I attended a social network conference this week that confirmed how effective this mostly free mode of communication has and will continue to affect the world. At the end of this 2-day conference, most left excited they learned more than they expected to but not sure how to implement it in their business. Our speakers were clear that a niche and plan is first the most important thing. Jumping into social networking without a niche and plan can cause visitors to any of your social networking sites to get the wrong message based on your delivery.
Blogging: A great way to get the word out about anything. Write your posts as you would normally speak. Keep focused on the subject at hand. Use links, embedded videos. Credit your sources. Don't worry about how your blog will be found. Just write your article. Check your grammer and spelling. Be direct with your blog title. Add the same title or a close variation of that title within the first paragrah of your blog. This helps SEO.
Twitter: Be purposeful. Link to events, blogs, online resources. Measure the effectiveness of your links using www.bit.ly . Retweet good, relative information. Don't forget, it's your reputation out there. Chris Shilling, Broker/Owner of Zindler Realty sums it up well in a recent article. Read it here.
Facebook: If you are new to Facebook and getting ready to utilize it for building your business, create a Facebook Fanpage after you've created your basic account. Encourage your clients to join. There are no games and what I call "silly stuff" there. You can foster communication and professional relationships with members using the discussion feature and other standard Facebook features such as photos, links and events. If you have listings, try Realtor.com's new feature for Facebook, www.seemylistings.com . It shows your listings on the left panel of your Facebook page by default. You can move it to a tab also. If you plan to list a property using your Facebook wall, add the listing agent and broker agent name to the description even if it is your listing. Get permission by email from the listing agent. This is very important.
It's too late for me :( : I almost want to think that it's too late for me to create a Fan Page in Facebook. Facebook Fan Pages came along after Facebook Groups, which I've never used. I've always used the standard Facebook account for networking, both with family, friends, AND clients. My approach is; if I can't say it to your face, I am not going to add it to my Wall. Private messages are sent directly through the Inbox. My Friends List is separated in groups so that I can filter my messages. I send information about my technology services on an average of once per week, plus I write an electronic magazine once per month and share it on all my social networking sites. Also, when credit is due, I give kudos to my clients and to others that I find online. Oh, and I also give away a lot of information. Clients are grateful for that too.
LinkedIn: That's sacred. LinkedIn holds all my historical work with recommendations from past clients. Most of my friends in Facebook are not in my LinkedIn account. This is where I send perspective clients to get information about my work and to read testimonials. Many have accounts but have never done anything with them. If this is you, go back into your account and update it. Add all of the places that you've worked and start networking with people that you know. Keeping in touch with those that you have not seen or spoken to in years could provide you with professional opportunities in the future.