"Why is Tweeting on Twitter good for your real estate business?"  you ask. Because that is where the people are!!  Twittermania began last month when Oprah ‘tweeted' for the first time. For the week ending May 9, HitWise ranked Twitter.com as the #6 social networking website. All those young ‘20 and 30 somethings' who are first time home buyers hang out there. Like all buyers, they want to know you and trust you before they do business with you. 

The next question most people ask is, "What is Twitter?" Twitter is a micro-blog that allows posts of no more than 140 characters. As with other social networking sites, Twitter is not the place to sell, sell, sell and jam real estate down people throats, but a place to be yourself, be real and let people get to know you. Can you slip real estate in there once in awhile, sure, but don't make it all about real estate. Camouflage your business related info and have some fun. 

So how do you get started? Below is a Beginners Guide to Twitter to help you out: 

1. Sign up. 

Go to Twitter.com, click on the large green button that says, ‘Get Started - Join!'

Enter your name, user name, password and email address. Pick a user name that isn't too cutsey. You want people to know who you are, but using your real name is better than sellyourhomefast. 

2. Send your first tweet. 

When you log in you will see a large box in the top left corner that says, "What Are You Doing?" Type anything you want here but don't go over 140 characters. 

3. Settings. 

Click on? Settings in the top right corner and personalize your account. Add your photo and other information about yourself. 

4. Find people. 

Search Twitter for your friends, invite other to join, and check to see if friends from other email services have a Twitter account.

5. Follow users.

You choose who you want to follow. Click on the user's photo or name to go to that person's page. There is a list of suggested users to get you started. 

6. Protect your updates.

You can protect your updates by only allowing people you approve to follow you. It is a good idea not to put anything on the Internet you don't want your Mother to know about. 

7. Search. 

Click on the ‘Search' button at the bottom of your screen to search all tweets on Twitter like you search on Google. You can also bookmark search.twitter.com. 

8. Notices. 

Twitter can remind you if you haven't tweeted in less than 24 hours, email you when someone starts following you, and email you when you receive a direct message (private message just to you). 

9. Apps.

There are numerous Twitter applications so you can easily find out what your friends are doing. TweetDeck puts a widget on your desktop so you can follow tweets without logging in. It shows you everything you want to see all at once. There are lots more you will want to check out. 

Consider jumping on the bandwagon and being where the action is. My user name is ruthannmacklin...I'd love you to follow me! 

Don't have time to set up a Twitter account? Contact me at info@myreassistant.com. As your real estate virtual assistant, I'm glad to do it for you!