Do not:

1. Auto Direct Message: As tempting as it may be to welcome every new follower, it’s widely frowned upon.  Auto DMs clog inboxes and diminish the efficacy of real DMs.  Just because there are applications out there that make it easy to do, it doesn’t mean that you should.  Just say no to auto DMs.
2. Only talk about yourself: Would you go to a cocktail party and try to sell everyone there your product.  Would you only talk about the current sale you’re having?  Hopefully not.  Twitter is a lot like a cocktail party—talk about interesting things in the news and how they relate to your industry, post links to articles, spread news.  It’s fine to link to your website or talk about your products, just don’t do it in every tweet.
3. Shout into the void: Just posting links and information doesn’t make you a good Twitizen.  Twitter is all about community, so engage with that community.  You don’t have to know someone in real life to send them an @reply.  If they are talking about a subject that intrigues you, join in on the conversation.  Also, if someone posts something you really like, share it with your followers by retweeting it.

1. Involve multiple people within your organization: Your corporation or organization has many facets, so let people from all parts of it be heard.  Ask staff from sales, marketing, R&D, HR and other departments to participate.

2. Use your blog for Twitter content: Pull quotes, tips or other juicy tidbits from your blog posts and turn them into tweets.  You work hard on those blog posts, so let them get some extra attention.

3. Get the most from your links: Sites like TwittyLinks make it easy for you to promote your website or blog unobtrusively.  One of the first rules of Twitter is to not talk about yourself all the time.  TwittyLinks let you talk about other topics while displaying a small header bar that can lead readers back to your website.

4. Follow your customers, prospects and suppliers: You want to hear what they’re saying.  Plus if you follow them, it increases the chances that they will follow you.

5. Reply to mentions and DMs as quickly as possible: Twitter is all about real-time results.  You’ll delight the people who are talking to you by giving them a quick reply.

6. Use hashtags: For hashtag basics, click here. Hashtags are a great way to expose your organization to a new group of people (the people following that hashtag).  For instance, if I’m a travel agent, I’d make sure to include #travel in many of my tweets and I’d always participate in #traveltuesday.  Many industries have predefined hashtags and “events” like #traveltuesday, so just do some searching to find yours.  An easy way to get acquainted with hashtags, is to participate in #followfriday.

7. Add TweetMeme to your blog: This makes it easy for people to tweet your posts, which can make your content viral.  Learn more about TweetMeme and how to install it here.

8. Be human: Be friendly, funny or otherwise engaging in your twittering.  You’ll build more relationships and see more positive impact.