Step-By-Step: Making Sales with Twitter
By Sam Prochazka
When is Twitter going to make me (and itself for that matter) some money, already? If you”ve been wondering the same thing, check this out…
Twitter in a nutshell - Twitter is a real-time micro-messaging broadcaster. You can follow other people’’s “Tweets,” and they can follow yours basically in real time. Tweets are no longer than 140 characters. Lots of people have their Twitter “feeds” update directly on their cell phone all day and night. It’’s that simple.
Step 1 - Realize Twitter will not make you money directly
Dell (the largest computer company on the planet) grosses $1,000,000/year directly from Twittering. Considering that Dell grosses $60,000,000,000 per year, that’’s about 0.002% of their annual revenue.If you earn $100,000 a year, that’’s like an additional $1.67 in your pocket.
Of course, the additional brand recognition that Dell has received from spreading this news through its other online media channels is worth far more than $1,000,000. How many times have I already mentioned Dell in this article!
So now we”re at the meat of the matter - the next time you talk about Twitter with your friends, you”ll probably mention Dell. Dell has leveraged its minuscule Twitter-income into a big news story that’’s quite separate from Twitter. So, what’’s the equivalent in the real estate industry…
Step 2 - Get a relevant account and some relevant followers
Get a Twitter account relevant to your Edge. EdmontonRiverFront, or HighCapHomes are some examples. MAKE SURE YOU LINK TO YOUR WEBSITE - that’’s the whole point, after all.
Now, search for things relevant to real estate in your city and you”ll find some people Tweeting about it. Select a few relevant ones and follow them - about 50% of the time, they”ll follow you right back. The more you follow, the more you”ll have following you. It’’s a numbers game, so you”re wise to get as many followers as possible.
MAKE SURE to put a Twitter widget on your website that shows your latest Tweets.
Step 3 - Broadcast your “Edge”
If I specialize in high cap-rate houses in Calgary, I might Tweet this little beauty out on an idle Monday morning:
“In 2 hours, I will put this (insert link) 14% cap-rate house on the market.”
Now, with the right followers, that will generate some buzz. You might even get an inquiry - best of all, you”ve now got a leverage point.
Step 4 - Leverage your broadcast in the “real world”
When Twitter comes up in conversation, when someone visits your website, or when someone gets some marketing material from you, they”re now going to realize that listening to you might make them more money.
Always follow the law of WIIFM, and people will listen. As with all of your marketing materials, people should constantly be reminded that know that you”re the ”Go-To” person for whatever edge you have chosen.
Step 5 - Don”t abuse your “Sphere of Influence”
“I”m watching Grey’’s Anatomy and eating soup,” is an insult to the people that may eventually close a deal with you. Movie stars and morons can get away with this crap, YOU CAN”T. Be true to your Edge and never stray too far.
The fact is that the novelty of Twitter is already wearing off - people will only tolerate mundane nonsense from their close friends, and after a while, even that will start to wear pretty thin.
Now is the time to carve out a reputation in Twitter for something that is going to help people, like finding them good revenue properties and good deals on riverfront houses.
About The Author
Sam Prochazka manages Realpagemaker, a company that has been building Realtor and real estate websites exclusively since 2002.
