Help Archives - Page 9 of 11

Nov 26 2015

How do Real Estate Agents Use Twitter?

Is it a strange concept that real estate agents would use Twitter as one (of many) methods to build their clientele? If so, read on. We have many tips and ideas about why and how to consider using Twitter to build your real estate clientele.

Using Twitter for real estate is a concept that may elude many a realtor. Some still look at it as a tool suited for entertainment and news only. Others have heard about using Twitter for business, but they just can’t see what value the social media giant can bring to their real estate business.

The truth is, no matter how well you might be doing as a real estate agent, if you are not using twitter for business, you are definitely missing out on a huge opportunity to expand your clientele considerably.

Why Twitter for real estate agents?

Over 300 million Twitter users

The colossal user base of twitter has means you get exposure to a large number of potential clients in your area. This gives you a golden chance of massive awareness for your real estate listing.

Fast and concise

Twitter is a fast and fluid platform. Each tweet gives you 140 characters to describe your listing.

Easy to share with followers

Since your tweets are short, using twitter for real estate means people will read your posts in a flash and share them just as quickly. In just minutes, your posts can be retweeted many times over to those who are looking for just what you have to offer. You’ll want to include hashtags of the neighbourhood you sell in with each tweet. This will help narrow the audience to just those who are interested in the area you are selling.

Paid Twitter ads

Twitter is basically free (except for your time!), but it also has paid services that can effectively put your real estate business out there and increase your exposure.

Perhaps we’ve piqued your interest and you may be thinking that Twitter could be a good platform for your real estate listings and awareness. But what if you already have listings? How can you add Twitter to your marketing strategy to expand your already established real estate business?

Tweet this, realtor!

Help first

Trust is the name of the game. You certainly have tips or advice about putting a home up for sale, moving, sorting out mortgages, decorating, landscaping, up-and-coming neighbourhoods – this is great information. Share it. Start by sharing exactly this type of information. To you it may feel like common sense. To those getting ready to buy or sell or move, it’ll be helpful and timely advice.

Showcase your experience

Twitter can be the testing ground before clients can actually interact with you. Show them what you know by answering questions people ask on Twitter.

Build relationships

You can start to attract and get to know new clients via Twitter. Using the direct message feature (DM) you can have extensive conversations with potential clients ( up to 10,000 characters) before deciding to meet or get on a call. This will help them get comfortable with you, and help you qualify them in an efficient way.

Aside from tweeting listings, neighbourhood information and answers to questions, why not add inspirational quotes about the buying, selling, investing and owning of real estate? This information will connect well with your audience. Sign up for a 30-day free trial at NimbleQuotes.com and choose the Real Estate category, add in hashtags specific to the area of town you sell in and watch the interaction on Twitter start!

Nov 24 2015

What are Twitter Followers?

Followers, on Twitter, or Twitter followers, are people who follow you (your account). Each person on Twitter has those following them, and those they are following. Those that are following you can be considered your audience. This article will explain how to follow people, how to follow the people you want in your network/audience, and how to keep your followers.

How do I follow on Twitter?

The “Follow” button is Twitter’s primary tool for connecting people. If you follow someone, you see all of their updates on your Home stream. If someone follows you, all of your tweets will appear on their Home stream.

Once you’ve found someone you want to follow, click on the “Follow” button of their profile. That’s it. They will get a notification that you have followed them.

In real life networking you often have to make the first move and be the one to extend the handshake. The same applies to Twitter. The follow is your introduction to the other person; an invitation for them to connect.

Follows are not obligatory. Just because you follow someone does not mean they have to follow you back. On the flip side, you can follow anyone you like without needing their approval. Typically, we’ve found that about 15-45% of the people we follow, will follow us back.

Are my Twitter followers the right people?

Twitter limits you to 2,000 follows (at least at first). So you’ll want to carefully manage your follow list. We’d suggest you follow the people who could be your ideal client, your ideal referrals, industry luminaries, colleagues, and people you know you can learn from. Use this as a start.

Do know that in our experience, we’ve found Twitter to be a little more casual than some of the other social networks. For example, on LinkedIn, it is typically to see business people with a very professional profile including job title and responsibilities.

On Twitter, we’ve found that those very same people may describe themselves in a more casual way. Just do be aware not to judge too harshly.

Start off by searching for the Twitter accounts of your customers.

Next, search for and follow prominent influencers in your field. They might be CEO’s, subject matter experts, company twitter accounts, or perhaps colleagues with much more experience than you. As you follow them, some may take the time to follow you back. They’ll be able to see your tweets, and will be able to retweet and share your tweets with their own audience. This expands your reach. If they don’t, follow you back, you’ll still be able to learn from whatever resources they share. Either way you win.

Even if you only service clients in a certain geographical area, do not limit yourself on Twitter. It is a global network and you never know if that person who lives 3,000 miles away has followed you because they are moving to your city in the near future and want to be in contact with you for exactly the service you provide.

Keep your Twitter followers by providing value

There is no guarantee that someone will return the favor when you follow them. The best way to ensure follows is by giving value first.

Value on Twitter means information, insights and interaction.

Share valuable insights about your industry on your Twitter feed. If you’re a realtor, for example, you could share tips on finding a good house, or sharing photos of great renovation projects. If you’re an accountant, share news about changes to tax laws or give tips on filing returns. Do this consistently and you’ll be providing value. Sharing industry information you may think everyone already knows is helpful – they didn’t have to go looking for it – you saved them time.

Another way to keep your followers is by interacting with them. This could be in the form of answering questions. Asking how they are doing and what they are working on. You can get a fair bit of information from their Twitter profile – enough to start a first conversation.

Monitor hashtags and keyword search to watch for people asking questions you can answer. We don’t see a huge amount of people doing this (answering questions) so you’ll definitely get noticed. Your help will be appreciated.

The key concept to effective Twitter follows is “value.” Follow people who can provide you or your business with value, whether it’s someone you can learn from, someone who you can work with, or someone who can connect you with other people. On the flipside, the best way to gain followers of your own is to become a contact that others will value. Teach important lessons, share relevant insights and news, and be a person people like interacting with online. Do that consistently enough, and you’ll be surprised at how fast your followers grow.

Add inspirational and motivations business quotes to your Twitter feed as if you’ve tweeted them yourself. A helpful addition to your existing content and the quotes cycle out automatically on YOUR terms. Find out more and try the 30-day trial. NimbleQuotes.com

Oct 27 2015

Twitter 101: Examples of Great Twitter Hashtags

In a previous blog post I explained what Twitter hashtags are and how they work. Today, I’m going to give you some great examples of hashtags that you can use as inspiration. Feel free to use them for research, or as a jumping-off point to create your own!

I’m going to organize this list by the purpose of the hashtag: event, brand, and so on. Let’s get started:

Brand hashtag

You don’t have to just rely on your Twitter handle to get your brand name out there. Big name companies have their own hashtags, too. #Starbucks, for instance, is a very popular hashtag. The brand is so big that people even use the hashtag in many ways, from contest to idle conversation.

Movements

The world is an imperfect place, and people have causes that need to be heard. Twitter has proven to be an ideal venue for this, as gives a voice to those who might not otherwise have a chance to speak out. They use hashtags to associate their tweets to the cause and promote their message for others to see.

#YesAllWomen is a great example of this. It lets women speak out against the different levels and kinds of abuse they receive.

Events

Want to promote a great event? Or maybe talk to people attending the same event? Most organizers will set up a Twitter hashtag that’ll allow you to do just that. You can normally find it on the event website, or announced through the company’s Twitter account.

One great example of this are TEDx talks. They’re organized by local groups, who normally set up their own hashtags to promote their TED programs.

Industries

Twitter is a fantastic place for people who work in the same industry to share their knowledge. Even supposedly “dry” industries like #ProjectManagement and #Accounting have their own vibrant hashtags. If you work in a particular industry, don’t be afraid to use its hashtag and make yourself known to your peers.

Specific Items

Are you looking for someone to help you with a specific item, like say creating an ebook or a whitepaper? Just put a “#” in front of it and run a search. You’ll be surprised at what you find!

Twitter Hashtag contest

A hashtag contest is basically a contest on Twitter that requires people to use a specific hashtag to enter. You ask them to do something, maybe post a photo or ask a question. Then you pick a winner through either random drawing or who has the best entry.

If you want to discuss ideas for a good hashtag, or know any hashtags you want to share, send me a tweet! I’m on Twitter at @jenkellyjen.

Learn more tips about using Twitter. Sign up for the Nimble Quotes newsletter! And while you’re at it, why not try a 30-day free trial of Nimble Quotes? Yes, you can add your own hashtag to your quotes. It’s a #wonderful service! (But we’re biased.)

Oct 23 2015

Twitter 101: What is a Hashtag?

Twitter is a perfect venue for a small business entrepreneur to reach a wide audience. The best way to do that is by using hashtags. But what if you’re a newcomer to Twitter and don’t know what a hashtag is, much less how it works?

Don’t worry, I’ll explain everything:

Hashtag basics

A hashtag is a keyword marked with a “#” or “hash” sign, hence the name. Twitter keeps track of these hashtags/keywords and groups together tweets that use the same hashtag. Anyone who searches for a specific hashtag will see all tweets that use it.

So if I want people to see my marketing-related tweet, I should include the hashtag #Marketing.

How do I know what hashtag to use?

You have the freedom to create your very own hashtag, but since you’re trying to market your business you should probably stick with hashtags that already have an audience.

Here are some great ways to find out which hashtags you should be using:

Find what others use. Look for other people on Twitter who are in the same field as you and read their tweets. Chances are they’re using hashtags, too.

Find a relevant hashtag, then click on it to see other tweets that have used it, too.

Scan through this list and see if the people on it are the right people you want to talk to (i.e. potential customers). If they are, then take note of the hashtag! You can use it later on when you start releasing your own content.

Search bar. Twitter has a search bar that helps you look for things. If you’ve got an idea for a hashtag and you’re not sure other people are using it, type it in here. You’ll be offered several other possible hashtag options. Scan through these and see if they’ve got a significant audience.

Trending. Lastly, try looking at “Trending” hashtags. These are the most popular hashtags on Twitter at that very moment. Twitter posts a different list of trends per region (like Toronto), which is fantastic if you want to talk to your local audience.

Just be aware that these trends might not be related to your business. That’s okay if you just want to tweet for fun, but be careful about which ones you use for work. Also watch out for hashtags full of competitors. You might be better off looking for another one, if that’s the case.

Still not sure about hashtags? Nimble Quotes comes with default hashtags at the end of each quote to get you into the conversation on Twitter. Sign up for the 30-day free trial today.

Oct 20 2015

Twitter 101: How do I Compose a Tweet?

So you’ve finally taken the plunge and created a Twitter account. Congratulations! Twitter can definitely open up great possibilities for your business, and I’ll walk you through the basics of what you need to get started.

First off: let’s compose a tweet.

How to compose a tweet

Composing a tweet is actually pretty simple. Just log into the Twitter website (or open the Twitter app if you’re on your phone) and look for this screen.

This is where you’ll put down whatever thought or content you want to share. Just click on that field and start typing. Twitter only gives you 140 characters to build a tweet, so you can’t afford to ramble. You need to be concise and direct.

As you write your tweet, keep in mind that even though nobody’s in front of you that very moment, your tweet is meant to be talking directly to another person. So refer to them often by saying “you.”

If you want to share something, like an article you wrote or a video you find interesting, copy the URL and paste it into the tweet field. Use a link-shortener like Bitly so that it doesn’t use up your allocated character limit.

Don’t just put the link, though—say a little bit about what the content is about. You can either share the title of the content, or tell people why they would find it really interesting.

How to get people’s attention

You can mark your tweets with a hashtag, which is a short phrase prefaced by a “#” symbol, like #TwitterBasics. Anyone who follows that hashtag will be able to see your tweet. Keep the hashtag relevant to your topic.

If you want to talk to someone directly, you can mention them by typing in their Twitter handle. A twitter handle is their “name” on Twitter. Mine, for instance, is @jenkellyjen. They will get an alert that you mentioned them in your tweet.

Tips for great tweets

But the best way by far to get your tweet noticed is to make your tweet stand out. There are a few ways you can do that:

Great writing. The best tweets are short and to the point. Long tweets tend to get ignored. It also helps if your tweet is funny, inspiring or insightful. If you’re not any of these, then you can always quote someone who is.

Add images. People are very visual. By including a photo with your tweet you can increase engagement by 33%. It’s just as simple as including an image in your tweet as an attachment. But it has big results!

Be honest. What I mean by this, is make sure that the article you are mentioning on your tweet is the same one people see when they click the link. No bait and switch! People will get very annoyed at you and you’ll actually lose potential followers.

So try sending out a few tweets and getting the hang of how Twitter works. Look at other people on Twitter and see what kind of tweets they’re posting, and see what lessons you can pick up. You’ll be steaming along in no time!

Getting started on Twitter can be made easier by using Nimble Quotes to supplement your own tweets with inspiring and motivational quotes. Choose from 60+ categories that are all written for you. Sign up for your 30-day free trial now.