Look, we need to be on social media sites, but, to compare Twitter to a real farm is just not realistic. Ask any agent who successfully farms a neighborhood and then compare there average sales to the average sales of a Twitter farmer. Seriously.

Warren: In my opinion RMX’s suggestion to retweet everything they post is not an effective way to build a loyal following that you can turn into clients. IMO your Tweet timeline needs to be you, needs to be person, needs to be real… it can’t be all about R.E. if you expect to get loyal followers. It’s not about the number of followers you can gain either, it’s about building relationships with local people that want to genuinely see you succeed. Let them see you, the personal side of you, and they will eventually become advocates for your success… without you ever needing to tweet one word about Real Estate.

Here is a comment I posted before about my opinions on Twitter if anyone is interested:

I think as a Realtor on Twitter your number one goal is to network with like minded people in your area. Make it more about them, then you. Spend more time responding to their tweets then worrying about saying what is happening in your world. Sure, tweet… I’m not saying that, but look at what other people are talking about and engage those people! Don’t try to use your stream as the source for all things Real Estate because in all likelihood no one cares and no one wants to follow someone talking about new listings or subdivisions. I see a lot of ‘Twitter Real Estate Gurus’ (self proclaimed) who tweet random real estate BS and have 1,000 of other followers who only tweet random R.E. BS as well. I make my living in real estate and don’t follow these other agents because it clutters my stream with listings and R.E. advertising junk. For someone like Joel it is different because of the line of work he is in, he should want to attract Real Estate practitioners instead of everyday Joe & Susies… but for a local Agent, you are not going to be able to set up a network with many people outside of the real estate world by tweeting listings and R.E. info. If you were invited to a party and all you did was pass out information sheets on your listings and asked people if they wanted to buy or sell a house, do you think you would be invited back? Hell no, well…that is what twitter is, someone is inviting you to their party because they find you interesting, don’t screw it up by being a tool. More then likely if all you Tweet about is Real Estate then the only followers you will get are other Realtors who are clueless about actually CREATING business (not just followers) from Twitter… and of course, your mom. If that is your goal then great, maybe all you want to do is try to get referrals from other markets… but for me, the key is building relationships with people of similar interests in my area. I would have never found those people by tweeting about real estate. All my followers know I’m in real estate and now come to me for real estate needs because they know me, like me, and trust me.

Max – I agree, only time will tell. I do think a lot of people are EITHER on FB or Twitter so I really recommend Realtors being on both so you won’t miss anyone. Plus I do think they are different audiences.

Warren – That is a GREAT place to start, re-tweeting your brokerage’s posts. You should incorporate that into part of your daily tweet plan.

Anton – great idea! Let me see what I can do – maybe in the next couple weeks!