Social Media: Is it your ‘magic bullet’? First, before you read this, let me tell you that many of you will be angry or bereft at the opinions in this blog. Just hang in there, though, until you see the ‘why’ of it.
Social Media. There are more classes on it, more talk about it, and more agents are worrying about it than any topic in real estate. You may think that it’s the most important ingredient to an agent’s success. But, not so fast. Who is telling you that? Are they people who have been successful real estate agents? Or, are they technology gurus—or, worse yet, people who want to sell you their services?
Industry Leaders Don’t Agree with Social Media Gurus
Whenever I write an article about where social media fits into an agent’s business life, I get emails from respected industry leaders who are very concerned that social media is prioritized wrongly as a critical ingredient for an agent’s success. Why would leaders think this? Because they see agents avoiding the big priorities the leadership thinks will make them successful. They also see them looking for the easier ‘magic bullet’.
What are those big priorities for success?
Business producing activities: proactive lead generation, working with buyers and sellers, listing properties, selling properties, and listings that sell.
But, mom, isn’t there another way? Isn’t there an answer that didn’t require me to put up with all that rejection? I wish there were. However, all the successful real estate agents I know spend lots of time in those business producing activities. They aren’t looking for the ‘magic bullet’. (Well, they already know what that magic bullet is: Meeting and working with people to form long-term professional relationships).
I Love Houses and Technology; I Just Hate People
Are you one of those agents who spends a majority of time at your computer? Do you spend little time pro-actively lead generating? Do you just love those new ‘apps’? Are you always looking for a way to spend less time with potential clients and more time away from ‘contact’? Are you thinking maybe social media will allow you more ‘arms length’ from that scary consumer? Here’s what to be aware of:
Behavior that’s rewarded is repeated.
By being the ‘go to guy’ about technology and/or social media, you may be working yourself into a different job. You may be in the wrong business. Successful real estate agents look for opportunities to meet and work with people. They don’t put technology a priority instead of people.
What’s Social Media For?
In my next blog, I’ll help you prioritize social media in your business plan, and show you a neat way to think about marketing in context of social media.
Did I say social media wasn’t important to your business? Not exactly. But, to make it pay off correctly, you must use it correctly. See that next blog to find out what I mean.
