The world of marketing as you know it has changed. With the arrival of social media, spheres of influence have blossomed. Old contacts from years past are now back on the radar and new potential clients are ready to connect.

This also means that competition for real estate professionals has heated up.

There are fewer sellers and buyers on the market today. Many people simply can’t afford to sell their homes or are unable to get proper financing for a new purchase. This has led to a smaller pool of potential clients.

Yet, just as social media sites reconnected you with old friends and colleagues from the past, so it has with other real estate agents in your community.

It’s time to harness the power of social media to create a market presence and to ensure that when the time comes, your sphere of influence contacts you for all of their real estate needs.

Consistency is important. It’s not enough to just create a Facebook page, Facebook fanpage, Twitter account, or website. You need to update your accounts regularly.

Don’t just update with statuses. Be sure to share videos, links, and photos. Make your accounts a truly interactive experience.

Keep the sugar to a minimum, though. Yes, everyone is delighted with your sticky sweet take on life. No, nobody wants to read your positive affirmations every day. Too much sweet can make you seem insincere or naive.

Have a filter to what you post. If you want to post about your relationships, frustrations, or nights out, then be sure you set your personal Facebook page to private. You never know who is out there searching for you. For a solid market presence, have a professional fanpage site for your company, where local patrons can “like” your business and your statuses.

Answer all questions and emails and try to respond personally to every comment. Becoming a “friend” is only the first step. To truly build a network you need to interact with each person.

Don’t wait for them to contact you, though. Seek out new “friends”, send messages, and become a part of people’s daily online life. This is a great way to know who is expecting a baby (time to move up!), who is retiring (time to downsize), and who just got that new job out of town (time to sell).

Keep your website updated by creating a complimentary Wordpress blog site, or use the blog site as your website altogether. With a simple login, you can make announcements about recent listings, events, or share tips for buyers and sellers. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) companies charge big bucks to do this for you each day, but save yourself the dough and update your blog daily to put yourself at the top of online searches.

Finally, protect yourself from hackers. Nothing sends friends for the delete contact button faster than a barage of spam emails. Choose complicated passwords, change them regularly, and of course avoid using public computers for private accounts.

Social media can be powerful. Use it to your advantage in today’s market and beat the competition to the punch!

Published: August 18, 2011

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