“I am at the airport.” “I am eating a burger, and I’m wearing a red shirt.” “I’m here, there, seeing this or that, and planning a trip to Hawaii.”

If you’ve ventured into Twitter world, you’ve surely come across meaningless tweets. Who cares about what you do minute to minute? Unless of course you’re Kim Kardashian or George Clooney and have a ton of followers who care less about the quality of what you tweet and just want to be in on – I don’t really know what.

On the other hand, as a business communication tool, Twitter can be extremely useful and powerful.

Twitter has gained tremendous acceptance and adoption, possibly because it is also easy to put to work. In its own right, it is a far more effective tool than many other media for the dissemination and collection of information. Because people are increasingly on Twitter, it is becoming a force to reckon with and should be seriously considered as part of your communications arsenal.

To put things in perspective, as at August 09, 2011, 100 million users were reported active and logged in daily to Twitter, with many doing so on mobile devices. The mobile use of Twitter is increasing by 40 percent each quarter, and 400 million unique visitors pop into Twitter each month. That’s up 60 percent from just the start of the year.

Question is, how do you best use Twitter in your business? Today, public relations and marketing are some of the most obvious opportunities. Even within this realm, the room to deploy the tool more widely is huge.

Perhaps the most important takeaway from this article is that Twitter should have a far more substantial role in any business. While it’s virtually certain that no one can yet claim absolute expertise in the application of Twitter in business, there are a lot of opportunities to consider, if we go beyond the obvious and ask the right questions. In fact, Twitter has it’s own fantastic resource for businesses, which can be found at: business.twitter.com

Let’s take marketing for example. Depending on how your business is structured, a few sides of marketing could include publicity, product promotion, member / client communication, market research, product research, competitive intelligence, and customer care. While it is straight forward to think of Twitter when considering external announcements, such as to promote a new member benefit (if you are an association), an event, a technology roll out or announce a new listing, it is only by looking at the business from a holistic fashion that we can discover new areas where Twitter can help. If you are in a highly competitive business and need to monitor the competition, Twitter can help to more easily track competitors’ moves. It’s not only smart business, but a significantly more efficient way to go about it. New information comes right to you. You can also forward any new findings of substance to your teams, by email, with a couple of clicks. To see a great example of an organization putting Twitter into action, check out the account of the California Association of REALTORS® (CAR).

Customer care and product / service improvement is another area that may not be a very obvious candidate at the outset. Create a track to follow your customers. You’d be surprised at the feedback you can gather. Information that can reinforce and highlight the right areas for improvement, or unveil serious issues with ample time for you to initiate corrective action. It also allows you to gather data for presentation to your management, which helps to back up your recommendations with actual market feedback. You can also tap Twitter to deliver useful information to your customers, to make their experience more meaningful and satisfactory. Tip-of-the-day anyone?

A good approach is to examine business pains and objectives from a macro point of view. Don’t limit yourself to parts of the business that come to mind first. Have you considered human resources (HR) for example? It’s another important part of business that can have its own Twitter account to help with things like recruiting, tracking local events and announcements, and disseminate useful messages and re-tweets to staff. How about using Twitter to enhance your positioning and finding out who you’re really up against? Try tweeting “What name and traits first come to mind when you think of hiring a Realtor in ‘neighborhood name’?”

If you are a real estate agent, Twitter is surely one of the tools you want to be able to publish information through, directly from your website. Let’s call it more free, easy advertising, at the very least.

Follow @point2agent

If you struggled to answer these questions immediately, you aren’t alone.

Your first step should be to decide how much time (and content) you will be able to invest in this form of marketing.  Remember, these days most people are online, and print advertising is going out of style.  Do you have the time and creativity to keep up with a blog?  If not, do you plan on joining an already well-established social network or forum?  Which one(s)?  Facebook?  LinkedIn?  Twitter?  What do you plan on sharing with these networks? Your own personal experiences, your schedule, available rentals, open houses, articles you’ve read, your listings, reposts of other peoples’ content, local information, or perhaps garage sales?

You need to decide who your target audiences are.  You might choose to operate in more than one these networks — one for people you know personally, and another where you market actively, posting information about the areas you serve, local news, open houses, yard sales — the sky is the limit.  If you have a special niche like HUD Homes, or Senior Housing, take advantage of that.  Become the trusted resource for new listings of this type in your area.

Another aspect of social networking that many people tend to ignore is participating on the pages of others.  Follow/Like other pages about your town, about the latest and greatest tech gadgets, or anything you and your target audience might be interested in.  Participate on those pages, like, share, and repost anything that you think might be of interest.  Don’t be shy. Engage people.  Repost, comment on, or ‘like’ the posts of your followers.  If someone comments on one of your posts, thank them and write back.  You want to create a presence—you want people to get to know you at some level.  Remember that friends of those followers will then see your name, and perhaps they’ll see your page/profile and decide to add you to their network. It’s all viral.

What you don’t post can be just as important as what you do post.  While you might be proud of your politics, lifestyle, or religion, you might want to keep your online appearance more neutral to avoid alienating some of your followers.  You don’t want to give anyone a reason to stop following you if you can help it.

Lastly, be sure to maintain a certain level of privacy.  While your friends and family may decide to follow your marketing/business page, you might want to keep your potential clients off of your personal page.  Remember that your goal is to market yourself and your services so it is likely that everything you post on the business specific page will be visible to the public via a simple web search of your name or town.  Don’t post anything anywhere, if you don’t want it to be seen. There is a risk that eventually it will be, even if it is in restricted areas of your page, such as Facebook.

When you begin the planning phase, you don’t have to have all the answers.  If you think you do have all the answers before you begin, don’t be afraid to change things.  Try to track what works and what doesn’t.  When did you get the most traffic, who are your followers, and did you post anything that caused people to follow or block you?  Your plan will likely evolve over time, even if your original strategy worked when you first implemented it.  This world of technology changes fast, so try to keep up!

I’m not talking crazy talk – a lot of us do have multiple online presences.  For instance, I have my Myspace …which, admittedly is now stale and probably still says: “Tanis is excited for a resort getaway”…that was in 2008. I have my Facebook account that is mainly for keeping up with my friends and family, my personal website, and I have multiple Twitter accounts, one for work purposes, and one to network with those in my music related hobbies outside of work.  And, on top of it, I have multiple accounts & websites that I maintain for others.

I’ve said this before, but I’m somewhat of a technology stalwart.  Really!  I still own, and even use a VCR!  Truthfully, it’s taken me a while to embrace the whole ‘online’ thing.  I’m not saying that I am opposed to technology.  After all, I do happen to work for a technology company – it is kind of a prerequisite.

However, if I am going to be online, I like to keep things simple.   The less time it takes to complete a task the better!   If you are like me and enjoy minimizing some of the confusion and time it takes logging in to multiple sites, you might enjoy some of these neat tools.  Here’s a peek at my top 3 apps:

Hootsuite

If you haven’t heard of Hootsuite, I’ll begin by saying that it’s one of the ultimate time savers.  Hootsuite allows you to amalgamate multiple social networks including Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn all through one location. 

Some of the sweetest features?  The ability to save draft messages that you use often.  I have a habit of often typing out the same thing over and over, so this helps me out a lot.  And even cooler, you can even schedule your tweets.  Do your clients follow you on Twitter?  Pre-schedule a tweet and thank them for the service when they will be around to actually see it.   Pretty nifty, hey? 

And if you really want to know how your Social Media efforts fare – you can also track your link statistics within Hootsuite.  Just think of it like the analytics you have for your real estate website, but applied to all your social media accounts.

Tweetdeck

Tweetdeck is another one of those convenient one-stop-shops for managing your social profiles.  However, there is more to meets the eye with Tweetdeck.  If you’re anything like me, and lead a double life (the marketing coordinator and the music junkie), you will appreciate the ability to manage multiple accounts.  I can make tweets from any account I want (or even multiple accounts at the same time), update my Facebook, and yes, even my defunct Myspace page – all from one location.   Have a great listing photo?  Drag and drop your photos directly into Tweetdeck and post it to any or all of your accounts.  Have an iPhone or even a fancy new iPad?  You guessed it – there’s an app for that.

Netvibes

As the header on Netvibes site says when you first visit, you can think of this service as “your personal dashboard”.  Not content with merely offering you a means to manage all of your accounts, Netvibes lets you keep an eye on entire subjects you are interested in.  For example, let’s say you really love home decorating… you can create a personal dashboard to keep up with what is new and exciting in the field from all over the web.

Unlike Hootsuite and Tweetdeck, you can also customize the look and feel of your Netvibes dashboards and take advantage of their expansive widget bank should you want to add additional functionality – such as local information or weather.  Oh yeah, and the whole thing is drop n’ drop – so don’t worry about being overwhelmed – it is as simple as using your VCR

Those are just a few of my personal favorites.  There are plenty of great programs out there to help save you time and prevent social media burn out, depending on your unique needs.  

Have some favorites of your own?  Feel free to share them here – I’m sure I’m not the only one looking to save some time!  Especially now that it’s finally summer here in Saskatchewan…the less time on the computer and the more time outside, the better!

Do you ever find yourself struggling to find enough time in a day to accomplish everything?  Perhaps you feel like you can keep up with what you currently know, but feel like you are falling behind on what’s new.

If you feel this way, you’re not alone.  I know I do.  I would wager a guess that almost everyone does at some point, in any field of work.

The other day I was talking with a co-worker about how difficult it can be at times to ‘keep up’.  We work for a software development company.  It’s almost a given that we should be hip to the newest tech gadgets, gizmos, and applications.

How does one keep up with what is new and how do we know which of the newest of the new is going to be something we can actually make use of, benefit from, and even help us save or make money?  Because, let’s face it, no matter what the economic situation is, we could always use a bit more money in our pockets.

This led me to consider some practical ways that we can manage our daily lives to prevent information and application overload.

The whole world in your hand

Well, almost.  If you haven’t already taken a look at the amazing features, tools, and apps available with most of the smartphones these days, it’s probably about time you did.  Judging by a recent informal poll we did on the Point2 Agent blog, we see that the majority of real estate professionals feel that their smartphone is the one gadget they simply could not live without.

And for good reason.  Consider that in most cases a smartphone provides you with web access, email access, an address book, a cell phone, a lockbox remote, a GPS, and a digital camera in a pinch.  Then think of how you’d ever manage to carry, let alone remember, all those individual gadgets at any given time – usually 24 hours a day.  (Note: this isn’t to say that your smartphone camera should replace a decent quality digital camera for listing photos.  We wouldn’t want to endorse less than the best for listings at Point2.)

Also becoming a more compelling reason to use a smartphone is the ever-growing list of neat, useful, and sometimes not-very-useful-but-quirky apps available from various application stores.  Of course, if you have an iPhone you can download a variety of apps for your phone from the Apple App Store.  If you have a BlackBerry, you can also access apps for your smartphone from BlackBerry AppWorld, including some of the more popular ones orginally made for the iPhone.

Walking into spider webs

Social networking and social media – a veritable web of contacts and friends and acquaintances.  Simply put, social media is the way of the future.  To be successful in any kind of business the need to be connected to your consumers is more real than ever before.  This raises the question: How do I know what is important?  And how do I keep track of it all?

Knowing what is important can be as simple as recognizing what is important to you and to your business.  Not all social media or networks will be suitable for every business.  Fortunately for you, the real estate industry is a very consumer-centric, people-oriented business.  This means that for the most part you should want to follow and participate where your consumers will be participating.  If you are able to reach them and connect with them on any level then you can succeed.

It’s true, some social networks have the potential to fizzle out without much success or following.  Because of this, some may be hesitant to ‘jump on the bandwagon’ because they don’t want to invest time or energy in building up a network on a service that may we useless in a few months.  Sound like you?  That’s okay, just take things a bit slower.  If you are interested in the potential of a specific service or tool, give it a few months to ‘prove’ itself in the flurry of all the other social media services.  It’s probably safe to say that if the social network or social media tool has made it into the mainstream successfully (i.e., mentioned in the news frequently, celebrities use it, etc.) then it is likely to remain for at least a little while and could warrant your participation now.

I can’t hear you!

As new services and tools arrive on the scene you’ll probably need to start managing all your profiles and networks.  The whole point of being involved in social media and networking is to connect you with other people, those who may be potential clients, and to help build your brand and reputation.  In order to convey this about yourself, you actually need to participate.  Setting up profiles at every social networking site is not going to net you business if you don’t actively participate there.  The more you have to say the more people will want to listen.

There are applications available that allow you to manage multiple – more popular – social networking services in one place.  Consider testing these applications out to find out which one best suit your needs and your social networks.  One that I’ve personally tried with some success is AlertThingy, where I can manage my Flickr, Facebook, Twitter, and Yammer accounts all in one place.  It won’t allow you to do everything you could normally do on each of those services independantly, but it does make life a bit easier.

There are also applications and services (such as Ping.fm or HelloTxt) that allow you to update multiple social networks with one post or entry.  If you are truly too busy to add a personal tweet or status update to your individual profiles, consider utilizing one of these automated services.  However, don’t neglect to post and update with real words and thoughts as often as possible.

You are busy.  We all are busy.  Sometimes it feels like we can’t ever keep up.  Hopefully with these few suggestions you’ll be able to relax just a little and feel like you are in better control of one aspect of your busy lives.

What do you think?

I tried to think of this with the real estate professional in mind and barely skimmed the surface of managing time and energy.  No doubt, since I am not out there buying and selling real estate on a day-to-day basis, I have missed some valuable tips or suggestions.  Please join in the discussion and share your practical advice with the rest of us in the comments below.

Just recently, he also mentioned a service called TweetBeep that allows you to set up notifications when anyone on Twitter uses specific words in their tweets.  For example, I set up my TweetBeep to notify me anytime the word ‘Point2′ is used in Twitter. 

I think it is in human nature to want to know what people are saying about you, and these types of social media tools certainly help us keep tabs on our reputation.  But, it can actually provide a benefit to your business as well by helping you connect with your customers and engage them.

Imagine this: As a customer, you are unhappy with the service you received from a company.  You mention your disappointment casually on your blog or social network of choice.  The following day (or maybe even that afternoon) you receive an email or phone call from that very company to apologize and expressing interest in making things right.  How would you feel after that?

Or, on the flip side of that coin, if you mentioned something you felt was outstanding about a service received or product you have used, and the company called you to say ‘Thanks!’ and give you some love by way of free products/services, how would you feel after that?

I certainly don’t mean to suggest that everyone begin tweeting, commenting, and blogging about every negative or positive experience they have in the hopes of getting props and free stuff out of every company.  I guess my point is to show just how powerful social media and social networking has become in the business world.

This is no less important in the real estate business world.  If you’ve provided excellent customer service to an individual and they tell their followers on Twitter, or blog about it, it is likely you may gain some referral business from them this way.  The same goes for any negative feedback that might surface on the internet about you.  You might lose some business if it goes unchecked.  Do you know what is being said about you?  Do you take it a step further and engage those who have something to say about you?

Real estate is a customer-service oriented business and it makes perfect sense to interact with and engage your customers at the same level they are at.  You better believe that the likelihood of your customers using Twitter and other social media tools is growing daily.  Consider that Twitter recently reached over 1 billion ‘tweets’, has about 1.45 million unique visitors, and boasts some pretty impressive numbers.

Make sure you don’t neglect the opportunity to truly engage your customers with the help of social media.  I welcome everyone to share your experiences of how social media has impacted your real estate business and how you have been able to use social media to engage your customers.

This saying, roughly translated from ad-speak, states that unless the message/product/service you are trying to promote is everywhere possible no one will pay attention to it since consumers are bombarded with too many ads daily, and generally don’t have the time or attention to process them effectively.

Besides making me despair for the sad state of our society when you consider the amount of advertising and brand exposure each of us faces every day (3000 messages per day according to the UCS), it really made me stop and think for a moment – is this saying even valid anymore?

Unable to decide for myself, I floated the question to my Twitter network and was surprisingly inundated with replies from people on both sides of the debate.  After a while the consensus seemed to be that while it may be practical to blanket the globe with advertising if you are a well-endowed company like Coca Cola (or now that I think about it, a spammer) this will never make economic sense for 99.9% of companies out there.

In order to be competitive, it makes sense to only advertise in the same “environment” as your target market since they will be much more receptive to your message then the general public, and in turn give you “more bang for your buck” so to speak.

If you look at the big picture, internet advertising magnifies the concept of target marketing ten fold since consumers are going to visit only the websites that are of interest to them, and therefore are afforded the luxury of bypassing ads they do not want to see – unlike, for example, walking down the street – you can’t block out ads in the real world (well you can if you close your eyes, but then you run the obvious risks).

But as you, me, and any other internet users already know, to advertisers this concept is old hat.

It may have been a shock the first time you logged into your Gmail account and saw contextual ads served up that were similar to the subject matter of your email (sometimes with hilariously unintended consequences), or the first time you saw Amazon recommend you a novel based on your prior purchase history.

However, this is just the tip of the iceberg, as advertisers look for increasing clever ways to target and segment us consumers in order to get their message out there.  For instance, in early 2009 Google will be launching targeted TV advertisements in conjunction with satellite provider Echostar, in a bid to get ads in front of your eyeballs that you may actually respond to, rather then TiVo past.

And it’s not just these industry titans getting into the act either.  Last week I responded to two separate messages on twitter regarding wine and jazz, and within minutes I was followed by Popptags (a creator of wine tags) and JazzCrowd (a FaceBook group for jazz lovers) – a process becoming (un)affectionately known as “Twittertising”.

How did they accomplish that?  It was probably as simple as using the Twitter Search functionality to find all the tweets including a certain keyword, or using a keyword tracking service like Tweetbeep.

Creeped out yet?  I know I am getting there.

All of a sudden that scene from the movie Minority Report where Tom Cruise goes to The Gap only to verbally accosted by the sales hologram asking about his previous purchases sounds fairly plausible.

Ok, NOW I am sufficiently creeped out – any future that is influenced by Tom Cruise can’t be good for anyone.