You know who I’m talking about. Those individuals, corporations and brands that engage with you and their followers, who keep the dialog moving, and generally, who make the Twitter platform one ongoing, dynamic cocktail party conversation.

Considering I’m used to seeing posts about the lack of effective Twitter use (heck, I even wrote a blog about it: Is this thing on?), I thought I should highlight a few Twitter handles that actually do things right.

Before I do that, I should clarify how you can do some things right on Twitter. Here are three good starting points:

1) Listen (who else is commenting about your industry, your product, etc.)

2) Reply, retweet, and respond to EVERY @ mention. Miss one, and you’re missing the mark. People like to be acknowledged.

3) Post content that’s of value to others, use humor, or create thought-provoking stuff. Do not be afraid to make your voice heard.

So who do I follow that’s making a valiant attempt at using the platform effectively (using one or more techniques)? More importantly, what are they exactly doing to stand out from the competition? I’ve noticed their efforts, have you? (In no particular order – purely my opinion based on personal experience with them.)

My current top 10 Twitter Rockstars:

1) @StormyKromer

2) @altonbrown

3) @philgerb

4) @bartolottas

5) @thepipebit

6) @carmex

7) @MKEfoodies

8) @ShelMKE

9) @GR8socialmedia

10) @Versalytics

You’ll notice, these are not handles with 100K+ followers. Many have a few hundred, or maybe a few thousand rallying behind them, but it’s not a massive audience. I believe it’s what they say that matters most.

Is your personal handle or brand part of this list? If not, what can you start doing today to get one step closer to being on it? Doing so will help garner you more attention, better customer feedback, generate more revenue, and hopefully, get you one step closer to celebrity rock star status online.

Duane Drzadinski is a social media marketing strategist, consultant and trainer. He is passionate about helping individuals, entrepreneurs and small business owners generate RESULTS from their online efforts. In addition, he began helping Milwaukee become more sustainable by launching Compost Express, an organic recycling business. Follow him on Twitter @duanedrzadinski