I didn't own a computer until 1999. I was marketing on Realtor.com and actually remember printing house photos and mailing them to California and then Arizona. I knew that the business was changing and that if I wanted to stick with it then I needed to get with the program. I yearned for another time and often thought about places and people I missed who were no longer around. I was hesitant to use social media but knew that if you are in the business and closed doors that could help you grow you were making a mistake. And so, I joined Face Book and got on Active Rain. I thought Face Book was a waste of time but then something happened. I was contacted by people from a lifetime ago who I had gone to school with decades and decades before. I re-connected with folks from all over the country and even the world. I was careful, but I was also taken back.
Shortly thereafter, I started to post my listings online, not just on Realtor.com and my corporate site but on Facebook too. I had some success when an old client called about a listing she saw. She ultimately bought it and I listed the place I had sold her years before. It was ironic actually because I always put links to my listings on my monthly email newsletter and yet it was Face Book that prompted the call from a former client.
That realization was a big thing for me. I found that people connect in many ways and the more expansive my marketing was, the better the chance of getting the job done. Social media is not something I embrace but it is something that helps people in business. Much of what I see today is troubling and a real waste of time, but the bottom line is that our society has changed to one that is instantaneous and immediate. If you want to be in business you can't close doors. There is power in social media.
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