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Zoom Call 12.13.22 Dick Betts Using Social Media to Grow Your Connections

By
Real Estate Agent with Mapleridge Realty, CT 203-206-0754 REB.0759001

Dick Betts:  Using Social Media to Grow Your Connections

Dick Betts:  Using Social Media to Grow Your ConnectionsThe Zoom call this week was presented by Dick Betts, on his business generating activities with Facebook to be visible within the The Villages, adult town in Central FL.  This was a follow up presentation to his earlier Zoom call of Sept 13 in which he presented The Villages. 

Dick spent almost 20 years around real estate working as an instructor through NAR, and has only been an agent for a little over 2 years. Covid pushed him to get his license as he wasn't able to fly any more.

Living in the community of The Villages, he sold over $10,000,000 in real estate in his first year licensed. He has since gotten a full time Admin assistance to help with his social media exposure as well as 2 additional team members.

His first year in business he spent nothing on lead generation or marketing.

He developed his marketing plan, as his sphere, which was over 50,000 contacts developed over 20 years of travel only produced 2 sales for him that first year.

His Process

As an early riser, each morning, he writes a hyper local post about his community and anything and everything that is happening in the community of The Villages

His feeling is that as the community has grown so much and is so attractive to people looking for a warm weather home writing about events in the community will get him to the top of search engines, and it does.  He calls this an accidental find.

He offered an example of an agent within the same community that pays someone to write social media articles for her. The problem was that on her blog pages, were articles about anything but the community in which she worked. As an example: 5 best places to retire in Europe. Not only was it not local but worse was that the agent didn't even take the time to read their own posts.

He has at times several blogs going and was spending less than an hour writing. 

He uses ActiveRain, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumbler and Word Press. 

He doesn't make posts onto Facebook but writes directly.  All his posts have artwork about the community or something relevant to the post topic.

He will post his work onto YouTube so as to get the embed code that allows him to drop the post elsewhere.

He will modify each format so that it's appropriate for each of the different sites onto which he posts.

On his business Facebook page, he has almost 5,000 friends. On LinkedIn he has over 29,000 followers and has a separate ghost account on LinkedIn with over 15,000 followers. When he posts to these 3 accounts, he hits almost 50,000 followers.

He works to what he calls threads and demonstrated how one thread worked. From LinkedIn he was noticed by someone that recognized his knowledge and referred someone to him. That person bought from the agency within the Village, but he was referred to another person that did buy and from that thread he got another client.  He keeps a log of these threads that and he can track all the business.

From each of his posts, he gets a substantial number of hits. For him it is the nature of the inserted photos that gets the attention and also reposts. He calls all of this shotgun marketing

For all his posts, he uses analytics to get what he calls heat maps.

His heat maps show that the best times for Real Estate are Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9-10 EST.

He would spend an hour posting to his Facebook groups.

 

Dick Betts:  Using Social Media to Grow Your ConnectionsHe posts to the Facebook groups that are connected to The Villages, and these groups expose him to over 400,000 views.

Posting onto these pages gets him exposed.

He emphasized that one should never include one's web address within the post.

This drops the post down in the analytics. He stressed this as there are filters on the groups that will bounce posts that include phone numbers or web site links.

To bypass this, he will look at comments, especially if the post is about real estate and then include a link to the web site. he calls this organic. He demonstrated this by looking at the analytics of one day in which he received 673 users, 816 sessions and over 1,500 pages viewed' In this year he has reached very state in the union with at least 1 viewer before August 1.

He is Interntional as he discussed at least 1 viewer from Ireland that has been visiting the web site for 2 months already. 

He gets people that will log onto his site and view his IDX page which requires full details. From OK, he received a request for his IDX page and that got him 2 contacts on the same day. Those contacts requested maps, which he graciously sent. 

Each contact was widowed and when they came to Florida, they had requests to see properties and they spent a couple of days and wrote an offer on a house for over $575,000, and when it was accepted the man also proposed to his companion.

The analytics allowed him to see where the interest was being generated. When he does hyper local posts, he calls these 22 exposures as opposed to shotgun, but it allows him better information on his activities.

With the assistance of his admin Erin, he maintains a strong social media presence, which generates the interest he seeks for his business.

It was a fast hour with great insight as to how he promotes himself and his area to generate his business.

Dick Betts:  Using Social Media to Grow Your Connections

 

 

 

 

 

Posted by

 

Edward (Ed) Silva
Broker Associate

Serving Central Connecticut Sellers and Buyers

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Comments (24)

Patricia Feager, MBA, CRS, GRI,MRP
DFW FINE PROPERTIES - Flower Mound, TX
Selling Homes Changing Lives

Hi Ed Silva - Dick Betts sounds amazing! By the way, you are too! 

Excellent summary! I hope you enjoy the holidays. 

Dec 16, 2022 10:25 AM
Lawrence "Larry" & Sheila Agranoff. Cell: 631-805-4400
The Top Team @ Charles Rutenberg Realty 255 Executive Dr, Plainview NY 11803 - Plainview, NY
Long Island Condo and Home Specialists

Ed, Seems he had a very interesting presentation on his business marketing tools and how to get the most out of social media. Great re-cap!

Dec 16, 2022 01:11 PM
Anna "Banana" Kruchten
HomeSmart Real Estate - Phoenix, AZ
602-380-4886

Dick is a great presenter.  Tons of simple information that anybody could follow his trail and be as successful as Dick - well at least try to!!  Thanks for the info Ed!

Dec 16, 2022 01:34 PM
Dorie Dillard Austin TX
Coldwell Banker Realty ~ 512.750.6899 - Austin, TX
NW Austin ~ Canyon Creek and Spicewood/Balcones

Good evening Ed,

Thanks for an excellent recap of Dick Betts Zoom presentation. I was glad I was able to make it. The hour went by quickly and we all gained good insight as to how he promotes himself and his area to generate his business.

Dec 16, 2022 03:02 PM
Jeff Dowler, CRS
eXp Realty of California, Inc. - Carlsbad, CA
The Southern California Relocation Dude

Hi Ed:

Dick's presentation was awesome, with some great learning, and this is a terrific recap of what he covered. He's obviously had some good success from his strategies and we can all benefit from that.

Jeff

Dec 16, 2022 03:19 PM
Dick Betts
TOUCHSTONE REAL ESTATE - The Villages, FL
REALTOR® The Villages, Florida

Thanks Ed Silva for the recap, you nailed many of my points!  When I was done I thought of all the things I wanted to cover but time ran out!

Dec 16, 2022 03:27 PM
Anna "Banana" Kruchten

Always another time Dick Betts  and hopefully I can attend the next one!

Dec 16, 2022 08:18 PM
Myrl Jeffcoat
Sacramento, CA
Greater Sacramento Realtor - Retired

I am certain all who attended last Tuesday's Zoom session benefitted from doing so, Ed.

Dec 16, 2022 05:08 PM
Myrl Jeffcoat
Sacramento, CA
Greater Sacramento Realtor - Retired

CONGRATULATIONS Ed, on having this blog FEATURED in the Old Farts Club group!  

Dec 16, 2022 05:09 PM
Margaret Rome Baltimore 410-530-2400
HomeRome Realty 410-530-2400 - Pikesville, MD
Sell Your Home With Margaret Rome

Excellent recap of an excellent presentation. Dick gave a lot of good information and the hour flew by. Congratulations, Dick Betts, on your success in The Villages, and thanks for sharing with us.

Dec 16, 2022 07:27 PM
Kat Palmiotti
eXp Commercial, Referral Divison - Kalispell, MT
Helping your Montana dreams take root

That was an excellent presentation, and as always, I definitely learned a few new things!

Dec 17, 2022 04:58 AM
Ed Silva, 203-206-0754
Mapleridge Realty, CT 203-206-0754 - Waterbury, CT
Central CT Real Estate Broker Serving all equally

Joan Cox  I have been to the Villages and it was impressive for what I saw of it. We met up with Beth Atalay there in one of the units which she was listing.

Nina Hollander, Broker  It was another informative call for all that were there

Dec 17, 2022 08:11 AM
Ed Silva, 203-206-0754
Mapleridge Realty, CT 203-206-0754 - Waterbury, CT
Central CT Real Estate Broker Serving all equally

Hello Roy, and thanks for stopping to comment

George Souto   There have been some great calls presented by AR members on social media and this was another

Dec 17, 2022 08:14 AM
Ed Silva, 203-206-0754
Mapleridge Realty, CT 203-206-0754 - Waterbury, CT
Central CT Real Estate Broker Serving all equally

Patricia Feager, MBA, CRS, GRI,MRP   He was well prepared, and you are too gracious.

Lawrence "Larry" & Sheila Agranoff. Cell: 631-805-4400   He was very well prepared and as a former instructor, he presented well

Dec 17, 2022 08:16 AM
Ed Silva, 203-206-0754

Patricia Feager, MBA, CRS, GRI,MRP   I doubt you would have anybody with ill will generated in your direction. Your posts are always positive and I have never seen you write about anybody in a bad way

Dec 17, 2022 08:24 AM
Patricia Feager, MBA, CRS, GRI,MRP

Awe... thank you Ed Silva - I always believed it was innate for me to be gracious and kind. Your comment meant a lot to me, especially since there are times when I feel I am strongly hated.  

Dec 17, 2022 08:20 AM
Ed Silva, 203-206-0754
Mapleridge Realty, CT 203-206-0754 - Waterbury, CT
Central CT Real Estate Broker Serving all equally

Anna Banana Kruchten Phoenix Broker   He was well prepared and as a former instructor nationally he knew exactly what to do and how to do it.

Dorie Dillard Austin TX   He made the hour fly, and I got so involved I didn't take my usual screen shots

Dec 17, 2022 08:18 AM
Anna "Banana" Kruchten

Dick is a pro!

Dec 17, 2022 09:25 AM
Ed Silva, 203-206-0754
Mapleridge Realty, CT 203-206-0754 - Waterbury, CT
Central CT Real Estate Broker Serving all equally

Jeff Dowler, CRS He hit the ground running in real estate and is now doing 100-yard dashes daily.

Dick Betts   Thank you and thanks for the call. I had to stop the post as I was already into 800 words, and it would have been a mini novel

Dec 17, 2022 08:21 AM
Ed Silva, 203-206-0754
Mapleridge Realty, CT 203-206-0754 - Waterbury, CT
Central CT Real Estate Broker Serving all equally

Myrl Jeffcoat   I doubt anybody that attends these calls can say they were a waste of time. And thank you for the recognition.

Margaret Rome Baltimore 410-530-2400   He gave a lot of information and demonstrated the value of hyperlocal posts

Kat Palmiotti   The calls are very informative and for those of us that lack in social media skills they are great tutorials

Dec 17, 2022 08:27 AM
Roy Kelley
Retired - Gaithersburg, MD

Good Saturday morning, Ed.

Have a great day and an outstanding weekend. 

We have a sunny day in Maryland and I am thankful for no snow to shovel.

Dec 17, 2022 08:52 AM
Buzz Mackintosh
Mackintosh REALTORS - Frederick, MD
“Experience, reliable, leadership”

This was a great session and I was glad I was able to tune in on Tuesday. Thanks for the detailed recap Ed!

Dec 17, 2022 09:03 AM
Philip A. Raices
Turn Key Real Estate - Great Neck, NY
1 of the Most Knowledgeable Brokers on the Net!

Hi Ed,

Your summary was excellent and I learned a few tips that I will integrate into our social media.  I have to participate more often on Tuesdays, but unfortunately, it is babysitting day, but will make a concerted effort in between the kid's naps to work it out.

Dec 17, 2022 12:19 PM
Kathy Streib
Cypress, TX
Home Stager/Redesign

Hi Ed- thank you so much for doing this every week. Dick Betts had so much useful information to share with us!!! This was another session where we were all feverishly taking notes!!

Dec 17, 2022 05:40 PM
Dick Betts

Thanks Kathy Streib glad you got something out of it!

Dec 17, 2022 07:43 PM