The Inman Agent Reboot in January allowed me the opportunity to finally see Katie Lance (@katielance), CEO & Owner of Katie Lance Consulting, in person! I had read Katie’s blogs and followed her on twitter so I was excited to hear her speak about relationship building on social media.
I use social media myself for marketing my own personal brand. To remind people I am in the business of selling homes and would love to help them. It’s not about my listings or the number of homes I sell, it is about valuable information for buyers and sellers that can help me engage with real estate related discussion. But Katie’s session about building relationship helped me see how to take social media to the next level.
As Katie said “most real estate professionals haphazardly use social media to build relationships. They log onto Facebook and Twitter, check their feeds, comment on something interesting and then go off to do their job. Zero in on the most important people in your sphere you want to build a relationship with.”
Social media has changed our way of communication. Letter writing has gone by the way side (though everyone still loves receiving a hand written note), and social media has allowed us to remain in contact with those people who are on the “fringe” of our daily lives. Business, leads and revenue are being generated through social media from the “fringe” network. Those you wouldn’t have always been in touch with and not necessarily your best friend.
With social medial, the little things make a difference. These were Katie’s recommendations to help build your social media relationship:
- No tweet left behind – say thank you or respond to those who tweet you
- Every notification – Katie says “I cannot go to bed at night until all the notifications are responded to.” That might mean just mean clicking the like button or a brief comment or response, but it makes a huge difference in building relationships.
- Every comment gets acknowledged – If someone comments on your post or photos, like their comment, or thank them or engage in a conversation on your post.
- Every private message – make sure you respond!
Beyond the status update are you connecting at the next level, connecting intentionally or haphazardly? Start using facebook intentionally. Creating facebook lists is one of the best ways to connect with clients and potential clients. Create a list of your clients that you are currently working with. Then create a list of your potential clients. Once a day, every day engage with those specific people. Like their personal photos, comment and engage authentically.
Lastly, taking the online contacts offline is a great opportunity to send those personal notes and build stronger relationships that started online. Take those relationships to the next level.
Written by Amie Ferris, YPN member and guest blogger
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