Creating an Internet identity
Realtor Notebook
By Teresa Boardman, Friday, December 26, 2008.
Flickr image by SideLong.People seem to believe what they see on the Internet. In the Web 2.0, where everyone has a say, the Internet can work for us or against us. My sense is that in 2009 we will all need to make sure it is working for us and we will need to take charge of it.
When it comes to personal marketing, we are no longer in control of the message. Consumers can rate Realtors on Web sites and they don't even need to tell us who they are. People can read what others have written about us, they can search for us through Google and find out all kinds of things, and even find pictures of us enjoying a drink with our friends at a party.
For the real estate professionals who have chosen not to have a strong online presence, one is being created for them by others.
It may be on a real estate company web site where there is a gray silhouette or for-sale sign where an agent's face should be. Where the carefully crafted bio should be there is a canned message that mostly promotes the real estate company but contains the agent's name and phone number.
A consumer searching for a real estate professional with that kind of online presence may get the idea that the agent isn't very active or engaged in the selling of real estate.
It is hard to hide on the Internet. There is so much information about us. We have some choices. We can ignore it all and go about out business or we can participate.
Every now and then I search for myself online because I want to know what others will find. It's called reputation management, and I like to take an active roll in it. I once found myself on the Homethinking.com site. I never signed up for the site. The information about me was not correct. I also discovered that I could be rated by anonymous Internet users. I managed to have myself removed from the site.
In recent months there are some other sites that I have contacted with the request that information about me be deleted. The site operators have said it could harm my online presence to remove my name from those sites, though I contend that false information or being portrayed in a way that I don't feel is in my best interests is more harmful than not appearing at those sites.
We can never control our online presence and reputation -- not in the Web 2.0 world, where everyone gets to participate in the conversation and comment. We can manage our own brands and we need to take an active role in monitoring and in creating information.
Not participating on the Internet or ignoring it gives others the opportunity to craft messages about us that may not be in our best interests. It is better to take charge and to formulate you own online persona.
During the holidays, when things get kind of slow in that week between Christmas and New Year's Day, it might be a good time to take a look and see what the search engines are finding when a consumer types in your name. People don't search for real estate by typing in an agent's name, but savvy home sellers and buyers check the Internet for information about agents.
It also might be a good time to create an online presence you can control, if you haven't already. As a start, you can build a complete profile on your company's Web site, a profile on LinkedIn, one on Facebook, and one on ActiveRain.
Teresa Boardman is a broker in St. Paul, Minn., and founder of the St. Paul Real Estate blog.
***
What's your opinion? Leave your comments below or send a letter to the editor. To contact the writer, click the byline at the top of the story.
All rights reserved. This article may not be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever, in part or in whole, without written permission of Inman News. Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright law.
You must login or register to post a comment.
Submitted by Susie Blackmon on December 26, 2008 - 1:24am.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Teresa. I better check myself out!! I'd hate for anyone to think I was naughty.
Susie Blackmon
http://www.BuckingtheRealEstateTrend.com
Submitted by Brett Young | Real Estate Keyword Tool on December 26, 2008 - 5:42am.
Teresa,
The best way to monitor your online reputation is to create a Google Alert which will notify you by email when your name or company is mentioned by sites that are crawled by Google. You'll get updates periodically and don't have to take the initiative yourself to constantly search.
Brett Young
Real Estate Keyword Tool
Submitted by Catherine Read on December 26, 2008 - 6:13am.
Very timely advice Teresa. This is the message I've been delivering for over year, but many agents still don't seem to grasp the importance of this. They need to be where consumers can find them, and they need to manage the personal and professional information that is already out there. Another important aspect of an online presence is the fact it's hard at work for us 24/7 all around the world while we are busy doing other types of marketing. When agents skip setting up their global online presence, they are wasting a very powerful and effective free resource. NOW is the perfect time to get it done! These things will become increasingly more important as the industry gets more competitive and sophisticated in 2009.
Catherine S. Read
Creative Read, Inc.
Submitted by Robert A. Hulme on December 26, 2008 - 7:18am.
It certainly isn't very hard for Realtors to create an online presence. By aggressively demonstrating your knowledge of Internet marketing, any agent can portray the image of a Real Estate professional, in no time at all.
Robert A. Hulme
Realtor, GRI, e-PRO
Prudential Utah Real Estate
Loan Officer
Envision Lending Group, Inc.
www.UtahCountyRealEstate.us
www.LoansByRobert.net
801-885-2586
Submitted by Brian E. Kinkade on December 26, 2008 - 8:47am.
Great points, as you say, we all have an Internet presence whether we like it or not. Actively crafting, monitoring and protecting our online branding and reputations is certainly a wise thing to do. With the majority of consumers starting their home search online, perception can become as, if not more, important as reality.
Brian E. Kinkade, Broker
Cherry Creek Professionals Realty
www.TheHomeCart.com
www.CherryCreekToday.com
Submitted by Kevin Schmidtchen on December 26, 2008 - 9:56am.
Interesting point of view about a presence being created for you if you are not doing it yourself. It is a new part of the Real Estate world where you do have to spend time monitoring your profile online. People have access to this and if something written down is not true...noone will change this accept you.
blog: www.SantaBarbaraRealEstateVoice.com
Kevin Schmidtchen
Sotheby's Int'l Realty
Santa Barbara
Submitted by Mike Parker on December 26, 2008 - 3:04pm.
Mike Parker
mparker@theblackwatercg.com
Brett is so right! Just set up a Google alert on any subject you wish to monitor.
In my opinon, however, it is rare that someone NOT in the public eye has to worry about reputation online for the simple reason that no one can find most agents online. As a columnist for Inman, people are looking you up all the time. Comes with the turf.
In the event that anyone has false and defaming or anonymous info posted about them, one needs to contact the site webmaster. Usually, they will take down things erroneous. Unfortunately, however, it may take MONTHS for that false post to disappear off Google, even though the link to it may.
I think it is far more important to think offensively, as opposed to defensively, about the Internet:become prominent under your specialty/your market and you will sell many more homes. That's what everyone should be aiming at, in my opinion, as the false postings are very rare for conventional agents not in the public eye.
Best wishes to all for a Happy and Prosperous new year.
Submitted by Emily Medvec on December 26, 2008 - 3:24pm.
Teresa is right on target. In today's online world of real estate it is important to know how you are seen and/or portrayed on google. A weekly search with your name in quotes will give you a good report of what happens when others search for you. A google alert on yourself or your company is an easy way to stay ahead of yourself online. By the way, search your name and company on google images too. Today, like our buyers and sellers, our reputation is on the line online.
Emily Medvec, Broker
Prudential Santa Fe Real Estate
www.emilymedvec.com
www.buysantafehomes.com
www.twitter.com/EmilyMedvec
Submitted by Ivailo Jordanov on December 26, 2008 - 9:12pm.
Hi All,
My name is Ivailo and I am one of the founders of Retaggr.com. We work in the area of online identity/presence and a number of our users are from the real estate industry.
I will be speaking at Inman Connect (the Innovators from around the world session) about some of our new products designed to help with the process.
If this topic interests you please feel free to come and have a chat. If you would like to set up a time to meet during the conference please feel free to mail me at ivailo [at] retaggr.com all my other details are available at www.ivailo.me
Submitted by Brad Hanks on December 29, 2008 - 7:14am.
Well said Teresa! Reputation management will become a larger part of doing business in the Web 2.0 enabled world of business, and real estate professionals (companies included) will need to stay on top of what is being said on the web about them.
Submitted by Roberta Baldwin on January 1, 2009 - 5:40pm.
I think the hardest thing is to find an anonymous derogatory comment that obviously has been placed by a scheming colleague. The only way to dilute the ugliness is to to have other people immediately counteract the offending statement because it can take months to have that copy removed by sites that lack interest in truthful reporting. But I'd rather be out there branding myself online, even if I'm critized, than sitting at forlornly at the front desk waiting for a random call-in, like a surprising number of agents still are. --Roberta Baldwin
Visit me at www.NJDreamHouses.com & www.SuburbanDigs.typepad.com
Submitted by Richard Silver on January 3, 2009 - 9:01am.
It is amazing what you can find when you search yourself on the web....I actually found a cheque for a Residual Payment from a commercial that I was in pre-Real Estate Days...
I use "Google Alerts" with my name and also the areas that I work in...You never know what you may find, but better that you know what is out there, and what is being said...
Thanks again Teresa, It would be interesting to spend a day in your mind...it never seems to turn off. Happy and Healthy 2009.
Richard Silver, Sales Representative
BOSLEY REAL ESTATE LTD. BROKERAGE
mail@richardsilver.com
416-322-8000
Cell 416-587-3300
www.RichardSilver.com
www.DowntownTorontoBlog.com
Director-at-Large, Toronto Real Estate Board