The Facebook Time Factor
Thanks to Joshua Harley for posting this one today about Facebook and the benefits of having a business page on it. I am wondering if my time spent on Facebook is worth it as well. Thank you Joshua!!!
Real Estate Companies large and small are pushing agents to have Facebook Accounts and Facebook Business Pages... Is it really worth it? The question for many people is weather it's a huge time suck, or can you really generate leads using it?
The average Facebook user has less than 150 friends. While having a large network of friends and fans can most certainly be beneficial, you don’t need 2000 friends for Facebook to be useful for your Lead Generation.
You are building your Real Estate Business by Design when you reach out to prospects on Facebook.
“If the demographics of your limited friends and fans make up the exact target demographics you are looking for, or if they are key influencers in their online and offline communities, then fewer of these will be far more valuable than thousands of people you barely know.”
But if the thought of getting on Facebook and having your children, your high school classmates and “kinda” friends know what your having for dinner is un-appealing – join the crowd!
The One To Four Rule
With over 600 million people publishing information JUST TO FACEBOOK – it’s important to think about what you are “putting out there.” We advise Real Estate Agents to use the 1/4 Rule. For every time that you mention “Going to out with First Time Home Buyers Today, “ Or “I just met with the nicest folks who hate that they are moving out of this lovely home in the Whiperwill Subdivision!” You should post 3 “other” status updates.
Let people get to know you, and the area that you are in. “To attract the right type of friends and fans to your Facebook Profile and Business page(s) you MUST publish interesting, relevant and useful content.” If your goal is to be the Golf Course Specialist… then putting information about GOLF would be logical. Links to interesting Golf articles and You Tube videos from famous swing instructors are wonderful... But, pictures of you at a Golf Tournament in the area are BETTER. The goal is to get people to engage with your content. If it’s not interesting, would YOU stick around waiting for more?
Just remember that Social Media (and Social Networking) is REALLY about a conversation. You can hold a conversation with people you “kinda know” right? Sure you can… and right now, if you want to make money in real estate sales, you simply MUST be on Facebook, having those online conversations in order to Generate Real Estate Leads!
The Facebook Time Investment
Does it take concentrated effort to find people to connect with, upload pictures, set up your Security Settings, and come up with stuff to post on your Personal AND Business Facebook Account? Yes. You should be updating your Personal Profile Daily – twice a day is not unexpected. Your Business Page should be updated once or twice a day as well.
If you have a smart phone, you can update your pages from your phone!
You will likely spend 15 to 20 minutes a day on Facebook. However, we are willing to guarantee that if you talk to anyone who has really invested their time and effort into making social connections online with Facebook, they will tell you that the return they are getting has been worth those few extra minutes a day spent online.
Need some basic Facebook For Dummies Tips ? If you have questions about building your real estate blog as you build your real estate business, give me a call! Josh Harley, Fathom Realty, 214-228-0301. I’d love to help you, and learn more about what’s working in your market! Are you on Facebook and Twitter? Let’s Connect!
Author- Josh Harley :: Broker/CEO :: Fathom Realty :: 972-562-0896 office
Josh Harley is a gadget/techno geek with a passion for creating new ways to improve his brokerage, Fathom Realty, by leveraging technology, social media and good old-fashioned sweat and hard work. He has an extensive background in Internet lead generation, lead management and lead conversion. This has led him to build a new real estate brokerage with a focus on technology and lead generation while redefining the role of a brokerage in this new era of real estate. Josh writes the real estate technology blog Fathom Cafe with a focus on teaching REALTORS how to utilize technology to increase their bottom line while working more efficiently.
