Social media can do a great deal for your business. Just be sure not to waste your time or efforts.
Consumers are piling on to online social networks in droves. According to Arbitron/Edison Research, 48 percent of Americans have a profile on a social networking site today, a figure that has doubled since 2008. Social networking has developed a strong presence in many people’s everyday lives and will not be going away in the near future.The number of real estate pros active on social media sites corresponds with that of the general population. According to the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® 2010 Member Profile, 51 percent of all REALTORS® actively use social or professional Web sites. When the responses are limited to members 29 years of age and younger, that figure jumps to 79 percent.
However, when REALTORS® who aren’t using these tools now were asked if they would use them in the future, only 12 percent indicated they would. Given the rate that potential customers and clients are signing up and logging on, that number seems low.
If you’re just getting started in social networking, are still considering whether or not to jump in, or are skeptical of its value, here are five tips to keep in mind that can help you get business from these technologies without sacrificing a great deal of time and energy.
1. Have a Game Plan
Determine how many times you will post items on your status and what meaningful information you will post. Determine if you plan to host a blog and how often you'll add new posts to your blog, or if you’ll add videos and other important information.
Initiating a game plan on how you approach social media will help keep you on the tasks involved while keeping in mind why you are ultimately using it — to constantly remind your sphere of influence that you’re an experienced real estate professional.
2. Remember: A Touch Is a Touch
One of the best prospecting techniques you have is working your sphere. When it comes to social media, you should search for people in your sphere and invite them to become part of your network. It’s also worthwhile to create a group or list labeled “Sphere” or something similar for people in this group.
Once you have finished this, send a private message with a note of friendship to the people on this list. Occasionally, you may want to send them an important real estate news item, but you may want to limit these kinds of correspondences depending on the social network you’re using. This entire process should only take five minutes or less, and it will pay big dividends over the long run.
5 steps to social media success for realtors
No comments:
Post a Comment