Special offer

What Tools Can I Use to Entice Potential Customers?

By
Real Estate Agent with Keller Williams NYC

DreamstineI was having lunch with a colleague last week and we started discussing various ways in which to increase business.

 

Five years ago, most of us had a website in which our listings would appear.  Today, it’s not just an option to use social networking sites in order to compete in the marketplace, it’s a necessity.  One of the most crucial tools we use to entice customers is the internet.  Customers today are savvy, smart and know how to do their research.  Most have already been searching through countless listings by the time you speak to them.  

 

They do their research, so it’s imperative we do ours.  We’re the experts but our customers have more ways in which to obtain information than ever before.  The agent they choose is based on information they find out about him/her before ever meeting.   

 

Your blog, Facebook, Twitter, LinkIn and any other social networks your name is affiliated with better reflect the standards that you want to project.  With any blog, you’ll get comments--both positive and negative--but it’s how you respond to each and every one that matters.  

 

How to Set Yourself Apart From the Herd

 

Today, it’s not enough to have your own custom domain name and blog, you’ve got to get social--via internet--and participate in the ever-steady stream of information.  

 

I remember when I first heard about blogging.  Lots of people were beginning to do it but most of us were trying to figure out what it was all about and why everyone found it so fascinating.  The practice (blogging) has exploded in the last five years.  Some blogs live and thrive while others trickle and fade away, but the information is always out there, stored in Google’s cache.  

 

Facebook tripled in size in 2008-2009 and Twitter became a tool in which celebrities, athletes and everyone in between said in a few short sentences about what they were doing at any given time--it’s huge, with 175 million registered users.    

 

It’s overwhelming at times, but I think the best way to go about it is to devote a period of time every day to improving your blog, posting relevant and interesting topics about real estate--what’s going on in your city, sharing exciting new tools that you may have discovered.  Informing your readers about what they want to know.  

 

In our case (as brokers) that’s going to be new developments, new construction, the neighborhoods that surround those developments and the social scene within them.  

 

In other words, provide all the information a client would want to know before they decide to buy a place and isn’t the above information how all of us determine that?

 

There’s more to it than that, though.  You’ve now got to get people (customers) to your blog which in turn will lead them to your website, your Facebook page and any other networks you’re using to pull in leads!  

 

Follow the Leader

 

We all have favorite authors, speakers and highly-successful people we emulate and admire.  You can bet all of your favorites have websites and blogs now, so follow your leader.  Find out who your favorites are following and then follow those people.  Stop by blogs that are similar in nature to yours and post a nice comment and list your link within the comment.  

 

I’m new here on Active Rain and noted those who’ve taken the time to read and comment on my post.  Many thanks!  Now, I’ve got to do the same--it’s a promise! 

 

Make your Facebook a platform that not only reflects your professional self, but YOU.   Share your likes and dislikes.  Put your listings up on Facebook Marketplace!  

 

LinkedIn is another networking site, more business-oriented in nature than Facebook, but it’s also one that’s grown tremendously over the past two or three years.

 

Twitter--saying something in 14 words or less.  Could be the cool new restaurant where you just had lunch.  Could be a celebrity spotting or simply sharing with your followers how your day’s going at some point in time.  Be authentic, upbeat and professional.  Personally, I think your blog, Facebook and/or LinkedIn pages are more relevant and crucial than Twitter, but if you can fit the time in--use it wisely and regularly!  There’s also Twitter for Business.  If you do decide to tweet, tweet and check your followers late in the evening--9 p.m. to midnight seems to be the most happening time and be sure and thank people for following you!

 

YouTube and Flickr allow you to say it with a picture or video.  Got a small video recorder?  Record what’s going on in your neighborhood and/or city and upload to your blog or Facebook page.  It may turn out to be the perfect neighborhood--exactly what a buyer’s looking for.  Of course, making videos for custom listings and creating custom pages for those big listings can generate awareness and drive traffic to your blog.

 

Your blog.  There’s a reason why some survive and others don’t.  It has to have content on a regular basis.  Not once a week, preferably every day, but consistency is key.  

 

Setting yourself apart can make all the difference between having several leads to having few.  It seems overwhelming at times, but in order to compete today, we’ve got to use all the tools available to us in order to attract the most buyers we can.  

 

Apps--A Business Professional’s Office on the Go

 

Here’s a few great apps to check out:

 

Twitterfall.com.  Be careful--highly addictive!  Search topics that your interested in, narrow down your searches to find out what others are saying about what you’re interested in and add your own comments.

 

Hootsuite.com. You can use multiple networks in one step, assign tasks to your team members and track progress, compose messages on the go from your iPhone and so much more.

 

Seesmic.com..  Works with any browser; a collection of social management tools for your laptop, desktop or mobile.

 

Give credit where credit is due

 

If you find and blog about an interesting fact, don’t forget to give credit to those sources!  Keller Williams Realty has excellent articles and information about a host of subjects and their intensive online coaching and training (more on this in future blogs), for KW associates are excellent.

 

I hope I’ve passed along some good information that you may find helpful and interesting.  As we all maneuver our way through the internet maze of social networking, blogging, tweeting and apps that help us get to and manage all that information, I hope you’ll stop by and share some of your own tips.

 

Check out my Facebook page--and hey, let’s be friends.   

 

For more information about Keller Williams New York City, contact me or my team at (212) 838-3700.

 

References:

 

Torrence, Beth. Smart Social Media Strategies. KW Blog. Feb 21, 2011. (Accessed 28 Feb 2011).


 

Posted by

 

Follow Ilan Bracha on the sites below!

                     Ilan Bracha on Facebook           Google Ilan Bracha!          Ilan Bracha on Twitter         Ilan Bracha--Linked In   

 

 

The Bracha Blog


 

Comments (0)