There is a writing movement out there called “Six-Word Stories." (Example: Coin swallowed. Mom froze. Grandma whacks.)
Twitter is your 140-character story version, that forces you to convey your thoughts in short, meaningful words.
First things first—you need to decide why you want people to follow you on Twitter. Is it to get the most current interest rate? To brand yourself as an FHA expert? To share the latest housing stats in your community? Or to tell people what you cooked for dinner!
Secondly, who do you want to follow you? Consumers? Real estate agents? Investors? Past clients?
That leads into the third topic—whom are you going to follow? Real estate agents? Other loan officers? The business news reporter at your local TV station?
Fourth, how many times a week will you tweet?
So how do you monetize Twitter? One of the ways that I brand Mortgage Currentcy is by tweeting the rules in short, easy to understand sound-bites; by getting people to follow me and by getting people to re-tweet my tweets to their real estate agents.
By the way, did I mention that I have over 1,800 followers and one-third of them are real estate agents?
Oh, and that a New York Times reporter found me on Twitter and has interviewed me for an article she is writing about Fannie Mae and the loan quality initiative?
So let's start with an example: The feds recently updated the Reg Z rules with 15 changes to the original version. You can download the mortgage talking points free at
Here’s how to break down the 15 updates into tweets:
• Reg Z Ad Rules For RE Agents: #1-APR & terms must print in same size letters as monthly payment quoted. (110 characters)
• Reg Z Ad Rules for RE Agents: #2-Quoting loan terms on TV, Radio, Video-no fast-talking or low tone of voice. (111 characters)
• Reg Z Ad Rules for RE Agents: #3-If advertising Mo. Pay. Must state if taxes, insurance or PMI is included. (108 characters)
• Reg Z Ad Rules for RE Agents: #4-If advertising rate/loan terms, must provide toll-free number for more info. (111 characters)
And so on.
Why it works: Based on the 15 changes mentioned, if you tweet one rule, every other day, you’ll have one month’s worth of content. Best of all, you can write all of your tweets at one time, and set it up so they automatically tweet (Hootsuite.com) the day and time you want them to post.
Before I forget, using selective Tweets, you can post your tweets automatically on your Facebook page. It’s the one-two punch, with very little effort.
Karen Deis is president of
