There are people out there that still doubt the power of the Internet to connect people. That does not surprise me any more than a connection between people can come from an Internet pimento cheese recipe, but more on that in a minute.

I still see agents who believe that the only place on the Internet where they need a presence is Realtor.com.  We are rapidly moving towards a society where many initial contacts will only happen on the Internet. If I measured the number of contacts that I have from covering the real estate duty desk against those that I have received from writing and having an Internet presence, it would be no contest as to where I would focus my time.

I would give up the duty desk and spend all of my time writing. However, I stay on the duty desk because calls from signs have become a second important source of leads. However, they are well behind the Internet in total numbers for me.

My pimento cheese lead is a good way to show the power of the Internet and to illustrate that you meet people on the Internet through just as many different ways as you do in real life.

If you do a Google search for "Classic southern pimento cheese" my recipe has the number two spot on Google.  Recently I got a note from someone several states away thanking me for my pimento cheeese recipe.  As I always do, I sent back a note thanking the person for his comments.  My email signature block has a link to my Crystal Coast website.  

Either from that site or from my blog where the recipe was posted, the person who commented picked up that I might be a Realtor®.  Soon I had a couple of more emails and some questions about our area.  My potential client is now busily reading posts about our area and deciding whether or not to visit. He and his wife happen to be looking for a new place to live.

I am certain that he is spending some time figuring out if I am a reliable source of information.  I actually encourage people to do that.  I even wrote a post, How to review the reviewer, on that subject.

In the end the point to take away is that just as recipe exchanged at a church function might lead to someone making the effort to get to know you better, so also can a recipe on the Internet.

If you are ignoring the Internet as a way to make contact with people, you are making a mistake.  If you are a buyer looking for a home, you probably already know that the Internet is a good way to find out information about homes.  It is also a good way to find out information about Realtors®.  You should take advantage of it.

If you are a Realtor® and looking for my advice on where to start as a local expert on something other than real estate, check out this post.