Who? How? What? - Do You Trust Online?

This is a good post Emily and one that probably has many different angles in terms of response. To answer your questions, I do post my picture and my logo on my social sites. I do respond personally to all contacts and comments on FB, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.  My listings don't post the price in the tweet I don't think (I can't remember now), but a click through immediately shows all pertinent information and a virtual tour.  My interactions on SM are a mix of posting area articles that people would find helpful, advertising my listings for my sellers, posing community questions and expressing my own personality through more personal posts.  I try to mix it all in and provide something for everyone, showing my personality and my knowledge at the same time.  Good luck to you as you continue to navigate the waters of social media. It's a challenge for us all, no matter what industry.

Great post about what we share online and who to trust. Thanks for posting and giving us these tips. Great info to have!

Excellent post...I agree with you.   Trust is the key ingredient to all communication, and definitely #1 in the digital world.

I guess, if anything, I still trust my friends' recommendations. Most of the time anyway.

Emily,

You are asking the same questions we have asked.

Here are some of our conclusions.

Act like a human-not a machine.  We respond in a positive and uplifting manner.  I have never met anyone who could not use a positive word or two.  We do that in person  also, even if we have to take a deep breath and a moment to discover the positive.

Client privilege s eveything;  We do not disclose information about our clients without their permission, period.  In our commercial real estate practice we have worked with celebs and titans of industry.  We have often signed a non-disclosure agreement on the terms of a made transaction.  10 years later, we would not reveal the name unless they are deceased or it has already been published, or the building  has changed hands, and the lease has expired.

I do respond on Facebook comments in a cordial authentic manner.  Again, this is the medium I most careful with. We have friends in Human Resources and other professions who gather information on Facebook that sometimes can be misinterpreted!  We do not post personal photos of any kind including animal photos.  We recently went through our Facebook and culled our connections.

Once a week, I go through all the invites and check profiles on Linked In, Twitter, Facebook, etc, before I accept.

In some of our groups we have individuals who just post listiings and nothing else.  Our conclusion is that they think they are doing something positive for their clients, and that is the manner in which they are doing it.  There is no point commenting in this case.

These are some of our answers, and we don't care how many followers we have...LOL A

I try to act like "me" on all the sites.. it seems to be working ,, I try to  have a similar message everywhere for cohesion

I have become totally obsessed with this topic right now and you completely hit the mark with this one.  We become so preoccupied with getting more likes and followers that we lose focus on the most powerful aspect of social media - relationship building and trust. 

I once heard a statistic that real estate salespeople are often rated in the same ranks as used car salespeople and lawyers when it comes to trust. Sites like facebook, Yelp and other review sites are becoming more influential than main stream media, encourage your clients to use them and spread the word. Reciprocate and become an ambassador of good will - that is social strategy with long-term benefits.