FaceBook...
I just had to get that out of the way quickly... We all knew it had to be on the list. There are 300,000,000 people there, and some of them might actually be looking for a real estate agent.
But PLEASE, don't just wade in and start telling everyone that you are a real estate agent. Put it in your profile, and maybe every once in a while you might mention something real estate related on your personal stream... but you don't need to assault the world with your "agentness".
It is actually giving the rest of us a bad name.
Now that is out of the way...
Get a FaceBook Fan page for your business. I prefer to call them Business Pages. Send your blog posts there. Post up about your listings, open houses and community events there... but lean it towards community events... Promote it through your blog... overtly AND passively.
- Overtly - "Join my FaceBook Business Page and recieve updates on community events in _______" Don't be afraid to ask your readers to join your page. Post up about how excited you are about the page... link to it...
- Passively - Once you have the page up and running, you can place a widget on your blog that promotes the page by showing "wall activity" and/or fans. Get it out there in your blog or website.
People that join your Fan Page are giving you permission to market to them. Give them value (like great community events coverage and real estate information) and don't abuse them (same boring stuff over and over) and they will tell their friends... they will actually BE YOUR FANS.
I think that FaceBook will be more important than Google... and soon.
Google is so big it has gravity. There is NO denying it. But there is no "buy in" for most users. It is a search tool for them. But, FaceBook isn't a tool... it is a place, a community... it is part of their lives. For casual searches, how tough would it be to change to Bing? Or Yahoo? Or something that doesn't exist yet? But for casual FaceBook users, how tough would it be to switch to another platform? How tough would it be to rebuild their network of friends?
They are poised for scary growth... And there isn't much in the way of direct competition... There are competitors for various parts of their empire... pieces of the functionality... but nothing that ties it all together. I am sure that someone will come out with something better... but the momentum will be hard to shift.
So...
For now, FaceBook is one of the most important places we need to be able to show up...
Just remember, Fan Page, NOT personal Profile.
Unless otherwise noted, all content of this blog is the property of Lane Bailey, ©2012 Lane Bailey.
I'd love to hear from you...
Lane I have been a Facebook member for a long time but just now am really beginning to use. I am grateful for your valuable tips and will implement
Thanks for the input here, Lane.
I was going to ask how you put the fan page together, but I see it is all there on Facebook.
So much to learn, so little time.
Good distinction between Profile pages and Fan pages. I like your emphasis on community events.
Thanks Lane. I don't go to FaceBook that often - prefer to network and get Google Juice from AR - but I will give it more thought after reading your post. Thanks!
So everytime I post on my fan page an update all those fans automatically get it?
I think Mike told me you have to make a comment right after you post a link there so they will?
I'm still learning...
I need to get a fan page together, too. Although I kind of like mixing business and personal, tempered, on my profile page, and have gotten business from it.
I signed on to Facebook a month ago so that I could look at the profile for a couple of employees. Facebook ranks as one of the worst things I've done in my life. I get so many spam emails from Facebook, people who want to be my friend, etc. I need a little bit more privacy than what Facebook wants to give me. I summarily delete all the Facebook emails now; hope I haven't deleted any ActiveRain members emailing me from Facebook.
Lane- I SO agree with you in regards to Facebook. I just read a great article about this where it basically says Facebook will become another internet of sorts since they have so much information under key (your username and password) that they are not sharing with Google.
Facebook bigger than Google . Pretty bold statement. I can see it happening but never thought about it before.
Still learning how to use Facebook. Been active lately...learned to link site, videos etc. Even open a page...but everything takes time.
Heck, I haven't even read my auto manual on the new car I got during the Cash for Clunkers program!
Thanks everyone... I think that those that are at the front of the FaceBook wave will be at the front of the social networking wave in the next few years...
Jim - you need to go into settings and change it so that FB doesn't e-mail you. You have the option to just see invites and such when you log into FB.
Jim - What Bill said...
I agree with you. I wish facebook would call those pages something else other than fan pages. I don't feel I have fans, but business associates. Thanks for the blog!
Anthony - Business Pages would be good...