I've been "cyberstalking" our future home area for some time, learning a bit about how things work on the mountain and local information (where to get farm-grown meat, best places for pizza, and that it might be worthwhile to keep a chainsaw in your trunk for downed trees on the only road that leads in and out of the mountain community!).
Since our in-person visits have been limited, we're obviously relying on online information and a network of contacts we've made since purchasing our 10 acres. One restaurant in particular caught my attention. The Facebook posts of their food looked good, and a mom-and-pop type place run by an ex-Marine has particular appeal to me. So when I visited the area last December, I made a point of having dinner at Inkwell's Tavern. In-person lived up to online, good food, good service! Since then I've been sharing their online posts with Liz and she's looking forward to giving the place a try after we move. Inkwell's is a good candidate for being our go-to place when cooking at home isn't on the schedule.
What did they do right? Their online presentation created a virtual curb appeal and a reason for me to want to give them a try. Then the physical visit matched up with the online presence. What looked good online was also good in real life.
As real estate professionals, we're faced with some of the same challenges as any other business hoping to pull in business via social media, to push the first domino that leads to another until we have contact.
Can we create the right virtual curb appeal with the right information that gets found?
Then what happens when a consumer contacts us?
Does our real life impression match our online expertise and persona?
If we can't back up our talk with expertise and actions, the consumer's BS detector is going to sound the alarm and your first impression opportunity is shot.
It's safe to blog about what you know and understand. Your market. Your specialties. Your personal interests (okay, MAYBE not always safe!). When you stick to your expertise, it's easy to match your online image with what they find when they actually contact you.
Until next Tuesday, just Ask An Ambassador if you need help,
Bill & Liz aka BLiz
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