Consistent Clients – Real Estate Marketing

Last week, we discussed the meaning of Web 2.0, so this week we will start to touch on ways to begin using Web 2.0 tools.

As you look at the many tools and services out there, it’s easy to become overwhelmed. Where should you start? Which tool should you try first? To avoid spreading yourself too thin trying every site, and getting discouraged at a lack of results, step back and decide what your goals are.

Just as trying to focus on the keyword “real estate” in a Google search will get you lost in a sea of results, so will using social networking and other web 2.0 tools without a definite plan.

Is your goal to build your brand in your geographic area? Receive referrals from other agents? Focus on a certain demographic? The sites that will work best for you will strongly depend on your goals.

Blogging is ideal for developing relationships with current and potential customers and branding yourself as an expert in your area. Depending on the subjects of your posts, you can also target a certain demographic by focusing on the information they want when buying a home.

Social Networking sites can be used two ways: to build relationships with possible future clients in a non-intrusive way, and to build relationships with other agents, with the possibility of receiving referrals from them at a later time.

Social Bookmarking has fewer applications directly for real estate agents, but there are still ways to integrate these tools. Flickr and YouTube offer the ability to display catalogues of photos and videos for properties, and unlike MLS, allows these to be easily shared.

Next week we will go into the different social networking sites availables, and tips on utilizing these.

Technorati Tags: Rich Rogala, Social Networking, Real Estate Marketing, Real Estate 2.0, Blogging, Flickr, YouTube