Social media & micro-blogging sites like Twitter have changed how many companies market themselves on the internet. They are looking for cutting-edge ideas to win over new friends and followers to convert into potential customers. The dilemma is striking the right balance of friendly conversation and product pitch.

AlexKaris poste a tweet in February of 2009 asking What is the NUMBER 1 reason you unfollow people? “Tired of watching them self promote with links and no interaction” was the winning response with 42% of the votes.

My dilemma as a businesswoman on Twitter is the more I communicated and became part of the Twitter community I became cautious about making a full sales pitch to my followers. Early in my foray into Twitter I noticed the followers who only sent out a barrage of sales Tweets with zero interaction became annoying. My goal was to avoid becoming “that guy/gal” who only tweeted 140 character Twitfomercials.

There are several questions I asked myself. If I interact too much, too little, give an occasional sales pitch or lay low will I be unfollowed? How do I communicate about my website its content and customer service without alienating potential customers? How do I avoid sabotaging the positive reputation I was building on Twitter?

I discovered perfect example of finding the social vs. selling balance on Twitter was @ricklondon. Rick London Group, LLC CEO Rick London takes a personal approach putting himself forward as the face of his company on Twitter. He provides links to his humorous cartoons, promotes his celebrity clients & freely interacts within the online community.

Take proactive steps to market yourself and your brand to the Twitter community. Grow your following first by tweeting with those in your immediate network. Tweet music famous quotations, and jokes if you do not want to participate in friendly banter. Finally use your tweets to attract and coax your base to your internet site.