those who don’t understand the value of a Tweet because their ego demands otherwise.

So I recommend you don’t auto-follow. This way, folks are following you for what you have to say, not just because you followed them. What says you?

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