I met with two other Reston area agents this morning for a "mini" networking meeting.  Holly Weatherwax & Barry Allbright, both agents here in the Reston area, and I meet at the Lake Anne Coffee Shop here on beautiful Lake Anne.  We met for a little over an hour and just exchanged ideas, ideas which I found very valuable.  Among other topics, we talked about using a real estate database, the value of a Virtual Assistant, smart phones, refrigerator magnets, postcard marketing, automatic followup systems, Bluetooth and more.  We plan to meet again and will invite a few more agents next time.

This was an example of networking, of course, and, in my humble opinion, every agent who wants to build his or her business should have agent networking as a priority.  There are many ways to accomplish this, a few of which involve today's technology:

 In-Person Local Networking:  Meetings such as Holly, Barry and I had this morning are invaluable!  Each of us is with a different firm here in the Reston area, and we will meet once a month.  Such meetings with local agents outside of your own firm give you ideas and valuable local agent contacts that will help your business in many, many ways.  Some agents hold local breakfast meetings monthly.  Others have formal idea sharing sessions with other local agents.  Members of such groups, rather than jealously guarding what they know from other local agents realize that sharing with a select few makes each of them better.  My belief is that every agent should participate in such groups in his or her area! 

ActiveRain:  I don't have to tell you what a great networking tool ActiveRain is....a wonderful vehicle for sharing ideas with other agents in other areas, to learn new tools and techniques and, over time, to build our agent referral base.  The more active you are, of course, the more value you gain from ActiveRain.

Facebook & Twitter:  Sites such as Facebook and Twitter have taken the idea of "community" and exploded it beyond anything we ever imagined.  Both can be tremendous agent networking tools if you focus on that objective, as one message goes out to all in your online Sphere of Agents.  If you work at building up that Sphere, it becomes quite large.

One problem that Holly, Barry and I agreed on, however, was the large volume of "non-business" chatter on such sites.  This is valuable in fostering the "social" element of social networking, but it can get overwhelming.  Knowing what vegetable you would be based on some quiz you took or that you are now going to sleep or that you cooked Dinty Moore Beef Stew for dinner is "TMI" (Too Much Information) for me, and it does nothing to bring you to the top of my referral list for your area!

Telephone Conference Calls:  Sites such as FreeConferenceCall.com allow us to talk with like-minded agents in our network, agents from outside of our area.  A procedure for maximizing this system is to have a monthly conference call with one group member charged with picking and presenting a particular topic.  Conference calls are also useful for agents who have formed accountability groups.

GoToMeeting:  GoToMeeting (or its "big brother" GoToWebinar) goes far beyond the telephone conference call.  Using it, we can not only talk with one another but we can also see each other's computer screens.  Perhaps, for example, our monthly networking meeting this month focuses on listing presentations.  GoToMeeting allows us to switch between each other's computer screens: I show my presentation or an area on my Web site and you show me yours.  A tremendous learning tool, one that I use twice a month for our private CyberStar® Webinars. 

Invitation-Only Networking Groups:  My CyberStar® networking group, CyberProfessionals, Jack Peckham's CyberSpace Society and other networking groups have formal structures for information sharing, referrals and periodic meetings.  My CyberStars®, for example have a private Google Group for sharing information and files, an annual meeting, periodic regional meetings, and we meet at various conventions or when I am teaching a seminar in a particular part of the country.

And how do you find agents for your agent network?  Simple: get out of the office and get out of town!  Attend local board functions, attend agent open houses, take courses (especailly the CRS 206 technology course!) out of your area, attend state, franchise and national conventions.  This will pay better results than does taking floor time in most offices I know of!

However you conduct your agent networking, one thing is clear: your best "farm" is other agents around the country!  My CyberStars® realized this years ago.  They make a conscious effort to cultivate agents nationwide through our CyberStar® group, their Web sites, their blogs, by attending seminars and conventions out of their area, by participating on Facebook, etc. 

Today's technology has made obsolete the old advice that the way to have a successful real estate career is to choose a geographical listing farm: 250-500 homes, spend a lot of money on postcards and pumpkins at Halloween, etc.  Today, your farm area is the world (through your Web site) and nationwide through your agent networking efforts.  Focusing your prospecting efforts on other agents will pay benefits that are far more lucrative and will net you more money at the end of the year than will any geographical farm. 

It's a great day here on the lake in Reston...hope it's a great day wherever you are, too!