Recently, I was at a round table discussion group with a dozen or so realtors. And as we talked about what it means to bring our 'conversation' to the web, the inevitable happened. Someone chimed in with the question, "How much time do I have to spend on all this stuff?" He continued, "I don't have all day to play around online..." This question comes up quite often when someone is introduced to the idea of establishing their presence on the web. It seems overwhelming... It seems like it's a job for geeks... It's going to take over my life...

And for some, a little bit of fear lurks behind this question. We are confronted with the unknown. We must recognize that we have our old habits. We are challenged to do something different in order to get different results. We begin to wonder what activities equate to productivity? And at the heart of the question for a businessperson is, "How is this going to tie to the deal?" That's a logical and reasonable question. I mean, if I'm going to put in some effort, I want to know what kind of results I can expect in return.

So what is my take on this question? First, I believe being present online and having an ongoing conversation has everything to do with community and thus 'the deal'. Secondly, I believe that like everything in life, we reap what we sow.

Like Rene Fabré so aptly puts it, "Conversations are markets... Conversations create community. Communities consist of people participating in conversations." We are in a relationship business. People prefer to do business with people that they know and trust, right? So the big question is how will people find you and trust you except through communities? With the majority of the people searching for real estate online, doesn't it make sense to be present and participating in communities and conversations about real estate there?

Another way to think of it is like this. Let's say there's a very seasoned, skilled, knowledgeable, and personable realtor named Pat that has been doing business successfully in the northwest for 20-years. Pat may be a stellar agent but how does the rest of the world know that? The 200 million people on Facebook would only know that if he's present and engaged in conversation there. Google searchers would only know that if Pat is part of a conversation anywhere else online. After all, Google can't read minds (at least there's no proof of it). Google needs to see strong evidence of who Pat is before it will reward him with a high rank. The evidence will be found when Pat becomes present and engaged online by contributing content that explicitly reflects who he is.

So, in response to the big question above ('how much time do I have to spend on this stuff'), finding the answer requires another question. How big and of what quality do you want your presence to be?

It's helpful to think of your internet presence as if it were your own garden. The content and conversations you have online are like seeds. Some of them will take root, grow and and bear fruit in the form of new relationships, trust, and business. Others will not take to the soil and will be forgotten. But either way, like a garden, your presence online won't necessarily bear fruit overnight. It is a direct reflection of what you have put into it. It takes careful planning, sowing, cultivating, early attempts at success (a.k.a. mistakes), and faith that something is going to grow from it. Because after all, we can prepare, plant, water, and cultivate, but how something happens to grow is a wonderful mystery. Is it not?

Enjoy,
Matt Sweet
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