I hear it all the time… “I don’t care about Facebook, I don’t have time to write a blog, Twitter is a waste of time, Instagram is for kids, Social Media is a fad, Social Media isn’t my thing, I’m too busy to do Facebook, I can’t figure it out, etc. etc.”   I even hear from agents interviewing with me, that some of my competitors are adamant that they not only do not “do social media” but that they don’t “believe in it” and in some cases they even elaborate extensively on their reasons why.   In this blog post, I want to address the whole social media allergy that appears to exist in the Real Estate business in hopes to bring some common sense to the importance and necessity of this incredibly powerful medium.

First and foremost, I want to make the most direct and impossible to argue with statement with regard to the reason to utilize social media in your business…..   It has NOTHING to do what you think, feel, or believe about it… It simply and only matters what your CLIENTS think about it.   I hope that makes sense.  My simple point is that whether you are using social media or not, the first thing that you must accept is that your clients ARE.  The decision NOT to participate in the social media revolution is the same as deciding that you do not wish to be where your clients are.  It takes an immense amount of either ignorance or arrogance to believe that you can grow a business efficiently without the use of social media nowadays.  It only takes a minute to Google “social media stats” to figure out that the quickest and most efficiently effective way to connect with large amounts of people at a very low or NO cost, is via the many different social media sites.  Whether we like it or not, if we want to be “relevant” to a large segment of our own customer base we need to be where they are.  Especially in the Real Estate business!

So, here’s the breakdown of my heading to this post and why I’m such a believer… Only 350 subscribers to this blog, the blog auto posts to over 1000 of my LinkedIn members, and to 150+ twitter followers, Google+, my 1000+ Facebook friends, I have two business Facebook pages that I can repost this to and share with up to another 2100+ people, then I can choose to “Boost” the post and specifically target thousands more people by location and/or interests.  So at a bare minimum, if I do nothing but simply hit “Publish” I’m connecting to several thousand people in my sphere of influence and beyond.  By writing one post per week on average, I’m staying top of mind to a lot of people on a very consistent basis with solid content, information, updates, ideas, news, etc.  And it doesn’t cost me a dime!  As a cool bonus, I can even track my visits, views, and overall traffic to this post so I know how many people took the time to read it.  I can also see where they came from, i.e. email, facebook, twitter, google, etc. and what geographic area their IP address is where they accessed the blog.  Oh, and I can also see if they clicked via a computer or a mobile device!

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With all of that said, I don’t want anyone to read this and think that they should run out and spend all of their time on Facebook and Twitter.  As I describe in my business plan(available at http://www.BradPearsonOnline.com), I believe that a healthy business should have a solid plan that consists of 80% of business development strategies to be conducted OFFLINE, and 20% to be geared towards a solid and consistent ONLINE strategy.   The better the online strategy, the more effective your offline strategy will be.

Here’s some ideas on how to combine offline and online business development:

-Connect with your entire Sphere of Influence and Past Client list on Facebook and Twitter.  Actively interact with them and their posts.  Post relevant, fun, interesting posts, and always present the best “YOU” online. Not too personal, but not too much business either.  Use common sense.  You can learn so much about your sphere on social media just by paying a little attention.  Nothings better than already knowing so much about your friends and clients and having a warm opening the next time you meet offline!

-Connect on LinkedIn with all of your clients, past clients, prospects, SOI, etc. This is a great place to share each others businesses and support those who support you.

-Gain followers on Twitter by first following those with similar interests, those you know, meet, etc.

-Create a blog on Real Estate and invite all of your clients, past clients, prospects, SOI, etc. to subscribe.  Then take 30 minutes per week to write an informative post on the market, and other topics related to Real Estate.  Promote your blog on other Social Media as well as all offline marketing.

-Create a YouTube channel and post videos on Real Estate, your listings, marketing, etc. and promote on all other media offline and online.

-Create an Instagram account and post fun pictures of your Real Estate activities, your marketing, listings, etc. Connect with other social media so posts go elsewhere.  Add the Instagram logo to your marketing with the others.  Look connected and cool at the same time!

Very simply, combine everything you do offline to an online version!  Always be thinking about how you can combine one with the other!

In the end, I challenge you to set some time aside and implement a solid online social media strategy to dramatically enhance your business, stay connected with your customers, gain knowledge, and share knowledge!

As always, I am here to help you grow your business regardless of company affiliation by sharing posts like this, other social media sites where I post, as well as offline in a free coaching meeting upon request.  If you would like more information about affiliating with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, feel free to call/text or email me for a confidential appointment at Brad.Pearson@camoves.com or cell 714-782-2723.

Thanks for following my blog!  Check out the video below for some fun info on the power of social media and the internet!

Brad

Video:

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