Making Social Networking Work for You

Social media can be a tool for increasing your market presence and branding yourself as the local agent of choice, according to Deborah Valledor the COO of the nation’s largest REALTOR® association, The Miami Association of Realtors, and our July webinar presenter.  Here are just five key points from Deborah’s presentation:

1.  Before you start your social networking here are some key decisions to make.

•   What audience do you want to reach (Buyers?  Sellers?  A special niche?  Other agents?) 
•   What result do you want to accomplish?
•   What persona do you want to create?

If you don’t have clear answers to these questions, you won’t have a clear social networking strategy.  You may still have fun with your social networking, but you are unlikely to get good business results.

2.  Once you’ve made these decisions, you are on your way to creating your image or brand.           

• Use your photo, logo, and content of your message to create the image or persona you want.
• Be consistent across all media--print, online, social media.  This will reinforce the positioning you are trying to establish.

3.  Create value for the reader/viewer

• Think “content rich”
• Ask yourself is your information valuable, relevant, correct, and would you be interested in the information?
• Do give, give, give.   Don’t sell, sell, sell.

4.  Work to create a following

•  Communicate in a “voice” that sounds like you are talking to someone you know
•  Try to create discussion and keep it positive
•  Acknowledge anyone who responds
•  Don’t ignore negative comments.  Be polite, positive, and try to turn negatives around
•  Be authentic and trustworthy

5.  Use your blog as a "hub" for your online information and identity

• Use other social media to drive traffic to your blog
• Put all the info on your blog
• Let your audience “pull” the information

Hear more from Deborah at our Leaders In Luxury event scheduled for October 20-22, in Austin (TX).