It's hard to top the appearance of the Fail Whale for annoyingness - but some Twitter users manage to do just that.

There are scads of advice on the web telling Twitter neophytes how to use this popular micro-blogging and social networking tool to promote their businesses, web sites and/or personal brand. Unfortunately, a lot of that advice leads to off-putting practices that do nothing to cultivate meaningful contact or build a community of people who are truly interested in what you have to offer. The problem is that this advice assumes that Twitter is something that it most definitely is not: a one-way broadcasting tool.

Recently, novelist Maureen Johnson gained attention with her Social Media Manifesto, in reaction to the school of Social Media marketing that says you should bombard your followers with your brand. The manifesto boils down to this: You are more than just a brand. Be yourself, enjoy what you do, and let that be your brand.

Which is not to say that a certain amount of self-promotion can’t be useful, or even necessary. But on Twitter, too much of a single type of behavior is the surest way to get people to reach for the Unfollow button. The key is balance. To help you find YOUR balance, here are some tips for not just keeping your followers, but engaging them in such a way that leads to a sense of community and effective word-of-mouth.

1. Be yourself. If your Twitter account represents your business, of course you want to keep a sense of professional decorum. That probably means you don’t want to tweet too often about your pets or your kids, or post any potentially embarrassing pictures of yourself. But it’s a good idea to exhibit some personality with the occasional personal tweet and give your followers a peek at the person behind the business. The funny thing about Twitter is that users come to think of people on their Follow list as friends – and they’re a lot more likely to help promote their friends with a retweet than they are a robotic, personality-lacking company.
2. Have fun and be fun. You don’t have to be a comedy genius to be thought of as fun to follow. When something humorous happens to you, tweet about it. Or tweet an amusing line or conversation that you overheard. Retweet a funny link that somebody else posted. Twitter is for sharing – so share the fun you have in your day.
3. Join the conversation. Like I said, Twitter isn’t a one-way broadcasting medium. Respond to the people you follow by typing @ in front of their username. This can especially be an effective way to communicate with your customers and answer any questions they might have about your product. Taking a few minutes each day to fully engage with your Twitter list instead of merely shouting URLs at them shows your followers that they matter to you as people and not just as a potential part of your bottom line.
4. Shake it up. When I decide whether to follow someone on Twitter, I take a look at their profile to see what kind of activity they’ll add to my daily Twitter stream. I look for a good mix of personal tweets, re-tweets and @replies alongside their self-promotional tweets. Too much of any one thing usually means I don’t add them to my follow list (personal preference here, but this includes quotable quotes. My Twitter stream has reached a saturation of people posting famous quotes – often the same ones – to the point that I no longer follow people who post more than one quote a day). A good balance shows that you understand the nature of Twitter and aren’t using it as an online bullhorn to promote your personal agenda.
5. Don’t abuse the Direct Message. There is a growing practice, no doubt based on the advice of well-meaning Social Media advisors, of sending DMs to new followers to say thanks for the follow and, by the way, you should visit my web site. There is also a growing contingent of Twitter users for whom this constitutes an automatic unfollow. There are a few reasons for this. One, it tends to be redundant. Usually by the time I’ve decided to follow you, I’ve already examined your profile and checked out your web site, or at least am aware that it exists. Two, many people have DMs set up to forward to their e-mail or their phones as a text message (which costs extra charges for those without unlimited texting subscriptions). Receiving such a redundant DM is about as welcome as receiving spam. Yet a third reason is that it sends the message that your Twitter account exists primarily as a self-promotional bullhorn, and if you’re already spamming your new follower’s DM inbox with your web site link, it follows that you’ll probably spam their Twitter stream with more of the same. If there’s one thing you DON’T want to come across as on Twitter, it’s a spammer.

Twitter can be a powerful tool for expanding your business’s web presence and cultivating a tribe of fans and followers. The most effective way to do this is to remember that it’s a global community of people who are primarily seeking connections with other people. Be considerate, and be real, and those people are more likely to create meaningful connections with you and your product.