FaceBook, LinkedIn, Twitter and many other sites like these are where people are spending their time.
Facebook.com is fast becoming another cult phenomenon as it seems to have a pretty diverse group of young adults, and 40-something folks like me who each day, becomes more convinced and astonished at just how much business a REALTOR or brokerage can enjoy if you set up your FaceBook.com marketing the right way.
Google has become the place to satisfy a primal need for humans. It's where 84% of people go to shop or find something they want.
Once they find it, they click and then after folks absorb what they want from the search results... Google is no longer needed. Nobody socializes at Google.com because there's simply no need to. Google has no sticky, interactive social networking tools to make you want to stay there. No human fly Paper so to speak.
So far, Google has not really focused on getting into the Social Networking thing and if they did... it would be deemed a huge conflict of interest from the social networks where you see millions and gazillions of Google AdSense ads somewhere on these sites. Those in-text ads and flashy banner ads you see on the right side of thousands of blogs and other social networking sites.
When people and many office workers feel the craving to go to the water cooler and mingle... increasing amounts of people are getting hooked on FaceBook for sending and getting hugs, kidnapping your friends to another city, or if you want to send a bunch of Photoshop'd flip flops... then FaceBook is where a lot of Americans, a lot of your next time home buyers are at.
I've made some fun in the past about FaceBook and their 150 + applications of pure time wasters, but let's face reality here. If your next time homebuyers are here, and not hanging out at Google all day... it's not hard to understand that your prospects can and will respond to FaceBook ads for your brokerage, right?
It works. So if you want to REACH next time home buyers in their 25 to 40-something age group... FaceBook marketing is where you need to go today. I'm not advocating you stop your marketing dollars into Google. You cannot argue with the Wisdom of Crowds nor the numbers. But more and more people are hanging out at FaceBook.com and it'g going to become a pretty big part of the advertising landscape for our real estate business.
Borell & Associates is a leading industry analyst firm that tracks this kind of activity. Borrell predicts that 20% of all local businesses are advertising on FaceBook. More bad news for newspapers whose prices are only going up, because so many brokers and REALTORS have either cut their newspaper and real estate marketing spend or completely abandoned the practice altogether.
Here's the Bartman's Tips for getting yourself into a FaceBook page, then supporting it with Fans and FaceBook Ads.
Step One.
Get familiar with FaceBook's interface. Of all the video training sites (most of them are crap) there is one tool the Bartman can recommend to anyone on ActiveRain. This one form Amazon is way cool. It's a DVD that shows you how to get started on FaceBook and it also includes Twitter.com marketing and how to tidbits too. It's a lot of great training for just $99 bucks. Get it here.
Step Two.
Join FaceBook AFTER you watched the Video DVD. To accelerate your learning on FaceBook, it's a better idea to watch the DVD, then join FaceBook and then watch the chapters that you want to master. Like how to set up your own FaceBook page. How to start using it to link to friends, past clients who you helped sell their house or buy a house. Then move onto Marketing and advertising on FaceBook.
Step Three
Create your page. (This is under Groups). You create your home page so you can tell people about your brokerage or your ability as a REALTOR (or a small team) about what you do, what you specialize in.
Step Four
Create some compelling videos for YouTube. These videos can be recorded with the Flip Video camera, also on Amazon for under $150. Make a few video clips of your neighborhoods. Drive through the downtown and get your partner or colleague to hold the camera out the window as you drive into restaurant row, the arts district, etc. Then go back to your office, edit the video clips down to 90 second clips (max). Nobody wants to watch long videos -- so don't use your new skills on Facebook here to bore next time home buyers or turn OFF prospects.
The Golden rule of any advertising or marketing message here remains the same for Social Networking, too. LESS is MORE.
Once you have your videos uploaded to YouTube, make them public and turn on comments. Then take the same videos you have and upload 2 or three of them to FaceBook.com
Step Five
Call your Webmaster and grab the source code to put the Become a Fan on your website. This allows you to contact your past clients and get new ones and colleagues to become a FAN of your FaceBook page. You can practice this by becoming a Fan at our Voyager site. Click here and scroll down to the bottom of the page to see our FaceBook Fan Widget. Click the button, Become a Fan.
Step Six
If you want a lot of eyeballs, go to Facebook advertising and create a tiny ad about your Short Sales. REOs. Your work with FSBOs --- whatever. Then set your daily limit to like $4 or $5 bucks. Pay attention to the advertising suggested rate. This is cheap, and usually runs like .28 to .33 cents. FaceBook advertising is cheap cheap cheap right now. My thinking is this can't last for long, so take advantage of it.
Point the tiny Photo and Combo TEXT ad to your Website and start checking your traffic once a week.
As you do this, tell people to follow you FaceBook like you do on Twitter.
Step 7
In all your PRINT ads, meaning the postcards you send out, and any and all newspaper ads and real estate guide ads... tell folks about your FaceBook page. And your webmaster can and should PASTE in your icon dock at the top or bottom of your websites, a link bar that looks like the one below. See this? This lets Social Networking prospects that you are hip and with it. You are into the Social Networking scene.
This will help build and foster credibility for your business... and help you stand out when next time home buyers come looking for a new home. Plus it's a great add on piece to your PowerPoint mini presentation you do at any listing interview.
........
Bottom line, learn FaceBook now and get involved.
Someday. Tomorrow. Eventually. Three of the WORST times to start learning how to apply social networking and new media to improving your leads, and increasing your sales commissions.
If I can help anyone more on learning Facebook marketing, I'm easy to reach.
Tel: (505) 466-2493 (office) (505) 204-8097 (iPhone)
or email: voyager360@mac.com
- bart
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