To people who still think Twitter is a waste or don't see value in it, I describe it as an incredible social networking soup made from a phenomenal array of ingredients. These social networking ingredients, originating from all over the world, could have never been brought together before. But now, all of them are available in a single soup pot, cooked, and ready for anyone to dish out a bowl of this unique Twitter soup mixture.

But here’s a catch.

What you’ll taste in this social networking soup is completely dependent on how good the ladle is you use to scoop the soup!

Use a great ladle, and you’ll experience with Twitter an incredible combination of tastes you’ve never experienced before.

Use a crappy one – one with holes; one that’s too small (or too big); one that’s too cumbersome to handle properly – and it won’t just be the soup isn’t any good. It will be the foulest tasting soup you’ve ever had. If you’re in polite company, you may choke it down. If you aren’t, you won’t hesitate for an instant to spit out.

How to make sure your ladle is absolutely the right one?

Think back to all the how-to’s you’ve seen on cultivating the right audience on Twitter, engaging with others (to keep your "ingredients" fresh), using the right social media monitoring tools in the right ways for you and your organization. All of those things help make sure your ladle is the best one it can be.

If you have the right one, Twitter isn’t difficult to understand and benefit from in multiple dimensions. With the wrong one, however, Twitter (and much of social media), IS a waste!

How is your social networking ladle working? Mike Brown

The Brainzooming Group helps make smart organizations more successful by rapidly expanding their strategic options and creating innovative plans they can efficiently implement. Email us at brainzooming@gmail.com or call 816-509-5320 to learn how we’ve developed  integrated social media strategy for other brands and can do the same for yours.