Twitter requires engagement. If you don't spend at least 5 minutes a day "managing" your Twitter presence, you won't get a lot out of it.
(The therapist had protected his tweets -- meaning you have to get his approval before you can see what he's tweeting. I don't recommend this. Here's why:)
Protecting your tweets limits your engagement ... these two articles (especially the 23-slide presentation in the second article) spell out why you shouldn't protect your tweets.
Protecting your tweets is like going to a party and listening into all the people's conversations, but not talking to any of the people unless they ask permission first. "Hey, Terry. Is it all right if I start talking to you now?" Jump right in! And let other people jump in and see what you're sharing too.
Most people find they get more "out" of Twitter than they put "into" it -- that is, it's a unique resource to identify ideas, people, and information that you won't find elsewhere. For therapists, I don't recommend trying to connect with potential clients on there (although there are certainly numerous therapists who have developed substantial followings and clients from Twitter), but instead use it to keep up on resources and quotes that you can share with your clients, followers (just Retweet the info you find), and share across other social media platforms (i.e., your Facebook business page).
You can see who I'm following in the therapy world here:
Sometimes you'll come across things that are really interesting -- like this cartoonist, which I found on Twitter:
Also -- Twitter has a pretty high visibility ranking for Google searches, which again helps your "know, like, and trust" factor when prospective clients Google you. (And they *are* Googling you...)
You can also connect with the media on Twitter; follow them, and they are likely to follow you back. I've made some great connections for clients on Twitter by following media folks who are on there.
Here are some therapists to emulate:
@PeterBrownPsy (although you don't have to be as prolific a Tweeter as he is)
Don't be like these people:
@FinktheShrink (holla to all my peeps! Oh, and here's my website. And here's my website again!)
@DCAssociates (they were doing well for about 3 months on there, and then their last post was July 2010)
3) If you really don't want to monitor another channel, don't be on Twitter. It does require work (5 minutes a day or 20 minutes a week will do it) to get value out of it.
You could consider just linking your Facebook business page to your Twitter account and it will post new content when you post a status update to that page. Then, you can spend 5 minutes a day monitoring your account -- following new people (the "Who to Follow" tab at the top will give you recommendations), checking to see if any of your stuff has been Retweeted (click the "@Mentions" tab), and reading the most recent 30 or 40 tweets in your Timeline, retweeting anything you liked.
What are your thoughts on Twitter?
