I think you’re spot on about making relationships and meeting new (amazingly helpful for the most part) people.

It fascinates me.

And you GUESS you still owe me a beer?

Much like if you (Jay) spent a day sending out messages and needed the Twitterverse’s help, I think you would get the response (you are a real estate social media thought leader – like it or not).

What I have found about my recent attempt is that a) I’ve built some great bonds with people I already knew, b) I’ve met some new people through relational networking, c) a lot of people are willing to lend a hand – even when they may not know who they’re lending it to.

Although I can’t speak to everyone all the time, I find it is possible to form great bonds with people in short bursts. Continuing it on a long term basis is the key.

I’m hoping to give you the good news that you and I will finally meet up in real life. I guess I still owe you a beer.

Do you use Twitter to talk to your followers beyond the initial note of thanks? Or to set up offline communication? Developing online relationships via Twitter is an alternative – or perhaps bonus – to developing relationships via email and other channels of communication.

I’d like to learn from the experiences of you, Jay and his readers; and share my experiences in return. I look forward to a continued discussion.

I appreciate you coming here and commenting. I did send you an email several weeks ago when I first picked up on your Twitter stream, but you never replied. I also “@replied” to you on Twitter and heard nothing. I realize we’re all quite busy and it’s entirely possible that my email and Tweet got buried and/or went unnoticed.

Please note, no where did I call you a spammer. And of course there is nothing wrong with thanking people for following you.

But Sandor, that thanking of people is all I see you doing on Twitter. So I don’t understand the point. Granted, I did not look at every tweet you’ve ever sent, but all I see is the same “thank you” message over and over. I see no engagement, no replies, no links, no conversation.

So help me understand, what is the point?

There are clearly many ways to use Twitter and other social media tools, and I’m by no means an expert. But for the life of me I can’t see what you’re getting from twitter, nor can I understand what people that follow you are getting from you. I’m not saying that anyone has to “get” anything from Twitter, but you’ve obviously spent a lot of time cultivating a following. I’m just really curious as to why?

I didn’t use your twitter stream example for the purpose “of appearing to your readers as a great and knowledgeable writer and fine Real Estate Broker”. I used it as an example of someone who uses twitter without truly engaging (I don’t consider a single “thank you” as engagement). I used it as a real life example of something *I* see as a waste of time. You are certainly free to disagree. I’d truly appreciate it if you’d help me understand your application of Twitter as I’m just not getting it. We’ve all got a lot to learn, there are no hard and fast rules, so maybe we can all help each other. THAT was the point in using your example.

We shouldn’t use Social Media with the sole idea of “getting rich”, but even then, If that is someone’s idea, I believe that we should establish an honest relationship first.

I wish that you would have taken the time to write directly to me, as a good Samaritan did today, informing me of your blog and of this writing about me in it and that way, perhaps you would have gotten to know me better instead of prejudging me without knowing who I am.

You wrote: Oh, he can tell prospective clients, “I’ve got 2,246 followers on Twitter!” but so what?
Believe me Jay, my intentions are not to brag to my clients about how many followers I have, (that by the way, I have not used any software or any other gagged or system to achieve 2,246 followers). All I have done is respectfully replied to them.

I want to also point out to you and to your readers, that I analyze everyone of the follower’s messages that I receive and that I don’t accept everyone of them just to add followers, as a matter of fact, I delete quite a few of them that come from people that are not acceptable or are not compatible with me or my profession.

I Also want to point out again, for your readers benefit, that I am not a Spammer and that I just reply to my followers with what I believe is a polite thank you message.

I hope that using me as your example, served your purpose of appearing to your readers as a great and knowledgeable writer and fine Real Estate Broker and that they continue to congratulate you and your blog.

If you ever need anything from this humble Real Estate Broker in Miami, don’t hesitate in contacting me. In the mean time, best wishes to you!

Sincerely,

Sándor R. Ochoa

My gratitude to Kathy for her decency in letting me know about this.

Indeed. Knowledge is power. And I can’t begin to even describe the knowledge I’ve gained through social media!