Real estate's new karma economy

Flickr image by luc legay.

Editor's note: This is Part 2 of a three-part series. Read Part 1 and Part 3.

If you're into social media, one of the best ways to meet like-minded real estate professionals is to attend a real estate BarCamp. Today's column shares some of the best strategies from the Real Estate BarCamp, held at Trulia's headquarters, as well as the Real Estate Connect conference in San Francisco.

1. Getting started
Gahlord Dewald, in his keynote address, suggested that an excellent way to get started is "to aggregate good resources for the community." The process is simple. When you find a post or a tweet that is appropriate for one or more of the people in your network, resend it to them. When you retweet (resend someone else's post), also take time to comment on their blog or acknowledge them in some other way. In most cases, they will return the favor by following you on Twitter or friending you on Facebook.

2. Beyond the geeks
Social media is no longer about geeks talking to each other about technology. Instead, social media today is about people with personality discussing what interests them and what makes them interesting. The temptation is to confuse connection and conversation with the technology. Yes, the technology has changed, but all the innovations come down to one simple fact: Technology is merely the channel through which we communicate. Whether it's a tweet, a text message or a phone call, it's what is being said that matters -- not the mechanism used to deliver the message.

3. The karma economy
According to David Gibbons, director of community relations for Zillow.com, the way we conduct business has undergone a sea change. The hard sell is dead. Marketing in this new world is no longer about you. Instead, the karma economy has taken its place. In other words, the new mantra for building your business is, "What can I do to help you?" When you help others, you build social capital or "Whuffie." The more you give, the more you get back and the larger your network grows. As one of the other speakers put it, "Engagement is the new marketing metric."

Before the Web, agents grew their sphere of influence one person at a time. Whether the agent used snail mail or bulk e-mail, it took time and effort to build a large referral database. Gibbons said social media allows you to grow your sphere of influence quickly and exponentially. Each person who joins your network amplifies your ability to expand your sphere of influence. In fact, using Facebook and Twitter is the equivalent of putting your "sphere of influence marketing on steroids." ...CONTINUED

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