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Why Should Someone Be In Your Social Network?

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Real Estate Agent with Keller Williams Realty - Global Trust Team

I was in San Diego this past weekend with my family.  Most of my family throughout San Diego was able to come to my parent's house to catch up and enjoy a great sunny day.  We chatted about a little bit of everything and one of the topics that came up was twitter.  We did dive even more into social networking but we spent a bit of time speaking about twitter.

I think one of the best questions that someone asked was from my godmother.  She is always up to speed on the latest technologies as she is a teacher in San Diego.  She asked one of the best questions about social networking when she simply asked the question:

               "Why would someone do twitter?"

I thought it was an awesome question.  For many, especially in real estate, they are jumping onto social networks, like twitter, with little thought of "why".  Let's take a look at a few items to consider for those who have jumped into twitter and maybe those who haven't yet got on board yet.

  • Why would someone want to follow your 140 character updates?
  • How can you add value to those in your network with your updates?
  • Who are you going to follow?

I really don't think that social networking will be for every real estate agent, especially for those that don't answer the above questions.  When considering the option of diving into social networks like Twitter (or any of the others for that matter) it's important to consider your approach to social networking.

After all, you wouldn't create a real estate website without a strategy would you?  Just because getting onto the social networks is easy doesn't mean it's something that you should do.  It's important to consider your approach to social networking for real estate before you ever start.  

In addition to the above three questions consider the following:

  • How much time can you dedicate to your network?
  • How are you going to grow your network?
  • What do you want to get from your network?

When you consider doing social networking for real estate it's important to set goals and consider how you can add value to your network and how your network can help you.  Even though it is incredibly easy to get started take a few moments to consider how you can maximize your activities.

As real estate professionals we often have 100's of things to do each and every day.  Adding 1 more activity that isn't going to bring us business or improve our business is just a waste of time.  So rEmbraeally, what's your plan with your social network?

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Karen Luke
South Metro Property Management, LLC - McDonough, GA
Henry County Real Estate

I agree. I'm sure there are a myriad of uses for twitter in real estate. I'd just like to know a few before I sign up. Like you said, just because you can and it's free, doesn't mean you should.

Apr 22, 2009 12:00 PM
James and Joseph Bridges
Keller Williams Realty - Global Trust Team - Long Beach, CA

Karen - Right on! :)  I think Twitter has a great simple interface and connecting it to your facebook can make updates pretty easy.  I have been testing it for a bit now and have used it to send traffic to my real estate websites.  Results haven't been too bad, but not thrilling :)

Apr 22, 2009 12:35 PM
Troy Erickson AZ Realtor (602) 295-6807
HomeSmart - Chandler, AZ
Your Chandler, Ahwatukee, and East Valley Realtor

James & Joseph - You have to make sure that you stay on top of technology, but you don't have to join every new thing that comes along.  Make sure you are joining something that you will utilize, and will benefit you in the long run.

May 06, 2009 10:24 AM
James and Joseph Bridges
Keller Williams Realty - Global Trust Team - Long Beach, CA

Troy - Agreed that certainly each piece of technology needs to have a business purpose.  I think Social Networking has a strong case for reinforcing and growing a referral network.  For stranger business I still think that websites are more well suited :)

May 15, 2009 08:46 AM