Just a quick note to wish my Jewish colleagues a Happy New Year!

I’ll be back on Thursday with a great interview with Melanie Notkin of Savvy Auntie, which is the first “community for Aunts, Great Aunts, Godmothers and all women who love kids”. Melanie’s business is only a few months old, but it has grown almost entirely on word-of-mouse through her involvement in social networking. On Thursday, we’ll hear how she’s applied the “Planting Seeds online” philosophy to grow Savvy Auntie.

After that, we’ll continue our LRI - Listening, Responding, Initiating series.

See you back here on Thursday!

I was recently asked for some quick Twitter tips by a colleague. I came up with two lists, the first about what to think about when updating your Twitter stream, the second looks at three important tips to get more out of Twitter.

Let’s tackle the first list today and move onto the second tomorrow.

Feel free to add your own tips in the comments thread below!

• Two things to think about when you update on Twitter:

1. How can I add value?
Whether it is by pointing people to a specific link, answering someone’s question or just by being generally supportive or helpful, you always want to be thinking about how you’re adding value to your “followers”.

Though this may mean different things to different people, the powerful thing here is that you’ll get to know people on Twitter, so you’ll be in a position to know what kinds of things are important on a case-by-case basis.

2. Be conversational
The best approach about being on Twitter, and probably on any social network for that matter, is to be out there to develop relationships. The best way to do that is to be yourself, be funny, respond to people, join conversations and so forth. Be conversational, respond to others and give before you take.

This list, of course, can go on. But to my way of thinking, these are two big keys. Feel free to add to the list if you feel different!

Back tomorrow with more Quick Twitter Thoughts.