Twitter is one of those things that’s blowing up in popularity, and with all the buzz (or tweets?) circulating I’ve gotten some emails from practitioners about how to use it as a practice building tool.

I’m certainly no Twitter guru (I only have 381 followers, the horror!). However, I have been using it happily for about 6 months now, and I gotta say I see its merits. And its downsides. So here’s my brief overview of where Twitter shines, where it flops, and how to get started:

The good: My favorite thing about Twitter is that it’s an amazing networking tool. If networking is too gross a word for you, allow me to replace it with, “forming lovely and interesting connections”. I’ve found some great people through Twitter, and deepened my connection to some others who I wouldn’t have been able to otherwise.

For example, I discovered Chris Guillebeau’s work through Seth Godin and quickly fell in love with his blog and Manifestos. I sent him a few @replies (when you precede someone’s Twitter name with the @ symbol, the message shows up in their @ reply inbox, so they know you either mentioned them or wrote to them), and eventually I caught a Tweet of his saying he’d be in NYC for a tweet-up (meet up of Twitterers). Off I went to the tweet-up and we hit it off.

Several months and several emails later, Chris sent a writer who was featuring him in Psychology Today my way and she included me in an article about people who are living unconventional lives (since I’m shamelessly mentioning it here I should tell you that it’s the Jan/Feb 2010 issue, the “Life Uncharted” article, I digress…) Psychology Today and I wouldn’t have connected if it weren’t for Twitter and Chris’s generosity.

I mention this story purely as a super tangible example of how Twitter can make meaningful connections. I connected with Chris, Chris connected me with Psychology Today, and blammo, I have a wee bit of press. However, in truth, the real gem in this whole story is that I’m connected to Chris at all. Media help aside, he’s just a helluva guy doing amazing work. Now that I’ve gotten my Twitter sea legs, I’ve found lots more wonderful people and follow them on Twitter- this, regardless of any other tangible perk- is what makes Twitter worthwhile.

The less good: I had a Twitter account for nearly a year before I bothered to use it. Every time I checked in it seemed like I was caught in a stream of half-conversations that I wasn’t a part of. It felt pointless and time consuming to me. However, once I found some people who I wanted to connect to, I was a part of this wacky form of communicating, and I grew to really enjoy it.

That said, focus first on finding people who you want to communicate with. The best way to find people you want to follow on Twitter is to see if the people who you already are in touch with are on Twitter (people whose books or blogs you read, or friends and family). In addition, it’s great to see if any businesses that you like have a Twitter account.

This can be especially helpful for growing a local practice if you connect to your local businesses. It can be something really direct, like a Pilates teacher deciding to follow a local massage therapist’s Twitter feed, or it can be really indirect. If you’re a local massage therapist, why not connect to the local restaurants that have Twitter accounts? That way you’re deepening your connection to your community in general, and you’ll be top of mind when anyone in town is asked for a massage referral.

Do I use it this way? Not yet. It’s one of my new experiments, since I mostly connect with people all over the world related to health and wellness. But it seems like a great way to get your name spread around town, so I’ll give it a shot and report back.

Another not so good feature is the huge potential time suck. Keep time boundaries on your Twitter use. Try your best to use it at least daily, but in small chunks of time. I find that if I can check in for 5 to 10 minutes in the am and pm, I’m good. When I find I’m clicking everyone’s links and going down too many rabbit holes, I have to cool it. I don’t need more black holes for my time to fall into.

Getting started:

How do I learn the nuts and bolts? If you want to know the basic stuff like how to respond to people or what the hell a re-tweet is, just grab something cheap and easy like Twitter for Dummies (I’d grab the edition co-written by Laura Fitton @pistachio to Twitter users). Don’t bother laying out a bunch of cash for some social media guru’s product. This isn’t rocket science.

What do I write about? Always remember that Twitter is a social medium, not a place people show up because they’re craving more spam and sales pitches in their lives. Be you, write about what you’re up to, what goodies you find, what you care about, and shine a light on other people doing good stuff, but don’t directly pitch people.

I’m glancing over my Twitter profile (where I can see recent Tweets I’ve sent) and it’s a hodgepodge of stuff: everything from talking with a fellow mom who’s home sick with one of her wee ones, to lamenting that a recipe of mine didn’t turn out, to re-tweeting someone else’s link about one cruise ship making the grotesque choice to go forward with their scheduled stop in Haiti so their passengers could frolic on a Haitian beach while armed guards stood by (seriously). On any given day I could be tweeting about a lot of different things, but they’re all things that I care about and that reflect what I’m up to.

Where can I go for phenomenal inspiration? Yes, I did say not to spend money on any social media guru’s overpriced products if all you want is to figure out the nuts and bolts of Twitter. However, thanks to the goodness of Chris Guillebeau (who is getting quite a lot of mentions in this post!) and Gwen Bell, there is an alternative to the smarmy internet marketing products that clog the “so you want to be a social media superstar” airwaves.

They put together the Unconventional Guide to the Social Web. Gwen’s contribution is the beautifully written, “Yoga for the Social Web”. If you want inspiration about what it means to communicate through social media, I highly recommend. It’s practically poetry. (And Gwen, who co-owns a yoga studio in Japan and is the most un-guru social media superstar I know of, is one of our people. She gets it.)

Some of my fave Tweeps:

If you’re looking for people to follow here are some of my faves (and if you’re looking for me I’m @brookethomas):

@chrisguillebeau
@gwenbell
@lissaboles
@vanessascotto
@melissapierce
@pamslim
@soniasimone
@worldmegan
@jonathanfields
@markheartofbiz
@reese
@havi
@ittybiz
@hellohealth
@marcjohns
@judyofthewoods

By Jenn Givler of Create a Thriving Business

Brooke here: I thought this would be a great follow up to my last post for those of you getting started with social networking. Enjoy!

Last week, we were talking about Twitter, and specifically about follows. In that post, I mentioned that social media was about building relationships - it’s SOCIAL.But, what if you’re shy? Or, what if you’re just not sure how to go about starting a conversation with someone, or even beginning a relationship with someone?

Here’s the trick - it’s easy - just do it.

Ok, for some of us, it’s not THAT easy.

I’ll bet you would never guess that I’m shy. Seriously. No, really, I’m not kidding! My true nature is introversion. In fact, about 10 years ago, my shyness was so debilitating, it cost me friends, and opportunities. UGH. To think of the things I missed out on because of my shyness.

So how did I get over that? Believe it or not, I got into computer training. Nothing will kill shyness quicker than standing in front of a group teaching technical skills!

But - I digress. This is about social media and reaching out…

I stand by the fact that it is very easy to start and build relationships with people online. And particularly through social media, it’s even easier.

Here are three easy steps to help you start building relationships in social media:

1. Participate in their conversations. If they ask a question, give an ansewer. If they say something you really like, tell them in a genuine, authentic way.

2. Forward their information. If you find something of particular value and you know that your business nation would benefit from it, forward it on. In places like Twitter, people will be able to see that you’re passing their information on and sometimes that sparks a conversation.

3. Treat them as if you already know them. Talk to them, start conversations with them, ask them questions just like you would your friends. Of course, some common-sense business etiquette is appreciated, but so is speaking to people as an equal.

Remember, the folks hanging out in social media (for the most part - there are some exceptions) are there to be social. They WANT to build relationships - they want to get to know you. Just reach out, and let the rest, be history (as they say…).

Jenn Givler is the founder of Create a Thriving Business. She teachers holistic and creative business owners how to build an online presence. She’s also a Reiki practitioner!

I often have practitioners ask me why they would use social networking sites (like Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc) to grow their practices. After all, when was the last time you hopped on to Facebook and typed ‘massage therapist’ into the search so that you could find someone to schedule an appointment with? People (almost) never find practitioners this way, so why bother, right?

The trick is to differentiate between direct and indirect practice building. Most of us only think of the direct strategies: posting a flyer in the hopes that someone will schedule, buying an ad in the hopes that someone will schedule, building a referral relationship in the hopes that someone will refer- these are all direct. The distance between the activity (posting a flyer) and the desired outcome (get a call from a new client) is very short. A to B, we’ll call it. The thing is, almost everyone in today’s digital age expects a step between A and B . This is the essential ‘getting to know you’ step. We work in fields that require a lot of trust and intimacy- and so potential clients want to have the opportunity to get to know you before they even make that first phone call. In today’s day and age, there are a multitude of ways that people can track your digital footprint and get a feel for who you are and whether they’d want to work with you. Therefore the ‘getting to know you’ step is a foregone conclusion. If they can’t find you in cyberspace, you don’t exist.

Social media is the most transparent and intimate way that someone can get a sense of if you’d be a good fit as their practitioner. I was recently talking with Carla (aka One Healthy Girl) who is a massage therapist in South Carolina and she mentioned that her use of Facebook wound up being a happy practice-building accident. She’d set up her profile to stay in touch with friends. However, to new clients who can read her updates and see her profile, Carla feels instantly human and approachable. Now she has clients coming in to her office wishing her daughter well when she’s posted that her daughter is under the weather, and telling her that a recipe she posted through her Facebook blog feed was delicious. With no extra effort from Carla, they’ve deepened their relationship with her.

A profile on a social network (or several) that is warm, honest, and transparent will draw new clients to you and make it easier for current clients to refer to you. Potential clients are out there looking for your digital footprint. Where will they find it, and when they do, what will they see?

If you’re brand spanking new to social networking, check out Common Craft’s short and sweet (and fun) video.

In his excellent book, The Four-Hour Workweek, Tim Ferriss says that “being busy is a form of laziness- lazy thinking and indiscriminate action.” By this definition, I, my friends, am capital L lazy. As many of you know I’ve just launched this website as a way to provide practice building resources. I’m also in the final edits of my book on the same subject. Then there are the other small matters of developing the online learning environment for the JW Foundation, moving from Brooklyn to Connecticut, and being a mother to a two year old. No sweat.

So how have I responded to the overwhelming time demands? I’ve spread myself and my efforts thinner than ever before. It’s not that I’m dimwitted- it seemed like a good idea at the time. All the other projects and life changes aside, in the process of getting the word out about The Well Practice I’ve jumped into Twitter, Facebook, joint ventures, blogging (clearly), and writing both a brief ecourse and a very thorough (and free- you can get it here) ebook. The result? Well, the word is getting out. But many of the tools I’ve been using have nothing to do with it. I’m realizing that it’s far better to choose one or two activities that you actually enjoy doing and do them well and consistently. Trying to do everything usually leaves you with nothing but your own burnout and dread. For example, I know loads of people who consider Twitter to be their best business building tool. For me, it’s an exhausting stream of half conversations.

I finally had to ask myself the question Tim Ferriss poses in his book, “are you being productive or just active?” We live in a culture that values “active”. We think it’s synonymous with productive. It is not. I’m learning that active without limitation is the antithesis of productive.

What about you? Are you trying to fan the flames of your practice by doing a lot of stuff- some you like and some you hate- with little result? Are you thinking that adding another modality to your business card will get the clients knocking on your door? What I’d recommend is that you take the time to figure out exactly what your goals are for your practice, and then make a list of things you can do that you actually ENJOY doing to reach those goals. Now pick one or two of those activities off the list and give it your all. Life is too short to wade through tasks that burn you out. If you’re an introvert, don’t decide you’ll grow your practice through public speaking. There are plenty of ways you can connect one on one, or even one too many, without getting on stage (Yelp is one good tool for this- more in a future post).

Be true to who you are and be thoughtful about your actions. It’s not only less exhausting, it’s the way to success.

As an aside, a great book on this subject is The Power of Less by Leo Babuta, he’s the creator of ZenHabits