Warning! Long post ahead…
According to Wikipedia, the term “Social Software” is “normally applied to range of web-enabled software programs. The programs usually allow users to interact, share, and meet other users. . . .”
So what does this mean for real estate agents, and how can you use social software and social networks to increase your web presence--and subsequently your bottom line business?
Fundamentally, real estate is a “people business”. If someone is looking for an agent to help them buy or sell property, they typically look for several things. Experience, drive, ability – all these factor into the selection of an agent. Invariably though, people chose an agent because they connect with one on some personal level. It’s just basic human nature folks. We all want to work with someone we like and respect. If you chose a real estate agent that is an uncouth bumbling ass, or an arrogant stuck-up SOB, then more than likely you’re going to dump that guy the first chance you get.
Given that real estate is a people business, it’s not a big stretch to see that the more people you can come in contact with, meet, and display your vast wealth of knowledge and sparkling personality to, then the more prospective clients you can secure. In effect, real estate becomes a numbers game.
So how do you meet people and begin to make the personal connections that will turn them into clients?
You could go the traditional routes of door knocking and cold calling. They have worked for decades, and I’m sure some are still wildly successful utilizing these techniques. Of course, for much of those decades there was no do-not-call list, and far fewer “NO SOLICITORS!” signs were on people’s front doors…
Door knocking and cold calling is so 1970s. Why not join the new millennium and use technology to reach out and meet people? I’m assuming anyone reading this has a web site. Many probably also have a blog.
You can do SEO (Search Engine Optimization) on a site or blog to get “natural” traffic from search engines. You can do PPC (Pay-Per-Click) and buy traffic. You can advertise your domain name on flyers, pens, your car, business cards, or even tattoo it across your forehead. All of these are certainly viable ways of generating traffic--which increase your “touches” with prospective clients.
But what about other, less common ways of increasing your web presence? (“Finally he gets to the point!” someone is saying right now…)
This is where “social software” comes into play. There are an estimated 50 million people who use Facebook. 50,000,000 people is a LOT of people. More than half of those users log in to Facebook every day. If you could manage to contact just 0.0001% of Facebook users, you’d have 50 new contacts in your database. You can create a Facebook profile literally in minutes. You can explore it for days if you’re not careful. Anyone reading this is more than welcome to add me as a “friend”. At that point you can view my profile and see some of the MANY Facebook real estate applications and groups I’ve joined. Even if you don’t gain a client directly, it’s a great platform for meeting other agents and expanding your referral network.
LinkedIn is a “professional social network”. It avoids much of the teeny-bopper scene that MySpace seems to relish in. The user base isn’t as large as FaceBook’s, but it is full of prime home buying professional type of people.
Though I consider ActiveRain more a “community blogging platform” than a social network, it – and its counterpart Localism – are certainly a way for the real estate professional to extend their web presence and to actively network with other members of the real estate community.
Squidoo, founded by master marketer Seth Godin provides a place to create a “lens” – a single web page connected to other pages of similar reach.
StreetAdvisor.com is an interesting concept, and is attempting to play in the ever-expanding “neighborhood community” genre of social software. It joins such sites as Localism and Trulia Voices. See this post for a brief review of StreetAdvisor.
Other social networks with very large user bases are Orkut and Bebo.
Here is a list of a BUNCH of social networks.
Here is an interesting article on the global reach of social software/networks.
Though not technically "social networks", there are also places you can create free "profiles" and expand your web presence via that route. Zillow, TopAgents, and HomeThinking are real estate specifc, and free
Social software and social networking are relatively new ways for one to expand their Internet presence. At this stage in their life cycle, no one really knows how they will evolve. Given the huge numbers of people using them every day, I think it’s safe to assume that they are here to stay. The tech savvy agent would be wise to explore these sites – and the others that will surely arise in the not-so-distant future.