FACEBOOK, OTHER SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES - I'm Sure There is A Business Purpose Here, But I Just Don't Know What it Is!

Hi Dean:

I can sympathize with you. I am also confused. With so many events happening; bail outs, subprime mortgages, short sales, foreclosures, financial institutions going down the drain. I thought 31 years of experience would give me a hedge. I thought I knew exactly what was happening but I have tons of doubts. Instead of joining I am cancelling. Last month I cancelled 4 sites I used to belong to. But big surprise, I was kind of relieved. The CEO of City Group does not know what the hell is happening either, so I am in good company. AR is a great learning tool. You got fabulous bloggers. The other sites are for very young people that like to chat and text.

Isaac Bensussen www.besthomesinlajolla.com

 

 

Hey folks..here's something really stupid...How come it says 'edit/ delete' after my name in my posts?...How do I get rid of it?

Dean - Once again, I just wanted to remind everyone who has commented here that starting next week, I will begin a series on "Social Network Reviews" where I will discuss in length the value proposition of the most popular social networks, and whether or not they offer any substantial benefit to our business. 

How come the people who believe in these sites say they get "Leads" from these sites, but they NEVER mention a sale?  Lots of people get back in touch with old high school friends though! Wasn't the question, are they good for your business?  What a waste of time and effort!

I have found more REALTORS are on Myspace and facebook then i see on AR (in my area atleast).

I have found friends on myspace, invitedthem here and they dont even join....huh???

i am speechless when this happens

A/R and our other blogs and websites are more than we can keep up with and handle. We are like you in not really knowing what the business value is of these facebook sites. Perhaps we will never know - honestly there are only so many hours in a day to do business, do these Internet things and have any sort of life at all.

Ernie - you don't get rid of it. It's there for you to use. If you say something you regret, you can go back in and delete your comment. Or, if you mispell something, you can go back in and change/edit the word.

Hey Dean  - I see you already have a Team blog, one thing you can do is "share" your posts on Facebook. Zap them to your profile, or to your free Facebook business (agency) page. Set up an Open House calendar. Ask your sphere of influence to become "Fans" of your page. Or subtley market yourself by joining groups that interest you anyway.

I'll admit I don't use Facebook too much, and don't have a lot friends on the site, but it is another platform to syndicate my existing content, and if someone "discovers" me through Facebook and wants to hire me, great! If not, minimal time investment.

Ok Dean,

I know just about as little now as I did when I first started reading.  Have to ask my partner and 24 year old son how much success he has.  He talks to his friends all over the place on FB.

List and Sell (keep asking the good questions too)   Gary @ RentonHomeFinder

I also joined Facebook on a recommendation from someone on AR.....a couple of my clients found me and made several positive comments and I just use an rss feed from my AR blog on both Facebook and MySpace but agree that AR is the place for me........

The social networking sites are a great way to expand your sphere of influence, reconnect with those you've known in the past and may have even forgotten about and spread a reminder that they know someone in the real estate business.  I recently got contacted via LinkedIn by a friend from high school who just happened to be moving from Tampa to Atlanta and needed an agent.  After that experience, I vowed to be more pro-active about expanding my network on these sites.  Also, from what I understand, every inbound link to your web site can potentially help your search engine rankings.  I hope that helps.

I am only beginning to participate on Active Rain and although many agents in the office have put themselves on myspace or facebook , they have gotten no sales. It seems these are more social sites and I don't know I would select my Realtor this way, but maybe I will become enlightened more in the future.   

I too have a my space and a face book account. The connection is with my daughter's friends (my daughter likes me) at  this point. I have not joined any groups there. I love AR and have got so much info out of this site.

Dean, Like you I have a facebook and a Myspace.  I'm also on Twitter which is okay but kind of annoying.  I have never gotten anything meaningful from either facebook or myspace.  I love Active Rain and that is a site I go to everyday. 

There are just too many platforms out there to really keep up with it. Ihave created profiles but have still not gotten into a routine on using them. I spend a lot of time blogging and reading here. My kids think this laptop is connected to my waist!

I have a facebook account. I set up an account for business purposes but then family members found out about it.  My nieces and nephews think Uncle Bill is cool because he has a facebook account.

I have yet to get any business from it.  I will keep it up in case. The price is right. I don't participate in the vampire biting, or the comparisons or any of the other silly games they do on facebook.

I joined linkedin. I think there is more possibilities for business there than on facebook.

Yep, I too agree! I'm 31 and subscribe to all the sites. I'm big into MySpace, active in Facebook, and also use AR, LinkedIn, Twitter, Plaxo, etc. I don't see automatic results, but I do get to keep my brand top-of-mind for the people I interact with - hopefully they'll think of me, refer to me, etc. The best thing about the sites in my opinion is that you can link them back to your personal website which helps with raking and placement. See, I'm linking back to mine right here:

http://www.NestingInNashville.com

:-)

Stephanie Crawford, Agent in Nashville, TN