Do you want to know the easiest, fastest, and most effective ways to get business from social media? I spent 8 months surveying, studying, and questioning our network of top-performing agents I’ve found the top 3 strategies any agent can use to get more real estate clients from Facebook this year and for years to come. Most real estate professionals have a personal Facebook profile, but few understand how to use Facebook to generate new leads, send updates about your activity to sell homes faster, or program people to send you referrals. Follow my next few articles about Facebook and I promise you — even if you think you’ve heard it all before — you’ll learn new ways to bond people to you more, refer you more, and how to sell more homes. Here’s the first strategy about how to use Facebook to get referral from friends and fans…without spending your life on your computer! TOP STRATEGY #1: Stay connected with past clients, friends, family, and acquaintances (your Power List™) to generate unlimited referrals and repeat business Every real estate agent should have a personal profile and a business page on Facebook. A personal profile and a business page on Facebook are the tools to create your online “social network” which is really just another part of your Power List™ of personal contacts (along with your contact database of email and mailing addresses). You need to do TWO things to make this first strategy work:

• Build your Power List™ LARGER IN SIZE
• Make your Power List™ MORE RESPONSIVE

HOW TO BUILD YOUR POWER LIST™ LARGER IN SIZE

What’s the best way to make new connections with more people on Facebook (and not just other real estate agents)? First, go through your email program or contact database, search for each person on Facebook, then invite them to be your friend. Also, think about common connections you have – people you meet through a local organization or group you’re involved with in your area. Next, you need to segment your personal network of “friends” and identify who is a “fan” of your business.  This way you can separate your personal and professional life.  I know sometimes they feel the same, but you’ll talk about different things on your business page than your personal profile, so don’t skip this next part. Second, get “fans” by messaging your Facebook friends, asking them to “Like” your business page.  That’s the easiest way but there are other ways to get fans that our network of top-performing agents has identified, which I can explain in a future article on our website. For now, realize having more friends or fans is a preliminary step but not the main goal.  Having quality relationships is what leads to more referrals and repeat business.  

HOW TO MAKE YOUR POWER LIST™ MORE RESPONSIVE

Once you have your network of friends and your smaller network of fans, you need to deepen the relationship with each segment so when they think “real estate” they naturally think of YOU. Here’s how to do that.  It’s the same as a relationship in-person…you wouldn’t become great friends with someone who talks business all the time and is constantly pumping you for names.  Instead, use “status updates” to talk about the following things that make people want to respond and share your updates with others: Friends

• life events,
• inspirational quotes,
• funny stories,
• referral programming, and
• occasional offers for helpful information

Fans

• real estate updates,
• stories of how you’ve helped others,
• client recognition, and
• your monthly real estate newsletter

Below you’ll find answers to a few common questions about this Facebook strategy… How often do I post status updates? Daily is best, weekly at a minimum.  Staying in touch will continue to build relationships while also positioning yourself as an expert in real estate.  If you post a message that basically says “buy this” or “hire me” every day, people will tune you out. For your personal profile, simply post something from your smart phone as you go about your day (use the Facebook mobile app).  Or, when reading real estate news online, share a link to the news story.  For your business page, you can schedule posts to go out each day.  For example, on Sunday you can schedule posts to go out for the coming week. The very act of being consistent demonstrates your reliability, trustworthy and professionalism so you’re positioning yourself as an expert even if most of your updates are not about real estate. When is the best time to post status updates? Most people check Facebook at night.  If you post a status update in the afternoon or evening, more people will see it than a morning post. Why?  Because Facebook’s “newsfeed” (the list of status update each person sees) is continually updated, with older posts going further down the page.  You want to be near the TOP when they start reading their newsfeed so your message gets noticed. What can I expect from using this strategy? Over time your online friends wouldn’t think to work with any other real estate agent, as long as you’ve continued to provide value while staying in touch.  That means locked-in new and repeat business!  They’re also more likely to introduce you to THEIR friends through Facebook – more referrals! Another way to use Facebook to interact with Power List™ members who are on social media is to comment on other people’s status updates related to life events that may require them to buy or sell real estate. Why this strategy won’t work for some agents? You have to be “referral worthy” to make this strategy work.  You also have to remind (even program) people to send you referrals.  This is not just saying “I love referrals”.  Most agents underestimate the depth of relationship required for someone to refer business to you. Stay tuned for my upcoming article about the SECOND of the top three strategies to get real estate clients from Facebook.