I see it all of the time. I'm somewhere teaching a class of realtors about social media. One of them will come up to me afterward and say, "Could you take a look at my Facebook page?" I am usually quite happy to oblige. I open up their page and "Yikes!" While Facebook is a great tool, it should be noted that it is not a "traditional" selling tool. Let's take a look at some common mistakes.

1) "The hard sell"-Constantly asking for referrals, pushing your services and generally trying to shove real estate as the solution to every problem and question is annoying. You'll get yourself de-friended quick for this one.

2) "Real Estate is my life"-Yeah, we know because you won't ever shut up about it. I had a buddy of mine once who loved working out and lifting weights. That's great, but it's all the guy ever talked about. Everyone wanted to choke him after about 15 minutes. Social media is just that. Social. Get it? Talk about or even better ask about something other than real estate. People will appreciate the interest you have in them.

3) "Listings, listings and more listings"- Hey guys, this isn't the Sunday paper. You're not paying for these. Don't put every listing you have on your Facebook page. If people really wanted to see listings they would look them up on the internet.

4) "What? I need to give something of value?"- You better believe it. In social networking it is actually expected that you are there to actively participate and, yes, to give. The referrals correlate directly with the amount of credibility and trust you create by showing you are willing to give unselfishly.

So take a minute to review what you're doing on your social media platforms. Better yet, have another realtor or associate take a look and give you an honest assessment. You might be surprised at how you're coming across to someone else.