Is Social Media A Good Business Decision?

John, I have two rules to social media. First, it has to work and second it has to be monetized. I can be the most popular guy on Facebook with my 4 hours time span per day, but if there is no business results rule two is broken. I believe that for social media to work it has to be a part of a team concept. I lead a team that does social media, blogging, lead generation, and of course real estate sales. I get to be the rainmaker. I can't imagine that a single Realtor can embrace the WWW and be successful on their own. If I was a single agent I would focus on Google with blogging and lead generation through sophisticated IDX. Glad you brought this up and I hope to see you elaborate on it.

John  I'm taking a cautious approach - not jumping in all at once and making a mistake  Karen

I prefer Social Media options for lead generation, but it can be slow going to start out.  Also, it is probably a good idea if your entire office was approaching the task as a single force.  One web site, an office profile on social media sites, and a single powerful, presence on the Internet supported by more than one agent.

A single agent has quite a task ahead of them to master the internet for lead generation.

I have found that being on a select group of social media sites and working them with some amount of focus has resulted in a substantial increase in exposure for myself and my listings.  This in turn results in better results for my clients, more clients in general, and a stronger referral base.

I think for some it is a great idea. I am sold on SEO and am learning the ropes of SM, but I think the privacy issues going forward will take some of the wind out of social media.

You're damned if you do, damned if you don't. The online peeps will look to see if you're in with all the social media. If you're not, they'll use someone who is. If you're not in with the social media, you'll have more time for prospecting and getting deals done.

The hard part is not letting it occupy all your time. I've had to set rules for myself... Sort of like the book "Social Media, one hour a day"

John: I think it's important that we never stop learning. That's why I've taken the plunge. People who don't keep up on what's new will probably be left behind! Thanks for the post.

I think it is good to intergrate social media to our daily activity. It is important to strike a balance as I do not think sitting on a social media website 8 - 10 hours a day will get you a lot of business. It is a combination of effort and skills that make you successful in the business.

Nobody HAS TO be involved in social media.  I know someone who is a very good agent who doesn't belong in it because it just doesn't fit who he is and what he's good (and not good) at doing.  But he can run circles around most of the rest of us in another form of networking.  He'd be a fool to waste any time muddling around with social media, whereas someone else would be a fool not to dive into it.  If it's a complementary piece of our effective business strategy, then it's worthwhile.  If not, it's more of a waste of valuable time.

In my opinion you need to balance your Social Media efforts with your other marketing efforts.

time dedicated to social networking is something everyone should build into their schedule, just like checking your email. I recommend 1/2 hour in the morning and 1/2 hour at the end of the day. When you find it's starting to be more than than OUTSOURCE what you can

John - Life was much simpler before social media ..... You Knew Who You Were, Where You Were Going and Where you'd Been ..... 

Now the trick is to Remember Where You Are

and that everything you post is out there forever

I think outsourcing some of the work makes sense, and I also feel some work needs to be put in by the individual.

Facebook and Twitter, etc are simply more tools (and minor ones in my opinion) that a REALTOR can use in his/her work. There are many more that are more effective and useful. Kind of like comparing a plunger and a hammer. There are few things that a plunger is good for. But a hammer can be used many ways. If you put all of your effort on "plunger" sites, just jump back as the "hammer" crew flies by. In my humble opinion, very few people will get rich using social sites as a mainstay.

I love this topic! Great post... to add to this... check out my recent post about "Your Social Marketing is USELESS without this…" on my blog here... I discuss how USELESS Facebook, Twitter, and even ActiveRain are without Value based Content! Check it out! Reuben

This is a great post. I always live by the rule of you get out what you put into it! There is a big scary world of social media platforms out there but 97% of all people that use social media are using Facebook, Twitter and Linked-in. So my advise is to focus on those three and expand once you are comfortable. 

There is a new tool out there that is specifically tailored to Realtors! It provides you one place to post to all of your social media platforms ties in your MLS feeds, website and client management from one simple and easy to use Fuzeboard!

For more information please visit the Fuzedagent website, or feel free to contact me directly with any questions.

Jeremy Staley | Territory Manager

Fuzed Agent 

m: 951.662.5453 | f: 888.890.6783

www.fuzedagent.com 

Social media is where it is....for now at least.  To think otherwise is a mistake.