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Is Social Media killing your Real Estate business?

I know this may sound a little crazy but here is what I am observing...

killing real estate

1. Many people are jumping all over the lastest Social Media (SM) bandwagon. Have you noticed that radio and tv stations are now on twitter and facebook? I am not saying there is not a place for these SM outlets in your business, but when you have 20,000+ comments on twitter about your favorite shoes, there may be an issue...

2. For real estate are you really creating relationships that are furthering your business? I am seeing a lot of people that offer services to real estate agents like SEO services and even some builders. This might be good for their businesses and I applaud them for the ingenuity, but are you getting real clients? Or are you a good source of business for some other industry?

3. Blogging works! ... I am still not convinced that 140 characters on twitter or my facebook page are giving me a better return than I get from Blogging. Sure blogging is more work but the results are easy to see...

4. This is a biggie... I see agents who I know are having a difficult time in the current market spending a great deal of time on facebook and twitter. The sales tell the story. What they are doing is hiding behind a keyboard t0o much and not getting out in the public. I have gotten some of my best results from open houses, face to face, toe to toe with people!

Maybe SM is the latest buzz, but is that buzz killing your Real Estate business?

Charles McDonald

Associate BROKER at RE/MAX Assured Properties, Licensed to sell Real Estate in Virginia

(main) 434-515-1585 (cell) 434-981-1585 (fax) 866-527-9526

Brought to you by that guy who sells Charlottesville VA Real Estate

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Posted by Charlottesville Real Estate - Your Trusted Broker Charles McDonald on 07/20/2009 06:13 PM

Comments (76)

Social Media in the Networking Channel

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Originally posted at: Charlottesville Real Estate: Is Social Media killing your Real Estate business?

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76 Comments on Is Social Media killing your Real Estate business?

JUL

I'm certainly not consumed with Twitter, Facebook, etc., but I try to check in once or twice a day - it may take me 1-5 minutes each time, depending on how much I read while there. Like Activerain, social media has proven to be a place where I learn more than I contribute... I often find a link to a post that's interesting to me, and I've touched base with some old friends and long-ago clients who had fallen off my radar - I think it's called networking, which is always a good thing for any business person.

Margaret - excellent points. Everything in moderation (I like hat 1-5 min time span). I too check in with twitter and facebook and I can see a place for them, but I also see a lot of agents consumed with it...

all the best

I work on my own network of web sites and blogs and ActiveRain.

That's enough for me. I work it hard and it works for me.

We are not in the twitter mode - we checked it out but are not convinced that info about what someone ate for lunch , or about shoes, or the other trivia that seems to end up there will help sell homes. Blogs and websites and Active Rain is what we find works.

I recommend that twitter's 140 characters be the springboard to your blog. If someone is consuming their day on it then No it is not good thing. Social Media should be a piece of marketing pie, not the whole thing. SM is also a way for potential client and partners to see a personal side of you.

HECK, Active Rain is too Social Media!

I believe social networking can be a great tool if used properly. For instance, the majority of my twitter and Facebook posts summarize my blog topics and include links back to my blog. Since doing this, my website hit count has grown at least 10 times what it was prior. I have gotten an increase in phone calls from my blog, the majority are from people outside my area, but at that point I just refer them to an agent that is local to them,and eventually pick up a 30% referral fee without doing anything more then type 140 characters and pick up the phone.

I would agree however that you are correct in stating that the majority of agents are spending to much time hiding behind the keyboard. Let's face it, ultimately this business is and always will be a belly to belly business. All of your marketing and networking activities should have one ultimate goal, and that is meeting with people.

Charles, I agree completely. Networking is one thing, but taking 87 quizzes a day on stupid subjects like "what kind of animal are you"? for example is not time spent productively. I just received a facebook invitation today from a realtor wanting me to become a "fan" of a designer shoe gallery. Give me a break!!

Clients aren't stupid, they'll check you out on Twitter and Facebook. You have a responsibility to not only youself, but to the company you represent to show a "good face" on Facebook.

I know I'm guilty of playing some games and making comments that aren't work related because old friends and family are on Facebook, but I try to be very careful and remember that current clients or potential clients could be watching (reading).

Charles, great post! Each of these technologies or sites are very addictive, especially once your friends and family get on, say facebook. It is important to get on these sites for short periods of time, and not when you are in your productive time!

We were skeptical at first about Twitter too but it has become an amazing resource for us. In the past 3 months we've gotten 2 sales, 2 amazing listings, and are working with 2 more buyers that are a direct result from us being on Twitter. We've met some of the top business leaders in our community by meeting on Twitter,then in person. We've been on the news twice and on the radio once with free publicity about our use of social media. Twitter is one of the best resources for real estate today...and it's FREE!

Lenn

I am with you website, blogs and AR!

Bob and Carolin - I totally agree...

This will be interesting to see some other responses...

Laura Sampson - so true AR is SM and moderation is the key

Joshua - sounds like you have found a good balance

Joni - we are on the same page.

of course if SM is just for fun, so be it, but watch out because the public in cyber space has a long memory...

Tony and Darcy - so true...

many get carried away!

Kevin and Monica - it sounds like it is not "killing" your business

I would bet you are an exception and that is fantastic!!!

Charles - I personally only have enough time to dedicate to one SM and it's not Twitter or Facebook. I think SM does turn into a full-time job for some agents, which in turn is actually costing them business.

Number 5 is true while you need those services to get your name out there to the public you also need to get out there yourself and put yourself in front of people.

I don't spend much time on Twitter. I use it as an application to push out my listings, and I search once daily for relocation into my area. I also use Twitter to push out blog posts and other pertinent things I'm doing. In that way I think it's a very good application. No one method will be your savior, but by effectively using all the arrows in your quiver, you will make your mark.

Margaret said it first, but it's all about moderation. If you're using SM as a tool to increase your exposure on the internet, rather than an "outlet" to eat up time, then it's going to be effective.

Another point, it also depends on where you spend the most marketing, too. For example, I've heard from some agents that they still get 80% or more of their business from print advertising. But when pressed further, you learn that print advertising is ALL their doing. So, if all you're doing is SM as marketing, then you're going to get most of your business from social media.

My contribution is going to seem a bit biased, but if you spend more time looking at your computer screen than you do your potential clients, it's time to hire an assistant to handle all of that computer work for you. And there's your answer: If it's not work that can be handled by someone else, then it's a hobby, it's not work.

You can choose your Facebook and Twitter settings to notify you when something's important or someone is sending you a private email, there's no need to log in every day. We even log in for some of our clients and post for them, and we attach their listings to twitter via postlets or other flyer sites.

The stats speak for themselves though, these sites ARE important, about 30% of daily Internet traffic is devoted to Facebook...that's a lot of bang for your free buck! I know agents that think just having an account is enough, and it's not. Sign up for your old high school class, your graduating college class, let EVERYONE know you sell real estate, and then GO SELL.

Charles, You made perfect points and I'm guilty. I joined Facebook (under pressure) for work and find myself playing over there. I know first hand that blogging works but I'm almost running out of topics at times. But you're right, during these times especially, it's time to work--and work hard!

I concentrate on personal face to face social networking. I have my bolg presence, ect, but my face to face works best.

Just like MySpace, I'm pretty sure Facebook and Twitter will run their course. At least with Blogging you can provide useful information. I know you can with the other outlets as well, but I agree blogging and building a presence will server us better in the long run.

Chanda panda

Charles, I especially like your comments in #4. I prefer driving around looking for FSBO's, maybe old school but it works for me.

Linda Metallo, Re/max Impact, Lockport, Il.

No doubt, blogging is the best return for us, but I see nothing wrong with doing it all. Most of my time on the others is early morning or late at night when there is no business. I, too, don't have much use for the endless games, but maybe they do not "need" any business.

I agree that blogging does work. However, I think that SM is all about keeping in contact with people and it gets your name out there.... Like you said, everything in moderation.

Charles there are far too many agents that waste a lot of time talking to their Realtor buddies on Twitter and Facebook when they could be working on something a lot more productive like making their websites and blogs better. Of course working on SEO as well. I have both Twitter and Facebook accounts but don't spend endless amounts of time on them.

Hi Charles.

I can understand if one spends more time blogging and/or microblogging compared to speaking with people. For me (like mentioned above) I use it as a tool though in moderation. Sometimes I go for days without updating my blog. Some times I update my Twitter using SMS with my cellphone. Fortunately AR offers that feature that updates our Twitter when we post in our AR blog which helps. Moderation is key.

I have seen some agents who seem to spend hours upon hours online at FB. I am not sure how they get their work done.

Charles, there has to be a limit for sure. I dont spend an inordinate amount of time of Facebook and rarely go to Twitter. That said OUR BLOG is syndicated to both which I do feel assists. We have actually sold homes via social networking. Mainly from past clients that we keep in touch with or from a referral from an someone who is a 'fan'.

It is what you make of it as a marketing tool in my opinion.

I bet if you were to take a poll on the # of hours invested versus the actual ROI, most would come up short, but are investing for the long-term, I know I am. That said, I agree with you. I would rather do one thing well than 5 things half-baked.

I think the people who genuinely use facebook or twitter get the best bang for their buck. chatting about the Giants or popping in to talk about a news topic or cars or some form of hobby - that's what gets you around.

I don't do that. LOL. I am like the rest - kind of clueless.

I use the word "clueless" relative to my web savvy. I have a facebook share button that goes on all my blog articles at www.tommcgiveron.com - I know html and I have several websites - including www.shortsales.tommcgiveron.com and www.longislandshortsales.org - all of which rank on google, msn, and yahoo - with a variety of key words.

Great - how many leads does it generate? Probably about 6 per month. How many of these leads generate or have generated into cash this year - 0 (1 closing pending).

I think you hit the nail on the head Charles with Number 4. I get THE BEST results from door knocking. I am only in the biz 2 plus years - so a large portion of my business comes from expired listings and fsbo's. But face to face - "hey how are you today. here's my card. i'm young, hungry and extemely good at this....etc." that's the bread and butter.

Charles - I must admit I've become a Social Media Junkie. However, most of my time is spent here on ActiveRain. I will say however, that my son (also a Realtor) and I have been going out religiously for the past few mornings and distributing our newsletters to a farm area. Everything old is new once again in marketing.

I think you said it best after the first comment...

everything in moderation.

Charles, the blogging that I do on AR brings me results.....I do like Facebook!

Charles - It's almost impossible to keep up with all this social media. I still think face to face is the best way to get business.

I'm not consumed with the SM, but I try more to keep up with blogging and posting listings. For sure, information overload can happen continuously.

One must have a balance with all the social media and actual face to face time with buyers and sellers.

If you aren't using social media to build IRL (In Real Life) relationships, then you are spinning your wheels... It is just another tool. Like a phone.

I've found a fair amount of success from Facebook and blogging though I've not gotten too in to Twitter.

So far I do not see why twittering or posting on Facebook would help my business. People are already so inundated with email messgaes and social network alerts. I do believe in blogging. The SEO for our blogs, and your subscribers will find you. But I do agree with your outlook on SM.

JUL

Perhaps my experience with Twitter and facebook are different from others. Although I've experienced some success with the Internet certainly there wasn't the success 'promoted by some seminar speakers. Although they seemed successful selling their seminars. The same seems to be true of other SM. Besides, I don't care what kind of cake or tree or farm animal many on facebook seem to get excited about.

Charles,

You make an excellent point. Spreading your social media efforts all over the place may make you look busy, but is it worth it. Perhaps a more focused, or prioritized, SM approach would yield better numbers.

Excellent points! I've used Twitter to successfully land huge contracts (not a realtor here: videographer!) with companies and begin to build and/or strengthen business relationships. I never post what I ate for lunch or anything in my personal life. While I do post some business stuff to Facebook (and Facebook is the #5 referral source for my website visitors), it really is mostly just keeping in touch with old friends and family for me. Twitter has been excellent, and blogging has started to turn results as well. Blogging, by the way, is techically social media as well.

Social media is any media used to socially interact with others through the internet. This includes videos sites like Youtube! If used effectively and efficently (i.e. not spending hours every week on it), it really can increase your results in search engines (my Twitter account ranks higher for my keywords than my website), and will lead people to you. They are great tools, but without restraining oneself, they quickly become toys.

Charles, I cannot say that I have been a huge Twitter or FB fan, and I stick mainly to blogging. BTW - Congrats on another feature!!! That makes 2 this week...

Helping you help others live their American dream...

Charles - I went to Va Beach last week for RE Bar Camp... there was much discussion (obviously) about the best way to develop a web / relationship based presence. I wholeheartedly agree that having an online profile / presence will not replace showing up and networking toe-to-toe. I always think about the Brad Paisley song, "I look so much cooler online." Not for me!

Charles - Great blog post and super comments ! I see a lot of people yapping away on FB and Twitter too and not sure what the end results are. Like you, our main presence that we built is our website and blog. We have been using FB and Twitter to help build that and increase traffic. I think it is very hard though to get tangible results directly from FB or Twitter. Great points !

Charles, good post and I'm glad it is featured and ON the Activerain Newsletter.

I am in complete agreement, agents spend way to much time socializing and not selling.

All in balance, my friend.

Charles, your topic today and points are what I tell other agents all the time. Be VERY careful with where you spend your time because your minutes are valuable. Hiding behind the keyboard is a TERRIBLE thing to do.

Charles, I think thats why we see so many fewer posts and comments this time of year. We're all out selling!

Charles, as with everything in life - balance. Your points spell it out very well - blogging is, and has proven to be a very good tool for us. Both as learning tool and for business. Twitter seems to be the vehicle many use to promote those blogs and FB - IMBO is for your personal side. Congrats on the feature in the newsletter today!

Charles, I agree. Though just as any tools can be over used and become dull....one must take proper care in making sure the TOOL is the best one for the job.

I'm too frustrated with the spam on Twitter to use it much. I'm sticking to Facebook and ActiveRain. I had a huge advantage as a newbie agent because of FB. A huge chunk of my SOI is all my FB friends. AR is also a huge advantage because I am learning so much from all the experience shared here and already getting contacts from the few blog posts I've written. Congrats on the Feature!

Charles: Thanks for the post. Nothing will ever replace the importance of a face-to-face interaction. I think it's important to have a presence online as that's where people often befin their information search. After that, most people yearn for human contact and that's something being online will never solve. Thanks again!

Wow, you stirred up a nest! I am on all three, but find myself here, on AR the most. I use Facebook and Twitter intermittently, and for different purpose. AR is "comfortable", and if fact it feels like I am "playing" instead of working when I am on here...

I have been using Twitter for some time now and only in the last month or so did the lighbulb go on with respect to how to use Twitter. My two or three updates per day on Twitter are a touch to help keep my name 'Top of Mind' with my sphere and allied service providers. The Tweets go right to Facebook Status. When I post an article here it gets Tweeted, the Tweet does the same Facebook exchange again. If extraneous hangers on are interested in my Tweets as well, excellent. I only need one referral a year to make that worthwhile. It all drives traffic to my Blog and my Web Page & Lead Capture Pages. It's a part of the big picture.

There is a way to waste time on Twitter and there's a solid way of using it productively. If you spend a lot of time of it and don't understand what to do, you could very easily get caught up in the addictive nature of it.

I have made direct contact with at least 20 local people in the last few months by using Twitter. All were people that had no idea I existed and now they do - and they read my Twitter updates - and some read my blogs as well.

If can multiply that result over the next 12 months, I will have well more than 100 new people in my SOI - all from a few hours a week on Twitter. I cannot conceive of any mindset where someone would deem that a negative thing.

I agree with you 100% Charles.

The new social media is definitely something to incorporate into your marketing strategy, but spening all your time on those things vs. getting out & doing the things that make you money is not wise.

Dan

I agree with what you say. I think it is about balance. I have not gotten my head around how to really effectively use Twitter. Blogging and AR work. I am getting into Facebook, but do not get caught up in all the stuff there.

I feel the big Ah Ha is not to get comsumed by it all. Pick what works for you, and use it with direction and intellegence as you would anything else you take on. Measure it for value and make future decisions from there.

Yup they don't call it networking for nothing - if you work it right, it should produce results. Just be sure to budget your time appropriately.

Quick real time example of how to use Twitter.

I volunteer sometimes with the local teen center. About 10 minutes ago I got an email from the director of the center which she sent to her mailing list - she is not on Twitter.

Her message was notifying her email list of contacts that they desperately need more volunteers for a car wash they are holding this Saturday to benefit the victims of a few recent local house fires.

I posted that information on my Twitter page. I have 87 followers about half of whom live within 10 minutes or so of where the car wash will be.

As of about 5 minutes ago, two people had "re-tweeted" my post to their own list of followers. Probably a few more will do so.

My entire time investment in this was about 90 seconds.

I have no idea if my spreading the word will make the car wash more successful. But if this were "pre-twitter" and I got the message from my friend, I surely could not have spread the word as quickly and easily as I did.

The value of this medium is in being part of a community - not an "online" community - just a community. THe method of communicating happens to be online but it's real people I am connecting with. I often hear that the 140 character limit on posts seems "silly" and the posts have to be "trivial". Not so - I did my carwash message in about 120 characters. The limitation actually makes you think about the substance of what you have to say.

Well this topic sure did bring on a lot of discussion.

It seems to me that moderation in all things is good and there is a place for these SM's in any business, but you can certainly go overboard.

My example of agents who are not selling but sitting behind a computer is still the point.

We need to be face-to-face , toe-to-toe with the public more :)

In my opinion

Charles - Your last comment echoes my sentiments exactly... Moderation in everything is good. Real Estate is ultimately a face to face transaction, but well thought out, targeted, social media marketing can lead to plenty of face to face time...

Great post Charles. I am still feel blogging is the best because the old blog posts remain and get hits far longer than Tweets or facebook status. I do Facebook and some Titter but try to focus on AR and blogging cause it works for me

Can someone help me save time . . . by suggesting a system to check in on Twitter and Facebook without spending much time? That is, I agree about moderation. I want to use the SM sites but don't want to be glued to them. I haven't taken up blogging yet because I don't see how I can that without taking away lots of "face" time with people.

Evie in Boulder, CO

Charles - you bring up several good points and hopefully those who need to listen will be open to your points. SM has become a part of my marketing. It's just another tool that I use to expose my listings to potential buyers. Above all else, I hope that REALTORS who engage in SM remember that everything they contribute can potentially be viewed by possible clients and consumers. It's an open book.

Facebook is a time suck...but....I.....lllloooooove it....can't shut it down. I have been making more of an effort to not sit on it all day.

Fantastic post. I agree with #4 on hiding behind the keyboards, it is important to balance the SM and REAL LIFE Real Estate business!

Time management is the key to success. Of course if you spend too much time doing any one thing your business will suffer. It's also about knowing your client (and potential client) base - everyone has their preference where to go to get the info they need, so testing out different social media sites and seeing what your clientele responds best to (in the form of actual business) is definitely a good use of your time.

I think when you first start blogging you are trying to learn so much that you become 'consumed' by it. Before your realize it, hours have gone by and you've accomplished? I am just going to talk about what works for me - blogging, that's it. Sure I like to hide behind the keyboard a bit, it's better to learn something here on AR than sit around bit**ing about the bad market in the coffee room at the office!

I had all of the accounts set up on twitter and all and I keep forgetting the 10,000 passwords that I have so it is now foreign to me and that is okay by me!! I like activerain and I am getting the hang of it...but I have to be honest...some people spend way too much time on this and other sites...I can;t, I am too busy with clients.

SM is just one of the tools to use. Nobody expects you to be online 24/7. After all, real estate is, like the name says, "real" and not virtual. Meaning, you have to get out and meet with people, heck, even let them into your car. Yikes. Maybe you can twitter about it afterwards?

I'm trying to create a balance on a plan that I can follow through with.

JUL

I already commented on this thread but I think there's one more point that needs making.

First - my disclaimer - I am not advocating spending all your time on S/M. I would also not advocate spending all your time on floor time, or spending all your marketing dollars on farming via snail mail, nor focus on putting your face on every shopping basket in a 30 mile radius. You have to do lots of things.

MYTH 1: People who use Twitter are teens and tweens posting what they ate for breakfast or when they are going to hang out at the mall.

TRUTH Sorry - I can't find the exact stat that I read recently but the gist of it is that the average age of people who use Twitter several times a week is something like 30 - 49.

MYTH 2: People who use Twitter are not "real" people. They are geeky, computer nerds who are only interested in technology and they sit at their computers 24 hours a day occasionally getting up to eat or use the bathroom

TRUTH: The folks on Twitter are Dentists, Mechanics, Retail Workers, Corporate Managers, Nurses, Soccer Moms, Artists, Reporters, Natural Food Activists and on and on. They have real lives and jobs and friends and they do leave their houses to go to work, school, shop for groceries, hardware, cars AND houses.

Here's the big fact that a lot of people in our business ignore. ALL of the people on Twitter have one thing in common --- They all live in a house, apartment, Mobile Home, Condo, Co-op, Cottage etc. - and guess what - they have the same real estate needs as people who don't even own a computer. At varying points over the next several years- most of them will have need for a Realtor.

And guess what else - they all have friends, relatives, co-workers, etc --- just like "real" people.

So - the idea that connecting with these people is somehow contradictory towards selling homes really befuddles me.

Is Blogging better than Twitter? They are two different components that can complement each other. If you write a great blog post in the forest and no one hears it, did it earn you a commission? Why not write fabulous blog posts and then make lots of friends and build relationships with people who are online and let them come to your blog?

Blogging and Twittering together is better than any SEO plan. With SEO, no matter how much time and money you spend the goal is to get complete strangers to find your blog in a google search.

By meeting the strangers FIRST on a site like Twitter and letting them get to know more about you besides just the fact that you are Realtor, you are dramatically increasing the odds that they will not even do a Google search but come directly to you.

AUG

Very true Charles. There are a handful of people who are doing the Social media thing right. However, the rest of us should stay with Blogging and face to face until we learn more about EFFECTIVELY using the other stuff.

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