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Listening In On The Conversation About You...Yes You!!

By Stefan Swanepoel

Services for Real Estate Pros with New York Times Bestselling Author & International Speaker

September 10, 2009 11:59 AM

What do you mean you didn’t know that they were talking about you, your company, your brand and your service?

Of course they are, every day.

And not even behind you back. No, the discussion is in the open. Right there on the web, in the chat room, in the forum and on one of the many social media networks spanning the globe.

Time you got in touch with a rapidly growing information base. With each passing the information is growing exponentially and it’s vital that you get in on the dialogue.

Here are some of the online media you should be monitoring regularly:

• Search Engine Results
• Press Releases
• News Services/Group
• Blogs
• Social Media Networks
• Video Releases
• Podcasts
• Resource sites such as Wikipedia
• Q & A sites such as Yahoo Answers

What? You don’t have time. No problem. Set up automated listening posts that serve as monitors and then report back to you with the information of where, who and what was said.
Google Alerts is simple example of such as online tool that allows you to set up alerts around keywords. When these words then appear in websites, press releases, blogs, discussion forums, etc. Google will send you an email with a link to the exact spot.
Cool, right?

So what should you be tracking?

Well for starters how about items such as: • Your personal name
• Your trademarks
• Your company name
• Your competitor
• Your franchise brand
• Your products and services
• Your existing key customers
• Potential customers you are courting
• Key markets you operate in or wish to operate in
• Etc, etc,

The list is really almost endless. But be careful because you may be flooded with too much information. The internet connected us all together and now social media is making the conversation evolve into the most important feature since email.

So, are you in on the discussion?

This is an extract from the new soon to be published 120page Swanepoel SOCIAL MEDIA Report 2010 especially for Real Estate Professionals. Copies ordered now at RealSure Online Bookstore will be shipped on October 5th.

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Kathy Knight

Intracoastal Realty Corp - Wilmington, NC

BROKER, ABR, CRS, GRI, SFR, SRES

Wow Stefan - good blog. Never thought about some of the things you brought up . Interesting....

Sep 10, 2009 12:07 PM

Evelyn Johnston

Friends & Neighbors Real Estate - Elkhart, IN

The People You Know, Like and Trust!

I did this for awhile but it brought up everyone who had my first name and my last name, not necessarily together.

Sep 10, 2009 01:31 PM

Barb Szabo, CRS

RE/MAX Above & Beyond - Cleveland, OH

E-pro Realtor, Cleveland Ohio Homes

Stefan, Sometimes I just fail to make the connection LOL. I get google alerts for my name and my city but had not even though of the other possibilities. Thanks for pointing it out!

Sep 10, 2009 01:39 PM

Stefan Swanepoel

New York Times Bestselling Author & International Speaker - Ladera Ranch, CA

The world is becoming smaller and smaller and the ability to monitor yourself, easier and easier.

Sep 10, 2009 01:43 PM

Anonymous

Ron & Alexandra Seigel

Stefan: We are so glad that you took up the challenge to come out with a guide to social media for the real estate industry. No one can distill mounds of information and make the most relevant issues easy to understand better than you. We cannot wait to read your report!

Sep 10, 2009 02:32 PM

Ron and Alexandra Seigel

Napa Consultants - Carpinteria, CA

Luxury Real Estate Branding, Marketing & Strategy

Stefan,

You make excellent points about social media. It is a great marketing tool, as well as a feedback resource. Thanks for an enlightening post.

Sep 11, 2009 01:29 AM

Thanks Ron and Alexandra.

The Social Media Report will have hundreds more recommended guidelines for Rainers, Realtors and other Real Estate Professionals, numerous diagrams and charts helping understand social media better. As a bonus there is also a 10-Day step-by-step Action Plan to implement social effectively.

It's at the printer as we speak and will be available in about 3 weeks.

Sep 11, 2009 02:18 AM

Gary Coles (International Referrals)

Venture Realty International - Las Vegas, NV

Latin America Real Estate

Stefan, I didn't realize you were on ActiveRain until I saw the link to this post on Twitter. It looks like you have some great posts here. I am going to enjoy looking at them.

Sep 11, 2009 05:20 PM

Mike Bowler of Lansing, Michigan shared with me on Twitter that TweetSpinner is one of best tools for keyword setup & control of Direct Messages Spam on Twitter – see http://bit.ly/1iQwv7

Thanks Mike.

Sep 14, 2009 02:25 AM

Susan Rossi

Susan Rossi, RE/MAX 2000 - Crete, IL

We better be doing Google searches on ourselves, because our clients are! Homeowners research us this way before calling us in, and I found that out firsthand at a listing presentation when a seller pulled out a newsletter from a guy in Georgia that said "I just read a fantastic article written by Sue Rossi . . . " and I wasn't aware of it. Fortunately he liked what I said and it gave me credibility with the homeowner. But it could have gone the other way and I would have never been ready for that conversation!

Sep 14, 2009 03:24 AM