December 23, 2009 201 Comments

If I Were a Realtor

If I were a realtor looking to use social media for my business:

I’d write a blog about the location where I was selling.

I’d take tons of pictures and post them on the blog.

I’d shoot walking tour videos all the time with a Flip camera and post them.

I’d shoot interview videos with people from my community.

I’d host meetups and tweetups for local residents, inviting people who are house hunting.

I’d find various niche communities (developers, stonemasons, parents) and start community platforms for them on Ning.

I’d empower as many local businesses onto the Net as I could, and help them get successful.

I’d encourage as many people in my community to join Twitter as possible, and I’d bundle them into a list.

I’d consider setting up hyperlocal news and events sites, or at least empower/support their construction.

I probably wouldn’t put pictures of me in a tie (or a dress) and write about the rates. I probably wouldn’t pitch you dozens of times in a row. I probably wouldn’t just rehash links to listings.

But that’s just me.

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http://brettmorrison.net Brett Morrison

Great list of tips and they could likely have a successful social media effort even if they followed just a quarter of that advice.

By the way, I almost never follow Realtors on Twitter because most of them do exactly what you mention to not do — they only tweet their own listings. Yawn.
http://PhoenixRealEstateGuy.com Jay Thompson

William – there are many Realtors that have figured out how to use the virtual world to add value and build business. I get 95% of my clients from my blog and other social media venues. Our “internet presence” was instrumental in my wife and I leaving our “traditional” broker and opening our own independent brokerage. We're up to 19 agents, not huge, but not bad for less than two years in one of the hardest hit markets in the country.

Of course, there are many more (yeah, probably most as you mention) that haven't figured it out, think it won't work, or find it takes . . . hard work.
drwright

OHHH, you just gavea KICK BUTT marketing plan!
Lucky REALTORS! They would have to pay Thousands for this consultation!

Dr. Wright
The Wright Place TV Show
http://www.wrightplacetv.com
http://www.ubertor.com/ Steve Jagger – Ubertor.com

Thanks Jamie!
Gymbeaux

Great post. Putting it in the hands of my 100+ agents.
http://twitter.com/realtyrae Tampa Real Estate

Wow Chris!

You hit the nail on the head. My friend send me an email titled, “Chris Brogan thinks you are a rock star!! ” Of course, I opened the email!

I am a Realtor in Tampa, Fl and have implemented all these techniques in my online marketing. I use Blogging, Facebook, Twitter and many other blog directories.

I can attribute 85% of my business comes from my online presence.

Little did I know that what I am already doing is exactly what I SHOULD be doing!

Thanks for all your advice and hard work:)

Rae Catanese
http://www.nationwidehomelocator.com/ casey brothers

Enjoyed the information! Thank you for sharing it.
http://www.nationwidehomelocator.com/
http://www.koreatownrealestate.blogspot.com/ Brian Rosenberg

I work in commercial real estate, which tends to be more stuffy and corporate. So it's a little harder to avoid the “bland” factor than residential agents, who can show more personality in their marketing.

I'm finding SM can be tailored for any business – just started experimenting with it and so far have received good responses from clients. Thought it would take weeks and weeks before any of them even noticed.

Now I've seen first-hand that it can work. I think the key for busy brokers is to invest in a good marketing person who can keep the content as original and fresh as possible. The biggest drawback is that I find myself either spending too much time creating content or falling back on quick posts of links to other sources. (One of my goals for 2010 is to hire someone to help me with this).

Also, I'm betting that over the long run I'll achieve a bigger pay-off by making my blog, tweets, etc. about what would interest a client… versus promoting myself. I figure if they like the content enough, then they'll want to know who the source is… and will look for my contact info way down at the bottom.

Any advice?
http://alexandrapopovic.com Alexandra Popovic

I've suggested this to a realtor client of mine a month ago and she fell in love with the idea pronto as it was just so obvious. What do people really want to know about? Not 4 walls and a view, but their community!

Happy xmas to all and have a safe holiday!

Alex
;)
http://twitter.com/Rocknrealty Nanette Labastida

rad! thanks for the shout out – my FLIP has been shipped, when it arrives i'll be a videotaping nut
http://twitter.com/mistressmia Mistress Mia

I love this … even though I am late. Selling a rural property in outback Australia is what started my journey into Social Media. I didn't even know I was doing “social media”.

A few tips in addition to Chris':
Put yourself in the visitors (potential buyers) shoes.
Take the tours (with your video camera)
Dig up history (remember the library? You can search them online)
Dig up fiction/non-fiction (search Amazon or Google Books for references to your town)

Chris … Now I have to write a full post about this … You always inspire me, but few inspire me to act outside my own agenda. It is Christmas Day and thank you. I am very grateful for the iron that sharpens iron. ;-)
jimcaroompas

Hi Chris. Love this real-world example of using social media for social purposes. Sometimes the subject can be a little esoteric, but you've nailed the subject here with this analogy. Thanks.
Only Dreaming

I was just going to say that I'd do exactly what real estate people like you do…you know people who have managed to use social media to build real estate networks in Arizona (Arizona!) after a giant bubble crash…have managed to do.
http://www.confessionsofasocialmediamamapreneur.blogspot.com/ AlexisCeule

Beautiful timing… I just had two friends ask how social media can help them. Great ideas, above and beyond what I had suggested. (hyperlocal news site! brilliant) I'm forwarding your blog to them now.
http://btrandolph.com btrandolph

wow. thanks for the confidence boost. This mirrors my recommendations to a client in a related field. as I explain in this recent post, he is still pushing an approach that is closer to his comfort zone. http://btrandolph.com/2009/12/social-marketing-…. Hopefully seeing your post will help get things back on track! I hope you and your family had a great holiday and I look forward to seeing you at some Boston events in the new year.
http://www.sacriliciousmarketing.com/ REBlogGirl

Providing a robust property search and tons of generated listing content is important. Having worked on some of the most successful real estate agent blogs out there that rank well in Google and generate tons of leads, I’ve learned it’s less about the “news” and more about the listings and the property search and that property search’s ability to generate leads. Honestly some of the most effective lead generating sites are single purpose sites that buy PPC like the tigerlead sites. At some point you have to look at the ROI on blogging and determine what your time is worth. If you deal in volume sales you can’t spend all your time online. You need to let the tools do the work for you.
http://www.sacriliciousmarketing.com/ REBlogGirl

Providing a robust property search and tons of generated listing content is important. Having worked on some of the most successful real estate agent blogs out there that rank well in Google and generate tons of leads, I’ve learned it’s less about the “news” and more about the listings and the property search and that property search’s ability to generate leads. Honestly some of the most effective lead generating sites are single purpose sites that buy PPC like the tigerlead sites. At some point you have to look at the ROI on blogging and determine what your time is worth. If you deal in volume sales you can’t spend all your time online. You need to let the tools do the work for you.
http://memphisrealestatebuzz.com joespake

Great ideas, Chris. I will be posting my first 2 “windsheild tours” of the neighborhoods I cover this weekend. My goal is to shoot hyper local video every day to work into my blog. I also use my flip to do quick walk-through tours of my listings. Bad video? probably. But people get to see what they want to see and not some glitzy “presentation”.
http://memphisrealestatebuzz.com joespake

Great ideas, Chris. I will be posting my first 2 “windsheild tours” of the neighborhoods I cover this weekend. My goal is to shoot hyper local video every day to work into my blog. I also use my flip to do quick walk-through tours of my listings. Bad video? probably. But people get to see what they want to see and not some glitzy “presentation”.
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http://www.sonjalovas.houlihanlawrence.com/ Sonja Lovas

Loved the post and everyone’s comments as well! Very inspirational, thank you very much!
http://www.sonjalovas.houlihanlawrence.com/ Sonja Lovas

Loved the post and everyone’s comments as well! Very inspirational, thank you very much!
@lizzieormiston

This guy is out in Vancouver. He drives around the city and does video blogs from his car – about properties, lifestyle, all things real estate, Vancouver. He has gone paper-free – http://bit.ly/6IIChs.
@lizzieormiston

This guy is out in Vancouver. He drives around the city and does video blogs from his car – about properties, lifestyle, all things real estate, Vancouver. He has gone paper-free – http://bit.ly/6IIChs.
http://www.biggerpockets.com Joshua Dorkin

Fantastic tips, Chris! Despite all the training from the NAR and lessons from self-anointed real estate social media gurus, most real estate professionals just don’t get it. Your points are so simple, but seem so very difficult for folks to follow. It would behoove the realtors out there to stop and listen. Kudos!
http://www.biggerpockets.com Joshua Dorkin

Fantastic tips, Chris! Despite all the training from the NAR and lessons from self-anointed real estate social media gurus, most real estate professionals just don’t get it. Your points are so simple, but seem so very difficult for folks to follow. It would behoove the realtors out there to stop and listen. Kudos!
http://www.realcentralva.com Jim Duncan

The beauty of your suggestions is two-fold – 1) There are already a bunch of Realtors around the country doing this, leading the way, if you will, from whom others can (and should) learn.2) There’s nothing complicated about doing any of the above. I’ve read (and said) that the Realtors who survive the next three years will be the ones who embrace their new roles – those of content creators and community ambassadors … in addition to our traditional roles of representing our clients as honestly, professionally and vigorously as possible.
http://www.realcentralva.com Jim Duncan

The beauty of your suggestions is two-fold – 1) There are already a bunch of Realtors around the country doing this, leading the way, if you will, from whom others can (and should) learn.2) There’s nothing complicated about doing any of the above. I’ve read (and said) that the Realtors who survive the next three years will be the ones who embrace their new roles – those of content creators and community ambassadors … in addition to our traditional roles of representing our clients as honestly, professionally and vigorously as possible.
http://www.brianjosephrussell.wordpress.com/ @BrianJRussell

Chris,
Thanks for the post & question. Our real estate team in Oklahoma City (www.youropenhouse.us) has benefited from being on the cutting edge of social media (cutting edge for OKC anyway) and we continue looking for ways to grow and evolve. I’m new to the team (having just returned to the U.S. from selling real estate in Morocco & Egypt), but Ryan Hukill, our team leader says that an estimated 85% of ’09 has come directly from FB, blog & Twitter. We strive to keep a balance of professional & personal on our blogs/micro blogs, recognizing that most people want to do business with others they feel they can relate to. Likewise, this naturally seems to help keep away those who would end up not being a great fit with our personalities & way of doing business. Some could see this as a negative (i.e. losing business), but we see it as freeing us up to be more productive…leading us to more success.
Thanks,
Brian
http://Hobcommercial.com/ Scott

SM is more than ready for Prime Time. I'm a commercial Realtor and people are always surprised to hear how well SM works for me.

The old guard constantly talks about how us “young realtors” put too much emphasis on tech. Well I have news for the old guard: Progressive technology has continually advanced real estate and there are ALWAYs objectors. MLS, email, cell phones etc.

Ii was told I was wasting time with SM. I should be using snail mail and email campaigns, national print ads, metro papers etc. 6 months into campaign I put a 2.4 mil deal together from Facebook and a 1.4 because the out of town buyer found more info on me than competitors so he thought I must be the expert.
http://greenspotantiques.com vincej

In full agreement, and I love the idea of thinking local and in FULL 360 degree view.

Think local community which RE agents ride on.
A picture is worth a thousand words, so here’s an example site now being set up for a local neighbourhood.
I’d invite you to peruse it for a few moments, it’s a powerful and simple concept which puts Chris’s idea in a box.

have a look at uptown dot ning dot com. -in development. as experiment today, soon going live.
It extends the concept to “if I were a barber, hairdresser, antiques shop, restauraunt, pizza parlor, hardware store or handyman”. I think you’ll like it.
hurry up and build one for yourselves, time’s a ticking.
cheers.
Vince.
http://www.facebook.com/serkes Ira Serkes

I completely agree!

About 15 years Ted Tagami showed me the world wide web on a browser.

I had a “blink” moment and realized “it’s all about neighborhood and community” and that’s how I put together the berkeleyhomes.com web site.

Just last night I finished my FileMaker Pro Web Site Database update – now up to 2,442 (cool, a palindrome) items of interest to integrate into my next revision – neighborhood, community, hot tips, architecture, design, adventures, restaurants, cafes, parks, events, festivals and more.

Buying or selling homes is just the natural result of finding the community you want to live in.

It still amazes me how many real estate agents think their web site is just about houses. MLS access is simply a commodity item that anyone can have – what people want to know is what makes your neighborhood (Berkeley’s Thousand Oaks Neighborhood for us) and community special.

Bookmark http://berkeleyhomes.com and check it out in a few weeks – I’ve cool things in store.

PS
Photos/Video rock – I always carry around a Panasonic Lumix camera and take dozens of photos and videos every week.
http://www.facebook.com/serkes Ira Serkes

Curious about what kind of photos to take?

Some examples

Random photos around Berkeley

http://www.flickr.com/photos/serkes

Halloween Photos – mapped to the location

http://www.flickr.com/photos/serkes/sets/72157622693128146/map/

Neighborhood Photos – mapped

http://www.flickr.com/photos/serkes/sets/72157621764125213/map/

Don’t forget to batch resize and watermark your photos

Downsize (only $19.95 from Stunt Software) does a great job of that

http://stuntsoftware.com/downsize

Ira Serkes, Berkeley CA
http://twitter.com/denalstevens Dena Stevens

This post has been tweeted or sent to me several times, suppose people are trying to tell me something?
http://twitter.com/drubloomfield Dru Bloomfield

Great timing on your post! I like to spend the last week of the year going over what’s been working and how I want to fine-tune my focus for the coming year. There’s always so much room for improvement, and I’m adding some of your ideas.I do think that many realtors (or maybe it’s only me) struggle with blog focus, as related to home sellers. Buyers are naturally attracted to posts about an area. Sellers want to know how buyers are going to be attracted to their specific home. The question I ponder is “what do potential home sellers want to read / learn about, other than what the market’s doing in their area. Suggestions?
Anonymous

Thanks Chris, you hit the nail on the head with this post. My broker, Bob Murphy, sent me this blog post and told me I should read and respond. I’m doing this actually and am looking for other Realtors and people across the country who are interested in building their brand locally. Local expert knowledge is the key and with all of the sites out there it’s getting easier. I’m a Realtor and come across people every day who ask me where to go to dinner and what’s happening in my own local community, a great lead in for me to ask them about their buying or selling needs.

My two sites are http://www.LocalShoutouts.com and http://www.LivingwiththeLocals.com, check’m out.

Thanks for bringing light to your blogging community about various ways that we as Realtors can build our personal brand.
http://twitter.com/khw77 Kimberly Wolfson

This was very helpful @chrisbrogan. I just obtained my real estate license about 6 months ago in Chicago, IL and am about to start marketing my business. Great tips that I will definitely use once I’m up and running.
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http://www.myassistantcan.com/ Renee Crabtree

Chris – while all wonderful ideas and things I’ve been suggesting to my clients, many of them are fearful of being sued for Equal Housing violations. They say things like if they were to do a video of a neighborhood and there’s a store nearby with a spanish language sign then it would be ‘saying’ this is a Hispanic neighborhood. That would be a violation of what they are allowed to say. I’m going to put together videos on my own and put them up for purchase by my clients. I want to jump start them on social media. Some other things I’m doing – neighborhood Facebook fan pages where agents who are farming a neighborhood can set up a fan page and add listings/sales, have a community forum for classifieds and events.
Anonymous

Thanks for the post and some great insights. We’re located in Israel http://www.villageisrael.com and our customers are mostly 6,000 miles away or more. Since we’re offering “second homes” it’s crucial to create an emotional connection. SM and blogging are crucial to our business model. I create 2 or 3 video blogs a week. I use royalty free music in the background and it adds a lot. FB allows me to connect personally. Just today we made a contact for a short-term vacation rental via a FB chat.
Anonymous

I am so glad to see these ideas getting into the mainstream awareness. I have added this to my biz over the last year and as a result have developed a second division of my Real Estate practice that helps me feel more connected with my community, friends and clients… What better way?
http://www.emergentbydesign.com/ Venessa Miemis

Hey Chris,

Thanks again for promoting my videos on Nokia’s Ideas Project (http://www.ideasproject.com/idea_person.webui?id=4667). I actually got my real estate license a few years ago and have been ruminating about how to shake up the industry. Just posted my 2010 strategy tonight…. hope your readers pick up the meme! It’s geared towards real estate, but I think applicable for any business…..

Developing a 2010 Social Media Strategy: http://bit.ly/6O55IW
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Anonymous

It’s kind of amazing that most Realtors accept the idea that the three most important things in real estate are location, location, location and then totally ignore it in their marketing of homes. I have a post on my blog for agents about an experiment that you can do by going to realtor.com and doing a search in a market you aren’t familiar with. I usually do it in the high end segment since that’s where you would assume the agents with the most marketing savvy would be. The feeling you almost always get is…well, lost. Many buyers are moving into a new area and have no feel for the community.In my hometown, Durham, there are three major upscale country club communities and each as a very different feel. It’s a not seeing the forest for the trees thing. Just describing the features of the home does not provide the context that good information about the community will do. A blog is a terrific vehicle for providing that context, but better copy writing would help too.
Jay Zenner – 4PsRE.com
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Lee Kent

As always Chris, you are bang on and I say this from experience. I am working with a realtor right now in establishing a social media presence and we are doing just the things you mentioned. I would NEVER claim to have thought of something before Chris Brogan but I am simply delighted to know that we think the same way. With my client we are also focusing on drive by meetups at the house in question and various other fun things!
Lee Kent

As always Chris, you are bang on and I say this from experience. I am working with a realtor right now in establishing a social media presence and we are doing just the things you mentioned. I would NEVER claim to have thought of something before Chris Brogan but I am simply delighted to know that we think the same way. With my client we are also focusing on drive by meetups at the house in question and various other fun things!
Chris Sinclair

Dead on. I’d also have a “how to” section on my blog-how to prep your home for sale, how to fix things yourself around your home, etc.

I’d tweet about school events and policies, awards, etc

I would tweet about trends in financing/loans/credit

I’d have a section on my site devoted to clients who used my service; have them record a YouTube or Vimeo and post them on my blog

I’d host a contest on Facebook and ask my fans to ID the “listing of the week” (location) and then would offer up a gift certificate to some lawn service or landscaping company or a Gift Card to popular restaurant. I’d get the restaurant to provide free of charge as part of promotion.

My 2 cents…
Chris Sinclair

Dead on. I’d also have a “how to” section on my blog-how to prep your home for sale, how to fix things yourself around your home, etc.

I’d tweet about school events and policies, awards, etc

I would tweet about trends in financing/loans/credit

I’d have a section on my site devoted to clients who used my service; have them record a YouTube or Vimeo and post them on my blog

I’d host a contest on Facebook and ask my fans to ID the “listing of the week” (location) and then would offer up a gift certificate to some lawn service or landscaping company or a Gift Card to popular restaurant. I’d get the restaurant to provide free of charge as part of promotion.

My 2 cents…
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If I Were a Realtor

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