The Rule of Thirds: How to Build Your Tribe and Engage On Twitter

One of the questions that I get asked over and over as I speak to audiences of Commercial Real Estate brokers is this:  how on earth do you use Twitter?

Here is some context.  The Commercial Real Estate Industry is notorious for being in the technological Stone Age.  I personally think this is for a couple of reasons.  First, the industry is dominated by really successful brokers that are my dad’s age.  These brokers are the ones asking me this question.  They became successful before the internet played a role in their business.  Why do they need it now?  I have a great answer for that…for another post.

Second, many of our clients are baby boomers who have been slow adopters of technologies as well.  Or at least slower than the Gen X, Y, and Millennial generations.

So for those in the industry just realizing the power of Twitter, here is how you build a following, engage, and benefit from the power of Twitter.

The Rule of Thirds

The basic premise of the Rule of Thirds is your tweets should fall fairly evenly into the following 3 categories:

First Third – Add Value By Tweeting Great Content.  You’ve heard over and over that ‘Content is King.’  This is true on Twitter as well.  People will follow you because you add value to their lives.  Think like a curator and a creator.  Example:  as most of my followers (currently 2,478) are in the CRE industry, I try to find great articles on Commercial Real Estate to tweet to my followers.  I also tweet out the content that I create myself.  Here is an example:

The 4 Blessings of a Down Market « theBarronBlog http://bo-b.co/QKfmV6 #cre

Notice the key parts of the tweet – the title of my blog post, the title of my blog, the link to the site, and then the hashtag identifying this is about CRE (or Commercial Real Estate).

Think add value to others!  And always include links.  Apps like Buffer and Hootsuite make this infinitely easy and efficient.  I will be reviewing both these apps in the coming weeks…so stay tuned!

Second Third – Engage.  Internet 1.0 was about static websites – think megaphone.  Internet 2.0 is all about engaging and sharing ideas – think telephone.  A third of your tweets should be connecting with others.  How?  Start with having manners.  Say ‘thank you’ when you get retweeted!  Comment on an article of value that was tweeted out.  Connect with people as if you are at a cocktail party.  I literally have real friends because I engaged on Twitter (@Michael_MBA, @BarbiReuter, @commsource, and many others).  This is the third where you will pick up loyal followers – where those connected with you will start retweeting you.

Third Third – Get Personal.  Be real.  Nobody wants to follow a robot.  You are a complete human.  Act like it.  Don’t just tweet out industry specific tweets all the time.  Allow people to know that you do other things.  I like to tweet out pics of me with my kids.  I want my followers to know that I’m a dad – and that I LOVE being a dad.  This engenders like-ability, and people help and do business with people they like.  Click here for an example.

A word of caution.  When using this Third, be smart.  Don’t tweet:  ‘Going to Italy for 3 weeks.  Please rob my house.’  Use common sense.

So how do you connect?  What are some of the guidelines you use that I failed to mention?  Let’s connect on Twitter.  You can follow me by clicking the Twitter button at the top right.  I will follow those that leave their Twitter handle in the comments.  I’m looking forward to learning from you!
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Please note: I reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive or off-topic.

  • James Harley

    Excellent ideas Bo Barron. From a baby boomer, you hit it on the nose. We tend to do things the way we were taught…….without the use of technology. The power of cyber-world is a phenomenal tool in the industry. Thank you for sharing !!

    • Thanks for the confirmation on that point. I thought that I would either be right, or offensive. Glad I’m not apologizing right now!

  • Great article Bo! For those who shy away from being “personal,” my recommendation is that you can be “personable” and not be too “personal”. For example, while I rarely mention my children on Twitter, I do feel comfortable talking about my crazy 100-lb Bernese Mountain Dog or my obsession with the US women’s national soccer team (@ussoccer_wnt) and the Washington Nationals (@nationals)!

    • Diane – I agree. Everyone has their own comfort level with privacy, and you should be consistent with where your needle pegs on this issue. You don’t have to be as open as I tend to be. Personable is a great way to talk about communicating to the world that you aren’t a BusinessBot hyper-tweeting 300 times a day with no life. Thanks for your clarification!

  • Jo Barron

    BoMan,

    Again, this is excellent. I am forwarding this to my Uncle John, my sisters/their families and your dad’s side of the family, but want to know if any of them already receive this blog?

    Mama

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