Social vs. Selling - Promoting your Brand on Twitter

I am a writer, graphic designer, and ranked by Google,MSN and Yahoo America's Favorite Love columnist I am engaged to Rick London a writer, cartoonist and brand designer, together, we own the seo and branding firm Pen And Ink Inc.

Twitter and other Social media sites are changing the way businesses market themselves on the internet. They are seeking for innovated ways to gain new followers to convert into potential clientele. Often striking the right balance of friendly conversation and product pitch is the dilemma.

In February of 2009 @AlexKaris posted the following question ion Twitter: What is the NUMBER 1 reason you unfollow people? The winning response with 42% of the votes was "tired of watching them self promote with links and no interaction."

My dilemma as a businesswoman on Twitter is the more I communicated and became part of the Twitter community I became cautious about making a full sales pitch to my followers. Early in my foray into Twitter I noticed the followers who only sent out a barrage of sales Tweets with zero interaction became annoying. My goal was to avoid becoming "that guy/gal" who only tweeted 140 character Twitfomercials.

There are several questions I asked myself. If I interact too much, too little, give an occasional sales pitch or lay low will I be unfollowed? How do I communicate about my website its content and customer service without alienating potential customers? How do I avoid sabotaging the positive reputation I was building on Twitter?

You cannot find a better example of the social vs. selling balance on Twitter than that of @ricklondon. Rick London Group, LLC CEO Rick London's personal approach involves putting himself forward as the face of his company on Twitter. He Tweets freely with the online community promotes his celebrity clients and provides links to his humorous cartoons.

With these steps you can market yourself and your brand to the Twitter community. Increase your following first by communication with those in your current network. Tweet famous quote, favorite music and Jokes if you are not comfortable with online conversation. Lastly your tweets can be used to invite and entice your followers into visiting your website.