At the top of your home page, Twitter asks "what are you doing?" What it's really asking, though, is what are you doing that has any value to anyone else. If you've used the micro-blogging service to any extent, you know far too many people fall into the temptation of writing Tweets stuffed with self-absorption and TMI (e.g., "number twoing last night's taco bell, should have said burrit-NO to fourthmeal"), whose worthwileness rank just below post-Under Siege Steven Seagal movies.

If, like me, you're trying to promote your own blog--something that does have a whiff of vanity, let's hope not of post-digestion Taco Bell--then value-add Tweets with links to your content can be a valuable addition to your promotional strategy, a tactic that can bring in the only thing better for a blogger than traffic: targeted traffic, the quality kind that leads to less bounces, more time on site, increased interaction and, if you've monetized, more ad deliveries (a.k.a. impressions) and a higher CTR (click-through rate, for the newbies and/or abbreviation challenged).

Stylin', Profilin'
Before you actually begin any micro-messaging, you should make sure your profile is optimized: a photo of your face (preferably of your good side, decently lit); a link to your blog in the URL entry; and an attention-getting bio line that drips with your individual verve, but still substantively communicates your writing topics of choice. Mine? "Web Gentleman 2.0 equally skilled in vlogging, tie tying and mustache growing/rocking/ride-giving."

Honey, I Shrunk the Earls!
You've only got a 140 characters--yes, in addition to inanity, brevity is encouraged--so it goes without saying, you've got to maximize your Tweet real estate (barely...able...to refrain from a bad contraction/pun here). With many URLs reaching unruly, character-hogging lengths, a shortening service is almost mandatory. There are many such sites that'll shrink the links; however, not all with the scientific precision of Rick Moranis. I recommend bit.ly, which in addition to the downsizing, also offers relatively robust tracking statistics, recording number of clicks, from whom and where, and even at what time.

Stuffing the Turkey
You've got your shrunken link; now you need to fill in the rest (approximately 120 characters remaining). With what? Your blog post title is an easy and effective go-to option: you should already be keyword stuffing--excuse me, optimizing--the title anyway, which is the point I'm getting to. The goal is to have your Tweet returned on the public timeline for any site-wide searches for your keywords; the people behind those searches, qualified by their keyword intent toward your topical niche, make up your targeted traffic.