Imagine if you could hear all those Twitter tweets out there. No, not as text-to-speech renditions of the words. Rather (as the name implies) the chirping of little (blue) birds. Ahhh… it would be…  DEAFENING! It certainly wouldn’t be like walking through a lovely forest and communing with nature. It would be more like being chained to the launch pad as the space shuttle is about to blast off. It’s both a sign of success and acceptance for Twitter as a social phenomenon and it’s an important realization to be mindful of.

Everyone hates getting junk mail in their (snail mail) mailbox and everyone hates spam e-mail as well. There is spam all over Twitter, but that’s not the issue here. The issue is the incessant use of Tweets, many of which are, well, utterly worthless (insert your term here _______). When you’re tweeting for personal use, no biggie. For businesses that see this new social marketing medium as a moneymaker, it matters a lot. If you’re the source of non-spam junk, it’s nearly a certainty that you will not see any direct or indirect benefit to tweeting. And if you’re doing everything right, tweeting meaningfully and considerately, your message still runs the risk of being lost among (your) followers who are burdened by sifting through the junk they receive from others. Not an indictment of tweeting, rather an indication that you need to tweet at the lowest rate that helps you gain measurable results from the effort.

It comes back to working the way an auto mechanic, carpenter, or even a chef work. They have a range of quality tools at there disposal to work effectively and efficiently, but they don’t use every tool all the time. They decide what tool fits the desired objective and they grab it. That’s the role of Twittering for business. Be wary of the claims that you “must” tweet X number of times a day or you won’t succeed. You must tweet exactly the number of times to have a positive effect on your followers if you ever hope to have a positive effect come back to you. Couple that with other communications like a good e-mail marketing program, an effective web site, a great brochure, good customer service, etc, and you have a gleaming set of tools you can be proud of. Not for the way they look, but for the way they help you master your craft.