…Lions and Tigers and Bears, oh my! Yes, like the old quote from one of my favorite movies goes…there’s a lot of scary things out there on the road to Oz! The road to Oz being the successful path to social media…
Everyday it seems I am being introduced to a new method of social networking–Yesterday I discovered Mailchimp [don’t ask]…I subscribe to Hubspot, Activerain, The Real Estate Tomato, Market Leader…to name a few…Plus various blogs and bloggers…newspapers and magazines…When I first turn my laptop on early each morning I generally have between 300 to 500 emails to sort through…On Linkedin I am a member of dozens of groups…I also check in on Foursquare [we especially like foursquare when we are out of town as it helps us to locate restaurants–seriously!] I tweet when I remember to tweet [still haven’t figured out the real benefits to that one]…and when I think of it I use Hootsuite as it allows me to tweet, facebook and link in all at the same time…I have 3 pages on Facebook [four if you consider that I usually post for Chip–although he does give the ok as to what is written on his page]. ~Recently I created a Pinterest account, and I must admit, this could possible become my most addictive form of networking/sharing [which is why I stay off of it during business hours]. I get requests from friends for Branchout, Yearbook, and Farmville…and various other sub-groups and games and networking opportunities on facebook, which quite frankly I also have trouble figuring out the benefits. I just can’t do them all! I’m in a few Google+ circles, and although I am certain I am not using it to its best potential, I do Google+ all my own blog posts [ha ha–why not?] Let’s not forget Youtube…NaplesRealEstate.com has had a Youtube channel for nearly 5 years!
Anytime I have a free moment I am researching how to write better blogs, how to better optimize landing pages, how to measure successful email marketing…learning new ways to integrate current links and sites and how to better engage both personal and business contacts…This is the age of agents staying tethered to their electronic devices 24 hours a day…How then does one set boundaries and create balance?
I’ve had people ask me if I am on facebook all day long–quite the contrary. I log on usually first thing in the morning to see what activity has transpired overnight. I log directly into our business page which allows me to write a quick post…sometimes a ‘quote of the day’ or a photo of Naples…I then switch over to my personal page and send out birthday wishes to friends, comment on a few posts and pictures, send out a few links so that people know I am thinking of them…and that’s about it! Throughout the day I get alerted to friends updates via my cell and email…I can opt in to read the posts and give a quick *like* and/or comment, or wait till I log in again at the end of the day to get a better look. I make sure most of my Naples Real Estate website’s blog posts go onto our facebook business page directly where I also promote listings, events, and other business related stories. I was taught years ago when I first got into facebook to keep the business and personal pages as separate as possible–None of my real estate agent friends want their customers and friends to read all my posts about open houses and such. It’s a good tip that few follow…
The best recommendation I can give is to try to actually schedule social networking. That’s right…Put it on your calendar! Block it in and stick to it. Thirty minutes in the morning–once or twice throughout the day depending on how busy you are, and again in the evening. This is still a people business, and all the Internet marketing in the world cannot take the place of good old fashion belly-to belly communication. With that being said, I would be remiss not to mention the fact that The Harris Peppe Team dervives approximately 50% of their business as a direct result of Internet Marketing!
I hope you will take a few moments to click on the links above and check out our channels and pages! Please feel free to *like* us, follow us, Google+ us…or any of the other forms of keeping us top of mind. When you think of Naples Real Estate, please think of us!
Thank you, and make it a great day!
The Naples Real Estate Blogger
