Tried to do this comment in 140 characters or less, but realized it just wasn’t the same. Social media is about education. Plain and simple.

Wait, there you go – there’s 140 characters!

One thing is for certain. Agents that participate in these online communities, and by participate I mean geniune interest, not blatant selling, will be better producers of business.

Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn are all great, but I think we as real estate practitioners need to also pay attention to local social sites. For example, there is a discussion board here locally that has thousands of participants. By contrast, I have only found a couple of Dothanites on Twitter. Also, there is a local online community that has had nearly a thousand members sign up in just a few short weeks of existence. Compare that to just a handful of Dothan folks with profiles on LinkedIn.

I understand the appeal of the “big” social sites, for the reasons Carson mentioned. But I see a far larger number of prospective clients on the local sites. Spending time participating in the local online communities and building relationships there has already lead to some business, and in the near term will likely lead to more than Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn combined.

I know if these sites exist here in Dothan, then just about every medium size market in the country has something similar. Agents (and brokers too!) would do well to become involved and start making friends in these online communities.

@Tom, Larry thanks, you guys are swell fellows and @cindy, fantastic point! The rest fantastic thoughts.

Anyone have other specifics?

Tom

Social media allows you to be more authoritative so that when you speak, people listen. Just look at Agent Genius, The Mortgage Reports, Bloodhound Blog, Mortgage Rates Report, Lenderama, etc. When they write, we’re all ears! Think of the opportunity that presents when faced with a new client.

It also helps streamline our marketing processes. There are only so many hours in the day and yet a blog is available 24/7 to address and answer questions…

I have learned about products and techniques that are directly benefiting the way I practice business, and the service that I can offer to clients and customers. That is a good thing.

Social media as a whole is benefiting our industry in that it is putting pressure on the industry to change. Such pressure would not have been possible 10 years ago. It is very possible that social media, and the effect that it is having on business in general, will affect the next major changes in the real estate industry on a number of fronts: MLS systems, professional standards, business practices– you name it. Social media has the potential to influence all of these areas.

If you have no agenda or “passion”, why would social media be a big deal for you? In 2005… I was in college, freshly single, and discovered myspace. I thought …whoa this is a great way to meet girls for free. And it WAS. Back then, just being on myspace was a good reason to ‘holla’ for a single. After a while, the fun wore off. And eventually, everyone and their mom (literally) was on. Suddenly you had to have a good reason to introduce yourself or risk being labeled a creep. The novelty of being a part of the site, and simply sharing that in common, was gone.

What happens when small businesses everywhere – I mean everywhere – adopt the social web? There will be a rift. Early adopters will have the system down and the following to become ‘celebrities’ in the new media age.

Tila Tequila was nothing but a struggling model/musician (and not the other way around) back in the early days of myspace. I remember that she had amateur photoshop work (really lame) on her photos. We watched her rise to myspace stardom. And now, well shes on MTV. But it didn’t come easy. I saw an interview early last year where she said that she spent 12+ hours per day commenting and interacting on Myspace.

So my point is. Social media for business will not be a novelty, it will be a norm. Those who are on the train early can simply build a network of ‘peers’ (not customers) that will help springboard their credibility in the future. It’s a great way to learn, and a fun way to network, but needs to be utilized efficiently in order to make it a good investment (in therms of time).

I’m not talking about writing (blogs), I’m talking about socializing. Most surfers are readers, not participants. http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_24/b4038404.htm It’s the ones that are willing to stick their neck out and add .02 cents that are noticed and remembered. Which can be interpreted as brand equity. Will you be the next Tila Tequila of real estate? Only time will tell.

But I guess my only point is… It’s only attractive if you have an agenda. Building a business is an agenda. But the folks buying houses (happily employed and no agenda) will not be spending tons of their time clicking around trying to learn about who is who in the wide world of real estate. Their is typically a flurry of interaction and “friend adding” at the beginning of one’s trip down the social media road, but it eventually fizzles down to very casual use (maybe log in to check your inbox and pageviews or feed once in a while). And if they are, it’s to have fun and post pics, spy on friends, etc. Not research market conditions.

All of us go through phases. My passion moved from design to photography to traveling to music to working out back to web design, SEO, then back to travel in a matter of 2 years. Those activities demand most of my attention (when not working) and I consider myself an internet junkie. Regular people are not into it as much as we are. It sucks. Most customers are not interested in real estate information until the second they need to buy, sell, invest.

The way to build business in new media is to stop trying to sell, brag, or pick fights and start simply making friends. Expertise can only take you so far. I don’t care how right you are, I don’t want to recommend or do business with a jerk or a know it all.

I might be wrong but this is just what I’m feeling at the time.

But anyway, as a stager, it makes it easier for me to meet people in the real estate circles and connect with like minded real estate professionals (who are mostly agents. Most stagers seem are not into social networking). I am very addicted to social media, I am just fascinated by it. For me it’s all about experimenting and testing new waters.

But again, like Bill, Genuine Chris pointed out, there are a lot of noises out there. So it takes time to really concentrate what you want to accomplish via social networking. If there is one thing I learned from corporate America nonprofits (yes, there are such thing. A very very dark place.) is to track all your efforts and see if your ROI is worth it. Same with social networking. There are no definite ROI yet, but I think it also has to depend on how people play with it.

Cheers,
Cindy

Social media works because it’s based on human relationships. Ours is a relationship business. Many of my college buddies read my mortgage blog because they see my updates on Facebook and Twitter. Local media calls me to ask about economic events affecting the local mortgage market, because they find stuff on my blog very useful. Real estate agents I’ve never ever heard of call me (not me calling them) with their buyers because they want a “solid” opinion. This is all possible because of social media. ROI? There is plenty of it, but the greater reward I’m finding is my increased brand equity? Once you have sufficient brand equity – customers come to you. Great place to be.

I want to be a resource on Facebook, and I want to help people…but it’s disingenouous to pretend that you don’t want anything. I want 100% of all mortgage questions in my place, on my turf, in places I have as much control as possible.

That might not be realistic. So what I want to do is nudge people in that direction through Facebook Group activity, etc.