Lately I’ve been teaching some real estate continuing education courses on blogging and social media. It’s always interesting to me to talk to people whose experience in social media ranges from the complete novice to the grizzled veteran.
At the end of these courses, someone always asks, “What’s the point? I mean, what is the value of spending all this time on social media? Does it really help your business?”
I use social media to meet people. Meet as in real life, face-to-face meet. Not just meet across the keyboard. I don’t do it for “leads”. I do it to meet people, to grow, learn and share. And I’ll freely admit, I do it for fun. Yes, it has led to business which is a wonderful ancillary effect, but that is not my primary purpose in engaging in social media
Every Friday night, a “meetup” happens somewhere in the Phoenix East Valley. For that matter, there are meetup’s happening all across the Phoenix metro area on Friday nights (and Thursday mornings. And for lunch. And on Sundays. And….)
Last night “EVFN” (East Valley Friday Nights) took place in Scottsdale at Geisha A Go Go. Now I’m not really much of a “Scottsdale Scene” kind of guy, but like every other EVFN, this one was a great gathering of an eclectic mix of people. Heck, even Jimi Hendrix was there in spirit…
Lots of old friends stopped by and like almost every other social media gathering, lots of new friends where there to meet.
There is something decidedly odd about meeting someone face-to-face for the first time that you’ve engaged with previously on-line. There are really no “awkward pauses” there’s no “what the hell do I say to this person?” feeling. You already know at least something about them, and meeting them “IRL” (In Real Life) is almost without fail a grand experience.
Last night I met Beverly Kidd “IRL” for the first time. We’ve interacted on Twitter and Facebook. Beverly is the Phoenix Channel 3 Evening News anchor and I have to say I was momentarily star-struck when I first met her. But literally within seconds, I found out Beverly was just another one of the regular folks out to interact and meet with people. She’s just how she seems to be on Twitter – genuine, funny and just an all-around nice person. Heck, she’s even nicer in person that she is on-line, and that’s saying a lot.
This is why you participate in social media folks. Not to generate “leads”, not to convince people you’re the greatest real estate agent on the planet. Not even to meet local celebrities.
You “do” social media to meet new people, and hang out with old friends. To interact with them. To engage with them. You do it (to use an overworked cliché) to expand your horizons.
Does social media really help your business? Maybe. Probably. But there is no question it can help your life.
And isn’t that just a wee bit more important?
Want to participate in one of the myriad meetup events happening in and around Phoenix? Check these sites out:
Phoenix Friday Night – aggregator site for the East Valley, West Valley, North Valley, Downtown and Light Rail Friday Nights events.
East Valley Tuesday (or Thursday) Morning Tweetup. Mmmmm, Liberty Market breakfast…
Search Twitter for #EVFN, #PFN, #WVFN, #NVFN or #EVTM
You can also check Meetup.com, Upcoming and Yelp for other local meetups and events.
None of these float your boat? Start one!
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perfectly said Jay! I am often asked why I don't tweet or talk about real estate more often… my response is always… because real estate is not all that I am. I am also a baseball fan, gadget addict, father, wine lover, coffee drinker, much more. I tweet, post, etc on social media sites about things I am doing or thinking about in hopes that people of the same interest will share their experiences with me. In addition, I'm on these sites to expand my world… by listening to others on these sites I get to learn about charities, concepts, places, food, etc that I otherwise may have never heard of. If meeting people and expanding each others worlds leads to some business than great but if it doesn't… that's fine by me because at the end of the day we still win in life.
Great to have your informal voice here, as always. Never knew the answers to those nagging tag questions: #EVFN and IRL, ah now I know. Good writers write for the reader and by being clear and thoughtful, everyone wins.
Jay – I do SM more to learn bout my city and meet people in it. Are they potential clients? I hope so, but if not they're still great to know. Good for you to say it may not be business but it's worth it anyway. Another reason I follow you.
You nailed it. @seanroe and I have met many local celebrities and have made some really good friends because of social media. I don't know where I would be if I didn't have it a part of my life.
Real People creat relationships and real estate is all about networking. Today our view of networking has migrated to Facebook and Twitter. However, there is still somthing to be said about getting out and making friends.
I loved reading this post. Thanks so much for sharing. As someone who gets asked by agents, “what is the point” of all this over and over again, it's refreshing to hear from another real estate professional gets it. Thanks!
Thanks Jay! I appreciate the kind words. I was just excited that I got to be in the same room with you and Jimi Hendrix-two legends! Hope to see you at the next #evfn
Over the past 6 months I spent a lot of time planning #REBCOhio and talking to people about how/why Social Media works. It was obvious that many attendees came because it was within their budget (free) not because they really had faith in the whole idea. Throughout the day I could see people 'getting it' and THAT made all my efforts worth it, seeing and hearing the doubters understand that social media isn't all about cold hard numbers and facts-it's about the connections to real people. Great post Jay!
Love the t-shirt, Jay!
Internet Marketer Perry Belcher reiterates the same message regarding social media: go to the party and be yourself. Leave the “shop talk” at the office and enjoy the party, as you appear to have done
Are you saying that I can get a photo opp with a “Beverly Kidd” in my local market by following your Twitter lead?
) Heck, I'd be a Twitaholic by now….!
In all seriousness, it seems too many people (not just realtors) forget to take off their work hat when they're online (or at the parties)…my gosh, they're constantly drilling for that next commission.
(
Sometimes our potential customers are looking for real people to hire and refer us, after they get to know us as people, not just as real estate agents.
I too have many friends I've not met in person, though I look forward to the day when we can. Great friendships can and do start and grow in the virtual world.
Thanks, Jay, for keeping it “real”.
Mike
On a totally unrelated note, Jay, may I ask what widget or plugin are you using that allows a guest to sign in using Disqus, Twitter or even Facebook? Really cool. I like it! Also, I like how you've customized the THESIS theme…very well done. I've never found a more user-friendly, seo'd, and flexible theme.
Mike
All that functionality is provided by Disqus Mike. It's got Twitter, Facebook and OpenID sign in built into it.
Thanks for the compliments on the Thesis customization! It's a labor of love.
Great story! Twitter has the possibility to enhance every part of your life, if you know how to use it, and it looks like your do! I wanted to let you know about TweetLister.com, a fast-growing tool for posting, managing, scheduling and searching real estate listings on Twitter. We just announced our Version 2 release, featuring enhancements that add tremendous value and marketing power for all its users. The service remains a free, fast, simple, user-friendly way to place your real estate listings on Twitter, and enhancements transform the service into a versatile, full-featured, must-have tool for marketing any property.
The website is located at http://www.tweetlister.com.
Version 2 features are: Enhanced Listing Details, including more photos, more property features, personalized links to your website, and more; Broker/Owner Profile Information and Dedicated Listings Pages, including a page with your bio and all your listings; Associate Multiple Twitter Accounts with one TweetLister Account, so you can post properties for different regions, or different types of properties, or individual brokers to their own Twitter accounts; New Search Features, so you can now search by City or Neighborhood, State, Country, Keyword and Minimum and Maximum Price; and the ability to Add Listings in Bulk, a custom service.
I hope you will take a look at the site and consider mentioning it on your blog!
You engage to meet hot chicks and put your arm around them. Never see you taking photos with ugly chicks. Star struck to meet channel 3 news gal?
Bill – I engage to meet people. I could care less what someone looks like. Good grief, do you see what *I* look like? There are literally hundreds of photos and videos of me out there on the internet. Some with physically attractive people, some with physically unattractive people, most with physically average looking people.
I don't need to “engage to meet hot chicks and put my arm around them”, I've got a wife I adore who, for reasons that often escape me, adores me too.
“Star struck to meet channel 3 news gal?” Yeah, a little bit. If that makes me lame, oh well.
Blair -
My comment policy has a rule against advertising, which clearly your comment falls into.
I'm well aware of and have looked at TweetLister and personally, it's not for me. As I mentioned in this post, I use social media to engage with people, not to push listings. I'll use social media tools to point people to my listings, but I'm not a fan of Tweeting (or Facebooking) listings directly.
And from everything I saw and heard Danielle, you did a world class job with REBC Ohio. Congrats! (It's a lot of work isn't it? Helping organize REBCPHX gave me a whole new level of respect for event planners…)
Great article and all very true. Just to prove your point, I recently was at a GRI class with @drubloomfield and had never met her other than 'online'. I Felt like I knew Dru already, and as your article points out – I did already know her even though we had never 'met' in person. Social media is one of the few places left where the more authentic you are…the more accepted you are. It allows for more authentic views of people than most venues today. Kind of nice…I think I will stay.
Speaking of social media, I just received my copy of Realtor magazine and who was the featured article talking about? THE PREG of course! Way to go Jay, nice article and good information!
Really good Blog
I have mixed feelings about social media. I see it's value, but then again, I don't. I've read all of the articles (and have plenty of sites myself: Facebook, Twitter, etc.) Still, with the way technology changes so quickly, I wonder if this is more a fad than anything. For sure Twitter, Facebook, etc. will not be the dominant social media sites in 10 years. Things change too quickly. That I'm willing to bet.
The sites will certainly change, but “social media” isn't a fad IMHO. Human beings are social animals, have been since the Neanderthals hung out around the campfire….
Good point, Jay. But I have to wonder if there won't be an easier way to go about it. Social media is hard and often times complicated. I can't tell you the number of times I've been frustrated with Facebook. Some of these tech companies don't get it. Users want easy to use products. And that includes website.
I have mixed feelings about social media. I see it's value, but then again, I don't. I've read all of the articles (and have plenty of sites myself: Facebook, Twitter, etc.) Still, with the way technology changes so quickly, I wonder if this is more a fad than anything. For sure Twitter, Facebook, etc. will not be the dominant social media sites in 10 years. Things change too quickly. That I'm willing to bet.
The sites will certainly change, but “social media” isn't a fad IMHO. Human beings are social animals, have been since the Neanderthals hung out around the campfire….
Good point, Jay. But I have to wonder if there won't be an easier way to go about it. Social media is hard and often times complicated. I can't tell you the number of times I've been frustrated with Facebook. Some of these tech companies don't get it. Users want easy to use products. And that includes website.
Wow. Your focus is awesome and a great example for others.By writing it down you are creating a sense of accountability and structure to your goals.keep it up.keep blogging