social networking » Technology Tools for Real Estate

Did you ever go to a networking event or a conference and get stuck with that guy who could only talk about his business? You know the guy (or gal) I’m referring to: they’re focused on the hard sell, pitching their product, constantly promoting themselves or their company. Or they’re trying to nail down an appointment with you so they can sell you something later.

I don’t know about you, but these kinds of people make me uncomfortable and I avoid them like the plague.

They have an online equivalent in the real estate industry: real estate professionals who use their accounts to spam their followers with unending messages about the their company and the properties they have for sale. But just as blatant self-promotion is unwelcome in face-to-face situations, it’s a turn off in social media, too.

A better strategy is to position yourself as a thought leader in the profession. You do this by listening to prospects, communicating with colleagues, sharing knowledge, and offering ideas. You do more listening than talking, and you strive to make your social medial presence more of a conversation than a commercial. You bring value to the table.

Granted, it takes a little more work to bring a thoughtful, value-added approach to your social media campaign. But, if you do it well your following—and your business—will grow.

When someone starts following you on Twitter, Twitter sends you an e-mail so that you have the opportunity to follow them back.

Recently, I received a follow notification from a real estate professional who was obviously new to Twitter. Up to that point she had sent out 7 tweets—all of them describing properties for sale. Also up to that point, she was following about 2,300 people.

She was taking what I would call the shotgun approach to using Twitter: blast as many people as possible with your message. Don’t worry if you don’t know these people and they don’t know you. Don’t worry if your messages are repetitive or even boring. It doesn’t even matter if the people you’re following are in other countries and speak a language other than English (as is true for some of her followers) and therefore not likely to be interested in property for sale in your small Midwestern town. At least you can tell your clients that you are using a Twitter to market homes.

True, but irrelevant.

Twitter is a great tool when used well. It’s wonderful, for example, for staying in touch with people, building relationships, keeping abreast of what’s going on in your community or the world, and sharing timely, valuable information. You can use it to meet people you might not ordinarily have met, enlarge your circle of contacts, and maybe even become known as an expert in your field.

But to use Twitter like a billboard, to constantly post useless messages about your own agenda—sadly, that squanders Twitter’s potential.

Need some ideas to help you put Twitter to work? See our recent post.

Let’s say the name you selected for yourself on Twitter just isn’t right.

Maybe you selected it without thinking. Or maybe you’ve changed your focus and you want a Twitter handle that more accurately reflects the direction your business is going. Or maybe you just didn’t understand how Twitter worked when you first started using it. In any event, it’s easy to change your Twitter name and you can do it without losing any of your followers.

Log on to your Twitter account and click on “Settings” at the top right.
Type the new username you want to use. Twitter will confirm that your choice is available. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click “Save” to keep your new choice. All of your tweets, followers, and settings will go with you to the new name.
To minimize confusion, it’s probably a good idea not to change your image right away. Use your old image with your new name until people catch on to the change.
It’s also probably a good idea to recapture your old name and use it to announce your new name. So, log out of your new Twitter account. Log back in to Twitter as if you were a brand new user and create a new account using the name you just discarded. (Yes, Twitter will let you do that). Use the bio to direct visitors to your new account. Send out a series of tweets under your old name redirecting people to your new name, something like: “I’ve got a new name and a new attitude. Find me at @SaunWashington.”
Be sure to change the links on your website and update your account information on affiliated sites like TweetDeck or Hootsuite

And that’s it. You’re good to go.

Ning is the do-it-yourself social network application that allows anyone to create a social network centered around any topic or concept. There are Ning networks focusing on neighborhoods and communities, Ning networks for fans of individual artists or entertainers, Ning networks that support causes and social issues. In fact, millions of Ning networks have been established, and until recently they were free to create and free to maintain. But that’s about to change.

Recently, the creators of Ning made the decision to start charging for Ning networks in return for providing more features and more support. The change will take place starting in July. That means if you created a social network using Ning, you’ve got to decide whether to keep your group and start paying, or dissolve it. And that can be a tough decision if you have a vibrant group with many members and lots of activity.

If you’re a WordPress users have a third option. You can use BuddyPress, a free WordPress plug-in that lets you transform a WordPress blog into a social network site. Then you can use a Ning to BuddyPress importer to migrate your users to your BuddyPress-created social network.

BuddyPress is completely customizable so that it can have the look and feel you want. It gives network members an activity stream that lets them follow the actions of their friends à la Facebook; it also allows them to create profiles and set up blogs. It has groups, forums, private messaging and a growing number of plug-ins that extend its capabilities.

It has the potential for a number of really great real estate applications and—better than Ning or Facebook—you own the content, you set the terms of service, and the members and their information belong to you. What could be better than that?

If you have network built on Ning, take a look at what BuddyPress can do.

It’s almost impossible to be successful in any field of endeavor without promoting yourself. Yet, in Western culture, at least, egregious self-promotion is considered taboo. This is especially true in social networking where the best way to create a negative image is to shamelessly and inappropriately call attention to yourself.

You’ve seen people who do this. They write comments on other people’s blog posts, but the comments have nothing to do with that blog; the comments are about them with a link to their stuff. Or, they invite you to connect with them and soon you’re deluged with messages about them, their product, their next seminar, or whatever it happens to be.

These people are boors. Like the guy at the party who corners you and won’t stop talking about himself, you always want to get away from them. And of course, you don’t want to be like them.

So how can you use social media for self-promotion without coming across as offensive? Here are some guidelines to follow:

Never Use Someone Else’s Platform To Advance Your Cause. Recall how shockingly rude Kanye West appeared when he stole the mic from another artist during an awards ceremony to promote his own agenda. Never try to promote yourself on a site that’s about something else and never try to call attention to yourself in the comment section of someone else’s blog.
Promote Yourself by Promoting Others. Find people in your network whose work you admire or who are doing things that are laudable and talk about them. When you promote others, people notice you too.
Be Humble. Give lots of praise to others. Take little for yourself.
Take an Interested in Others. When you’re genuinely interested in other people, they will be interested in you. Don’t beat people over the head with messages about what you can do for them. Instead, get to know them. Ask about what they do. Invite them to talk about their projects or what’s going on in their lives. Rejoice in their successes. Empathize with their challenges.
Help Your Contacts Find Clients. If people in your network are in business, ask them what they’re looking for in a customer, then introduce them to people in your network who meet that profile. The contacts you help in this way will always be on the lookout for ways to return the favor.
Introduce Your Friends to One Another. If there are people in your network who have much in common or who would certainly become friends, introduce them to each other or arrange a get-together. As their relationship grows, both parties will remember you fondly.
Be Subtle with Blogging. Blogging is one of the best ways to subtly make people aware of what you know or what you can do. When you publish articles in your area of expertise week in and week out, people come to understand how knowledgeable you are without you having to explicitly say so.
Bring People Together with Blogging, Wikis or Other Interactive Sites. The most successful sites bring people with similar interests together by inviting them to write articles and make comments. All of the people who participate on your site will see you as the expert because you made the venue available and you moderate the discussion.
Beware of Spamming People. Self-promotion can easily cross the line and become spam. When you want to let people know about a new project or a success, send out one or two messages and let it go at that. Never bombard your contacts with constant or repetitive messages about what you’re doing. It’s the best way to get people to disconnect and start ignoring you.