Using Social Networking in Real Estate – Why? How? When?
Realtors have always been natural networkers and now, being online shouldn’t be any different. Today, people are going online to search for social interaction and conversations. According to Alexa, Facebook is now ranked 3rd (US), MySpace is ranked 5th (US), Twitter 12th (US) and Linkedin 22nd (US). We all know that social media websites bring in a massive amount of people, and being in a people profession, that is where we want to be. Yet only 33% of Realtors are taking advantage of social networking. This could be due to a number of questions including: How do I use social media for my business? Does this even have a benefit in real estate? How do I make time for it? We will answer all those questions for the 3 most effective real estate social networks: Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Where to start with Social Networking:
To be successful with online relations a few basic principles should be followed. Start with being yourself and build relationships before sales. Speak in human rather than promotional terms. There must be a personal side to your online profiles and interactions before there is a business side. Have pictures of hobbies, vacations, etc. You don’t need to have extensive personal info but just make your profile personable. Focus on conversation and sharing the value of your expertise to bring others into the discussion. Post something as simple as, “If you have any real estate questions feel free to ask on my profile.” This will start a dialogue around your business that allows interaction between you and your potential or current clients. Posting on social networks shouldn’t be something that takes more than a few minutes per day. Ping.fm is a site that can be used to connect all your social networks and save you valuable time.
Facebook:
There are many social networking sites out there but let’s start with the most prominent, Facebook. Offices can create a Facebook group or page (http://www.facebook.com/justsnooping). Pages give you more flexibility and visibility so they preferred for real estate offices. The step by step process for creating a page can be found at (http://twitter.com/JSTweeting). Pages are currently showing up high in search engines and can be an easy way to build your online reputation as well as generate leads. Agents can create Facebook profiles (http://www.facebook.com/martymosesjr). The step by step process can be found at (http://www.wikihow.com/Create-a-Facebook-Profile) Once you have built your agent profile or business page you will want to start networking. Posting your virtual tours can be a good way of marketing your listings and you as an agent (copy and paste the standard virtual tour link to the wall on your profile/page). This will generate views for that listing and notify your contact list that you are within that top 33% of Realtors using social media for real estate. Other ways to gain contacts and build your reputation include: posting events, asking open ended questions, having a testimonials section, joining networks, conducting polls, having a suggestions box and searching for friends or people interested in real estate.
Twitter:
The name Twitter is a little strange but the marketing exposure that can be gained by using this network can open a whole new avenue for your business. The idea of the site is posting a 140 character message about what you are doing (or what your local real estate market is doing). Be an expert in your field and let people know about it. Twitter is a great way to portray your knowledge and expertise. Once again posting open ended questions can be very effective. Links play a large part on Twitter as well. Posting links on current real estate trends and information is highly recommended, especially if they just so happen to be one of your web pages. Make sure not to forget the personal aspect of your Twitter page in terms of what you post and your appearance. Having a custom background and personal profile image will go a long way in providing dynamic character to your page.
LinkedIn:
LinkedIn is an online business profile designed to help you advance your professional network and join groups in areas of interest. Having a local list of real estate business contacts can promote professionalism within your office and personally connect you with future business partners. LinkedIn profiles in other areas of business outside of real estate are all potential clients. Groups are a great way to interact with other Realtors and prospect buyers or sellers. Join a group and make expert comments to further the discussion and your credibility within the network. If there isn’t a group within your local target market, create one! The main goal is to build your network by finding local people of interest and share your knowledge as an expert within groups.
There is so much potential with over 300 million people on Facebook alone. Keeping up with the ever-changing social media and online market can be difficult at times. Feel free to use this blog or our social networks to post comments, questions or concerns. Our goal is to give you the most current tools to become the information source for real estate in your area by communicating with current clients, progressing business to business relationships, building a solid online reputation and connecting with future clients.
Join Our Social Networks to Stay Up-To-Date With Online Marketing:
Facebook Page : http://www.facebook.com/justsnooping
Twitter: http://twitter.com/JSTweeting
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/justsnooping
Advanced Social Networking Tools:
Ping.fm – If you don’t have time for social networking, ping it. Syndicate your social networks and post once on ping.fm to post on all your social networks. Track hits on the links that you post and setup your blog to syndicate to your social networks.
Facebook.com/username – Create a custom url for your Facebook profile or page. Facebook pages are only allowed custom url’s after they have an established contact list.
Socialoomph.com – If Twitter is too basic for you and you still don’t see results in using the site, go here to take it to the next level. Too many features to list.
Twitterbacks.com – Simple site to creating custom Twitter background images. http://mashable.com/2009/05/23/twitter-backgrounds/ has additional information.
Search.twitter.com – Search Twitter for targeted keywords (leads). Ex. “Real Estate Seattle”
Twellow.com – Add your Twitter profile to the Yellow Pages of Twitter for increased exposure.
Wonderful information for anyone to step off into the social media world. I think additionally a business plan and strategy, or definition of purpose as to why you are there is also a great idea.
Outstanding stuff. This is what every Realtor should be doing. When markets and technology change we need to change with them in order to succeed. The 33% number was shocking. If it is OK, I would like to link your blog to my website http://www.morganhillhomes.com Let me know. Thanks again.
Thank you for the comment Morgan Hill. Changing technology is something we need to keep up with and we intend to help make that process easier over the next few months with increased blog postings and networking. We would love to partner with you in linking to your site. A reciprocating link to our blog from your site would be appreciated as well.