What is the purpose of your twittering? Why do you Twitter?

When Missy first told me about Twitter I checked into it and thought by first impression that I would not be interested in Twitter because it looked on the surface to be a gossip column of which I do not take part in.So I did not sign up.

Then about a month later I signed up and did nothing else but fill out  my profile still not understanding the power of Twitter and how it pertains to business.

About a month after that I began to get some followers and I started to follow some agents like Missy that I know and felt safe around, kind of like testing the waters. Sticking my toe in but not too far.

Of course, we can always leave it to guys like Bob Stewart to make you take the plunge, throwing you out in the deep water! As we made way for the NAR Active Rain party this past November Active Bob told me that it would be announced over Twitter! Hmmm, does that mean that I am going to have to jump on board, I thought to myself.

Here I am scrambling, ordered my Blackberry, got it in time for NAR, downloaded Twitterberry to work on Twitter from my Blackberry and started taking webinars and classes to learn all about Twitter. I was a pro by the time we got to NAR! It was like cramming for an exam in school.

Twitter is all about business and more, it is a powerful way to connect with clients, prospects, people who know the people you want to meet, colleagues and more. The six degrees of separation sure unfolds on Twitter.

This leads me to my question about why are you on Twitter?/

I see most of the agents that I follow do nothing on Twitter except have their blog posts automatically updated to Twitter. In the Active Rain settings you can choose to have AR notify Twitter that you just posted a post on your blog on AR.This comes through on Twitter as a Tweet that says you posted a new post.

But what is the purpose of doing that if that is ALL you are doing on Twitter?

Twitter is all about engaging. I am not going to click on your new post if that is all you use Twitter for. In Social Media it is not all about you. But rather about building relationships and making connections. If you are not actively engaged in following others, making helpful comments, answering questions and highlighting the posts of other people on Twitter than you are missing the boat. Not only are you missing the boat but you are also sending a signal of self serving behavior which never goes over very well on Social networks.

Look for ways to reach out and support others on Twitter. Find compatible people who you can connect with and who you can refer business to and in return you will get business.

If you are not going to do anything but shout outs about your posts I would go so far as to suggest that you turn that little notify Twitter box off until you want to engage.

My Twitter name is @CoachKaterina.

Why Do You Twitter  by Katerina Gasset is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.