“A twit what?” you may ask.

A twitpitch is a description in 140 characters of what you do in work, life or play—or any important appeal or objective—presented in the space it takes for a single tweet.

We now meet many of the important people with whom we work, live and play in the digital world of Twitter. What makes Twitter  unique is that everybody has the same allotment of 140 characters. But if we have done our due diligence, we have a targeted audience that will give us a moment of the valuable time they spend on Twitter.

Very few people are prepared to interact on Twitter in this way. The idea of an twitpitch is to have a prepared tweet that grabs attention and says “all one needs to know about you or your objective” in 140 characters or less.

What are you going to say?

By effectively tweeting the essence of your lifework, you will be marketing yourself and your business in a way that makes people want to know more.

Why prepare a twitpitch? Because preparation is vital in today’s world of radical discontinuity, and it is no different for your twitpitch. It is imperative to work on these 140 characters until they are perfectly crafted.

This tweet is one worth memorizing. Make it such a part of who you are that if someone startled you during a nap, and asked what you do, you would smoothly and without hesitation quote them your twitpitch. This tweet will serve as your brief introduction to others—so it has to be great!

Where and when do I use this twitpitch? Of course, if someone follows you on Twitter, use it for them. But it also comes in handy when you attend an event, a conference, a convention, or some other type of meeting.  The twitpitch becomes useful in real life.

One of the first things people ask these days upon meeting is, “What do you do?” followed inevitably by the question, “Are you on Twitter?” If you give them the usual answer to the first question, they see that you are a lawyer…or an accountant … or a consultant … or an artist…or a pastor…or insert your title.

They will often label you in their mind with all of the stereotypes they perceive those occupations carry with them.

However, if you turn your twitpitch around and start with an answer like, “I work with small businesses that are grappling with computer problems,” (70 characters), right away — especially if they own a small business—their ears will perk up and want to know more.

It is the law of attraction.

I suggest working on this pitch and memorizing it because our natural reaction to the question, “What do you do?” is to answer with a label. We then go on to describe the things we do instead of sharing the benefits they will get from working with us.

Rather than thinking of ourselves as “culture creators” we picture ourselves as “being our occupation.”

How do I present my twitpitch? The more often you tweet and present your pitch, the better it will become. You will easily be able to tweak and add enthusiasm and energy to the tweet, because it will be so much fun experiencing the unique reactions to what you are saying. I suggest taking advantage of the wide variety of tweet-ups (networking events) in your sphere of influence.

Succinct. Evocative. Compelling.

A great twitpitch will make you memorable.

How do I craft my twitpitch? Tweak. Tweak. Tweak your Twit. Oops!

Well, you know what I mean. Run it by people you trust and listen to their input. Watch the reactions on Twitter and adjust if needed.

Don’t worry if your “Twitpitch” isn’t perfect in the beginning. As you present it, it will develop and refine, and before long, you will be getting a surprising amount of business—or, at the very minimum—a growing number of followers who want to hear what you have to say.

Here is my initial go at a personal twitpitch.

I am a creative who lives to spread influence by mentoring and encouraging influential people to diffuse ideas and create culture. (130 characters)

What do you think about mine?

Suggestions?

Now, give your initial twitpitch a go in the comments below on this post. Be brave. Do it!