Hashtags are extremely useful and one of the unique elements of Twitter that makes it so useful. You can set up search queries to automatically list all hashtags in separate lists (these would be topics you would be interested in following) and find new people to follow by searching for hashtags in Twitters search box. In the inverse, you make yourself findable, and more likely to be followed, if you include hashtags in your tweets. Include a hashtag for the topic or subject for which you want to be found - it could be industry (#realestate or #realtor) or your location #cityname or a combo - #cityrealestate. Simply do a search and see what people are tagging. I use Tweetdeck to track my industry hashtags.
