Twitter is one of those tools that took me a while to embrace.  I signed up and just watched for quite some time trying to figure out what to say.  I did not really want to go with the whole stream of consciousness thing thinking no one is really interested in what I am doing every moment of the day or what my every thought is… even I don’t find myself that interesting!

After a while, I jumped in and for me it became more about tips, things that came across my computer that I thought were worth sharing and the occasional plug for my new consulting company.  This past Sunday, a whole new Twitter World opened up for me.

Janie Coffey herded together a small group of Miami Real Estate agents that are all  active on Twitter and Sunday night we all hopped on and started Tweeting about the Miami Real estate market in 140 words or less.  The hour flew by with tons of stats, market indicators and a very sophisticated discussion about the Miami market and many of its’ most popular neighborhoods.

I was also impressed with the caliber of the agents participating.  Long gone is the notion of not sharing for fear you will tip a competitor – these pros stand out as true professionals who understand knowledge is better shared than stored.

A Real Estate TweetChat is a great way to work Social Media into your real estate business.  Here are the simple steps to get it going:

1. Check out the twitterati in your area. Look for real estate agents that are active and knowledgeable in your market. Make sure you include a mortgage professional since many of the questions will be about financing.  You can expand the group to include attorneys, short sale experts, title professionals,accountants (it is tax season), etc.
2. Send out your invite with time and hashtag already in place.  We used #MiamiRealeChat.  You might want to include some suggested questions, just to get the conversation flowing.  Market stats, short sales, foreclosures and predictions are all good topics.
3. Select one person to be the moderator.  The moderator will pose questions to the group, welcome participants and keep the overall conversation on target.
4. Promote the event. Set up an account at TweetChat and promote that hashtag using facebook, twitter, your blog or website.  TweetChat will also log the postings so that there is a transcript to publish and promote after that is full of the information that was shared live.
5. Keep it going.  Your audience will build over time.  Make your Real Estate chats at the same time in regular intervals and the word will get out.
6. Most of all – keep it fun and informative.

If you are interested in seeing how this works, join us this Sunday evening at 9 PM EST by following #MiamiRealeChat jump in and ask a question.  We would love to have you.

Thanks to our participants last week…  @CoconutGrove,tkheatley, janiec, BrokerMaggie, AshtonColeman, adriansalgado, raulestrada.