I must say that I love the Twitter technology.  Thanks to Iranian elections, it has reached critical mass which means that most of your target clients are not on the network.  I routinely use the technology to offer discounts to the RedX service and to provide updates on dedicated the dedicated listing URL service, and know that for a REALTOR, it can be a very large source of leads.

So as an individual that is new to Twitter, how do you use it to get sales leads?  Well, the service provides a window into your client’s mind, and ancillary services give you instant notification when your client is thinking about real estate.  You can then connect with that prospect online to direct them toward your services.  It’s sort of like someone making the announcement in a crowded room that they are looking for a home, and you responding to them by saying, that’s great because I have one to sell.  So how do you get set up to use Twitter as a lead generation tool?  My recommendations would be as follows: 

1)  Register for a Twitter account, upload your picture, add your website, change the background, and make yourself at home.

2)  Register for notify.me which is a notification service that will let you know if someone adds a post that includes your search terms.

3)  Choose the methods by which notify.me will let you know when a search term comes up.  I use google chat for my desktop and the mobile text function for when I am out.

4)  Set the system to notify you when someone looks for a specific phrase that would be unique to your target clients.  You can also add filters to better limit the notifications that are not pertinent.  For example, use the search terms “moving to” “salt lake” and filter our terms that include words such as “planning rent.”  With that phrase, you will likely get tweets from people moving to salt lake, that are not planning to rent.  You can add multiple search phrases to keep track of and the notices simply popup on your desktop.

5)  When a notice is received, follow that person, reply to their tweet, and offer your services.  It is really that simple.