Using Multiple Accounts on Twitter

I recently came across a site where the blogger had previously played with using different Twitter accounts to help drive traffic to two quite different blogs he was writing.

(Again, I apologize for not posting a link to his site, but I can't find it. This happened about two weeks ago. Stress induced amnesia.)

Basically, what is your stance on multiple Twitter accounts?

Multiple Twitter Accounts are Bad

With multiple Twitter accounts, you are most likely limiting your tweets to a specific topic. The people who are following you are interested in that topic... or else they wouldn't be following you.
However, you find that if you are interested in two different and diverse topics, say typography and making money online, then you might find there are others interested in both. So you decide to just focus on one account.

Now your followers are getting tweets on typography AND making money online. But how many are actually interested in both topics? If your design friends aren't interested in making money online, then you're spamming them.

Other problems: You have to keep straight which account you are currently signed in as, or use another piece of software to keep your accounts separate. Using multiple accounts is more work, especially if you are focusing on creating meaningful content for diverse audiences.

Multiple Twitter Accounts are Good

I'm actually for multiple Twitter accounts. In my opinion, having separate accounts is better for your readers because it means they only receive tweets they are interested in.

To me this is a way of targeting your message better. By using software such as HootSuite its possible to track the number of clicks to URLs you send out, so you can easily see how popular a particular topic is with a set of followers. Its a simple numbers game, and you can analyze click-through rates and see what articles do best.

Each Twitter account is a brand that will develop its own group of followers just like the brands created by Nike or Coke.

By keeping your posts tied to your brand and targeting your followers correctly, you be more successful in your online business.

Now I'm just a low-level blogger who probably has too many "brands" going on at the moment. What do *you* think about using multiple Twitter accounts?

Let me know with your comments. I'd love to hear from some traditional marketing type people.