10/1/2/3 A Social Media Plan

As a real estate professional/instructor, I am often asked the value of Facebook as a business resource. My answer is simple, it's according to how you use it.

In the days of my Great Grandpa Blackmer, if you wanted to chat with someone, you had to see them, as in really SEE them, in person. You rode to the next town, knocked on their door and paid a visit. Then, Alexander Graham Bell gave us the telephone. The phone was a great way of contacting people, building relationships. Easier on the horse too. The problem with the phone was you had to actually pick it up, dial it and really chat with the people at the other end. If we wanted to connect, we had to make the call. In fact, for most real estate agents, it was that horrendously tedious work that killed the magic of the phone.

Now we have social media. Facebook, for example, boasts over 400 million users. They estimate that 50% of those user login daily. The average user has 130 friends. What an incredible database that could be! The problem, however, remains the same. You actually have to CONTACT those people.

I recommend a simple plan that, if implemented, will make your Facebook time focused business building time (keeping in mind that building a business based on relationships is a long term, consistent type project). It goes like this: 10/1/2/3. Let me explain:

10. Spend 10 minutes a day on Facebook. By the way, this is far less time than you would spend calling three members of your sphere of influence to catch up (not that I am recommending you cease utilizing the telephone). You can go longer. I don't want to interfere with your Smallville, Mafia Wars or Treasure Isle time. What I want is ten minutes using the plan, whatever else you do is extra. Just don't negate your ten minutes of focus.

1. One update per session. An update is you notifying the world about what you're up to. It can be personal, a link to a great article about something relevant, some pictures, a video clip or it can be about business. CAUTION!!! No one wants to see a daily driveling about your listings, contracts or buyers. My friend Matthew Ferrara suggests that for every one hundred posts, one can be about business. That gives you 99 to make up for the one. I'm a little more forgiving. I'm happy to see your business post once a week, MAX, maybe more like one in ten. That doesn't mean that you can't tell me you're showing property after dropping off the kids. I'm just not interested in the pain I feel when you post your listings daily, or feel the need to show me the pics of that wonderful home four days in a row.

2. Two new friends. It's easy to find friends on Facebook. Facebook SUGGESTS them for cryin' out loud. You can also search the "database" looking for folks you already know or look through your friend's friends for possibilities. I group my friends by how I know them: personal friends, agents, fellow instructors etc...

3. Three comments on your friends postings. We're talking real live, relevant comments, not the thumbs up shortcut. Target people you would like to connect with, see what they are doing and make appropriate, relevant comments looking for connection. To help, Facebook even reminds you of the people you've ignored (under "suggestions"). The key here is CONNECTING. Like the phone, you have to do it for it to work.

That's it: 10/1/2/3, a simple plan for using your Facebook time to further your connections with the people you know. Beats riding your horse to the next town for a visit.... well, maybe it does.