1 cup of Engage in the Media
2 Table Spoons of Sharing Things You Find Interesting
3 tea spoons of Add Your Own Thoughts
4 pinches of Seek Out Other Sources
One of my passions is teaching. I love helping others discover how to do new things or to improve on what they are already doing. Part of the reason I love to do this is selfish; by teaching others I get better at doing the very same things. When I was in Architecture school I hosted study sessions with a class mate before each exam. Together we worked through problems with other students and we really learned the material.
1 cup of Engage in the Media
When ever start talking about social media or blogs I always get the question, "How do I come up with content to put on my page, blog, or newsletter?" The answer is quite simple, go visit other sites that have content and consider how that content inspires you. Social media makes this so simple, you can share, retweet, pin, or link to content that is already there or that you read elsewhere. That's a great starting point and you can easily get overwhelmed once you start noticing it all.
Sometimes people are surprised when I tell people if you want to build your Facebook Page you really need to be on Facebook to see what others are posting and to engage them. Same thing for the other platforms, that's why it's called SOCIAL media. Facebook is not like sitting down for a TV show or movie where we are entertained for a period of time, it's interactive. Social media requires interacting with others, not just doing your own song and dance. And you have to have some frequency about it. If you post once a month or sometimes just once a week your material will quite possibly get lost in the noise of all the other items we are presented with.
mix in
2 Table Spoons of Sharing Things You Find Interesting +
3 tea spoons of Add Your Own Thoughts
Passing along other's content and interacting with social media is just the beginning. When you pass along someone else's content you should add a little of your own. Pass along your thoughts as you push it out to your friends. Answer the question, "Why you are passing it along?" Is it interesting? Do you have your interjection? Do you find it funny? If so, why? This makes what you are passing along so much richer and it looks less like you're just trying to fill your page. Adding your own content will typically increase engagement of others because they will like, comment, or share the content too.
4 pinches of Seek Out Other Sources
After reminding people that social media requires social activity and encouraging them to comment on items people invariably they ask their original question, "But WHERE do I get content?" In my mind I think, "I just told you..." but then I realize the question behind the question, they are asking me to do their work for them. I guess I could do the work for them, there are businesses you can hire to manage your social media, but that's like using a matchmaker to find your spouse. Here are the bread crumbs I usually offer for content:
www.housingwire.com - sort of CNN for the housing industry.www.inman.com - a great site for news for Realtors and consumers alike
www.realtor.org - the mother ship for Realtors.
www.realtor.com/advice - material from one of the sites we love to hate - but they have good material to share.
www.houselogic.com - cutesy tips and such.
rismedia.com - a newer resource I recently found that appears to have some well thought out articles.
Even this blog post was inspired by another blog post Over 300 Blogging and Video Ideas to last the rest of your career. When I read the posting I thought, hey, I've thought about how I develop the content I share and thought I would share my ideas with others.
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