Last week, an email landed in my inbox with the subject line “Ledyard Police is now following you on Twitter.”  I admit it was a bit disconcerting.  Actually, I freaked out temporarily when I realized I was one of only 3 people being followed.  I ran into“Ledyard Police” a few nights later.  I’m a member of the Ledyard Town Council and we were discussing the police budget.  (Honestly, I don’t make this stuff up.)  As it turns out  “Ledyard Police” was following me for all the right reasons.  It seems that police departments in the area are considering Twitter as another resource to notify residents in case of emergencies.

I joined Twitter in 2007. Back then it was intimate, like the bar where everyone knew your name.  Since then Twitter has exploded. When someone in the industry follows me, I usually oblige and follow back. As a result, it is often hard to find the good stuff among the noise of people I don’t really know.  Fortunately, applications like Tweetdeck allow me to create groups and weed out those that don’t contribute to my Twitter objectives.

Like “Ledyard Police”, each user has his own reason for following and being followed on Twitter.  I was attracted to Twitter because of the 140 character limit. I seldom read blog posts beyond a few paragraphs.  I don’t need the War and Peace version of an opinion on short sales.

Whether I’m speaking as a Town Councilor, writing a blog post or debating politics, I’ve always been a woman of few words, many of them an attempt to be witty.  “Brevity is the soul of wit” is my mantra.  I doubt I could ever write a book.  I’m sure I would bore myself before the final chapter.  

I don’t have any expectations from Twitter as far as putting commission dollars in my pocket.  For me Twitter is more of a resource for making industry connections, following breaking news and events, and picking up tips on the latest and greatest technology.  I’d give it “5 Stars” for meeting those expectations.

Follow Linda Davis on Twitter

The internet is all abuzz about Twitter.

Twitter is a “microblogging” platform that lets you send 140 character “Tweets” (sort of like instant messages). People “follow” you, and you “follow” others. It’s a social networking platform that is undergoing tremendous growth. (See this article from Nielsen Ratings for more info. And note the largest user demographic is those aged 35 – 49. That’s prime home buying selling age folks…)

Realtors tend to jump on anything that has even a hope of getting them business — and there is nothing wrong with that provided you investigate and understand what it is you are getting in to. And yes, Twitter can get you business. It is a wonderful tool for expanding your Sphere of Influence and for networking with other professionals in and out of the real estate industry.

While there are no “rules” for the proper use of a platform like Twitter, there are unquestionably some guidelines and generally acceptable etiquette practices that, used properly, will accelerate your business growth and used improperly may result in you never getting anything out of Twitter. Continue reading this post

On a panel with Matt Fagioli, Michael Simonsen and myself at RetechSouth last week, Pat Kitano remarked that it was rude to not follow the Twitter followers who follow you.

Do you agree? 

Take the poll:

[polldaddy poll="1480240"]

Louis Cammarosano

homegain.com

Matt Fagioli organizer of ReTechSouth and I were talking last night. “I agree to talk while you are talking” is how I described the practice of following those on twitter who follow you in a bid to get your follower numbers up.

This practice seems near mindless. Most people who agree to take on hundreds or thousands of courtesy followers immediately filter them out using Tweet Deck or some other software (you’re not so clever, they do the same to you!)

I recently asked a couple of friends who have thousands (one has over ten thousand) followers to tweet one of my blog posts with a Tiny URL (a great tool BTW) attached.

Later I checked Google Analytics (another great tool) to see the number of visitors received from Twitter from my friends’ tweets. The amounts of visitors were surprising:

Continue reading this post

Consider: Why do you think they call it “social” media?

In the words of Todd Carpenter who was recently appointed as social media manager at the National Association of Realtors :

“You won’t “get” Twitter until you stop trying to figure out how to get business from it. You have to do it for fun. You have to genuinely want to talk to people, not market to them. If you just try to market yourself there, nobody will want to connect with you.”

Remember social media whether facebook or twitter, is not business media. Mixing business with pleasure is often difficult and ill advised.

“No man is poor who has friends” – George Bailey- It’s a Wonderful Life

Did he mean you could make money off them on Facebook and Twitter?

Todd futher advises:

“Again, I’m on Twitter because I like to meet and talk to people. I don’t care if it ever earns me a dime. But on the other hand, the top referrer to my newest blog is… Twitter. Five of the first six people who confirmed they were coming to RE BlogWorld, I met on… Twitter. The local meetup of RE 2.0 talent I organized today was promoted and organized largely on… Twitter.

I didn’t “get” Twitter either because I was trying to figure out a business use for it. But I got hooked on it because it was fun, and now the business opportunities are bearing fruit.”

I am not sure that social media “works” for business, but many are having fun trying. 

Louis Cammarosano

At Inman Connect last week I had the pleasure of meeting Matt Fagioli.  Mr. Fagioli, a HomeGain AgentView customer, has organized an impressive “Inman South” conference called RETech South, which boasts a fine roster of speakers to be held at the Gwinnett Center in Atlanta on Friday March 20.

Yesterday Matt and I spoke about RETech South and its objectives.

Matt is also a member of HomeGain Nation a 200+ member interactive forum on the Ning platform. This morning Matt posted a blog entitled “How Print Marketing Still Brings Home the Bacon” and I have reproduced it in its entirety here:

How Print Marketing Still Brings Home The Bacon

I had the pleasure of a phone call yesterday with our friend Louis. His view of “all this 2.0 stuff” is really refreshing because he realizes that while it’s all very cool and trendy and slick, it does NOT replace print marketing – nor does it replace the good old fashioned handshake. Our 2.0 world merely compliments our off-line efforts.

Continue reading this post