The key to using it successfully: make sure you’re focussed and engage.
You need followers – but make sure you have a criteria for who you’re going to follow. They need to be relevant or you’ll risk wasting a lot of time.
Twitter is full of information, but it can be too much. Use Twitter Lists to make sure you always keep up with those that matter.
To get people to follow you back, try interacting with them as you start to follow. You need to stand out, so like, retweet, and comment.