When you work in real estate, it’s very important to have an online presence. If you’re a real estate agent and you aren’t harnessing the power of social media and blogging, you are hurting yourself and your business.
During these tough economic times, it’s important for real estate agents to make themselves known as a credible source in their field, and networking online can make all the difference.
1. Attracting Buyers and Sellers
As a real estate agent, you can use social networking sites to attract home buyers as well as people who want to sell their homes. While the majority of real estate agents will have honed their skills offline, building a social media presence can lead to more prospective clients finding you and either listing their home with your agency or purchasing a home you represent.
Social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, and others can help you build your brand while being available to your customers above and beyond the usual. By harnessing the power of social networking sites, you can attract fans and followers that may end up turning into clients.
Social networks can also serve as a venue for enhancing your property listings with high quality photos and comments as well as a real-time way to interact with potential customers who may have questions.
Let’s say a potential customer leaves a comment on your Facebook wall looking for a particular type of home. You can respond with links to listings that match what they’re searching for, making it easy for them to find what you have to offer.
This is just one example that proves why real estate agents need tools like Facebook to build an online presence. This can increase their potential for more customers while enhancing their business in a real way.
2. Building a Credible Reputation
When you work in real estate, it’s very important that you establish a credible reputation in the industry. When you are viewed as an authority in your field, people are going to be much more likely to turn to you when they need to sell their home or purchase a new one.
One of the best ways to prove yourself as an expert is by starting a blog. With a blog, you are able to share information and advice with prospective homebuyers who feel overwhelmed with the process.
Take care not to inundate your readers with listing after listing, however. While it’s perfectly fine to share your listings with fans, you need to find a balance between too much and just enough.
Not every listing will be relevant to every follower, so it’s better to use your blog as a way to share industry information that will position you as an expert in your field. This way, you are able to build your brand while sharing useful information.
3. Networking with Other Real Estate Professionals
If you use social networks that are specific to the real estate industry, you’ll be able to connect with other professionals in the market. By networking with other real estate agents, you’ll gain access to potential career-furthering opportunities as well as the ability to learn from other professionals who do what you do.
Other networking sites such as LinkedIn, while not real estate specific, provide ample opportunities for networking with other professionals in your industry.
These types of social networking sites allow real estate agents to connect with other agents in their field and provide a unique way to not only build your brand, but learn and grow with others in the field. If you’re serious about building an online presence, networking with other professionals is vitally important.
Get Yourself Online With AgentPress
As these reasons prove, it’s very clear that real estate agents need to establish an online presence. From connecting with professionals in your field and attracting potential buyers or sellers, becoming an active participant in social networking will help you build your brand to be as successful as possible.
If you’re looking to build a website, I highly recommend AgentPress. This powerful WordPress theme helps industry savvy real estate agents like you build better a better business with its intuitive design, powerful functionality, and smart listings.
While I think this is especially true for Real Estate agents, this is smart advice for a professional in just about any industry! I look at startups like CarWoo and think “man, those guys ‘get’ it!”
Yes, I totally agree with you. In the same way this post could have been titled “How WAHM’s and WAHD’s…” as well. I like to write to specific audiences at times, but overall most of what comes out is very general and can apply to pretty much anyone on the internet.
I totally agree, Jessica. We could almost ask the question: “In what professional industry would being active in social media not be a good thing?”
Yet I do think that some professions are more suited to social media than others are.
That’s a very nice way of putting it Charles.
Thanks for the excellent article. It lends to my own credibility as a web marketing professional and web designer when I recommend to real estate agent customers that they use social media to engage their community of friends and fans for enhanced visibility. With a little consistent effort, Facebook and other social medias provide FREE, EFFECTIVE EXPOSURE. What more can you ask in this digital age of opportunity to connect with your target audience? PS: love your little starbucks cup in the footer.
Hey, wait a minute! I thought the real estate blog was dead!
Heh, that’s a whole other blog post, right?
Here’s another top reason to have an online presence: make it super easy and fast for people to refer you, beginning with easy access to you and/or contact information. And nothing is easier and faster for the person making the valuable referral than a memorable url or direct web link to your blog. Once at the blog, the warmed-up prospect looks for the reinforcing aspects which triggered the endorsement in the first place. Referrals are often your best and most cost effective source of new business. Being the top of mind and easiest to contact source is even better! Why not put in the extra effort and make it easy to get referred via a quality online presence?
I still get strange looks when I ask business clients if they have a twitter account.
“Why would I want to tell people what I’m having for breakfast” is a pretty common response.
I’ve noticed that Google picks up content from your twitter feed almost as soon as you tweet – got to be good.
As for AgentPress, that theme is so good… I nearly went into real estate.
I’m just setting up a business site for a clint using Agency 2.0… I’ve not asked him the twitter question yet.
Wish me luck!
Hi Brian, great article- it is very important to use the many tools that we can to connect with our base. I am currently using the Lexicon theme, by Mod- which i started to use for my real estate blog a few years back. i wanted my blog back then to look more like a newsletter, entertainment style feel to it. Now i think I may want to switch it over to the Agent Press- since I am already using the Genesis framework, is it just purchasing the Agent Press theme for $44.95 ?
Also, is it hard to do the switch over, or what do you recommend ? You may want to take a glance at my current blog site and give me your opinion please.
thanks
Dave
Dave – thanks so much, appreciate your comment. It looks like you are using the original Lexicon theme by Mod Themes, which means technically you’re able to upgrade to the Genesis/Lexicon child theme package we offer. That being said, to move onto AgentPress, yes – it would only require you to purchase the AgentPress child theme for $44.95.
As for switching over, there’s really no easy way to suggest doing it other than setting up the new theme and starting over. I would highly suggest doing that, so you can take advantage of all of the great features Genesis has to offer.
If you decide to go this route, do let me know so I can show you how you can get your hands on the Genesis theme to go along with the AgentPress theme you purchase.
Hi Brian, do i need to do the upgrade first to the genesis/Lexicon child theme first, before I can switch over to the new theme? or can i just buy the new theme and start to reformat the look of my blog?
thanks
Dave
I’ve done 25mm in transactions originated via online efforts.
Not novel. What’s novel is that I did it from 2001-2006, starting with LiveJournal and Yahoo Chat rooms (no shit).
What I don’t think is needed is to network with others. In fact, if I was coaching agents (and I’m not) I’d say to unfriend every single realtor in your market and most out if it.
What I’d do is tatoo them and make standard and ordinary practices seem radioactive.
That said, AgentPress is darn good advice, but using it just like other agents – to perform customer service and to act like other agents – doesn’t hunt.
Yeah I always get a kick out of agents asking to be my friend on facebook or linkedin. Huh? Why do I want to go to a party and only talk to other agents?
Heh.
Though I think that to some degree there’s a strategy involved with realtors becoming friends with other realtors. Perhaps it’s the idea of networking, and establishing an avenue of gaining knowledge.
Great article! I work with my husband who is a Realtor in Calgary, Canada and we are excited to learn more about using Social Media more effectively for his business. I’m learning lots from your blog! Thanks.
Hey Lisa, so glad to hear it. If you’re looking to learn more about social media, I highly suggest you follow my friend Rich over on his blog Winning Agent. He has over 30 years experience with real estate, sales and the mortgage industry, so he’s definitely fillied with knowledge.
People today are becoming internet savvy and most are connected to social network sites so it would be a great way to reach your target clients through this. Thanks
Love this post. I’m trying to build a career as a Social Media Consultant for Realtors. So many of them don’t understand the importance of it. It is a HUGE importance and I’m so glad you posted this article
Lee Anne
Hey Lee Anne – thanks for the comment, and for dropping by. I’d say there’s a pretty huge need in the real estate market right now for consulting agents on social media. There’s all kinds of movement in that industry to get with technology, etc.
Props to Chris Smith who a few years ago helped kick off that movement by creating his blog Tech Savvy Agent.
I have several websites with AgentPress and I am a huge fan. Super easy to use and customize. I fully agree with you the blogging is critical for real estate agents these days. I get a large portion of my business from blogging.
That’s outstanding Carmen, so great to hear you’re getting that much business from blogging. It’s crazy how many folks out there don’t realize (or maybe it’s believe) that getting online can turn into legitimate leads.
The real estate industry is changing whether old-time realtors like it or not. Technology has transformed the face of real estate forever. Everything is now interconnected and social media along with the internet play a vital role, in this change. Great article.
I have had a chance to talk with a local realtor office in my home town several times about this very topic. Many of them are still old school and don’t quite understand or get how it will help them sell houses.
One of the most frequented objection I have heard is a concern that other realtors are going to steal clients.
It is important that we help educate how to use social media and web tools to drive traffic, build contacts, and become a leader/expert in the field. I think the single most important thing a realtor can do to help boost their sales/leads is to blog. It is by far the most important tool in the social media tool box.
Great post Brian!
Well, I definitely like this post. These days, we have all the opportunity to reach people might as well get leads in the future. If you are on the real estate business connecting to your target market and other real estate business is very vital for your business. In the long run they can be of good help to you.
Very nice article Brian. I do complete agree with what Eric said about the social media. There is a Toronto based startup I have found while doing my research, I think they might be onto something however they are not lauched yet homeadnet.com
Great info here, I use social media and feel I get nothing from it. This information has really helped me.
Mark
Great Aritcle! Having a team of agents that focus on condos in the Mississauga and surrounding GTA, sites like Facebook allow us to provice detailed summaries of various condo projects. When condo buyers are just starting their search, they tell us they appreciate having access to detailed information about as many condo buildings as possible to help narrow down their choices. I haven’t been using twitter significantly. Does anyone have any suggestions as to best practices for using twitter as a marketing tool in real estate?
Social media is a branding strategy for real estate market. Really, this is a helpful post for growing real estate market by using social media.