Nothing wrong with putting in your own name. But you can make the name more casual "TomTheDogTrainer" etc :-)

About whether your name or pen name, that depends on you entirely.

Why bother with the hardcore business branding?

Why not just appeal to people on a personal level?

Thing is when you start off on twitter recruiting followers you want them to trust you and what you tweet about. Do this only on an informal level initially and you'll likely lower people's natural defences and scepticism.

I did!

What has worked for my niche marketing campaigns on twitter is a name related to the niche but a name that doesn't look spammy or make my future customers feel they are being sold or lectured to. Using positive emotional words in your twitter name is good too.

For example:

ILoveDogs rather than DogTrainingExpert
BloggingIsFun rather than NicheBloggingGuru

You see where I am coming from here?

Once you've recruited a 'hungry' hoard of targeted followers by building relationships and proferring good advice with no financial returns for yourself then go for the sell!

Just my two cents.

All the best to you anyway.

Garry.

[DELETED]

I use a pen name on one of my niches. I feel more comfortable talking to a real person rather than a ..umm.. noun.

I personally use a combination of both my own name and pen names as well depending on where I am posting/commenting. No real logic to why!!

I have created one Twitter ebook and giving free for warriors.
you may check my signature

Thank you.
Jai

I have 10 Twitter accounts (niched). One is my real name. I have three dogs which each have their own. (OK I'm a nut). The dog's followers are by far the most responsive. Several celebrities follow them. One that only follows 30 others also follows one of my dogs.

It is a strange world.

If your building a personal - then I say you go with your name. But I also use niches for my twitter names.

Very interesting about that dog twitter account. I will take into consideration.

my company/web site name.. you never know.. the brand may just take off..

I would go with option 2 or 3, especially if you're planning on going into different niches and using multiple Twitter accounts. If push came to shove, I'd use a pen name that had the niche primary keyword in it.

It should be something that related to your niche, it will keep on people's mind more effectively.

Your Own name should be the one because it helps you build your personal brand and helps people to search for you easily.

Pen Name I dont recommend unless you just tweeting for fun

Something Related to your niche has some what benefits because it ranks high on search engines.

I overall recommend you pick your Name as your Twitter username.

I use my own name on twitter. It's a social network. If you went to a social event how would you introduce yourself?

I personally like the personal level. People like to work with people. The more natural you can come off the better. I say go with your name. This will help you make yourself an industry expert

Hi Martin,
You can do all 3.
I would always have a separate personal account & an account name using the niche keywords (that makes SEO sense). Always try to come across as a 'person' instead of a business.