I use a different system
I know that short links are usually somewhat helpful, so I usually reserve a directory at root of the web server for such a system. For example, example.com/url/* is a shortened link, and I can make it clear what they'll see at that page and logical. People still know that it's my site they're contacting, and although the links may be longer than some of the shorteners out there, they can be quite short because there is no competition that drives up the key length and they will fit into tweets or short messages should someone want to send them.