Austin Texas Real Estate Blog

Although the title of this post says “Tip #2″, it could rightfully be called “Tip #0.5″ since it probably should have come before my first post on this topic. 

One of the biggest points of confusion/complaint with Twitter is this one:

“How can I possibly keep track of hundreds or thousands of people and their tweets?”

Well, you can’t.  So, I would highly recommend using a tool to screen out the noise so that you can really focus on the people you care about.  The top three sites that I can suggest for this purpose are Hootsuite, Tweetdeck, and Seesmic.

Each of these tools has its own features and advantages, which I’m not really intending to cover within the scope of this post, although I may visit each of these in a separate post sometime.  In a nutshell, Tweetdeck must be installed on each individual computer, while Hootsuite is a web-only application, and Seesmic offers both versions.  I have friends that love each one of them for different reasons.

Why are these applications so valuable?

If you remember nothing else here, keep this in mind:  Using a tool like this will enable you to create columns of people and things that YOU deem important.  In other words, you can sort out your REAL friends from the masses.  You can also set up searches by keyword, which is exceptionally valuable.  As a quick example,  wouldn’t you like to know every time someone mentioned moving to your area?

Sadly, many people give up on using Twitter as a business tool before they get around to filtering their feed. It seems overwhelming unless you take the time to narrow it down.  Believe me, I felt the same way when I started there.

As of this writing, I have just over 12,000 Twitter followers and I follow close to 9,000 accounts.  However, I have about 300 people/accounts in my “Real Friends” column.  Obviously, I add (and very occasionally, subtract) people over time, but it’s a focused list of folks that I’m interested in.  Maybe I know them “in real life”, or maybe we’ve just had some good conversations online.  Either way, these are set apart for easier digestion, as opposed to the social media firehose that Twitter could become if unmanaged.

I hope this helps – thanks for reading!

Originally Posted at: 210 Consulting- Social Media Advisors

When I started using Twitter back in the fall of 2008 (I had joined many months earlier, but barely used it up to that point), I was a little stumped by all of the lingo and the fast pace of the platform:

What is a "retweet"?  Why do I have to use an "@" symbol in front of everyone's name to talk to them?  Is anyone really listening?

Over time, I became much more comfortable with the platform, and it has been invaluable to me as a business tool.  I connected with my radio co-host there.  I recruited some people to work for our company.  I had real-world dollars in my pocket because of the things that I learned there and the people I met, some of whom I got to know in person as well.

In an effort to share some of the things that have worked for me, I am starting a series of posts about Twitter and its usage.  If you're looking to learn how to use Twitter as a legitimate tool to grow your business and your base of connections, you will probably want to follow along.

Today's tip (as you probably noticed in the title above) is this:

START OR JOIN A CONVERSATION

One analogy that I've heard and used to describe Twitter is that it's much like a big party.  If you are hanging out at a party, you will probably be part of many conversations throughout the event.  Sometimes the conversations get a little more in-depth, and sometimes they even get private.  Other times, you're just kidding around with friends and having a good time.  Most things that you can do with regard to networking in person can be done on Twitter as well, although I am not suggesting that Twitter or any other social media tool should replace face-to-face meetings.

HOW TO START A CONVERSATION

I know that this seems really rudimentary, but we've had so many clients ask this that I thought it would be pertinent to include here.  Think of how you start a conversation in person.  Do you mention a blog post you just wrote?  Well, maybe, but only if you describe it somehow and then chat about it afterward.  The same applies with Twitter.  Simply broadcasting your posts to the tweetstream with no commentary is valueless, in my humble opinion.  You can include them, to be sure, but only as part of a larger plan.

Try these ideas:

• Mention a cool article or video you have seen
• Take a poll
• Ask a question of any kind ("what is your favorite TV show/movie/80′s song?")
• Say something funny  - anything truly funny will usually get a good response
• Promote others by retweeting stuff you find interesting or wise

HOW TO JOIN A CONVERSATION

Unlike being at a real-life party, Twitter offers you the opportunity to join conversations with little chance of personal rejection.   If you spot something of interest, respond to it, as in, "Me, too.  That book changed my outlook on life in general."  If you see something funny, respond accordingly, "I laughed so hard just now that milk came out of my nose."

If you see a discussion about something that looks interesting or about which you can converse, just jump in and participate.  The worst case is no response at all, and you haven't really risked much, right?

Again, I recognize that this is pretty basic stuff, but I'm trying to illustrate that Twitter isn't mysterious or difficult.  It can facilitate things if you use it the right way.

I hope this is helpful for you.  I would love to hear your input below.   Thanks very much for reading!

Next Twitter tip (coming soon): Promoting others

I remember getting invited to check out Twitter about 2 years ago.  Next, I remember thinking that it seemed useless.  Months passed....I got emails that said things like, "@delicioushair is now following you on Twitter". WHAT?!?  Why? 

The notion of someone following me used to strike me as both odd and off-putting. I guess it sounds catchier than saying that someone is "paying attention to you on Twitter", but that's basically exactly what this means.  I prefer to think of my subscribers, friends, contacts, and followers as part of my online audience.  The better you are at building an audience, the more likely you are to convert this to actual business growth, in my opinion.

Over time, I got the hang of it, and I finally jumped in with both feet just over a year ago, and I'm thankful that I did.

As of a couple of days ago, I have over 10,000 people paying attention to me on Twitter.  What's the significance of this?  Well, by itself, not much.  I had a brief conversation on Twitter with Derek Overbey (@doverbey) after crossing this milestone.  He mentioned that quality is more important than quantity, and I agree wholeheartedly.  I think having BOTH is pretty nice, too.  :)

I consistently see Twitter users with 20,000 or even 50,000 followers who have really only built a very big house of cards for themselves.  They never converse with anyone, and they are still trying to use Twitter like a traditional marketing channel, by broadcasting information rather than hanging out and listening.

A few nights ago, I was happy to be able to attend a local "tweetup" (Twitter-based meetup) with author Shel Israel.  I even got to sit next to him at dinner, which made my day.  Shel is the author of the newly released book "Twitterville" and co-author with Robert Scoble of one of the seminal books on blogging, "Naked Conversations".  During dinner, we had an interesting discussion with my local friend Mike Chapman about the fact that no politician has truly utilized social media yet, including President Obama.  Obama's campaign certainly did a very effective job of using the tools to broadcast their message, but that's not the same thing as listening and joining the conversation.  Shel noted that it would be newsworthy (and bookworthy) for a candidate to do this.

As with the candidates who jump on the bandwagon to appear hip, the same thing goes for anyone attempting to use Twitter to build his/her business.  You must listen!  Sending links from your blog posts, or just having a profile is not enough.  What if someone responds to your post but you aren't even there to see it?  In much the same way, having a giant number of followers means nothing if they are all spambots, or if you are never around to speak with them.  Raw numbers are not the important part - engagement is.

I am happy to hit this new plateau, but I also recognize that the key to success in any social medium is being consistent. 

Over the past 24 hours, I had two of my agents contact me, excited about new prospects that they have.  One of them is looking to spend up to $3 million for a waterfront home (fully pre-screened - it's his friend's fiancee), and the other is considering homes priced in the $1 million range.  If they both close, I would stand to make $22,500 or more for our company.  Why am I bothering to tell you this?  Because I met BOTH of these agents on Twitter.  It's a phenomenal recruiting tool if handled correctly.

P.S. Just a quick tip: If you want to get serious about using Twitter to build relationships and your business, I would highly recommend using TweetDeck, Seesmic Desktop, or something similar.  It makes it easier to pay attention to the people you care about and form bonds with them.