1) Any time I used the words "move" or "moving" a real-estate agent followed me. Not once did they stop to actually read my tweets, where they could've realized I'm not buying real estate. - Mark Trapp

2) I've had two random moving companies follow and respond to me about asking for a referral to an auto moving company. The first one, uShip, doesn't even have a section for auto moving. The second one, NorthStar Moving, a company I don't know, refers me to another company I don't know, then tells me to "relax, it's Friday" when I call him on the bullshit move. If I'm asking for a referral, I'm asking for someone I trust to recommend someone. I'm not asking for random companies to pitch me. - Mark Trapp

heh sorry Mike. nice analogy there. hope your move is going well otherwise. - Kamilah Gill

People don't want your pitch shoved down their throat every time they mention a marketable activity. They want to talk to their friends, and find services on their own or with the help of trusted people. Only when a person actively seeks out your services should you be trying to pitch them. This keyword following/responding bullshit is exactly that: a bullshit marketing strategy for people who either don't know how to market their product or are too lazy to do so. It's spam, plain and simple. - Mark Trapp

This annoys me, too. When I was in Atlanta last month, I made a few tweets about my trip, and all of a sudden, every Atlanta promoter with a Twitter account followed me. It didn't matter that my location said Vancouver, and it didn't matter that I said I was only visiting, I got everything from club promoters to real estate companies following me. It bugs. - cecily

Oh, I forgot about those, Cecily. I did have several Portland marketers follow me because I mentioned Portland. Having some marketing background, it aggravates me to no end: not only is it annoying to the consumer, it doesn't work! - Mark Trapp