Harnessing Twitter Chat for Personal Brand Building

Some call it a Twitter party. Others call it a tweet chat. Then there are those who call it a powerful brand-building tool—these are the people to whom you want to pay attention when it comes to Twitter chats.

Twitter chats, public conversations on Twitter in which people participate by using unique hashtags, have become important communication vessels for people with a shared interest, people with specific questions and businesses interested in building their brand.

The chats take place at a regularly scheduled time—perhaps daily, most likely weekly. They allow people from around the world to connect with other people who are interested in the same subject. Participants share ideas and information. They ask questions of one another and they are constantly on the lookout for experts who can provide reliable, authentic information.

That’s where you come into play.

If you throw yourself into the mix and add value to the conversation, you can establish yourself (and by extension your organization) as a thought-leader in your industry.

Here’s a quick look at how you can harness the power of Twitter chat for personal (and professional) brand building:

Decide whether or not you have the time. Successfully leveraging Twitter chat takes time, effort and commitment. You won’t do yourself any favors if you jump in and out of a conversation on an infrequent basis. And you might even hurt your brand if you decide to start your own chat and then let it languish and die.

Define your topic. This is a critical brand-building step that can’t be overlooked. There are myriad topics—even within specific industries. Figure out which topic you can make the most of, and then find the forum.

Find the forum that’s right for you. If you've got a lot of time, energy, drive and ideas to share, you might want to start your own Twitter chat. If you do, you’ll be expected to generate conversation topics, keep it going and moderate. If you don’t have the time or want ease into it, you can find an existing chat and start participating by using its unique hashtag.