I’m not an expert about Tweeting. I’m still trying to figure how how to use Twitter, what to use it for and how much of an asset it’s going to be for me. I did find out some interesting facts about Twitter and I found those facts by, what else, Googling.
According to a website called ViralBlog.com, there are more than 106 million accounts on Twitter. Gizmodo.com reported a couple of weeks ago that on March 12, 2011 a record-number 572,000 accounts were created and 177 million Tweets were sent on March 11, 2011.
A Wall Street Journal article in February reported that, “Discussions with at least some potential suitors have produced an estimated valuation of $8 billion to $10 billion,” while a March article by Reuters reported that “. . .secondary market investors value the company at $7.7 billion. . .”
Other interesting facts:
- Twitter began in 2006 by techies as an internal messaging system.
- Twitter has 175 employees.
- There’s one board of director--Jack Dorsey, a 31-year-old wunderkind who was the CEO until 2008 and the person who’s known for thinking up the idea and how it works. Reportedly he attended New York University’s computer department, but dropped out before earning his degree.
- Ninety-seven percent of Twitter users have less than 100 followers.
- Eighty-one percent of Twitter users are following less than 100 people.
Do you follow me?
Twitter Limitations and What People are Tweeting About
As most of you probably know, you can only Tweet 140 characters. Here’s what that looks like:
Keller Williams NYC is part of the second-largest real estate company in the country, with a network of nearly 80K agents and it’s growing!
That’s 139 characters with spaces. This gives new meaning to the adage, “Brevity is a virtue!”
Facts:
- Most popular days to Tweet and be Tweeted at: Thursday and Friday.
- Best time to Tweet: 10-11 p.m.
- Females outrank males (55 percent versus 45 percent).
- Average age of top Tweeters: 18-34.
- Thirty percent of Tweeters earn $100K plus followed by 28 percent earning $60-100K.
- All time top Tweeter (number of followers): Ashton Kutcher with over 4.815 million followers
- The New York Times is 20th on the list with over 2.412 million followers but far more updates!
The most popular Twitter messages are a user’s current status (where they are, what they’re doing) followed closely by private conversations. Ten percent of Twitter messages are links to news and blog articles. The United States is the top country, percent of site traffic, of tweeters anywhere.
Now that you know all this, I’m betting you’re thinking the same thing I am. It’s not just should I or should I not, but how do I get started and what exactly am I going to Tweet about?
Five Tips for Tweeting
Twitter lets you communicate directly with potential clients and can help establish you as a real estate expert in your area. Below are five tips to get you started today:
Tip #1: Complete and edit your bio.
Create a catchy, interesting 160-character blurb about yourself, upload a picture and provide a link to your website and the city where you live. Make it great--give people a reason why they should follow you.
Tip #2: Learn the Lingo
- Tweet: Your 140 character update
- Follow: Add someone to your network to follow them to get their updates. People who want to follow you will add you to theirs
- ReTweet: Like a Tweet or want to share it? Use the Retweet (RT) feature. You’ll gain credibility. The more you give, the more you’ll get and always give kudos to the person who gave you the tweet! Shorten your links by using bit.ly.
- Hashtag: This is the symbol, (#) that’s used to mark keywords or topics in a Tweet. Include this in your Tweet: #message topic. Want to know about a topic in the world? Search with a hashtag and a subject. Ex: #subject.
- @reply: A reply posted to another user’s message. When you see a Tweet you’d like to respond to, type: @username and your reply.
- Direct Message (DM): This is a private message sent to one of your followers and it’s not for public view.
Tip #3: Tweet regularly and engage in follower’s conversations! It builds your credibility and your network. Don’t “spam” your network, instead Tweet about interesting articles, facts and statistics, local events or news in your hometown or neighborhood, a link to a new listing or link to a new post on your blog. Find a balance between providing info and engaging with your followers!
Tip #4: Build your following. Start with people you know by searching for them through last name, first name or business. Twitter also has a “find friends” feature that allows you to search through other social media platforms.
Tip #5: Use tools to enhance your Twitter experience. Twitpic is a photo sharing system that allows you to easily share photos with your followers. Let them know what’s going on in your office, your community and your neighborhood. Use apps such as TweetDeck, Hootsuite or Seesmic to customize and organize your tweets, groups and searches and you can use if you tweet from a mobile device.
So, do you Tweet or not? Let me give you another statistic that will help you make your decision: Last year, the average number of Tweets people sent per day was 50 million. Just last month the average number of Tweets per day was 140 million.
It takes only one week for users to send a billion Tweets.
What are they all Tweeting about? I’m not sure, but I’m thinking it’s imperative that I get in on the conversations--it’s not only a excellent means of connecting with clients, friends and like-minded people, but learning about what’s going on in the world. Share your insights and expertise--it’s a cool, brief way to pay it forward.
Check back and leave me a comment about your experience with Twitter. What do you Tweet about? Has it helped your business?
VCgate Venture Capital. Founded in 2006, Twitter Does Not Stop Growing. Mar 1, 2009 (Accessed 14 Mar 2011).
Data complied for Viralblog.com by Website-Monitoring.com in April 2010.
Ante, Spencer, et.al. The Wall Street Journal. Twitter as Tech Bubble Barometer. Feb 10, 2011.(Accessed 17 Mar 2011).
Oreskovic, Alexei. Reuters. Twitter share auction suggest $7.7 billion valuation. Mar 4, 2011.(Accessed 17 Mar 2011).
Comments(4)