How about the Demi and Aplusk tease approach? Already be famous and get your fans to feel that much closer to being part of your entourage.

Then there is the Stephen Fry approach. Be famous AND follow back AND be engaging and you will go to the top.

Then there is the Bette Davis: Be mysterious and alluring. Many ladies try this approach, and it may be a good strategy for certain types of products.

You can`t neglect the Warren Ellis or Neil Gaiman approach if you are a writer. You extend your personna online in your tweets, giving out epithets that intrigue and build a fan base, as well as letting fans know about upcoming work, book signings etc. I have also seen visual artists using this approach, tweeting about art in progress etc.

Given that, the best programs are ones which have planned a sustainable approach, one which is easily transferred from the power of the agency to the client. It’s not easy. Consider the connections you make with people on Twitter. You follow them, RT, and @ reply because of THEIR voice and your ongoing relationship to that specific person. Now, imagine if that person was from a paid agency, and the program, having met its goals, ended. Would you still follow them, RT, and @ reply if their voice was no longer theirs, but an entirely different person all together? Not likely.

This is SOCIAL media, not brand media. We fall for the personalities and insights of THE PEOPLE behind the twitter handle, blog logos, and brand names. So, before putting any client into a social media program, they need to know that just like in real life, when you start acting differently or, even worse, ignoring someone completely, your "friends" will move on without you–your relationship will be in the past.

It was called the golden rule for a reason: "Do unto others as you’ll have done unto you." As long as a brand starts thinking, not from the perspective of a brand, but from the perspective of a person, that rule will take them far in social media.