Business thrives on 'Whuffie' factor
Secret to social networking success
By Bernice Ross, Monday, August 24, 2009.
What does it take to succeed in the social networking space? Lots of people have theories, but have you heard of "Whuffie?"
As I was browsing through my Twitter feed, I noticed that there was a live feed from DaknoTV (@rewebcoach) for the Real Estate BarCamp in Virginia Beach. If you're not familiar with the BarCamp concept, it's a face-to-face meeting for those who have formed social and business relationships online. The first BarCamps were composed of bloggers who wanted to connect in person with other people who shared their love of blogging.
BarCamps can include formal presentations. They can also be quite chaotic, with informal groups forming to discuss various issues of interest. They may or may not have an agenda. Participants are free to pursue their personal interests. For example, if someone is doing a presentation, there are usually a number of side conversations taking place simultaneously on Twitter. At the time I tuned into the Virginia Beach BarCamp, there was an ongoing Twitter discussion about "What is Whuffie?"
The first question was how to spell it and where the term came from. Bill Lublin, who was co-leading the discussion with Inman News Community Manager Daniel Rothamel, defined "Whuffie" as social capital. According to Wikipedia, the term "Whuffie" originated in Cory Doctorow's book, "Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom."
A person's Whuffie is a general measurement of his or her overall reputation. Whuffie is lost or gained according to a person's favorable or unfavorable actions.
Tara Hunt elaborates on this concept in her book, "The Whuffie Factor." According to Hunt, the five steps that you must take to create Whuffie for your business are:
1. Stop talking and start listening.
2. Become part of the community you serve.
3. Create amazing customer experiences.
4. Embrace the chaos. Communities are made up of people, and people aren't predictable.
5. Find your higher purpose: What can you give to others and still be profitable?
This approach represents a sea change in terms of marketing. It's no longer about driving your marketing messages to as many people as possible. In fact, when you use blatant marketing messages, you lose Whuffie. Today's consumer is looking for connection and trust.
In other words, rather than asking, "What can I sell you?" the question today is, "What can I do for you?" The more you do for others, the more Whuffie you build. This in turn increases the probability that people will want to do something to help you. As Julie Escobar put it, "Make a friend now; make a sale later." ...CONTINUED
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Submitted by Harrison K. Long on August 24, 2009 - 2:39pm.
Thanks for this good post, Bernice, and reminder that business and real estate is about building trust and long-lasting relationships.
People are looking for others they can know and trust, those who add value to their lives, and those to help them move forward with what's important.
Harrison K. Long
Realtor & broker, Explore Properties Group
Coldwell Banker Previews, Irvine, CA
949-854-7747 direct
949-701-2515 cell
www.ExploreOCHomes.com
CA DRE no. 01410855
CA State Bar no. 69137
http://twitter.com/hklong
www.HarrisonKLong.com
Submitted by Bobby Carroll on August 24, 2009 - 4:15pm.
Bernice - Building social capital or "Whuffie", as you rightly state, is about getting ourselves (and what we do) out of the way so that we may focus on the needs of others and delivering value to them.
RE BarCamps provide an incredible venue for real estate professionals of all walks of life to learn, give and understand more meaningful ways to take part in the online conversation called social media.
Lastly, Brad and I appreciate the mention of Dakno.TV and take great pleasure in knowing we provide a conduit for others to participate and learn from real estate barcamps.
Bobby Carroll
@rewebcoach
Dakno.TV
Submitted by Daniel Rothamel, Inman Community Manager on August 24, 2009 - 5:29pm.
Bernice,
I'm glad you found the video informative and enjoyable! I know that Bill and I had a blast leading that discussion at RE Barcamp VA Beach.
One of the things that I am seeing more and more in this business is that people choose their agents for numerous different reasons. All of those reasons can be boiled down to TRUST. People work with those whom they trust the most. Building relationships is all about building trust. Whether you call trust "whuffie" or "social capital" is irrelevant. What matters is the more of it you build, the better off you are.
If people are interested in the background of that session, my motivation came from this blog post I wrote: http://danielrothamel.com/my-quest-to-become-a-whuffieaire
http://www.RealEstateZebra.com
Submitted by Jay Thompson on August 30, 2009 - 5:49am.
"Post positive comments on sites such as Yelp.com."
I wouldn't limit it to just posting positive comments. I'd post HONEST comments. If you write nothing but five star reviews on Yelp, people are going to wonder if anything you're writing is accurate.
If you get lousy food or service at a restaurant, say so. The business owner will appreciate it. I know this as I've been approached (and thanked) by a few businesses where I provided what we used to call "constructive criticism".
Whuffie is huge, and as Daniel mentioned, it's all about trust. If you're nothing but sunshine and Kumbaya, then people aren't going to trust you. Life throws curve balls. How you deal with those builds Whuffie too.
Jay Thompson
Broker / Owner
Thompson's Realty
Blog: www.PhoenixRealEstateGuy.com
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Submitted by Sue Cartun on August 30, 2009 - 1:21pm.
Hi Bernice:
Love this. With your permission (and Inman's) we're going to get this article into our company's e-letter update. 'salright?
Submitted by Greg Herder on August 31, 2009 - 7:34am.
I think Tara's book is great and that real estate agents need to understand the power and growth in social networking. Consumers today are using social networking sites to check out agents and if they are not actively involved and providing real value to their clients it will cost them more then they will ever know.
Submitted by Sue Cartun on September 1, 2009 - 10:41am.
I LOVE this!