As a Realtor you are already busy with open houses, taking photos of properties, paperwork, keeping in touch with potential and previous buyers and sellers along with so much more that takes up your time each and every day.

So when someone suggests you sign up for Active Rain, Broker Agent Social, Twitter, Face Book and any number of other social websites, my guess is that your head spins a little, you wish there was enough time in the day and that you had an additional hand or two to help you get through the myriad of tasks you already have before you and this thing called Social Media Marketing.

The following is an ORDERED list of places I’d suggest you get your feet wet with the best chances of converting your time into leads.  Starting slowly with Social Media is the way to go because you don’t want to jump into the deep end, discover you really can’t keep up with the needs of your Social Media Marketing efforts and ultimately abandon your efforts.

#1. Trulia - Since you've already told a seller you are working with that you promote their property online, creating a Trulia profile and going pro so that your listings on Trulia are branded is only common sense.  Post your properties manually to Trulia if your MLS or website provider such as Advanced Access doesn't already do that step for you.  

Every time you add a property to Trulia get into the habbit of answering one or two questions found on Trulia Voices which is where consumers and agents alike ask questions specific to the market, property selling and so on.  Your expertise and ability to assist others for very little of your time may end up paying off with a referral or direct lead from Trulia.

#2. Active Rain - The next time you have an interested buyer ask, "Where's the best Italian dinning in... ?" give them your favorites and then the next time you are online hit up Active Rain and write up a short and quick review of one or more places that you personally call your favorite.  Provide phone number(s), address info, web address info if any and your review.

The post itself is local in nature and non commercialized and therefore can be added to Localism.com directly through Active Rain.  Consumers use Localism.com for local information all the time and they will see your name and link back to your Active Rain professional profile.

You can follow up with your interested buyer via e-mail with a link to your review as well which they will be appreciative of and gives you just one more way to contact them reminding them that you exist and are interested in their needs.

#3. Zillow - Zillow has a Q & A section where, like in Trulia Voices, you can ask and answer questions.  Zillow also has a section where you can add each and every listing you manage but like Trulia, you'll want to make sure your MLS or website provider doesn't already do this for you.  Take advantage of promoting your properties and answering a question or two with every single addition, modification or removal of a property from Zillow.

#4. LinkedIn - The number one thing a buyer doing research online is looking for is properties.  They don't much care right away about who you are or the area should they be relocating.  Most buyers simply want to see what is available in an area they may be relocating to.  Since browsing properties online is a relatively easy ice breaker into the whole research phase this is your top priority with your website and almost all of your online marketing efforts.

There is however a time and place where a buyer has identified a specific group of properties they are interested in and has already researched the area the homes are in.  The next thing they will want to know, "Which Realtor will help me out the best with my needs?"  This is where your website's About page comes into play but I'll encourage you to go one step further and create a LinkedIn profile with your resume and then get people you know already on LinkedIn to write up recommendations. This particular website is where you can promote yourself and get away with blatant announcements of your experience and education so take advantage of it.

#5. Twitter - Once you've gotten into the habit of promoting your properties on Trulia & Zillow, creating local reviews based off of every day questions your clients have using Active Rain and have created yourself a professional profile on LinkedIn the next thing you might want to test the waters on is Twitter.

Twitter is going to take the most of your time as it is very much like a chat system where you can communicate with other pro's and even potential buyers and sellers with 140 character short statements either publicly or private.

The reason I suggest you use Twitter is because it is a great way to promote open houses, area reviews and even announce that you've answered a question on Zillow or Trulia that others might be interested in seeing.  Then there are websites like TweetGrid.com that let you see who is on Twitter that mentions your city, real estate and so on.  TweetGrid.com is a great tool to use with Trulia to find and communicate with the locals in your area and ultimately / hopefully pick up a lead or two.

In Trulia when you post a property, link to your slideshow or a page on your website that references that property.  When you answer a question in Trulia Voices, if relevant include a link to a complimenting page on your website that might further address a question you answer or simply include a link to your home page in the web reference field provided.  You can do this in Zillow as well when posting a property or answering questions in the Zillow Advice section.

In Active Rain make sure your profile has a link to your website.  Within the blog section of your Active Rain, make sure your blogroll has a link to your home page, property search page, Linked In Profile, Twitter Profile and the others as well.

And finally, in LinkedIn and Twitter you can add a link to your website within your profile. These links will help people easily find your website, properties, contact information and much more.

One last suggestion would be to consider ending any blog post or e-mail in the way that I end mine in this post below...

Sincerely,

John F. Jones III

Find me on:  Twitter | LinkedIn | Trulia | Active Rain

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