I was honored this year to be asked to come present at the Florida REALTORS® Conference as a social media speaker on how to build an online following. I shared with the group 9 tips to building an online following properly. You can view the entire presentation at the end, but first here are the main points:
1. Don’t buy fans– The only place you should ever consider buying any type of fan online is at amazon and it should only be the type needed to cool you down on a hot summer day.
2. Build a good mousetrap- Being on all these social networks & connected with thousands of people is pointless if you do not have a good home base blog/website to direct that traffic to. In real estate, consumers are mainly looking for three things when visiting your site. You need to have clear call to action buttons in place to allow the viewer to search homes, find out what’s my home worth, and learn easily how’s the market.
3. Be yourself- It’s ok to be genuine & open with your audience online. When you share the real you it makes it easier for them to connect with you as a person. Share some humor and have fun. The consumer will like you more for it.
4. STOP selling- Social networks were not created as selling platforms. If all you are doing is broadcasting that over & over you are not using the platforms properly. Remember, the first part of the phrase is “social.”
5. Talk about others rather than yourself- If you spend more time communicating with others and talking to them your business will be much more successful online and you will build a much larger online following.
6. Ask questions- Instead of just making statements, try asking questions. By doing so you are encouraging those connected to you to get more involved and want to interact.
7. Ask people to join- Add call to action buttons to your site, to your email signature and other various tools to give people the ability to connect with you. What you do NOT want to do is start begging them to join constantly as that becomes annoying and will push people away.
8. Stop automation- I’ve written on the concerns with automating everything, so I don’t really need to get into it that deep. Just realize that each & every network runs and acts differently.
9. Learn how the tools work before using- Before you begin using a new techy tool you just found, it is really important that you take the time to learn how it works and also some best practices so that you do not make yourself look bad in the eyes of those who are using the platform already.
You can view the full presentation below on building an online following:
If you would like to book me as a social media speaker at your next event, simply contact me.
Thanks for this post! i really enjoyed reading it!!!
Thanks for this post! i really enjoyed reading it!!!
I enjoyed reading your post and found many useful tips toward building an online following base. As a college student I think it is crucial to use social media to network as much as possible. I appreciate your advice about “building a mousetrap” to bring in traffic to your website. Even if someone does have great content and posts, it is important that they use the correct social media websites to share it. I have had problems with gaining followers on certain websites due to the fact that they are not as well-known as others.
One important detail I think you left out to building a following base is to focus on one specific subject. When websites are cluttered with too much random information I find it hard to focus on. In my blog (http://socialnetworkstudent.wordpress.com/) I share tips about how to focus on specific subjects of specialization. When a poster focuses on one or two topics it is easy for the reader to be influenced by it. From a professional standpoint I have learned that focusing on one topic is essential to building a constant growing fan base.
Thanks for sharing. I look forward to reading more of your posts.