Corporate Twittering – Best Practices

After having great Labor Day weekend and, upon my return, a great afternoon nap, I’m up late and reading.  I found an interesting blog post on Tom Humbarger’s blog, Social Media Musings, titled Best Practices for Corporate Twittering.

I had an unexpected amount of comments when I simply reposted Grant Criddle’s “Twitter Works for ANY Business – Seven Reasons Why”.  Now the topic of Twitter and enterprise (aka business) catches my attention.  I was surprised that it got sent around Twitter and that people stopped by to comment.  It made me realize that people are curious about how Twitter and social media relates to business.  It’s a hot topic.  It’s still a very new twist on business and it’s something that people are talking about now.  For most, Twitter is new.  In an economic climate where money is still tight, people are trying to figure out how to use this free but influential resource.

Humbarger breaks it down into three simple sections.

• Getting started
• Getting your message out
• Following people

Nothing he says is controversial. It’s just a simple guide to help businesses get started.

He ends with a link to The guide to corporate Twittering.  It’s laid out in a nice table, so you visually inclined folks might like it better.

So do you agree?

Now that I’m Twittering for a business, I have to say I do use tools like Hootlet, which I started off using just to help me improve how I use my personal Twitter stream. I try to make sure to spread news about what the business is up to, but I’m careful to try to balance it with other things people might find interesting. Why not just broadcast? I hate it when  business just promotes itself.  I think of it this way, it’s like being at a party and talking to someone who is self-absorbed. That conversation isn’t going to last very long before I excuse myself and move on.

Also, is there anything you’d like to add?