Seven Easy Ways to Increase Your Facebook Effectiveness

I am certainly not a marketing expert, but I have been fairly successful in garnering referrals from friends on facebook. As a matter of fact, two contracts I'm working on right now as well as one I just got accepted were all referrals from facebook friends. Here are my two cents...

1) Be yourself! I personally have a quirky sense of humor and I let it all out on facebook. What I have found is that the more 'me' I am, the more my friends want to refer 'me'. You dont' have to post every trip to the store, or the fact that you bought a new toothbrush, but make several posts. When something funny happens, say it! Here's a recent post I had that got several comments:  "is laughing... I just saw a lady yell at her kid in the food court... She said "Shut you mouth and eat!" Now the thought of a kid trying to eat with his mouth closed is funny to me, and apparently to my friends too...

2) Go ahead and accept those friend requests from the long losts! I've had some great threads going from some of my friends that I haven't seen in well over 20 years. I've also had a few referrals and answered several real estate questions from them as well. Be their expert...

3) Don't over promote yourself as a Realtor! I have several dozen real estate friends and quite frankly, have 'hidden' lots of them because EVERY post was about their 'new listing' or a 'cry for business'. I would have to think that their non-real estate friends may be doing the same thing... One thing to note, I do periodically post a new listing or talk about 'the market' etc. I will post a real estate status update maybe one out of ten or twenty updates JUST to remind my friends that I'm in real estate. Also, use the application from Realtor.com "See My Listings"... It's a subtle hint every time a friend visits my profile...

4) Don't be shy about friending your clients. If there are posts or photos you don't want them to see, then put them in a group and block them from viewing photos, or a certain post. If you don't want your clients to know you're having a glass of wine on your deck, then you can block your status update from that group.

5) Here's a somewhat controversial statement... Don't spend your time in Farmville, Mafia Wars, or any number of the time sucking activities that are out there.

6) Pay attention to, and comment on, your friends status posts. It makes people aware that you actually are paying attention to what they're posting.. at the very least, if you see a post you like... then... 'like' it...

7) Try to get away from the traditional real estate 'head shot'. Make your profile picture something fun!

There are some wonderful Social Media teachers who are far more qualified than I. Folks like Jason Crouch or Mike Mueller whom I've learned a lot from. I've sat in on some of their webinars (highly recommended) so please just take my suggestions as 'from a layman' who's been having some recent success in the field of garnering facebook referrals.

Ok, that's it, my 'Seven Easy Ways to Increase Your Facebook Effectiveness'. Happy facebooking!

Bill Swanson is an agent with CBSHome Real Estatewith over 25 years experience of helping buyers and sellers in the Omaha area. CBSHome is an affiliate of Berkshire Hathaway.

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