A reader wrote to ask me, How do you most use Twitter?

I use it to keep up with friends, colleagues and acquaintances. I use it to discover cool new things in the world. And I use it to help my business.

I try to strike a fair balance between the three uses because I don’t want to become overly promotional and I value the connection that comes with letting people know who I am and not just what I do.

When I open Twitter via an app on my Mac or my iPhone, and I’ve got business on my mind, I think this way:

1. Use Twitter to find the people who care about your message. Silicon Valley futurist Paul Saffo said it best in a recent New York Times article, “Twitter reverses the notion of the group. Instead of creating the group you want, you send it and the group self-assembles.”
2. Use Twitter to test your ideas. Brazen Careerist reminds us that tweeting ideas not only forces you to have 140-character clarity but also lets you tap your followers to find out what resonates.
3. Use Twitter to dream out loud. Tim Tyrell-Smith calls it PublicDreaming™ and suggests it’s a good way to give your ideas the sunlight they need to grow.
4. Use Twitter to get questions answered. Wondering what experience others have had with a laptop you’re about to buy? Want to find a piece of software that’ll do a specific task? Want to know if there’s an online store with a great deal running on office equipment? Tweet your questions to the world and get back an array of ideas, opinions and resources.
5. Use Twitter to build connections that could blossom into business later. Instead of using Twitter as a one-way advertising tool, think of it as a way to foster easy, low-risk conversation with folks interested in your message and ideas.

Have additional ways you use Twitter as part of your ADR practice-building strategy? Let me know in the comments.

Making Mediation Your Day Job by Tammy Lenski is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Based on a work at MakingMediationYourDayJob.Lenski.com.