Did someone say Mojitos?

We’re in a good place my friend.

It took 50 years for radio to reach its target market and 4 years for the internet to…. So, I think with so few practitioners actually using social media to connect with clients, it’s too early to make a final decision on the matter.

It also can’t be applied globally for all agents. In the count in which I live there are close to 30,000 people – not very big. There are 10 that can be found on facebook and 3 that are using twitter and believe me we’ve looked. So, this is not yet a prime market for this venue. However an hour north in DC, there are a number of agents using blogs and other resources to let clients get to know them and it works well.

All real estate and practices are local….

“the “trolling” comment was on a post a month ago on Bloodhound.”

So. What does that have to do with anything? (I could have sworn it was also posted on your site, but could be mistaken). Where it was, or when it was posted matters not one iota. I’m simply saying I don’t cull through the MLS looking up people’s production — for both reasons I stated — that being it’s not a good source for total production and more importantly, it doesn’t matter to me.

Do I have an opinion on the industry? Of course I do. I thought you were looking for facts. The last thing I want to do is throw out an opinion and have that interpreted as fact. I do NOT have facts on anyone’s production but my own (and my agents). You see Barry, whether you’ll admit it or not, you are very adept at turning a conversation into whatever topic (or down whatever rat hole) meets your fancy at the moment. Had I proffered an opinion, it’s likely that would have been met with, “I want facts, not opinion”. I proffer facts, and now you want opinion.

OK. Fine.

My opinion, for what it’s worth, is simple:

Some agents make money from blogging and other aspects of social media. Others do not.

Earth shattering, isn’t it?

My opinion is that not-so-many make much money. And I think that holds true with real estate sales in general. Whether an agent is “Web 1.0″, “Web 2.0″ or “old school”, my opinion is the vast majority of people in the industry don’t make enough money to survive.

That opinion is somewhat supported by the Pareto Principal — the old “80/20″ rule. It’s also somewhat supported by my old C21 office, where someone at the bottom of the annual “Top 10″ list didn’t clear $20K. I can’t say if that holds true for any other office, though I suspect it does.

But I have never asked someone “How much do you make?” For one, it’s none of my business, for two, in any industry people generally tend to over-inflate production numbers, and for three, I really don’t care. So I have no factual idea how many make how much.

Would it be interesting to know how many agents made how much money utilizing “social media”? I guess so. I like facts and stats, so I can see it being of interest in that way. But how would knowing that make me more money? I don’t feel the need to emulate anyone who is “successful” at social media. I do my own thing. It seems to work for me. Though it may sound contrary, social media is pretty much an individual sport. How someone else maximizes it may not work for me. Likewise how I utilize it won’t work for everyone (maybe anyone) else.