​Twitter’s early publicity has left the impression of it being a trivialized, narcissistic pursuit by techno-glitterati and cultural creatives. Unfortunately, like any new Internet technology, the early adopters tend not to be mainstream business professionals.

When the first websites were launched to the public, the majority were porn and gaming. In ten years that changed and global corporations pay tens of thousands of dollars and Euros to ensure their products’ top-of-page ranking on Google and Yahoo search engines. The adoption speed of social networking sites such as Linkedin has halved the time to generate critical mass. In 7 years Linkedin has 40,000,000 users worldwide and is translated into multiple languages. It took Linkedin from its launch in 2003 to 2007 to break the 10 million subscriber barrier. Twitter grew over 1300% year over year and now has 7,000,000+ users in the USA in two years.

Online, it doesn’t pay to take a 'wait and see attitude' when there are no barriers to entry and the use of new tools is being pioneered on the fly. Certainly, it would be prudent to take your name on any social media site as a placeholder for future activity. However, the uniqueness of Twitter makes it doubly worthwhile.

Often top executives view with askance anything online that gives them visibility. They tend to like the low profile approach using a circle of colleagues and a few search firms. However, Twitter can be a helpful addition to any professional or executive’s arsenal of communication tools. A Business Week article reported on a year-to-year survey where they interviewed 10 CEOs on Twitter last year and found 50 CEOs to interview this year.

Here are some compelling reasons that might get you Tweeting:

Listening to Your Ecosystem

You might be astonished by who of your employee base is on Twitter, especially if they are under forty. Employees talk about their jobs, companies, products, and even customers. The competition does negative product comparisons, analysts make unfounded comments, and peers have a point of view about the industry. As John Lilly, CEO commented about his company, “Mozilla is a huge community of people all around the world - different time zones, countries, companies - and Twitter lets me follow both the mood and the substance of the community sort of in my peripheral vision. Reduces surprises, of course, but also a great way to figure out what's important to do next.”

Everyone has always wanted to be a fly on the wall listening to a private conversation, and with Twitter, you amazingly can do just that globally. In this economy, any clues and data to help decide what to do next professionally and what business strategy would be of genuine value.

Jollying Up to Your Customers

Doing a simple search using the hashtag (#) with the name of your company and/or your company’s products and services will turn up the competition, customers, analysts, and commentators. Electing to follow any or all of them will give you a direct conduit to the word on the street about your organization.

Business Week quoted Gary Stockman, CEO of Porter Novelli, as saying about Twitter, “It also enables us to do incredible things for our clients, including rapid-response consumer research, direct dialogue with stakeholders, and real-time dissemination of information, which can be especially useful in a crisis."

Talking With Your Peers

John Battelle, CEO of Federated Media, was asked his favorite Tweet to follow, “I really enjoy @exectweets (it summarizes a lot of different top executives on Twitter). Twitter can quickly tap into the zeitgeist of your peer groups and give you a read on what’s happening." During a job search, this can be invaluable for research, leads, and resources. Twitter can open doors to new connections informally yet productively. Ian Schafer, Deep Focus CEO, said of his favorite Twitter user to follow David Armano, “First we were 'Twitter' friends. Now we're 'friends' friends.” Twitter provides the platform to create instant conversations in cyberspace because of the receptivity of followers on Twitter.

Building Your Career Brand

Jason Alba, JibberJobber CEO, said that “Twitter allows me to put a face on my company. I am the personality of JibberJobber, and that personality comes out on Twitter like nowhere else.” Marcel LeBrun, Radian6 CEO told Business Week, “Your brand is now the sum of conversations about it.” That sum can easily be those conversations, quotes, excerpts from speeches, references on blogs, and other online sites. Career Branding is the embodiment of the professional messaging and packaging that arises from your resume and other collateral and extends to appropriate marketing channels, especially online. Twitter is one of those channels that can provide a platform for you to promote your knowledge, expertise, and acumen.

Begin at the Beginning

Ideally, starting to use Twitter is something that would be of interest to you. Reading other people’s 140 character comments would not be a chore. You are curious to follow and read the Tweets of those who are relevant to your business and career. You seek to build your network and cultivate relationships with some of the people you follow. You are ready for Twitter.

Start with a simple first step: find and follow key experts in your field and pay attention to their Tweets and respond to them. Many CEOs queried in the Business Week article all mentioned following the thought leaders in their field or sector. Ignore the rest of the noise. Use a simple tool such as Tweetdeck.com to sort out people that you follow by groups and categories. I am happy to provide Twitter tips and coaching if you send me a DM (direct message) or direct tweet on Twitter @pattiwilson.

Patti Wilson coaches Fortune 500 and startup executives on how to optimize their careers and successfully transition to new opportunities. She has a Masters in Career Development and consults to MBA schools and was an Employment Manager for SUN Microsystems and a recruiter for Apple. To contact Patti and establish how you may work together, please send your resume together with a brief overview of your current situation and what you would like to work on to admin@careercompany.com, or call +1 408 354 1964.

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