Twitter is a great tool and for many people an equally great mystery.

I hear about it every day.  You signed up, added someone they suggested, maybe looked for your friends, maybe tweeted once, and then… yeah that’s about it.

There are many varieties but the same bottom line: What’s the point of Twitter?

The point is sharing. Just like Raffi encourages kids to share PB&J sandwhiches, Twitter encourages, facilitates and is nothing but sharing within the confines of 140 characters.

Sharing what? Yes you can share what you’re eating, where you’re eating, but you can also share an important news or blog article you read, a lesson you just learned the hard way, and many other informative messages.

I like to use Twitter with the following composition:

• 50% personal
• 50% professional

Do I count every Tweet and ensure exact ratio? Heck no.  But this setup is present in the back of my mind and helps me best make use of Twitter.

Why personal? Simple.  Because strictly business may work for Stock Tickers, but it’s not really all that much

Charlie on his first day with us!

fun for YOU.  Showing people the person behind the @ name is interesting to those that follow you, and fun to share.  Once I took my new puppy (Charlie) to the dark park at night.  I tweeted a thought I had while standing there in the coolness of the night: “@CaseyChesh – Risk Taking: Visiting a dark park at night.”  The realization that I could be stepping on a poopy land mine at any moment was just too much not to share.  And for those following me, the thought of me tip toeing around that mulch filled play-pen probably painted a disastrously humorous picture.

Why professional? This is important.  Whatever your interest is in, you should tweet about it.  And I mean ‘interest’ in the most broad of ways.  From your career & industry to your passion for model railroads.  I will often tweet blog articles related to the online marketing industry, website analytics, or even scientific breakthroughs.  This gives people that aren’t your immediate buddies or family a reason to follow you.  If you’re looking for a job, an employer will see your Twitter account (if they look, and increasingly they are- i know i am).  If you heed my advice, they will see a well rounded person tweeting both personable and professional information- which is a long winded way of saying two thumbs up for you!

Why both? Could you stick to one, sure.  In my experience, I’ve found that both are needed.  There are several reasons why too!  Unless you’re Wil Wheaton and grew up on the Starship Enterprise, there aren’t going to be too many people who will follow you if you only talk about what you had for dinner and your latest bug bite.  Having the occasional value in your tweets is a great thing!  It could be as simple as passing on a link to a funny video you saw.  In the Twitter world, we call that Re-Tweeting and the shorthand for it is “RT.”

When you have the proper mix in your Twitter usage, people with similar passions will be more inclined to follow you.

You can then follow them back.  This weaves an amazing web of individuals who all have common interests, goals, and more.

It’s also these professional tid-bits that will attract you to following other people.  This

is where the true power of Twitter enters the scene.  Suddenly you’re in your own mini-network and one of the first to hear about important news in your industry or hobby.  For me, I care about what Google is up to.  Not only the polished products, but what is in development.  By following the right kind of people (who have the same type of 50/50 mixture) I will always be “in-the-loop” on Google’s latest experiments.