Arguably, if an agent is prone to running down the aisle pushing listings, my take is, go ahead and do it on Facebook too. Why not? If someone uses Facebook to network with friends, they can decide where and when it’s appropriate to bombard them with real estate info. In my case, I bombard my friends with my interests, hobbies, etc. It’s ok IMO. In these cases, the tribe will decide and steer the squaw. If said agent is overdoing it with he real estate – people will either say something or unfollow.

Listen, I think we are both on the same page when it comes to the fact that there are too many agents using social media to broadcast some of the most ridiculous things imaginable as it relates to professional adults. But I do believe in the right context, as it relates to how the market is doing and the general interest people have in real estate, a savvy posting strategy on Facebook regarding real estate can work wonders as it is for several agents already.

As I tell people who want to use Facebook or other modes of social media as ONE of their marketing tools…One would not run down the isle of their church screaming “I have a great three bedroom home for a great price…hurry it won’t last long!” Nor should they do the same with their Social Media outlets.

Thanks again for sharing.

Thanks for sharing, I really love your post.

I also have a Love/Hate relationship with Internet. The beauty of Internet is that it allows you to be active in the search of Information. The awful part is the distractors, to many distractors.

I always try to be positive and avoid distractors online. Everyday I disconnect especially on weekends. You could say I “disappear ” on the online world and concentrate and Focus on the Real World. I even turn off my cell phone.

Great Post

The most productive agents I know are likely doing their social networking in real life.

I’m playing with blogging, twittering, facebooking and foursquaring – but mostly because I see them a bit like the 2010 equivalent of Abraham Lincoln’s 1862 homestead act. Don’t have the 160 acres, but sometimes feel like a mule (or more accurately, an ass for spending so much of my limited resources on them)

I’m wondering if all this connecting with people and quest for transparency isn’t simply breeding a new generation of narcissists.

You know I’m also from NYC – I strive for WYSIWYG-ness and the last thing I want to be is transparent – at least, how I perceive it.

And growing up in NYC during the Mc Carthy Era, whenever I post, I always assume it will end up on my permanent record. I wonder how any people will look back in the future and regret having been so open with what they did and with whom.

Whenever I travel, I usually go “dark” – Yes, I miss out on some opportunities to get together with some folks, but no need to let the world know where I’m not.

Love your posts!

Ira, who you can take out of The Bronx, but not take The Bronx out of

@Tucker. I think we are all part of an burgeoning group of people coming down from the effects of the social media hallucinogen.

Like you, I’m fond of SM. And transparency. And sharing and connecting with friends. I really am. What has disrupted my experience is how “friends” have chosen to use this otherwise wonderful platform we all know and love as social networking.

Trust me, the urge to resist “noise” has been hard. I’ve released my share of it over the years. But I guess I’m wired to constantly monitor results and reevaluate strategy so over time, there has been less and less of it.

I’ve also stated this many times, I have come to a place where I view social media as media – a vehicle to broadcast “something” to the social network. As such, I play close attention to what that “something” is and am uniquely positioned to do that as someone schooled in marketing and broadcasting. This is where SM speakers, teachers, evangelists go off track. They are not wired to understand media, how it works and who to affect it with clear brand messaging. Instead, they are capitalizing more on being part of the phenomenon rather than being part of it’s constant evolution.

@Michael. Signal to noise. Like advertising, social media, in its current “public” construct is a form of personal advertising. In that regard, I have come to believe that there should not be any noise at all. Others might disagree but that’s more about their right to defend their noise due to not having any signal at all. (That’s bound to stir up some controversy). Noise belongs in a private space. Instant messaging. Texting. Where it’s one on one.

We’ve been seduced into believing that sharing our noise publicly is a fast track to friendship. I’m a hold out. I don’t buy it. I know the RE.Net is in complete disagreement over this citing the friendships made there from their cacophony. I can’t dispute that. I do however, wonder how much more influential this group would be collectively if they reduced the static with some real content.

Over time, I sense a mass migration away from noise when it becomes clear that the payoff for all the time spent is minimal and a turn toward better, more valuable, useful content. Perhaps this is already beginning.

Mutual respect yo!
To everyone.

I rarely comment on the comments on other people’s blogs, but I simply had to tell you that I totally agree with what you wrote.

In fact, I have to say…I really…”liked” it. (Sorry…

Having an “intentional” mindset is crucial to success in Social Media, I believe.

As already stated in an earlier comment on this post, for me it all comes down to “signal-to-noise ratio.”

And the author of this blog post – Marc Davison – has *about* the highest signal-to-noise ration of anyone I actively follow in Social Media. He’s ALL signal.

In fact, he’s one of the few people from whom I would actually LIKE a little more noise from time to time… (You’re the best, Marc!)

Best,
Michael

I really like social media. I have been connecting with many great people lately and I also have been experiencing a lot of noise. I see things like “Jane Doe likes this and 20 others” and it frustrates me. Now, just like the masses of advertising I don’t trust, I also don’t trust the slew of “likes” everyone has and I tune them out. The “likes” almost seems worse than advertising because atleast there is a reason for all the advertising being there. It has made me think about what I “like” a whole lot more. I don’t want to stop liking things, I just want to be more intentional with what and who I like. Have purpose and depth behind it. Have intentionality with it.

I feel like the opportunity in the online world and social media will end up not be for those who are everywhere online, but those who are online with intentionality. Because real and deep (on and offline) relationships happen many times when I am intentional with people and go out of my way to be of better value to them. When I am intentional with what I say, when I am intentional with how I engage. I have also hurt real relationships(thislast week I had an awesome example of my own non-intentionality blunder) by not being intentional with what I say, even with the right motives, by sending out a bunch of noise.

It made me also think about your blog and why I follow it. You are an example to me of someone not only with a gift of writing, but way more importantly, someone with a “go out of my way to be of value to people” type of person. You are intentional with what you write about and it is inspiring and of great value… and for that I wanted to say thank you. I’m inspired to go write a blog now.

Of course a solid online presence will create positive impact for most anyone. But if you’re choosing the social web as a primary method of lead generation (as a new agent) then maybe you should be realistic about how many deals you will close in today’s market. Not that 200 is impossible … with the right attitude, approach and strategy I think it is. But you must be clear on the approach and strategy.

I think the problem with the industry today is that we’ve allowed the technology (and all the talk about it) to interfere with the fundamentals of business strategy. And too many agents are distracted and allow too many things to influence and inform their daily activities. Their business strategy is fragmented as a result. They may have one or two short sales, one or two REO listings from a local asset managers and spend 2 hours a day tweeting and facebooking other professionals in the industry. It’s ad hoc and it won’t work.

I got a lot from Seth Godin’s recent blog post on choosing a “media channel”:

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2010/05/do-you-have-a-media-channel-strategy-you-should.html

“Harder to grapple with is the idea that the media channel we choose changes who we are and what we do. But this channel, this place where we can spread our message, determines what we do all day, impacts the pace of the work we do, informs all of our decisions.”

Choosing the right media channel / lead generation model will impact the growth of your practice — I believe anyone can create 200 deals through the use of new media and a strong web presence … but that could mean staying home and connecting with buyers and sellers who you can help rather than networking with agents at a conference.

But honestly, what does it matter if they are doing REOs or not? Sales is sales. Marketing is marketing. If you are in business to make money rather than fans, these are the numbers that are mist important. Having both is, of course, best of all.