If you're like me, you're truly confused about how Twitter can really get you business. In fact, [confession time!] I haven't even been to Twitter in months! But, this post by Rich Rogala at Consistent Clients got my attention. He talks about TwitHawk, a tool that allows you to search Twitter for certain key phrases. According to the site, TwitHawk is a real-time targeted marketing engine that will find people talking on twitter by your chosen topic and location, allowing you to really hit your target mid conversation with ease. It will periodically search twitter for you and either auto-reply or generate a list of matches for you to respond to or reject from your TwitHawk account.
According to Rogala, TwitHawk looks like it has a lot of potential for you to find local people discussing the following:

• how tired they are of their apartment
• considering looking for a home
• recent job transfer/new job in your area
• needing more space

Basically, you can find people in your target area who are considering a move and begin soft marketing to them. "Now remember, you're not going to see positive results if you jump in and try to sell them on using you as a Realtor®," says Rogala. "At best, they'll ignore you, and at worst they might block you, or even tell their friends." But, he says, if you have some tips for them in the form of a link to a blog post, a free ebook or an offer of a free market analysis, it would be acceptable to say something like “Hi @twitterperson, I have a blog post at www.myblogposthere.com with some good info for first-time homebuyers. Feel free to check it out.”

"Low pressure contact like this is acceptable, or you could  just give them a warm welcome to the area, or recommend a listing," says Rogala. They key is in offering valuable information.