Last week, at the BuzzRE Orange County event, I had the chance to hear two different agents who are using social media in completely different ways.
Given that both agents were experiencing success with their approaches, it was a great example of how a lot of "best practices" might actually be bunk.
On the one hand was Robin Milonakis, who has a very personality-focused Facebook presence. She has a wait list for Facebook friends because she’s reached the 5,000-friend limit.
On the other hand was Tyler Wood with his blog, the Big Bear Skinny. His blog is focused almost exclusively on real estate topics like market data for his region, foreclosure data, etc.
So you’ve got Robin with her giant personality, chattering away on Facebook about football. And you’ve got Tyler Wood talking market data and real estate topics on his blog.
Two totally different approaches. Two totally different social media platforms to match. The thing they both seem to share in common, from my perspective, is a clear understanding of what they’re doing and why they’re doing it.
When an audience member asked Milonakis what she was getting, businesswise, from her work on Facebook, Robin was quick and clear. It was about the referral business, primarily.
You see, Milonakis is a huge football fan and has, through using Facebook, built up a large following of other football fans and former players. Apparently enough of her fans are also practicing real estate — so when the time comes to refer to someone in Orange County, Milonakis is the one who gets it.
She isn’t on Facebook drumming up new business from unknown home sellers or buyers (though with 5,000 Facebook fans I bet that it has happened).
She’s there to stay top-of-mind and engaged with the understanding that others in the real estate industry will be able to add to her business through this channel. I suspect this is similar to the way many real estate professionals use ActiveRain. …CONTINUED
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