Facebook and Real Estate Agent Marketing

I’m reading a couple of articles today, one from a consultant to the real estate industry and another from an industry reporter about real estate agents using Facebook to gain more business. The typical stuff, what to do and what not to do. Why Facebook makes sense, the etiquette involved, being professional, expanding your sphere on influence, etc.

As I’m going down through the list of what to do and what not to do and comparing the articles, I’m struck with a polar opposite. One says don’t advertise, because Facebook is a social site, and ‘members can smell a sales pitch’. The other says buy advertising and pick your demographics and monitor your statistics.

So what does an agent do?

Well the simple answer is to advertise that you’re not advertising on Facebook. After all one expert says advertise, and the other expert says don’t. That way you’re taking the advise of both and covering your basis. Course I’m being flippant and that’s the point.

From a purely business standpoint, joining Facebook is a really smart long term strategy. From a personal standpoint it is a really great opportunity to connect with long lost friends and stay current with closer friends and acquaintances. After all not everyone is a professional salesman that has a thousand and one things to do. Some people are spending a lot of their free time connecting with others they know. Who knows how long Facebook will be ‘THE’ place to gather for social interaction? All I know is right now it is ‘THE’ place to connect with other like minded people and a place to discover people that have similar interests and hobbies.

So what about advertising on Facebook?

It’s easy to answer that one. You advertise. But not quite in the way I think either one elicited in their articles.

So if you wanted to buy advertising space what would you do? Create an ad that says “REALTOR® for hire” Call 999-999-9999. Probably not. I think that would probably be a waste of money. However, you could create an ad right now that says something like “The Facts on the $8000 Tax Credit.” (Granted that’s probably not the best headline in the world, but you should get the point.) That would be unobtrusive, would be glossed over by everyone that isn’t in the market or could care less, but just may catch the attention of someone who is curious about the tax credit money. The ad should take them to your website where you capture their name, email address, mailing address, and yes, even ask for their phone number, and then you’re autoresponder can automatically send them the report. It’s creative, it’s unobtrusive, it’s extends your brand and value and it creates another connection for you.

Other ways to advertise without advertising is to post industry figures, information about a neighborhood happening, you’re take on a new restaurant, etc. What you’re trying to do is show that you understand the neighborhoods in which you do business and you are the expert in your area when it comes to real estate. Not the blatant advertising that one author is referring to which would go something like this. “Now is a good time to buy a home, give me a call.” Yea, that’s pretty weak, and it does simply smell.

Oh, and yes, I would most definitely do one other thing. When you list a new home, I would put that information out there. That’s not blatant in your face, I want your business advertising. That’s just smart business.

Getting a Google Profile is Good for Business

By far the most important words in any language is the sweet sound of your own name. If you are trying to establish yourself and create a presence on the Internet, google recently unveiled google profiles. If you just met someone at a networking event, at church, on the tennis court… or if I was in the market for a job, or was referred by someone, chances are good that you’re being ‘googled.’

With sites like Linked In, MySpace, Facebook and other social media sites, this one could prove to be a winner in helping you raise your ranking a little in the search engines. And it also makes it easier for you to be found.

The How To:

If you don’t have already have a google ‘gmail’ account, then you’ll need to get one. Goto mail.google.com and sign up for a free account. Currently gmail accounts offers 7gb of free storage space so you have ample space to store lots of email. Simply provide google with the information it requires, providing a valid email address and you should be setup within a matter of minutes.

Once you’ve created your gmail account, then goto http://profiles.google.com and follow the instructions. The more information you provide the better the chances you’ll show up at the bottom of page one when someone types in your name. Be sure to verify your email account, once you’ve entered in your information into your profile.

To see my profile Click Here

Hack Proofing WordPress – Step 1

One of the things that has kept me from starting a blog has been the fact that I’m very much a computer geek and therefore… I like to know what I’m doing before I jump in. Seems kind of counter-productive because as a programmer I spend hours and hours whittling away at code and sometimes, I have no clue as to what I’m doing

So invariably along with figuring out how to backup in case of disaster, getting hacked is a major issue for me. If you had a look at my server logs on several of my dedicated servers managing websites for hundreds of clients, you would see that literally every minute of every day, there is someone trying to get inside my systems. And if you’re on a shared hosting account, you are oblivious to this fact. So doing whatever you can to keep hackers at bay is well worth the time invested in securing up the fortress.

Step number one, should be when you create your wordpress blog, by default WordPress wants to name your tables with a wp_ in front of your name (something like wp_rickthomas), don’t do it. Change the wp_ to something dumb and make a note of it… like pp_ or qr_ or something that can’t easily be guessed based on the name of your site.

That’s step one. I’ll post more under hacking  and blogs as I have time and determine the best practices.

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