I’ll admit it.

Three years ago I thought Twitter was a complete waste of time. I hated it and couldn’t figure out why people were wasting so much time there.

But that’s changed.

Today I think Twitter is mostly a waste of time. Despite what all the Social Media gurus are saying about it.

Don’t believe me? Check out the trending topics. As I write this, they include: #verysexy, #notsexy, and #thatssexy. As you can imagine the thousands of tweets with those hash tags range from offensive to silly. No value, in my opinion.

Also trending are #uncleleo and #lenlesser. Mr Lesser, who played Uncle Leo on Seinfeld, just passed away. Sad. Unfortunate. But not exactly useful or actionable information.

#BluCantrell is also trending, which means that tens of thousands of people are tweeting, “Why is Blu Cantrell trending?”

So like I said, Twitter is mostly a waste of time.

But I’m on Twitter. And I check it just about every day.

Here’s how I get value from Twitter:

First, as a broadcast channel. When I post to my blog, I usually add a link in my Twitter feed. Other than Google and direct type-ins, Twitter drives more traffic to this site than any other source. Occasionally someone will retweet my links, driving even more traffic (thank you!). And, from time to time, I’ll link to other stuff I find interesting, usually things to do with branding, story, and business strategy. I don’t tweet every day, and you won’t ever read about my lunch in my timeline.

If you’re interested, you can follow my Twitter feed here.

Second, I use Twitter to find interesting and useful information. I don’t follow very many feeds. It’s not that I don’t want to, it’s just that I can’t possibly keep up with the stream of information produced by so many people. Nothing personal, I just don’t have the time.

So in addition to a few friends and local news feeds, I follow authors that I admire, business thinkers who impress me, and occasionally a comedian or personality I find interesting.

When someone follows me, I’ll immediately open their twitter feed and read what they’ve posted recently. If there are lots of foursquare check-ins, tweets about their Starbucks orders, or news about the latest badge they’ve earned, I don’t follow. If their tweets are protected so I can’t see them, I don’t follow. If they don’t tweet in English, I don’t follow (I wish I read Portuguese, Italian, German, and Chinese, but I don’t—and there’s not much point in reading tweets I can’t understand).

Again, it’s nothing personal. That stuff just crowds out what I’m looking for.

But if they post interesting ideas, links to articles and information that I can learn from, I’ll follow them back because it looks like they won’t waste my time.

I don’t expect anyone to follow me (even if I follow them). But if you do, I hope my tweets are useful and not just more spam filling up your timeline.

I know that many social media experts would argue that I’m using Twitter wrong. It’s a communication medium, a way to reach out and connect. And that may be true. But the 140 character limit makes real conversation nearly impossible. Others make it work. But it doesn’t work for me.

How do you use Twitter?

When it comes to telling a compelling brand story, nothing is more powerful (or more effective) than letting your customers do the talking.

That’s exactly what Patagonia has been doing for three decades.

Every year, customers send more than 80,000 photographs of themselves doing the things they love—wearing Patagonia gear.

And the results are stunning.

Rock climbers. Tree sitters. Alpine skiers. Hikers. Wild-life.

Thousands of photos taken in places with crazy names like: Suicide Rock, The Thrill is Gone, and The Asylum.

A recent issue of the catalog featured stories of failure—written by climbers who got tantalizingly close to a summit, only to have to quit climbing before reaching the top. Sometimes it really is about the journey (though not always by choice).

And between the customer stories are photos and descriptions of the gear that makes it all possible.

Visit Patagonia.com and you’ll see more of the same.

Customer photos and stories featured on the home page and blog.

And a microsite called the Tin Shed (harking back to the shed in which Patagonia first opened) where you can see even more photos, watch video, and hear audio from customers like Maxime Turgeon who rode his bike 770 miles around the Alps looking for new climbing routes to try.

Or check out the story of Fletcher Chouinard and several others who visit the Mentawai Islands off the coast of Sumatra to test their new surf boards.

There’s some really good stuff here.

Patagonia gets bonus points for its “Spread the Shed” feature which makes it easy to tweet, email, dig, and otherwise share these incredible stories.

Or check out Patagonia’s Youtube channel where you’ll find more of the same…

And their twitter feed. And their Facebook page.

The most important part of these stories is that they aren’t about Patagonia at all. No talk about the triple stitching or waterproofing of the jacket a person is wearing. Or the unique cut of a fleece liner.

Just aspirational images and stories about what their customers love to do.

And by retelling these stories in their marketing materials, Patagonia shows their customers that they get it.

They are a natural part of their customer’s world. A brand they can trust.

The reality is that customers often tell the story better than the marketing department. So why not let them?

Tired of reading articles about how good Apple is at branding?

Or Zappos and their over-the-top customer service?

Or SouthWest Airlines and their unique approaches to people management?

Many people say they really can’t learn much from case studies like these because the companies are so big and enjoy huge marketing budgets, operational efficiencies, and a loyal customer base.

Advantages most businesses only dream of.

So how do you get the word out when you only have a few thousand dollars in your marketing budget?

Aren’t there small businesses facing challenges worth profiling?

Yes.

Take a look at Madsen Cycles.

This small company is doing a lot of things right.

The cycling world is notoriously competitive. The market leader, Trek, sucks up a lot of media attention (thanks in no small part to Lance Armstrong). And there are literally dozens of competitors fighting for the rest of the market: BMC, Felt, Colnago, Schwinn, Cannondale, Ibis, Klein, Lemond, Time, Merckx, Cervelo, Orbea, Pinarello, Scott, Seven, Litespeed, Specialized, Bianchi—the list goes on.

So how does a new start up compete against all these established brands?

Here are a few of the things Madsen is doing right:

Start with a remarkable product.

Rather than creating yet another look-alike road or mountain bike, company founder Jared Madsen focuses on an entirely different category—the cargo bike or bucket bike.

It looks totally different. Almost unexpected.

There’s a good chance you’ve never seen anything like it.

You want to say to the person next to you, “Check that out.”

It’s not just the look. Jared has introduced a lot of unique features you won’t find on other bikes—a massive bucket for hauling groceries or kids, an attached, automatic lock so you never worry about security, and originally designed components like the long stem that helps the bike ride more comfortably.

In part, because of its unique design, Madsen cycles has been featured in several publications, most recently Outside Magazine.

It’s a truly remarkable bike.

Find a new, unique market.

Madsen Cycles doesn’t make bikes for hard-core racers or mountain bikers. Instead, this is a commuter bike. It’s the perfect bike for a mom running errands around the neighborhood or a dad wanting to take the kids out for a spin.

That doesn’t mean that hard-core bikers don’t want one.  They do, as a second bike to tool around town on.

Madsen Cycles makes bikes, but they don’t worry too much about Trek and other big manufacturers (yet) because they don’t make those bikes.

Madsen Cycles has a great story.

Jared, a bike lover and engineer, had the idea that his bike could be doing more. After seeing European bikes with a large bucket on the front, he bolted a wheel-barrow bucket to the front of his bike and started riding around the neighborhood. But he didn’t like the awkward center of gravity, so he moved the bucket to the back and started building prototypes. It didn’t take long before other people wanted one and soon he was making them for everyone. Read more here.

Madsen uses a very consistent look and feel.

Check out Madsen’s website. If you knew nothing else about the company, you would likely assume that this is a much bigger business that it actually is.

They’ve invested in a professional design for their logo and website and use a professional photographer to take pictures of their products. They’ve also invested a lot of time and effort into creating an attractive booth for use at tradeshows and expos. They could have skimped on these things and gotten by, but the attention to detail shows through in the quality of their communications.

The result is a brand identity that is consistent and likeable.

They use social media to get the word out.

Madsen can’t afford a full-page placement in Bicycling Magazine, and it’s doubtful that their customers read Bicycling anyway.

Instead, they rely on word of mouth from their customers. And they seed those conversations with updates and videos on their blog, at YouTube, on Facebook and Twitter.

Their videos smartly feature Jared talking about what makes a Madsen different and point out many of the unique features you get with a Madsen Cycle that other bikes don’t offer. They are simple and effective. Here’s an example (more here).

Madsen has also sponsored several events to show-off their products and introduce their bikes to new audiences.

The Madsen Cycle Link Contest

To encourage their customers and fans to spread the word about Madsen, they run a contest every year. When fans post a new link from their websites or blogs back to Madsen, they are entered to win a new bike (they’re not exactly cheap, so this is a great prize). Not only does this spread the word, but it provides link-backs to their website which helps with their organic search rank. The company even provides several banner ads of different sizes to make it as easy as possible for customers to spread the word. Like this one:

Some day Madsen Cycles may be a big company with all the advantages of big budgets, lots of employees, and operational efficiencies. But for now, they’re a small company doing a lot of things right.

What can you take from their experience?

Full disclosure: Though I haven’t done any work for Madsen Cycles, I consider Jared a friend and have had the pleasure of riding along side him (or more truthfully, way behind him) on several morning rides. And I want a Madsen.

A couple of thoughts on social media:

Social media has been the “it” channel for a while now. There are dozens of books that will teach you how to do social media, or tell you why it’s important. There are even more blog posts and websites. Advertising associated with social media is sky rocketing—approaching $1.7 billion this year.

The thing that makes social media work is the feedback loop, or “conversation” as the gurus like to call it. And because companies can’t control the customer’s half of the “conversation”, social media can create significant problems for some brands.

Todd Wasserman recently pointed out in a Brandweek article that alcohol brands are having difficulty with this very thing. Fans post messages to Facebook that don’t exactly fit the marketing message:

“I have a problem having just one,” says one commenter.

“Get drunk,” says another.

These aren’t exactly messages that fit with the “drink responsibly” warning at the end of most beer commercials.

And to make matters worse, social media sites don’t make it difficult for minors to gain access to these pages. (Although the cynic in me thinks that this may be exactly why alcohol brands have jumped into social media, despite the risks.)

So, should sin brands do social media?

Probably not. At least, not without some way to limit access or control both sides of the “conversation” which eliminates the purpose of social media in the first place.

But that begs a wider question: who should do social media and why?

My guess is that most brands don’t ask those questions before they jump in.

What exactly will a Facebook page, Twitter account, or company blog do to help meet business objectives? How will you measure it?

Social media can be a great tool for customer support. And public relations. It can be a good promotional tool as well—seeding your most ardent fans with the latest news, promotions, and special offers. It can be a good way to solicit feedback and ideas.

But when it comes right down to it, social media is just another tool.

Brands need to think before they jump in, then use it wisely once they are there.