San Diego, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 10/30/2013 -- Real estate marketing doesn’t have to require thousands of dollars of ad spend and hours upon hours of effort and energy. According to Michael Smythe, author of Real Estate Marketing in the 21st Century: Twitter Marketing for Realtors, all it takes is embracing the often-overlooked and (mostly abused) social media platform, Twitter.

The key is to do it in a way that sets you as a realtor apart.

“Most realtors are really smart and interesting people. But they usually suck when it comes to Twitter,” said Smythe. “They talk about themselves, over and over again. Nobody cares about you. But they do care about how you can teach them cool, insider stuff.”

And what kind of cool, insider stuff can realtors teach? Well, stuff about buying and selling houses, of course.

But, as Smythe illustrates in his book, these insider strategies don’t have to be ground-breaking, they just have to help people save time, money or both.

“As a realtor, you know a ton of stuff that most real estate civilians don’t have a clue about,” said Smythe. “Just share little tidbits here and there and you will stand out from the rest of the realtors out there who keep tweeting about their latest property listing.”

That’s because, as Smythe reiterates, as a realtor “you aren’t selling properties, you’re selling expertise and hand-holding. Show ‘em you can do both, and you’ll absolutely crush it on Twitter.”

But how do you get those tons of Twitter followers who you can eventually turn into customers. Smythe says it’s not rocket science: just simple, steady Twitter following principles repeated over and over again.

“You just got to follow the followers of high-profile local Twitter accounts in your area. Keep following, wait for them to follow you back, and before you know it you’ll have thousands of Twitter followers.”

And while there’s no guarantee each new Twitter follower will turn into a customer. But, as Smythe lays out in his Real Estate Marketing Twitter Guide, real estate is all about building relationships. And nothing builds relationships, lowers barriers, and reaches people in such as simple, automated way as Twitter.

To get a free copy of the Top 5 Dirt-Cheap Tools Every Realtor Should Have, head over to WellFedRealtor.com