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Have you really looked at your list of Twitter followers lately? If you have, you probably know that feeling. You see someone on the list of those you’re following and you have no idea whatsoever why they made the cut.

Sometimes, you must cull your list. Not only will that help control the “noise” in your Twitter stream, it will also help in other ways.

First, it helps keep Twitter clean. Following bad accounts, dead accounts, spammers and bots only encourages aberrant behavior. Cut the bad guys loose and send a message.

Second, it provides a service to those who follow you. Your followers may look to the list of people upon whom you’re keeping tabs as a guide to whom they should follow. Following someone is sort of like endorsing them. If you’re making bad recommendations, it can’t help your standing.

Take some time to occasionally clean your Twitter house. You might have followed someone on a lark or because it looked like he or she would be a nice fit for your network. If they aren’t contributing, however, there’s no reason to prolong the “relationship”.

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Twitter can be an extremely powerful tool–if you use it the right way. If you approach it the wrong way, however, you can waste a lot of time with no visible return.

Here are few ways to lose on Twitter. These are common blunders that make the Twitter process a complete loss for participants.

Being too aggressive. If you hit the ground running at the full sprint with Twitter, you’re risking some trouble. For instance, those who suddenly add masses and masses of new people to the list of those they follow may be categorized as probable spammers or troublemakers. That can get an account closed.

Using Twitter as an afterthought. There are people who set up a tool that will announce their blog posts to Twitter. They combine that with an automatic message to new followers and they forget all about it. It’s not really helpful to have your Twitter account out there announcing new posts for the sake of traffic if you’re not an active participant. You become annoying and “fake” to most of your followers and you can damage your reputation more than you can help it.

Those are just two ways to be a Twitter loser. There are many more. The takeaway here is that it’s important to learn the right way to use Twitter if you want to make it part of your online endeavors.

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You’re on Twitter and you’re active. That’s great. It does not, however, mean that you can abandon your blog for this brave new world of micro-blogging. Here’s why you need to keep your regular blog up and running.

First, you’re getting different audiences. Your blog is capable of generating search engine traffic in ways that your Tweets aren’t. You also probably have some RSS subscribers and daily readers who may not have an interest in Twitter. You can’t kiss a good chunk of your readership and potential traffic goodbye by quitting on your blog.

Second, your blog offers more flexibility. You can handle denser subject matter because you don’t have that 140 character limit to deal with. There are things you can address and statements you can make with a blog that just aren’t going to happen with Twitter.

Third, we know what blogging can do. We’re still learning what being an active Twitter user is capable of generating. You started blogging for a reason, right? That reason was based on evidence about what blogging can accomplish. Unless you know something the rest of us don’t, there’s no reason to think that Twitter is going to capture those same advantages.

Feel free to Tweet away, but don’t give up on your blog in the process.

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Twitter is a micro-blogging platform, right? Well, that must mean it’s really nothing more than a tiny blog.

Structurally, that’s true. Your Twitter URL does read a little like a tiny blog. It catalogs your Tweets chronologically and presents them that way. The similarities, however, end there.

Here are three reasons why Twitter use doesn’t really represent blogging.

First, there is a much-heightened level of interaction. As such, your Tweets are often part of a conversation, more so than being the kind of free-standing expositions that we associate with blog posts.

Second, the 140 character limitation really changes the game. This little blog post is around 200 words long. The character account is several times greater than that. 140 characters isn’t enough to do anything like what we’d usually consider blogging.

Third, the purpose of participation is slightly different. While the same goal may be in mind (increasing sales, branding, etc.), our objective for a single Tweet is usually going to be much different than our motivation for writing a single blog posts.

Yes, Twitter is micro-blogging. That doesn’t just mean it’s a smaller blog, though. The nature of the system really doesn’t bear much resemblance to blogging as we usually think of it.

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Many people don’t like the “personal” aspect of Twitter. They can see the advantage of creating a good social network for the sake of exchanging industry-relevant information, good links, etc., but they don’t really believe that those little “slice of life” Tweets are very valuable.

If that describes you, it might be time to adjust your thinking a little bit. They call it “social” networking for a reason. There really is a social aspect to the whole thing.

Twitter works because people want to make connections with other people. As such, a human component to your participation is actually going to make you more enjoyable to follow for many people. It also gives you a “flesh and blood” persona that is more magnetic than that of an automaton posting a series of links.

You don’t need to tell the world every random thought you’re having or to go into detail about the way that hole in your sock right above your big toe is bugging you.

However, it is a good idea to “round out” your self-portrait with some less professional and more personal Tweets. Let people get to know you. Be social!

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There are a few great ways to build your follower totals while you’re on Twitter. Creating great Tweets and following others come to mind. If you’re really looking to grow in the follower department, however, you need to take your game off the Twitter site.

Here are a few off-Twitter strategies you can use to promote your Twitter URL and to boost your follower count.

First, append your email signature to include your Twitter URL. Business contacts who participate in Twitter are likely to follow you and others may do likewise. This only takes a second and can make a big difference.

Second, make sure you include your Twitter URL in your forum signatures, if you participate in any forums. While you’re at it, add that URL to your profile, too.

Third, be certain that you’re indicating your Twitter involvement on all of your other web properties. That means you need to have your badge up on your blog AND on your static sites.

The more you can do to spread the word, the better. If you want to maximize your follower potential, take advantage of every opportunity you can.

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Twitter is a social networking and micro-blogging tool. It doesn’t have an identity and it doesn’t have a personality. However, there is a prevailing set of norms that govern Twitter use. They’re created by the expectations of the user base.

If you’re just getting started with Twitter, it can be tough to develop a sense of the best way to use your newfound Tweeting power. There is a dominance Twitter culture and a “way of doing things”. Getting into the flow and learning the rhythm of the site isn’t always easy.

Here’s one way around the problem: Follow a few people with big follower bases and watch them for awhile. Learn how they use Twitter and recognize the techniques they use to be a real voice in the conversation.

If you watch a few of the “big boys” doing their thing, you’ll soon figure out how you might be able to use the site effectively in order to meet your online goals.

Learning from the best isn’t a new idea. It works, though. And it works very well when applied to learning the lay of the Twitter land.

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One of the reasons Twitter is really growing is because of all the great third party tools and support dedicated to the site. Twitter is AOK on its own, but those extra tools really ramp up its power and value.

Twellow is a great example. It’s sort of like a business phone directory for Twitter. Users can be uncovered based on their field, which makes it a spectacular way to find people in your industry quickly.

One of the big challenges of getting the most out of Twitter and building a quality social network is the decision of who to follow. Twello makes it very easy to start uncovering the kind of people with whom you’d like to interact.

If you’re a little less than impressed with Twitter’s own search tools (most people feel that way), Twellow is one of those third-party options you can use to overcome the shortcoming. It’s a great way to find the people you need to find to maximize Twitter’s value to you.

Hit http://twellow.com and see if you can use this great tool to make your Twitter life a little easier.

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Your Twitter reach is defined, in large measure, by the number of followers you have. That means you want people to seek you out and to follow you whenever they have interests that overlap with your own.

Unfortunately, many people are unwittingly decreasing their follower counts. Here are two ways people are limiting their Twitter effectiveness.

No photo. If you don’t upload a photo, Twitter gives you that default avatar. You know who else ends up with that default avatar? Lousy spammers. Most robot accounts and spamming accounts feature that image because the folks behind them were too lazy to upload a picture. If you don’t have a picture, people will assume the worst about you.

Bad username. If your username is bad, you won’t get as many followers. There are two main instances of bad usernames that I see regularly. First, there are those with the long number sequence in the name. These are also the kind of handles that spammers end up with, so when I see one, I sort of assume that the owner is a spammer. If your handle is Bob199938, be prepared to be unpopular.

The other “bad name” is the one that makes it perfectly clear to the reader that you’re not very serious. This includes the profane usernames an silly ones like “ILuvMyKittyCats”. Get a good username.

Once you have a decent name, add a picture. These two “little things” can make a huge difference.

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Twitter is more than idle chit-chat. It’s not just a big instant messenger and there’s some valuable stuff happening below the surface. Sure, the way some people use the service trivializes its significance. That’s undeniable. There are others, however, that are figuring out that Twitter can be a serious tool.

Just in case you haven’t been converted to the pro-Twitter side yet, here are three more reasons to take the social networking service seriously.

First, it creates a splendid opportunity to monitor and evaluate what your customers and prospects are really talking about. Can you say “free market research”?

Second, it gives you another outlet to extend your reach. It’s a low hassle way to supplement your website an blogging endeavors to reach another audience.

Third, it gives you the opportunity to create a social network that has a strong interest in what you’re doing and then allows you to approach those people with marketing messages. Not so shabby, huh?

Twitter may not be the game-changer some people want to pretend that it is, but it certainly isn’t the triviality others pretend it is. There are good reasons to take Twitter seriously.

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