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Education, Social MediaSocial media similar to other marketing
Bill Lublin of Century 21 Advantage Gold, Philadelphia, is known for his blogs MovePhilly.com and REReflections.com and his company BuzzBuilderz, designed to help businesses incorporate social media. In addition, he’s co-founder and CEO of the Social Media Marketing Institute. He will be teaching “Connecting with Online Consumers” and “Understanding Social Media” at Triple Play REALTORS® Convention on December 9.
It’s easy to engage in social media but it’s difficult to do it responsibly and effectively, according to Bill Lublin, noted real estate blogger and chief executive officer of Century 21 Advantage Gold in Philadelphia.
Bill Lublin
Lublin said social media gives REALTORS® an opportunity to engage with communities online. As they connect with people and build trust, people will come to them to buy and sell houses.
“REALTORS® make a big mistake posting their listings on their Facebook pages,” he said. “People on Facebook don’t care about your listings. It’s a real disconnect. Many REALTORS® don’t seem to know how to behave when they’re sitting in front of a computer. I try to remind people that if you wouldn’t brag about something to your mom or wouldn’t want to see it printed in The New York Times, you don’t want to post it on Facebook.”
Social media isn’t all that different from marketing that REALTORS® have been practicing for years, Lublin said. People need to develop their presence online so they can be found by consumers. “But you don’t want to be found for the wrong reasons,” he added.
As social networking continues to grow, it’s still about building trust with consumers. “Social media allows you to build trust and influence a larger group of people than ever before and it doesn’t cost you anything but your time. You just need to learn to use social media wisely and effectively,” Lublin concluded.
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About Kim: Kim Shindle is the Communications Specialist at the Pennsylvania Association of REALTORS®. |
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Bill, You know how much I respect and admire you and you also know how much we differ on our opinions on posting listings on Facebook. I see agents effectively balancing business and relationship building skills using Facebook. I can see when an agent posts their listings and their non-REALTOR friends compliment them, ask to see the house and, still others say they are going to tell a friend about it. As long as you find the balance, agents can do this well and it does bring them business. I met an agent at Triple Play who told me he attributes 7 of his sales in 2009 to his Facebook account. That’s SEVEN sales from Social Medial when the average agent in the US does 4-5 sales a year for all sources!
So, I truly believe if an agent follows the advertising guidelines, they can effectively promote themselves as business professionals to their friends on the personal pages. And I am sure you would agree that they absolutely should be posting their listings on their FAN pages on Facebook.
I further believe that when I am with friends at a party, and the topic of real estate comes up, I am sure to tell them about a great new home my company listed in their area. I don’t see anything wrong with agents telling friends about a great new home they listed and how the seller who hired them wants to be sure they are getting the word out. I think these agents are respected by their friends for what they do for a living.
I applaud you for getting the word out with Social Media, and I think there is a great deal for agents to learn on how to create that effective balance.
Thanks Bill, enjoyed the article. Look forward to hearing more at Triple Play.
Swanepoel also noted that only 10% of those listening yesterday will go out and react or take action. Thought that was interesting.
And to Andrew Wetzel…congratulations on your election for another term on the Suburban West Board of Directors.
Jim Ryal
Great article Bill! We had a joint meeting yesterday (Suburban West Realtors Association and the Montgomery County Association) and were fortunate to have Stefan Swanepoel as our featured speaker. He used this analogy: social media is like a barbecue. You wouldn’t go to a barbecue and start telling everyone about your listings and asking for their business.
Like the Internet of a few years ago, social media is a “new frontier” with no real rules. We have to create them as we go.
Thanks for all you do!
Andrew Wetzel
Nice summation of on-line socializing!