The Intelligence Chronicles

Don't wait for Facebook friends to find you

by Richard Breen

We talked recently about how Realtors are looking at ways to leverage online social networking sites such as Facebook. A lot of thought has gone into how to use one's own Facebook or MySpace page to attract or inform potential customers, but there's more to it than that.

Ellen McGirt, a senior writer with FastCompany magazine in New York, spoke to Social Media Club Greenville this morning. She has gotten a lot of attention for her reporting on social media and she spoke with me about how businesses are using various Web sites.

“Both MySpace and Facebook have very inexpensive ways for you to search their membership,” McGirt told me. She followed up with an example about how a Chicago roofer successfully used MySpace.

There had been a storm in a Chicago neighborhood that caused some damage. The roofer found out what ZIP codes were impacted, searched MySpace for members in those areas and sent them a message to the effect of “hey, that was a pretty big storm the other night and I hope you didn't get any damage, but if you need some help, call me at...”

So it isn't just about posting or tweeting and waiting for people to find you. You can find them, and if you can craft a relevant message, you won't be regarded as a spammer.

Are you an expert in a particular type of sale? Maybe you can let clients know you are well versed in those 100 percent USDA loans – and you know the ZIP codes where qualifying homes can be found.

Maybe you have a client niche such as empty nesters or single parents. Maybe you have a complementary expertise such as interior design. Online social networks are a way for you to demonstrate your expertise in a low-pressure way.

McGirt told the Greenville audience another thing that should resonate with Realtors.

“Authenticity is hard to fake, but people try it all the time,” she said. “If you don't know who you are, you're not going to be able to craft a message.”

Leveraging online social networks to find new clients is a smart thing to do. You may feel pressure to just jump in there and figure things out as you go along because “everybody's doing it” and you don't want to get left behind. McGirt pointed out four questions people should ask themselves. Give these some thought:

What do you want to share?

Why do you want to share it?

What do you hope to get out of it?

How are you going to measure success?

Does online social networking generate leads?

by Richard Breen

More and more Realtors are getting into social media, whether it's Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, or all of the above. But is there a connection between attracting online attention and attracting clients?

The need to have an Internet presence is obvious. Some folks representing Realtor.com came through the Upstate recently to promote their enhanced Web listings. They brought some interesting statistics along with them.

They said that according to National Association of Realtors surveys, 87 percent of home buyers are using the Internet. Furthermore, buyers are 10 times more likely to find their home on the Internet than in a newspaper and 32 times more likely than in a home book. A survey by California Realtors found that 33 percent of sellers found their agent online in 2008, a huge jump from 6 percent in 2007.

Obviously, those kinds of numbers help sell Web listings. But while Realtor.com is a very popular site, it's not the only place home sellers and buyers can be found. According to Forrester Research, 75 percent of adults use online social networking. That's up from 56 percent in just one year.

Realtors have been networking for years, so it makes sense to network online as well. Some Upstate Realtors I have talked to say they have gotten leads through their Facebook pages.

It isn't necessarily that a potential buyer saw a house they posted on their page. It is more of the “Six Degrees of Separation” variety, where someone a Realtor went to college with contacts them about listing their home, or the neighbor of someone a Realtor used to work with in another market contacts them because they are moving to the Upstate.

Some Realtors already have a Facebook page they use for personal networking but are trying to figure out if there can also be a business purpose. Is there a “right” way for Realtors to network online?

Joe Sesso of Realtor.com offers some obvious – but needed – reminders. Complete your Facebook profile. Don't hammer people with hard-sell home info all the time (you wouldn't do it at a Rotary meeting or other places where you network face-to-face). Mix personal and professional info, but you don't need to tell people every mundane detail of your day.

If you prefer LinkedIn because it's a little more buttoned-down, think about connections you can make with former business associates, as well as Realtors in other markets. Consider putting video tours on sites such as YouTube or iTunes. Some Realtors have found success posting homes on Craigslist.

When I was a newspaper editor, I would Google just about anybody that sent me a resume. If they had a MySpace or Facebook page, I looked at it. Positively or negatively, it formed an impression. A lot of other decision-makers do the same thing.

When a potential buyer or seller is hiring you, don't be surprised if they have looked you up on Facebook. Your page will tell them something about you. What does yours say?

Independent firms look to boost market share, attract talent

by Richard Breen

At a time when the total number of Realtors is dropping, some independent brokers are looking for opportunities.

“We're going to try to capture some market share,” says Steve Israel, president of Buyer's Edge, which operates in the Washington, D.C., area.

The eight-agent firm is expanding its number of Realtors and boosting advertising.

“We've brought on two new agents that we're just getting started with now and we're about to add another,” Israel says.

That growth counters industry trends. At 58,109, the overall number of Realtors has dropped in the Maryland-Virginia area by nearly 20 percent since its peak in 2006.

Minnesota has not generally been included in the bubble conversation, but it has lost nearly 20 percent of its Realtors since 2005. Independent Brokers Realty, a Minneapolis firm, is down to about 270 Realtors after peaking around 350. But it, too, is looking for opportunities, according to broker-owner Kevin Sharkey.

“We opened two new offices in the past year,” he says. “We're attracting stronger, better agents than we ever have.”

That theme carries back to Buyer's Edge, where Israel says one of his new agents is a recent Princeton graduate.

“It's a unique opportunity for us to be able to get someone like that,” he says. “Someone who's not going to Wall Street.”

Neither Israel nor Sharkey engage in intense recruiting.

“It's a relationship industry,” says Sharkey, who taps Facebook as a means to communicate with prospective agents. “It's probably the biggest tool I'm using right now.”

IBR promotes its training and educational programs.

“I think that's what brings people to us,” Sharkey says. “We're a very entrepreneurial-focused company. We build them up and teach them to stand alone.”

Some brokers, meanwhile, just have a knack for attracting agents. Even in California, which has lost 26,000 Realtors since 2006.

“I never wanted agents – I don't do adult day care,” jokes Deonna Essary, broker with Condo to Castle Properties in Santa Clara County. She now has 10 agents.“These are agents that I have worked with in the past.”

She says they joined her because “they were just getting tired of getting nickled and dimed to death and their fees getting slashed.”

The number of South Carolina Realtors peaked at 20,546 in 2007 before dropping to 18,343. Some Upstate agents I have spoken with describe a “healthy attrition” among the ranks of local Realtors.

During this time of churn, do you know of any brokers that are looking for growth opportunities? What are they doing to attract and retain talented Realtors? What do you think they should be doing?