I was about to post a reply to someone who had commented on an earlier post about Twitter, and decided it should be a blog post instead.  In a nutshell, someone commented with: "Thanks for the tips.  I'll check into Twitter after I learn more about Active Rain."

Although I admire your discipline to not bite off more than you can chew -- in this case -- I think Twitter & AR go hand in hand. From my experience, checking out Twitter will help with your AR learning curve - not hinder it.  If I didn't start surrounding myself (via Twitter) with so many RE bloggers who really know their stuff, I STILL wouldn't be on Active Rain, and I'd STILL be marketing with nothing but "web 1.0" strategies. 

A peek at how the top dogs Tweet: For a real-time example of how the "Top Real Estate Twits" are interacting right now, visit this link. As you'll see, it's not rocket science, and it's not useless drivel.  It's a little bit of everything.  The important thing is that they are getting their names out there, driving traffic to their blogs, getting business, and having fun doing it.  It's like a local country club, leads group, nationwide referral network, and press release network - all in one.

If you're still on the fence about twitter, sign up for twitter and just start following the RE bloggers below (or just spy on their conversations via this link).  They're just a small sampling of the many tweeps whose company I enjoy, and who I have learned a lot from.  I believe most of them get the majority of their business from their blogs, so you could learn a lot from subscribing to their blogs as well:

@JasonCrouch

@Ines

@respres

@SarahWV

@BeeRealty

@housechick

@RealEstateZebra

@KimWood

@JimDuncan

@tboard

@GingerW

& here are a few from right here in my home-state of Colorado:

@kristalk

@mizzle

@BradHanks

Follow them & don't worry about whether or not they follow you back.  Just by watching how they interact and post on Twitter, you'll pick up on things sheerly by osmosis, and it will HELP with your learning curve on Active Rain/blogging.  If you REALLY want to further your education, subscribe to each of their blogs (which can be found on their bio - which is at the upper right of their twitter profile page.)

If you comment on this post and have a twitter account to share, feel free to include a link to your new twitter name!  (To make it easier for others to follow you, be sure to make it a "clickable" link that goes straight to your profile page (Like this: @JoelRunner)