I Tweet, Therefore I am: Juggling Work Life and Career in the Twittersphere

“You need to be top of mind, cause there’s so much noise out there,” said Successfool.com blogger Alejandro Reyes on his Successfool TV live streamed program Wednesday night. But how one accomplishes that feat is a matter of great debate.

This brought to mind the conundrum of balancing the work/life scenario with maintaining a solid career path in a sensory overloaded environment; one which exalts the Tweet. It came up during a lunch meeting today with a colleague.

” Judy Martin, seriously, how important is it for me to tweet?” she asked with a little tone of synicism. 

“If you don’t Tweet, you’ll be left behind at the station, ” I said, to which I received a look of puzzlement with a little touch of shock. Actually, I think she thought I was a little intense in my opinion. But I truly believe that social media is the single most important way to market yourself whether you work for yourself or someone else.

I think about it as expanding the viewer base of those looking to do business with you – or those keeping track of your influence in a given career or niche – in an unobtrusive fashion. Through the portals of social media, people, companies, and business  - will find you. That is, if you have a unique voice that differentiates you from the rest of the pack. 

Bowing to the altar of the personal brand is all abuzz in the blogosphere right now, but you have to define your skills, voice, and value in laser-sharp talking points to be heard above the rest. That doesn’t happen overnight and can eat into your personal life.

Just tossing random thoughts on Twitter  without a consistent and concrete message, will have you drowning in a mushy sea of sycophants.  If you’re burning the midnight oil just to stay on top of Twitter, you can crash, which is what my colleague was concerned about.

So in the interest of better balancing the great work-life merge in our WorkLife Nation, with forging ahead into the social media landscape on Twitter to further your career, here are a few suggestions. I call them suggestions because some believe Twittering should be a more spontaneous organic process. 

1. Create your Twitterfield of expertise: You can tweet about anything you want, but if you’re trying to establish your voice or brand, stick with twittering useful information that others in your niche would consider valuable. This will enhance your reputation and give others a look inside your brain and business acumen. 
2. Limit your Twittertime, within reason: I post at certain times of the day, generally on material that I have bookmarked. But if I am inspired in any given moment by something I have read or heard, I might be compelled to Tweet. In a seriously compelling moment of Twitteritis – I limit myself to one post and one Re-tweet. Set your own rules of discipline.
3. Drink water and take deep breaths during Twittersessions: Heading into the Tweetisphere can easily suck the life out of us due to info-overload. Drinking water slows things down a bit as the rapid fire of Twitter pummels your brain and body. It’s a stimulator and provides an adrenalin rush. Promise yourself a tall drink of water during a session and a deep breath every time you Re-Tweet.
4. Beware of following –  everyone who follows you. Tweeting is not all about you, but it is about your interests or niche. While Twitter is a relationship building community, if you follow everyone,  it takes a heck of a lot longer to sift through all the tweets for the ones useful to you. Some might argue – the more followers – the more exposure. My feeling is that having solid followers who you can identify with is more productive. I feel this allows a for deeper experience, more twitter face-time to get to know your niche community.
5. Think before you Tweet : If you’re having a rough day – think twice before tweeting. You might want to vent elsewhere. The 140 characters that you divulge might do you harm and create more angst. If you can’t tweet something nice- don’t tweet at all. Emotional tweeting can hurt your credibility.