You have to ask yourself this question.

Is it worth the time and effort to create a profile and be active on these sites for and extra one or two appointments a week maybe?

Do you understand that a single security lapse by facebook or yourself and your entire personal life can be exposed to some psycho?

I have noticed quite a few providers lately have created twitter accounts, even facebook and linkden profiles  and I am assuming  its for advertising purposes, just wondering if a a lot of the hobbyist out there are twitter savvy and hip to social networking? I am deciding if it would be a good idea to create one myself. I guess it cant hurt but is it really worth the time. your opinions on pros and cons of it would be great

Twitter is a silly and quirky way to have fun. I've actually been able to make connections with a lot of great ladies in the industry. We exchange safety info, tips on travel/hotels, etc. As a matter of fact Twitter will lead to an episode with a lovely blond in a sauna in ATL. LOL Or at the very least me making a new friend.

But seriously, Twitter for me when interacting with clients is more about connecting on another level. I don't really post where I am available or anything like that. I do post pics and video that I take when I am bored. Photos/Videos which never make it to my website, in fact.

Kisses,
Vanica

Interesting post.  I thought twitter was for celebrities...No?  I don't social network at all, even despise text,  so I can't see it being a viable source.  It definitely wouldn't work for me...
But the majority of my business is not Internet based either.

these tools are in wide use for social interaction and information exchange, so marketers everywhere are trying to horn in on their use.  each marketing case has its own peculiarities.  in this case, you'd want to look very simply on the way each one is used.  would your clients or prospects want to friend you on facebook?  would they appreciate your tweets to the point of staying connected to your feed of comments, info?  if you do have an audience (potentially), what would you say?  ask them and think it through.  maybe experiment a little.  in this case, i think the desire for secrecy and anonymity might cancel any potential for these tools.

If you use a hobby phone and a hobby email address, why not a hobby twitter account? I recently did this and am enjoying it quite a bit. I can mention things I'd NEVER mention on my personal twitter, and follow people I'd never follow as well.

Facebook, I'm not so sure about. Linked-In, definitely not, that's for business networking.