GENERAL QUESTIONS:

What is TweetLister?

TweetLister is a service that allows real estate brokers and owners worldwide to create and manage residential, commercial, vacation and other property listings, and schedule them to post to their Twitter accounts. TweetLister uses its own carefully developed program to transform your property listing information into 140-character tweets that are easy to find on Twitter. TweetLister offers a full range of features. including the ability to post to multiple Twitter accounts, access detailed visitor statistics, add your Profile with photo, bio and contact info, and have full-featured landing pages, complete with property description, property features, photos, tools, and 2 "follow" links to your website for Search Engine Optimization, and the ability to add Vendor Ads on your landing pages.

What is Twitter?

Twitter is a social networking website that allows registered users to post short (up to 140 characters) messages called “tweets”, which can be searched and found by other users. If other Twitter users like what you are posting, they can choose to “follow” you – meaning that they will see all of your postings.

Why Do I Need to Put My Listings on Twitter?

Twitter is an excellent tool for real estate brokers and owners, because it allows them to instantly reach out to potential buyers, renter or leasers looking for specific types of properties. Brokers and owners can quickly build a network of followers who are interested in your listings, or who know people who might be – and that can mean deals! Twitter is free to use.

Why Use TweetLister?

Twitter is an online phenomenon with millions of users, but for many people it remains something of a mystery, and for others it represents a time-consuming chore in the middle of their already busy day. TweetLister works for both savvy Twitter users and newcomers alike by making the process easy, convenient and more effective. TweetLister is a one-stop tool that posts your real estate listings on Twitter. The benefits of using TweetLister are:

1. Our carefully developed listing form lets you create a Twitter-friendly listing every time. You don't have to think about how to present all the facts in 140 characters or less. TweetLister does it for you. Plus, TweetLister's listing format ensures that your listing can be found in property searches by buyers and sellers on both Twitter and TweetLister.

And with TweetLister, agents may not even have to enter listings -- since you can claim listings from our database of more than 1.5 million current listings (courtesy of ListHub). If your listings are in our system, and they match your Agent ID, they will appear in your account.

2. You can schedule listings to run once, daily, or weekly, and you can set the start and end dates. In the user-friendly control panel, you can add or edit any of your listings, change the schedule for when they post, or archive your listings for use in the future. Real estate blogger Jeff Dillman called it "a well-rounded tool for posting and scheduling all your listings on Twitter."

TWITTIQUETTE NOTE: TweetLister allows you to schedule listings to tweet as often or as seldom as you'd like. However, as members of the larger Twitter community, we recommend two things: 1. Don't "over-tweet" a listing. Daily might be too often, and could frustrate some of your followers; and 2. Try to also post other types of tweets to your Twitter account(s), such as market observations, or local area information. This brings a "human" side to the conversation on Twitter, and helps to foster trust among your followers.

3. Each listing links to its own detail page. When you first input a listing using the Add Listing form, the listing will automatically get a basic detail page. The basic page features all the listing information you entered on the form spelled out in plain English, a photo that you can upload using the Add Listing form, two links to your website or your own listing detail page, as well as to a Virtual Tour or other web location, and a contact form that sends you information by email. You can use the Enhance Listing link under each of your listings shown in the Control Panel to add details. The Enhanced Listing feature lets you add a property description, property features, more photos, useful online tools, and the ability to add Vendor Ads on your landing pages. Listings that are "claimed" from your MLS will automatically receive Enhanced Detail pages, and you can go in at any time to edit the features on these listings.

4. With TweetLister you can add a Lister (Broker or Owner) Profile to your account, and associate a Profile with each listing. Broker/Owner Profiles feature a photo, contact information and brief bio for each Profile. When users click on your Profile link at the bottom of your detail page, they will be able to see all of your Profile information along with all of your active TweetLister listings!

5. With TweetLister you can associate an unlimited number of Twitter accounts. You can have specific Twitter accounts for different regions, or different types of properties, and tweet those listings on the appropriate account. So you can choose to post one listing to, say, your "Downtown Properties" account, and others to your "Uptown Properties" account -- whatever meets your needs. When you enter a listing, you can select which Twitter account to "tweet" to.

6. With TweetLister you can download all of your contacts for each listing in a handy Excel file - you won't miss a contact, and you have a fast worksheet to use for your follow-ups. With TweetLister, you get the additional benefit of detailed visitor reporting and click tracking.

Who Can Use

TweetLister is ONLY for real estate listings. Spammers will be blocked.

TweetLister is intended as a professional tool for those selling, renting or leasing real estate. We are constantly monitoring the tweets managed by TweetLister, and anyone posting anything other than a legitimate real estate listing will be blocked from using the service.

TweetLister is perfect for real estate brokers and owners who are selling, renting or leasing properties. Brokers will find it easy and convenient to manage an unlimited number of listings at once. Owners can create a listing, and then “set it and forget it” in TweetLister until their property is sold, rented or leased. Both brokers and owners can see how many clickthroughs their listings are getting, and can adjust the features and pricing in the listing at any time. And you can view and download leads for each listing, so you don’t miss a potential deal!

How Much Does TweetLister Cost?

TweetLister costs $9.95 per month for an Agent/Owner Account, and $19.95 for a Broker/Office Account.

Agent/Owner Account: $9.95/month

This account is meant for individual Listing Agents, or for Property Owners. You can enter listings manually, or have your own MLS listings fed into TweetLister, courtesy of ListHub. For listing feeds: Enter your MLS AgentID and your individual MLS listings will be fed into your TweetLister account. All of your listings will link to detail pages featuring your single Agent Profile, including contact information. You can schedule listings individually to post to an unlimited number of Twitter accounts.

Broker/Office Account: $19.95/month

This account is meant for Brokers. You can enter listings manually, or have your office-wide MLS listings fed into TweetLister, courtesy of ListHub. For listing feeds: Enter your MLS OfficeID and your entire office's/brokerage's MLS listings will be fed into your TweetLister account. You can choose to globally have listings feature your broker contact information, or feature individual agent information. You can select groups of listings to post at specific times to selected Twitter accounts, rather than having to schedule listings individually.

Is TweetLister All I Need?

TweetLister is a convenient and easy way to post, manage and schedule listings on Twitter, and many brokers and owners use it as part of a larger online listing and marketing strategy for their properties. In many cases, users post their listings on TweetLister, but then add more relevant real estate or community-related comments, including information-oriented tweets to discuss a property's unique aspects or bring out the amenities of the neighborhood where you live and/or work. They also post to other social networking websites, such as Facebook, and they may continue to use "traditional" online posting venues, such as Realtor.com.

USING TWEETLISTER

How Do I Login?

TweetLister members sign in with a username and password that they create and manage through TweetLister. Your password is stored securely, and you can change your password at any time through the TweetLister Control Panel. If you forget your password, you can retrieve it through our Forgot Password page.

What If I Forget My Twitter Login?

During the TweetLister set-up process, you will be asked to enter your Twitter account login. This will allow TweetLister to post listings to your Twitter account (you will be able to add an unlimited number of additional Twitter account logins in the Control Panel). If you don't have a Twitter account, you will need to get one. Twitter is free and it takes only two minutes to sign up. You cannot manage your Twitter login information through TweetLister; you must go to Twitter.com if you forgot your Twitter password, or need other assistance logging into Twitter.

Can I Change Listings that Appear on Twitter?

Once a listing is posted on Twitter, it cannot be changed. But using TweetLister, you can edit that listing and repost it with new information. If you have scheduled a listing using TweetLister, you can still edit that listing and the new information will appear in the next scheduled posting.

Can I Re-Use Older Listings on TweetLister?

Yes. After you mark a listing as "Sold", "Leased", "Rented", or "Off Market" it goes into the Archive. Simply sign into your account, click on Archived Listings, find the listing you want and make it active. You can also edit it and schedule it, just as you can do with a new listing.

How Do I Schedule a Listing?

When you create or edit a listing, you will have the option to set a posting schedule. You can set it to run Daily or Weekly, and you can specify a start and end date for posting. If you set Daily or Weekly without specifying a start and end date, the listing will run until you manually stop it (using the Edit feature).

How Often Should I Post a Listing?

TweetLister allows you to schedule a listing to appear on your Twitter account at set intervals, and set times -- daily, every two, three or five days, weekly and monthly. While the option is there to post a listing daily, many long-time Twitter users do caution against over-tweeting a listing. Unless you are posting a listing with an urgent sale deadline, for example, some users say it is better "twittiquette" to post every other day, at the most. Others, however, say that it is beneficial to tweet your info daily so it is fresh in the eyes of those who might not have seen it the day before. In the end, it is your choice -- TweetLister simply makes the different the options available to you.

How Do I Stop a Listing?

Sign into TweetLister and view your Active Listings. Choose the listing you want to stop and click Edit. Select a new Status from the pulldown menu in the Edit window and click Save. Your listing will stop posting and will be placed in the Archive, where you can retrieve, edit and re-use it at any time.

Can I Add More Than One Listing at a Time to TweetLister?

When they enroll, TweetLister members can enter their Agent ID or OfficeID (see How Much Does TweetLister Cost?, above) and "claim" Multiple Listing Service (MLS) listings that are in our database. TweetLister currently has up to 1.5 million listings in its system courtesy of ListHub, representing listings posted by more than 300,000 listing agents at more than 20,000 brokerages in the United States. If your listings are in the system, they will appear in your TweetLister Control Panel. These listings are fed to our system daily, and will be updated in your account (however, if you change pricing and broker contact information locally, this information will override information taken from the feed). TweetLister is also adding feeds from brokerages and other providers worldwide - so there is a good chance your listings will be in the system in the near future. If you are a US broker and your MLS listings are not in our system, please contact ListHub for more information.

I Have Duplicate Listings in My Account. Why, and What Can I Do?

You could have duplicate listings in your system under the following scenario: You manually entered your listings into TweetLister before the release of our latest version in which you claimed listings for the same properties from the MLS. In this case, you will need to select your old listings and either delete them or mark them as Archived for later use.

How Do I Create an Enhanced Detail Listing?

TweetLister members can upgrade their listings to feature an Enhanced Detail page, do the following: In your Control Panel, click on Active or Scheduled Listings, click "Edit" next to the selected listing, and click "Add More Listing Details - NEW!!". Here you will be able to add up to 4 additional photos (5 total), add a description and up to 10 custom listing features, add a map, mortgage calculator and other tools to your listing, a disclaimer, open house information, and more!

What Details Does an Enhanced Detail Listing Include?

The Enhanced Detail pages include:

A property Description (up to 500 characters).

Up to 10 property Features of your choice.

Up to 4 additional property Photos, for a total of 5 photos with each listing.

Add Tools, such as a Mortgage Calculator, Google Map, School Reports and a Walk™ Score (a ranking based on how close the property is to stores and services).

Open House information

Your own legal Disclosure for the listing.

The ability to change the link labels on your two external links. These two external links are "follow" links, meaning that the search engines can index them - which can help improve the Search Engine ranking for your website!

How Do I Create a Lister Profile?

In your TweetLister Control Panel, in the list of feature links on the right side of the page, select "Add/Edit Lister Profile". Here you will be able to enter all of the information needed for your Profile: User Type (Agent or Owner), Name, Email, Phone, Company Name, Website Address, Bio (up to 500 characters), and a Photo (100x140 pixels, recommended size). Click "Add" and your Profile will be saved in the system. You can also return to this page to Edit your Profile, as needed.

How Do I Assign a Broker Profile to a Listing?

In the TweetLister Add Listing form, on the line where you designate the listing location and Contact Email, you will also be able to select your Broker Profile from the pulldown.

Can I Post Listings to More Than One Twitter Account?

Yes. TweetLister allows you to associate one or more Twitter accounts with your TweetLister account. When you enter a listing, you can select which Twitter account to "tweet" to. You can have specific Twitter accounts for different regions, or different types of properties, and tweet those listings on the appropriate account.

How Do I Add Twitter Accounts to My TweetLister Account?

In your TweetLister Control Panel, on the right side of the page, click on "Add/Edit Twitter Accounts". Enter the username and password for the Twitter Account you would like to add, and click the ADD link at the bottom. The account will now be available to associate with TweetLister listings.

How Do I Associate a Twitter Account with a TweetLister Listing?

On the Add Listing form in your TweetLister Control Panel, you will see a pulldown at the end of the bottom line under Schedule Listing. The pulldown is labeled Account to Post. Using this pulldown, select the Twitter account that you would like to associate with this listing. Tweets for this listing will appear in the Twitter Timeline for the account you selected.

How Do I Cancel My TweetLister Subscription?

You may cancel your TweetLister subscription at any time by clicking here. Upon cancellation, any listings that are scheduled to post to your Twitter account(s) will be deleted. However, listings that have already posted to Twitter will remain in your Twitter timeline. You will need to login to your Twitter account(s) to remove any listings from Twitter. Upon cancellation of your TweetLister subscription, your credit card will no longer be charged; however, monthly payments that have already been made will not be refunded. Please see our Terms for additional information.

"CLAIMING" MLS AND OTHER FEED LISTINGS

What does it mean to "Claim Listings"?

TweetLister's listings database is fed by various listing providers worldwide. Each listing in our system is associated with a specific Agent ID or Office ID - whether for MLS or brokerage listings in the United States, or for listings from countries outside the US. When you sign up for TweetLister, you are asked to enter your Agent ID or Office ID. We check this ID against your name, and if there is a match, and if your MLS or other feed listings are in our system, then the listings will appear in your account.

Who can "Claim Listings"?

At the present time, licensed real estate listing agents and brokers who are members of ListHub (www.ListHub.net) and are subscribed to the TweetLister channel, can "claim" their MLS listings from our database with a TweetLister account.

Why aren't my MLS listings appearing in my Control Panel?

If your listings are not appearing in your account, it could mean:

• Your MLS listings are not in our database.

• You currently have no listings in the MLS database.

• You entered the wrong Agent ID or Office ID, or the Agent ID or Office ID and the name you provided do not match.

If you would like to be able to claim MLS listings, but your listings are not in our database, please Contact Us so that a representative can address your needs.

SEARCHING TWEETLISTER LISTINGS

What is on the Search Listings Page?

TweetLister also provides a powerful listings search tool, where users can find listings by specific criteria. The default selection on our Search Listings page displays the latest TweetLister listings, but the search will also find non-TweetLister listings, as well. All results link to your Enhanced listing detail page.

How Do I Search for Listings Using the Search Listings Tool?

When you click on the Search Listings navigation tab at the top of the screen, you will be taken to a page that displays the most current TweetLister listings on the left, and a search form on the right. The search form allows you to search by: Listing Category (required), Listing Type (required), Type of Property (required), Bedrooms and Bathrooms, City or Neighborhood, State, Country, Keyword and Minimum and Maximum Price. The results will appear on the left side of the page.

TROUBLESHOOTING ISSUES

Why aren't my listings getting posted on Twitter?

Users occasionally report an issue where their listings are not posting to their Twitter accounts. The reasons for this issue include:

• The user changed their Twitter password, so that TweetLister can no longer access their account. If you have changed your Twitter password, you must also change the password on TweetLister by going to your Control Panel, and clicking on Add/Edit Twitter Accounts on the right side of the page. Select the account in question, change your password, and click UPDATE. Your listings will now post to the selected Twitter account.

• The user Scheduled the listing to appear at a future date. In this case, the listing will not tweet until the scheduled date. In your TweetLister Control Panel, on the right side of the page, select View Scheduled Listings, and you will see the listing in question. Click Edit, and then click Edit Tweet/Schedule. Here you will see when the listing is scheduled to run.

• Twitter was down or overcapacity at the designated posting time. Twitter, as you might imagine, gets a lot of traffic. And as many users have experienced, it occasionally goes down or reports that it is "over capacity". If your listing is scheduled to post at a time when Twitter is having such technical issues, the TweetLister system will put that listing in a queue to retry posting again 1 hour later. We will continue to try reposting the listing every hour until successful.

•You have selected "Protect my tweets" in your Twitter account Settings. To unprotect your tweets and allow TweetLister to post to your Twitter account, login to your Twitter account, click on Settings in the top menu, and uncheck "Protect my tweets" at the bottom of the screen.

NEW ADDITIONS

Have New Features Been Released?

TweetLister launched in May 2009 as a free service offering just the basic listing page, and we quickly added more and more features. In November 2009, we introduced our full-featured, business-level tool as a paid service. TweetLister is chock-full of all the innovations and updates we have developed since the start, and more, for a low price of $9.95/month. As time marches on, we plan to regularly release new updates and feature enhancements. Stay tuned!

What Else Does TweetLister Do?

TweetLister is an active start-up company owned and operated by web designers and programmers with extensive real estate experience. As a TweetLister user, you can expect to see many new and useful additions to TweetLister over the coming weeks and months. We’re very excited about the power and effectiveness of our web-based tool, and we will continue to improve it so that it serves more and more of your real estate brokerage needs.