This document provides a primer on social media for real estate agents. It discusses key social media statistics, defines important concepts like personal branding and return on investment. It also reviews popular social media tools like blogs, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube. The document encourages agents to carefully consider their audience and commitment level before engaging on social media and provides steps for getting started, including dedicating half an hour a day to different tools over time.

1. A Social Media Primer
Kingston and Area Real Estate Association
Richard Silver, Salesperson
Blogger, Twitterer, and Social Media Junkie!

2. My 10,000 foot View
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3. Table of Contents
Page
Social Media Statistics............................................................................. 4
Social Media Primer................................................................................ 5
Who is Gary Vaynerchuk? ................................................................... 5
What is “really” new about Social Media? ........................................... 5
What is your “Brand?” ......................................................................... 6
Who is your Consumer? ....................................................................... 6
What is the ROI? ................................................................................. 7
Are you attuned to all your consumers? ............................................... 7
How do you presently engage your clients?.......................................... 7
Are you aware of what the consumer is saying about you? ................... 8
Why should you commit to Social Media and Blogging? ..................... 8
Are you really ready to be transparent? How important is it? ............... 8
Are you prepared? Are you ready to reinvent yourself? ........................ 9
Are you committed?............................................................................. 9
A discussion of the tools begins with the basics ................................... 9
What is Search Engine Optimization? .................................................. 10
Tools: Do you read RSS feeds? ............................................................ 10
Blogs: What is a REALTOR® Blog? FAQs ......................................... 10
Moving ahead with Blogging ............................................................... 11
Tools of Social Media .......................................................................... 11
Learn and Share ................................................................................... 12
My Social Media World ....................................................................... 12
Steps for Moving Forward ................................................................... 13
Addendum ............................................................................................... 14
Biography ................................................................................................ 15
Notes ........................................................................................................ 16
Last printed September 7th, 2010
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4. Notes
Social Media Statistics
“Facebook has 37.7 million users between 35 and 64 years old”
“50% of Internet users in the US regularly read blogs.”
“In July of 2009, Twitter had over 23 million unique visitors.”
“In August of 2009, LinkedIn reached 45 million registered users.”
“LinkedIn averages 16 million monthly unique visitors.”
“72% of employers plan to invest more in recruiting through social
networks.”
“YouTube is the #1 video site on the web, with 300 million visitors
each month.”
“47% of YouTube’s users have annual incomes of over $75,000. ”
“50.2 million YouTube users are over the age of 35.”
“If YouTube were a country, it would be the third most-populated in
the world .”
“In 2008, 32% of REALTORS® used social media sites. In 2009, the
number rose to 84%.”
“25% of REALTORS® post to their own blog for business
purposes.”
“By 2010 Gen Y will outnumber Baby Boomers, 96% of them have
joined a social network.”
“1 out of 8 couples married in the U.S. in 2008 met via social media.”
“The fastest growing demographic on Facebook is 55-65 year-old
females.”
“In 2006, Internet buyers spent 2.2 weeks looking for the home they
ultimately purchased and compared with 7.1 weeks for traditional
buyers.”
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5. Notes
“There are over 3 million tweets posted to Twitter every day”
“The median age of a Twitter user is 31.”
“50% of REALTORS® communicate with their clients by e-mail
more than 50% of the time.” (2007)
“Internet Buyers preview an average of 6.65 homes before buying,
while the traditional buyer previews 21.7.”
Statistics Courtesy of Doug Devitre at
http://dougdevitredelivers.com/
Social Media Primer
As Social Media* becomes more popular, many REALTORS® are
jumping on the bandwagon, writing Blogs, Twittering and appearing
on LinkedIn and Facebook. This class will ask some basic questions
that need to be addressed before heading down this road on the
Information Highway; then the class will move down the road and
discuss the most popular options.
Who is Gary Vaynerchuk (Gary Vee) and why is he important to
the discussion?
Gary has leveraged his family wine business through Social Media
and now his online brand WineLibrary.tv is more valuable than the
business (wine distribution and sales) that he started the online
program to promote. Get off the “Bus Benches” and establish your
Internet Brand.
What is “really” NEW about Social Media?
Social Media* or Web 2.0 has created platforms for engagement
between the “poster” and the “reader” that allows and encourages
commentary and involvement of both parties. Early Internet was
restricted to getting the message out; Web 2.0 allows for two-way
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6. Notes
communication and encourages it in many platforms and media. If
this is Web 2.0, what was 1.0?
What is Web 2.0? What is Social Media? Is there a hard, firm
Demographic involved and if so what is it?
What is really new? NOTHING... They are tools for networking and
REALTORS® have been networking for years...
What is your BRAND?
Each and every one of us has a “Brand” but can you verbalize what it
is and can you make it grow your business.
 Have you established your BRAND? What is it and what sets
you apart?
 What differentiates you? Location, Demographic, Personality,
Buyer Representation, Seller Representation...
 Is your offline persona related to your online persona?
 If you “suck” at networking offline, can you be successful
online?
 Make sure that you know your BRAND, live your BRAND
and are true to your BRAND…offline and online.
 Your AVATAR, not the movie...
Who is your Consumer?
Do you have a vision of who your audience is and who you would be
your goal audience? Creating that vision will help you develop your
Social Media voice.
 Age
 Demographic
 Location
 Language
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7. Notes
 Work Related
What is the ROI? Can you really monitor it?
What is the Return on Investment on your present Branding program?
Are you attuned to all your consumers? How can you connect
with consumers? Phone, Cards, Print Advertising, Snail-mail,
Emails, Gifts...
 Connecting with consumers as they wish to be connected
with....Facebook, texting, emailing, Blogging, Traditional
Media vs. RSS Feeds. Are you connecting with the consumer
in the ways they want to be? Have you asked them? Are you
offering options or just assuming? No need to Blog if they are
not on the Internet but ...are you sure?
How do you presently engage your clients?
Some clients like a phone call, some an email, some a letter…you
will not know till you ask them.
 Have you asked them how they connect or want to be
connected with?
 Do you provide options? Your email signatures and your
Business Cards...
 Could you add to your bottom line by emailing rather than
snail mailing?
 Try uploading your database to Facebook and LinkedIn and
see who is already on or add Xobni.com to your Microsoft
Outlook. Follow the instructions on Facebook or LinkedIn
about uploading your existing database.
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8. Notes
Are you aware of what the Consumer is saying about you? Get
Ready to be Rated.
Step Reps, Google Alerts and Yelp.ca will be discussed. Houston
Area REALTORS® and their ratings program...
Why should you commit to Social Media and Blogging?
There is no doubt that involving yourself in something new has a
learning curve till you develop knowledge and confidence. The
bottom line is that the costs involved are more time related than
financial.
 Is there a ROI (Return on Investment)?
 How can I judge it? Google Analytics... Visits vs. Bounce
Rate
 The long tail…Traditional Marketing vs. Online Marketing
The tail becomes bigger
and longer in new markets
(depicted in red). In other
words, whereas traditional
retailers have focused on
the area to the left of the
chart, online bookstores
derive more sales from
the area to the right.
(Courtesy of Wikipedia) Traditional: Blue, Online: Red
Are you really ready to be transparent? How important is it?
Transparency> Reputation Management> Client Satisfaction>
Recommendations> Referral Opportunities (Clients and Other
REALTORS®)
Being yourself and realizing that anything you put on the Internet is
open for discussion. How will you handle commentary? Are you
ready for the “rate your agent” movement?
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9. Notes
Social Media etiquette, Permission, To Post or Not to Post...
Be Ubiquitous!
Are you prepared? Are you ready to reinvent yourself using
Social Media?
Almost all the Social Media sites have facilitated the uploading of
your databases but are your databases up-to-date?
If you use snail mail have you asked for permission to email your
clients? Know that each of the Social Media is permission based: you
can only connect with those who want to connect with you and vice
versa.
 Customer Relationship Management: Converting your client
databases and new additions to online contacts.
 How many of your clients are on Facebook, Twitter or
LinkedIn... how to find out by uploading your client list to all
three. What is Xobni.com?
 Permission Management: Do Not Call / Contact, Privacy,
Competition, RECO Advertising Guidelines
Are you committed? Time is the Biggest Commitment.
Do you consider yourself to old to change? Are you too old to make
money? Do you think that Social Media cannot be a part of your life
and business? Financially…Mentally…Time
A Discussion of the Tools Begins with the Basics: YOUR WEB
SITE: FIRST AND FOREMOST!
Do you have a Web Site and have you made it the go-to site for your
Real Estate consumer?
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10. Notes
What is Search Engine Optimization?
How do you get on the front page when customers search for “your
Area” Real Estate? Organic or Paid? Google Adwords, Facebook Ads
Tools: Do you read RSS Feeds: Really Simple Syndication?
RSS uses XML technology to note changes in a web site and to
forward new content to Subscribers. The big word in the next few
years in Real Estate is SYNDICATION: listings and content. Being
ubiquitous!! Can your clients get information from you via RSS
Feeds? Are you the GO-TO person in their Real Estate life?
Blogs: What is a REALTOR® Blog? Frequently Asked
Questions
Not a day goes by that I am not asked one or more of the questions
below…if I wrote a Blog to answer each of those questions…I would
have a Blog about Blogging…my REALTOR® Blog answers all the
questions that my Real Estate clients ask me…
 When do you have time? Answer: I don’t have time to
Blog…but I do have time to answer the same question to
clients every day...“When is the best time to sell?”
 Do you write it yourself? Yes…Your Blogs work best when
some of your personality is added…
 How long should a Blog be? About 500 words is good
however…just be succinct
 How do I get started? Read a lot of Blogs then try Active
Rain, however, Wordpress.com is the most popular format.
 What do I write about? Listen to what your clients are asking
about and talking about.
 How often do you post a Blog? Minimum of three times a
week is my goal…
 Photos? Video? Audio? Be Ubiquitous(Everywhere)
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11. Notes
Moving Ahead with Blogging
 How to start? To Blog or to Vlog (Video Log)?
 Spend ½ hour a day on one tool for one month, then move to
the next tool.
 What platforms to use? Blogger.com, WordPress.com,
ActiveRain.com
 Comments: Good, bad and how do you deal with
“Comments”? To Moderate or not to moderate?
 Photos and Video: istock.com, RealEstateShows.com,
youtube.com
 Search Engine Optimization. How to make sure that you get
eyes...and conversions.
 “Tips and Tricks” of Blogging as well as options. To hire a
professional or not: The Real Estate Tomato
 Syndicating your blogs for visibility. www.ActiveRain.com:
Real Estate Networks
 How do I begin Blogging? Read, Write, Answer Questions,
Listen for Blogs, Plagiarism
The Tools of Social Media
 Linkedin.com: Business Suit...
More for business. Tripit.com, Uploading Blogs, Discussions,
Recommendations, Groups, SlideShare.net
 Facebook.com: Casual Clothes...
More for your “TRIBE” (Seth Godin)
www.Facebook.com/marketplace or Elistit.com Add your
listings. Question: How do I position myself? A REALTOR®
who is a Facebook FRIEND or a Facebook FRIEND who is a
REALTOR®...
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12. Notes
 Twitter.com: The Cocktail Party...
Apps galore: www.Tweetdeck.com, www.Twitterlocal.com,
is Twitter THE one? Life in a Twitter-able world. Can you
explain enough in 140 Characters?
 YouTube.com: video platform and YouTube Channels
Now the 2nd biggest Search engine
 Flickr.com: Uploading photos to engage
consumers...Consumers are VISUAL.
 Ping.fm: “syndication” of updates
 MySpace.com: very little business application
Learn and Share
 Inman News
 Real Estate Connect, San Francisco (August) and New York
(January)
 NAR Convention, National Association of REALTORS®
 REBarCamp.com: ad hoc meetings to share information
 Meetups
 ReBarCampTo.com May 7th, 2010
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13. Notes
My Social Media World
Think of your Blog as the home base of your Social Media World and
LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter to syndicate your Blog and promote
your presence and your Brand.
Notes
Steps for Moving Forward:
Don’t get overwhelmed. Start with a half-hour time commitment
every day on Facebook then add LinkedIn, Twitter complete your
profile, and add to your network daily before moving on to the next
tool.
Offline networking is not much different than online: it takes time
and patience. Find out what works best for you and be open to the
new technologies that will appear over upcoming years.
Read lots of Blogs, join ActiveRain.com, subscribe to RSS Feeds
from Seth Godin, Gary Vaynerchuk, add comments to Blogs and
become part of the conversation and connect with online colleagues.
Go to REBarCamps, Meetups, Inman Connect, NAR, etc.
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14. Notes
Addendum:
Stefan Swanepoel’s 10 Rules of Engagement in Social Media
1. Give More Than You Take
2. Respect Your Online Friends
3. Listen to What They Say
4. Respond Frequently and where Appropriate
5. Build Relationships
6. Be Authentic and Transparent
7. Do Not Become a Nuisance
8. Collaborate with Your Online Friends
9. Add Value as Frequently as you Can
10. Consider Opportunities in the Long Tail
More at www.RealEstateBooks.org
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15. Available at Realtor.org: This is an excellent set of guidelines for all Real Estate Professionals:
Biography
Richard Silver, ABR, is a Salesperson with BOSLEY REAL ESTATE LTD., an early adopter
of Technology and the Internet and presently sits as President-Elect with the Toronto Real
Estate Board and is a past-member of the MLS® and Technology Council at CREA. He also
sits on the REBAC Advisory Council at the National Association of REALTORS®.
His website is www.RichardSilver.com, Blog is www.Torontoism.com and you can follow him
on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and Flickr.
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16. Notes
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