After presenting two workshops this month on Social Media 101 to marketers, it occurs to me that the rules of engagement for business people might need some definition. This discussion reminds me of when forums and message boards first became popular (oh remember the days of boulder.general or StarTrek.PrimeDirective.CaptainKirkSexLife). Initial discussions on these boards were fun and informative, but after awhile, the spam level from multilevel marketers were enough to make me run from these groups. On top of that, the vitriol that surfaced could be really off-putting.

Already, with Twitter entering the mainstream consciousness, thanks to CNN and the New York Times, I am experiencing spam on Twitter — that’s a first. Fortunately, Twitter makes it pretty simple to deal with spammers, but again, I think there’s more to it than that. Are there basic rules of engagement for business users that we ought to follow? I think so, but I know that some Tweeters will disagree. Why? Because they feel like what they say is so damn important and compelling, that the rules don’t apply to them.
For example, there are people I call the shameless self-promoters. You know who you are. There are some in the “social media guru/expert” space, always promoting just their own stuff (blog posts, conferences, etc. In my mind, this highly transparent self-promotion is nothing but spam. Remember people, this is supposed to be a conversation. It’s not all about you. What that means is, you talk, then I talk.

In Twitter-ville, I personally translate that idea this way: sure, promote your own stuff, but give back too — retweet someone else’s great blog post, tell me about someone else’s photos, podcasts, blog post, conferences, or other words of wisdom. Surely, you aren’t getting all your ideas just from your own genius brain?

But, again, as I write this, I think of a few that I follow where shameless self-promotion might makes sense. Like a business that’s tweeting updates about a sale, or a theme to those customers who want it — an example locally is for one of the few independent video/DVD stores around, The Video Station.

The Video Station promotes, through Twitter, themed movie watching – last week, they posted a link to a top list of Paul Newman movies as a tribute. If you are a regular renter from this store, you will know that they have theme weeks often, and so they are using this as an extension of that theme.

So what’s the difference between The Video Station and a shameless self-promoter?

The difference is that I don’t get 8-10 tweets a day from The Video Station, so I don’t mind it at all. I get one a week. A bad example of I stopped following Whole Foods for exactly that reason — I wasn’t interested in getting multiple tweets a day promoting the store.

Based on my experience using Twitter for business and promotion purposes, here are my rules of engagement on Twitter for business people:

1. Promote your blog posts — but not every one: Sure, go ahead and use it to promote a blog post to those who follow you. But remember that you aren’t the only person who has something compelling to offer. Have you read something today that you liked? Hated? Tweet that. Or, tweet a post from one of your cohorts.
2. Use Twitter to get instant feedback: Interested in what others have to say about what you think? Who agrees? Who has another point of view? Tweet your blog post to get comments from others. I’ve asked for specific Tweeters to comment, people I know that care about the same issue. It’s a great way to start a discussion about something. Again, not for every post. Use sparingly.
3. Use Twitter to inspire discussion: @jasonfalls asked the twitterverse to get in touch regarding small business social media case studies, because he’s interested in writing about them. Others will retweet his request, and I am certain he’ll get some good responses.
4. Airport acronym tweets are boring: Glad to know you are busy, but really I don’t want to know your travel schedule is. EXCEPT. If you are trying to arrange a tweetup or meeting with folks locally, by all means, use Twitter as a good way to possibly connect. EXCEPT. If you are going on a vacation and want to make me jealous.
5. How many posts per day? No right answer here, but this goes back to my first recommendation. If you are using Twitter to only promote yourself and your ideas, I suggest you limit those.
6. Be nice: This probably ought to be the #1 rule. If you want Twitter love, then give it out. If you’re confronted by a mean tweeter, block them (thanks @leahjones for refreshing my memory on how to do that). Remember that the lines between personal and professional twitter usage are very blurry, so forgive people’s excitement about the Red Sox, or the Broncos or World Cup soccer, or the election (as long as they are nice and not mean).

What do you think? What rules of engagement do you follow with Twitter? I want to know. Hey, I know, I will tweet this post and maybe get some feedback…