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SOCIAL NETWORKING FOR REAL ESTATE

What is it, how do you use it and what do you say.

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“An umbrella term that defines the various activities that integrate technology, social interaction, and the constructing of words, pictures, videos, and audio.”

• In plain English, social media is people having conversations online.

WHAT IS SOCIAL MEDIA?

Click video to play in browser

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• The offline concept of social media is something that Sales Associates have already mastered - you’re already connected within your local communities.

• You know where the best places to live are. You probably know the best restaurants too. Your contact list is long, and your business grows because of referrals.

• That’s the very essence of social networking. Your business forces you to be connected with your community of customers.

• Social media is just an outlet for you to expand those connections online.

WHAT DOES IT HAVE TO DO WITH REAL ESTATE?

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• Because its expected, 93% of social media users believe a company should have a presence in social media.*

• It’s popular.• It’s a natural fit for real estate, your connections = business• It can build your personal brand• It can connect you to clients and potential clients (yes this

is where they spend a lot of their time) in a way that no other media can

• *Cone, Business in Social Media Study, September 2008

WHY SHOULD YOU BE INVOLVED?

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WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS?How to use it to connect with clients

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You can use social networking to gain and keep your clients.

Your goal should be to use these tools to connect and reconnect with:

– Groups– Clients– Other sales associates– Classmates– Work colleagues– Your overall sphere of influenceAnd to position yourself as a knowledgeable resource

and market leader

GOALS FOR YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA CONVERSATIONS

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• Find your voice in your social media updates, use your genuine words and tone like you would in a conversation at a dinner party with people who don’t know you.

• Remember, build rapport online just like you do with clients in person.

• There are plenty of social networking success stories. None, however, have to do with anyone who looked up an old friend and demanded, “Connect with me and buy my listings!” You wouldn’t do that in real life so don’t do that in social media either.

SOCIAL NETWORKING = CONVERSATION

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FACEBOOKPrudential York Simpson Underwood Realtyhas added you as a friend…

Intro and tips for how to use it to grow your business

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1. Establish a personal Profile (it's free)2. Comment, like your friends posts3. Use real estate themed widgets (ex.

REALTOR.com to display your listings)4. Host Events (open houses)5. Share Links to Great Articles6. Post Video, Audio and Pictures (your open

houses this weekend)7. Create friend lists8. Set your privacy settings9. Create a unique url (http://www.facebook.com/username/)

WHAT YOU SHOULD DO ON FACEBOOK

http://www.facebook.com/

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ADDING CONTENT

• Add tabs to your profile and upload videos, photos, link your blog to post all your blog posts automatically to your Facebook profile

• Post status updates to share photos, links, video or just a message with your “friends”

• Use your own status updates to:– Share links to articles– Post a photo from your phone– Share event information in neighborhoods

you specialize in – Share community info (updates about schools,

new restaurants)

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When you update your status

• Your Facebook friends see your status updates in their "newsfeed" when they log into Facebook

• Fans can your post

• If they do that their friends see that they commented on your status and your message grows

HOW DO YOUR PEOPLE GET YOUR MESSAGE

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Organize your friends in groups (examples: Clients, Agents, family, friends) so that you can keep up with them and change what they can see on your profile. To create a friend list:

1. Go to Account on the top right, click Edit Friends2. Click Friends on the left hand column3. Click the button4. Type in a name for your list and click to select the friends or

type names you want to add to your list.5. Press Create List

CREATE FRIEND LISTS

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• You can post information that only certain groups of your friends can see

• The default setting is “everyone” which means not just your friends but anyone who sees your Facebook page

• Click the lock icon and select Customize from the drop down to select groups of friends to include or exclude from seeing this post

• Type in the names of individual friends or groups of friends example “Agents” you want to hide this from

SHARING CONTENT WITH CERTAIN GROUPS

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• You do not have to share every status update, photo or information with all of your friend

• Set your privacy settings (Account>Privacy Settings> Profile Information) to exclude/include only those you want to see your information

SET YOUR PRIVACY SETTINGS

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• If you aren’t sure if your privacy settings are working, you can check to see how a certain person views your profile

• Account>Privacy Settings> Profile Information, then click the button

DOUBLE CHECKING PRIVACY SETTINGS

Type the name of a Facebook friend

This is how that friends sees your profile

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CONTENT IDEAS

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• Do be helpful…provide your expertise as you would with friends or clients.

• Do share…what valuable information you learn or find. (Others will thank you and appreciate you!)

• Do connect with old friends, family and clients in your local area. • Do create a Facebook Page for your business. Pages give you

statistics on viewership and allow you better separate your real estate posts from your personal ones.

• Do promote your Facebook presence. Adding your Facebook badge to your website, your email signature, ads and flyers.

• Find other business pages you want to become a fan of (PruYSU, local restaurants, local publications, REALTOR associations etc)

• Do interact. Comment on posts, share links and posts on your own etc.

DOS

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• Don’t hard sell • Don’t interrupt online conversations with an

infomercial• Don’t “friend” everybody• Don’t spam your new “friends” with unsolicited

email/e-gifts/random applications• Don’t update your profile with your every move• Don’t “air your dirty laundry”• Don’t complain. • Limit your status updates to what you know about

personally and don’t speculate about others.

DONT’S

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Follow these links and click at the top of the page to follow the posts of these companies– Prudential York Simpson Underwood Realty– Prudential Carolinas Realty– HomeServices Lending– HomeServices of America– NAR

• Look for local media outlets pages, REALTOR organizations or other interest groups you can join as a “fan” to get updates on their postings. This will raise your visibility in groups in the community

FACEBOOK PAGES TO OF

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TWITTERPrudential York Simpson Underwood Realty is following you

Intro and tips for how to use it to grow your business

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WHAT IS TWITTER?

• Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that enables its users to send and read messages known as tweets.

• Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters displayed on the author's profile page and delivered to the author's subscribers who are known as followers.

• Users can send and receive tweets via the Twitter website, phones, or external applications.

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• Go with your name, a smaller version of it, your company name, or appropriate nickname (ex: @ChadAJohnson). Or choose a username that is real estate or locally inspired like: @CreativeAgentNC, @hometourjay

• Choosing a photo, if you are conservative, go with a professional business photo. If you have a hobby like

• scuba-diving, choose a picture of yourself underwater.

SETTING UP YOUR TWITTER ACCOUNT• To create a FREE Twitter

account, visit Twitter.com and click on the “Get Started” button.

• You will be prompted to create an account. Be sure to choose a username wisely.

Source: Twitter for real estate twits, Nicole Nicolay

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• Twitter- The social network itself, the entity, Twitter.com • Twit (aka Twitterer)- Someone who tweets. • Tweet (aka Twittering) – The act of replying to Twitter’s question, “What are

you doing?” in the form of a post. • Tweets – Posts made on Twitter. • Tweet It Forward “TIF”- Tweet to help, share or promote another

unsuspecting Twit. • Twittosphere/Twitterverse- Community of Twits (Twitter members). • Twitterstream- The Twitter timeline (friends or public). • TweetUp- When twits go offline and meet up in person. • TweetIn- When a group of Twits agree to Twitter at the same time. • Tweeple- People who use Twitter. • Retweet(ing) or RT- Repeating your own or someone else’s tweet. • DM- Direct message. Sending a private message by DM will not appear in

the public timeline. • @ “reply”- Reply to a Twit by typing the @ symbol before their

Twitter handle. (ex: @nik_nik).

TWITTER TERMS – GET TO KNOW THE TWERMINOLOGY!

Source: Twitter for real estate twits, Nicole Nicolay

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Here are some ideas to get you tweeting: • Text- Share what you are actually doing…that moment or about to do. • Images- Share pictures you take or find interesting. Share open houses, brokers tours, thankful clients

(w/permission), etc. Try Snaptweet, TwitPic, or I prefer the Gyazickr app • Videos- Share your own videos or favorites from other networks like YouTube, Vimeo, Viddler, Seesmic, UStream,

BubbleTweet, Tweetube, etc. Virtual tours, client testimonials, and even wacky birthday greetings can inspire your tweeple!

• Blog Post Updates- You can auto update your real estate blog posts to Twitter by installing the Twitter Updater Plugin on your blog. Or just share as you go.

• Witty Joke or Comment- If you come across a funny sign or just interesting thought, jot it down and share later on Twitter.

• Helpful Industry Resources- Scan your RSS reader and/or social bookmarking sites, or favorite industry blogs for helpful tips and advice or cool tools. Share links to them! Consider sharing market updates, neighborhood comparables, or other local info.

• Inspirational Quotes- Have a favorite author or poet, share an occasional quote…it’s even better when you can relate it to a current event.

• Announcements /Events- Share information about an event your company is hosting, holiday food drives, and/or other news. OR be the local expert sharing real estate tips for your market, as well as local event and business information. Check out TwtVite for creating local tweetups an sending an invite.

• Ask Questions- That pertain to business or personal. Try creating a poll especially for Twitter at Polldaddy or TwtPoll.

• Coupons- Offer local twits a coupon for a free market analysis, or better yet, something fun and locally inspired like tickets to a local festival (ex: Wine & Cheese, Harvest, Pumpkin Patch, etc.) Bring your local community together…and they won’t forget you! Use TwtQpon to create your own exclusive offer!

LETS TWEET ALREADY

Source: Twitter for real estate twits, Nicole Nicolay

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DO• Do be yourself…whoever that may be! • Do be helpful…provide your expertise as you would with

friends or clients. • Do share…what valuable information you learn or find.

(Others will thank you and appreciate you!) • Do follow Twits @ your own risk! Whether you choose to

follow everyone who follows you or not, be sure they are adding positively to your conversation, otherwise they are just noise.

• Do search for and follow Twits in your local area. • Do seek out and follow real estate Twits. • Do retweet other tweets you find funny, interesting or

helpful. To retweet, copy and paste the tweet into the tweet field under “What are you doing?”, then type “RT” before it.

TWITIQUETTE, RULES OF ENGAGEMENT

Source: Twitter for real estate twits, Nicole Nicolay

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DON’T • Don’t share too much. We don’t need to know about your

bathroom trips unless something remarkable is happening in there. Or the wallpaper totally rocks!

• Don’t be a Tweeter-Repeater, someone who only Tweets during one time of the day so they bombard you with 14 tweets in a row. Spread the love…and your Tweets!

• Do not follow massive amounts of Twits at once. You’ll look like a spammer and nobody will follow you back. If you are doing a mass follow, stick to a hundred or 2 at a time. That’s a manageable amount for follow backs. The goal is to grow your network…but by actually building relationships, which require time to learn about who you’re connected to.

• Never pitch and hard sell your product, service or business! That’s SPAM!

TWITIQUETTE, RULES OF ENGAGEMENT

Source: Twitter for real estate twits, Nicole Nicolay

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• Less is More – Be Clear & Concise• Shorten URL’s - TinyURL.com• Use Acronyms - LOL, BRB, TTYL, WTF• Be Actionable – Start tweet w/ a verb • Put Away your SAT Words • Don’t Use “And” - Use “+” or “&” instead of “and”• Use Numbers Instead of Numbers - Use 12

instead of writing twelve• Never Use the Spacebar More than Once• Eliminate Personal Pronouns

WHAT CAN I FIT IN 140 CHARACTERS?

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Follow these links and click at the top of the page to follow the posts of these companies– Prudential York Simpson Underwood Realty– NCAR

• Look for local media outlets pages, REALTOR organizations or other interest groups you can join as a “fan” to get updates on their postings. This will raise your visibility in groups in the community

TWITS TO FOLLOW

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How to’s and information• Video on how to add your REALTOR.com listings to your

Facebook profile• Facebook official help guide • Mashable.com guide to Facebook and how-to’s• Social media for real estate – articles by Mathew Ferrara• Video: Social Networking in Plain English • Video: Twitter in Plain EnglishApplicationsHootsuite (manage all your social media profiles from one

dashboard for free)Tweetdeck (schedule tweets in advance)

RESOURCES

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GOOD LUCKJoin the conversation and have fun.

Lindsay Oparowskihttp://www.facebook.com/lindsay.oparowskihttp://www.twitter.com/loparowski