Twitter: Think Outside The Box.

But – score one for the independent PR consultants and small PR firms. If you want to talk numbers, myself and a large number of other independent PR pros have been either out on Twitter longer, and/or (in my case) working it harder, as there are several of us with larger followings than any of those on PR Newsweek’s list.

But you put your finger on the heart of the matter. It is not all about the numbers. You are correct, Twitter is just another tool in the PR toolkit. It is shiny and new, and has unique aspects to it. Learn how it works, learn the sites “culture or style,” first.

Yes, numbers mean something – if you are not sending out useful info, and are not engaging with your clients and prospects – your following will not grow. Along with those who just tweet out their clients press releases – that won’t fly either.

Twitter works when you use the tool to actually connect and engage with others in authentic ways. Sure, I answer the somewhat silly question at the top of the page “what are you doing?” sometimes. It puts a face to the company, it gives people a sense about you. It is pretty hard to lie over time in 140 character bites. It makes us human.

More often I trying to answer a different set of questions – what do these people want to hear about? How can I help connect those who have opted into my stream of messages, with info they would find useful? I think: who here would be interested in hearing about my clients (always disclosed, which can be tough in 140 characters), and try and connect 1 on 1 when possible.

For example, I have a book author client with a book targeted to mothers. I connected with several mommy bloggers in September via Twitter. In October/November, two of them tweeted requests for books for moms for large holiday giveaways. I started a dialogue – and 3 of my client’s books were featured close to the top of the page on both giveaways, with full reviews. One book in the series book was just featured again for another site giveaway, at the top of the page where everyone who registered to win the goodie bag saw it. I’m still waiting for figures – the mom blogger has a sick 2 year-old.

These results are very small examples, and can’t compete with larger promotions from the big PR firms, but the Model Does Compete. Find your client’s constituents, connect with them authentically on places like Twitter. And move the dialogue forward appropriately. I just participated in an online twitter chat and was asked by the mommy blog site owner (who I’ve been in touch with via twitter on and off for a while) to submit a follow-up piece on what PR pros would like to see on a blogger’s site. The trust begins to build.