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Twitter? How Could That Possibly Help Me?

I actually thought this to myself SEVERAL times when I first set up my Twitter account. In fact, I walked away from it a few times, just not really seeing any value or benefit. It just seemed like a huge waste of time.

One day, though, something clicked, and I saw that relationships are being forged and strengthened through Twitter, so I decided to give it another try; except this time around, I put more effort into it. Hmmm, you mean you get out of it what you put into it? Sound familiar?

OK, so check this out. I'm dealing with a time-sensitive situation today and need to find a local Edmond structural inspector that can get out and take a look at a home no later than tomorrow. We all know how tough it can be to find an inspector on such short notice, right? But this house is closing Thursday and we've just figured out that we're going to need to have the structure evaluated with closer scrutiny.

So, what do I do? Twitter? No, I fall back on my habits and pick up the phone to start making calls. No luck, I can't get a hold of my usual guy, so I start calling other agents to get recommendations on other structural inspectors. Guess what... all I'm getting is voicemails. Big surprise, right? So, then it hits me... why not post up a tweet and see if anyone in my twitter network (352 local and not-so-local followers)? Within 3 minutes (no, i'm not exaggerating) I get a reply from another local agent with a name and number of her guy. Problem solved!

So there you have it. Value proposition #1 to Twitter. Don't miss out on the REACH that Twitter offers!

FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER!

Posted by Ryan Hukill - Edmond Realtor® on 10/28/2008 12:16 PM

Comments (21)

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21 Comments on Twitter? How Could That Possibly Help Me?

OCT

2008

Ryan - I think a lot of people view Twitter the same way (as with Facebook), but they do have value if you actually use them correctly. Great story! You just got a new follower! You can follow me if you like - @jasoncrouch.

Ryan, I was having a computer melt down and some guy that follows me who I had no idea why saved my day!

Jason - you're right on the money... my tweets feed to my FB. Both very useful tools. You got yourself a new follower as well.

Jo - that's awesome! It's funny how total strangers follow you and end up being helpful.

I actually just got another referral of an inspector from another local agent as I typed this. Great stuff!

Ryan, great use of Twitter. I just added you to my follow. You can follow me @frankrubi as well. Your use is interesting use of this technology.

Frank - thank you... following!

Ryan - I'm not sure if you saw my post from a few days ago or not, but you can also feed your AR blog directly to Facebook with the "Blogcast" application. Just FYI - you can see my post if you are curious.

Hi Ryan! I'm back to comment :). I too am finding that relationships are being formed & you will get what you put into it. I a now a Ryan Follower on twitter. KM

OCT

2008

I haven't used twitter but from your post it sounds like I should. I like the results you got; and it was quick!

Ryan - this is a great example of the power of social media, and especially Twitter. I have had similar experiences recently, and others have as well.

Jason's comment is well taken, if you are not already feeding your posts to Twitter.

Jeff

OCT

2008

Jason - Thanks for the heads up. I've debated with whether to use this feature, since I already feed my personal blog to twitter, but I'm going to give it a try. I just want to be sure I don't abuse this feature and wear everyone out.

Kristin - Thanks for your comment. Looking forward to reading more from you on Twitter!

Jon - Quick is nice, and you'd be amazed at the wealth of knowledge over there. It's like an extension of AR's braintrust!

Jeff - Thanks for your comment. It is certainly a powerful tool.

I still don't understand twitter? I get what you are saying in your post, but how are you connected with 352+ followers in your network, and how do you send and receive messages? Can you do it via cell phone, or do you have to be near a computer?

I guess I am starting to see the value, but don't know how to set it up and use it.

Ryan, I started on AR about 4 months ago. The first few weeks were brutal. I didn't know why I was here and couldn't see how it was going to benefit me. About the same time I set up profiles on twitter, facebook, linked in, myspace and plaxo. FYI I had hired a tech person to bring me into the current century. :)

Anyway, I've really started to get into AR and am tiptoeing around blogging. Twitter is harder for me. I have 265 followers and all I see are tweets that mean nothing to me. I read them for 2 or 3 minutes and I .... Help me. What should I be doing or looking for? BTW I'm following you now.

Wow...I can totally relate to your initial instincts! I'll have to start Twittering more. You showed us a good example. Thanks for your insight.

So far I am confused on how to use Twitter to its full potential. It seems like networking site are poping up all over the place, its hard to get going on all of them.

NOV

2008

Just started on Twitter myself and I'm starting to get it.....great story!

NOV

2008

Troy - I have found various Twits that I've decided to follow, and in the reverse a few hundred people have found and followed me. You can search for people to follow and vice versa. You can send and receive tweets on your computer or your phone. Let me know if you need any help getting set up on Twitter. I'm happy to help.

Connie - Take it one step at a time or you'll get overwhelmed and none of it will work for you. As for twitter, if you're seeing meaningless tweets, you probably should unfollow some folks and add people you'll find interesting. Let me know if I can help, and thanks for the follow.

Nancy - You're welcome. Post a link to your twitter profile here so I can follow you.

Jim - I agree with you. There's no way anyone could keep up with all of them. The key is finding just a handful that work for YOU and maximize your potential on just those sites.

Thomas - Welcome to Twitter. Please post your profile here, so we can follow you.

NOV

2008

There seems to be a lot of interest - as well as confusion - about Twitter these days, so I thought I'd share a great blog post here for those still on the fence about how to use it:

http://newmedialisa.com/index.php/get-more-twitter-followers/

Hope you all find it useful.

Hi Ryan - I think one of the reasons that relationships can be formed to quickly on Twitter is the 140 character limit on tweets. That allows a lot more back and forth without one person dominating the conversation and makes it easier to connect.

I am signed up but I don't really understand it.

I am going to try to find that book, "Twittering for Dummies."

John - I agree with you. In addition, it's a place to give, rather than to take, which I think helps people warm up to you quicker. Thanks for your input.

Brenda - are there any questions I can answer for you? I'm more than happy to help.