5 Social Media Tips to Help Your Real Estate Business

This is a guest post by Matthew Coates.

Let's get one thing straight, Matthew Coates knows social media.  Matthew is running a real estate business and a majority of leads come from social media and the effort he puts into it.  Here are his tips on helping you grow your business through social media.

With some major prodding from my wife, I entered the social media space about 6 or 7 years ago. I never thought my business life (and personal for that matter) would change as much as it has during this period of time. There is no doubt in my mind that with the current business I'm doing , approximately 50% of it comes from social media. Bold statement, especially with these real estate trainers out there that say social media is a waste of time, and stop playing Candy Krush on Facebook and all that, "tweeting around", etc. I contend that I am more productive than many of your agents that make 300 cold calls a day to complete strangers and hard pressure them, and I don't burn out from doing what I do. 

And it's not that I haven't tried other methods - believe you me. I jumped in gung-ho last August after I got back from a retreat featuring one of the heaviest hitters in the real estate training world. I got a farm area around one of my listings, made 300 calls in a day. About 15 people actually picked up the phone. This is because when someone calls your home phone and your don't recognize the number, they don't answer. Pretty simple. Of the 15 who answered the only positive response was one person who was interested in receiving updates in their neighborhood. 

Now I see the point that if you do this daily you will have made 6,000 calls in a month and that yields X production, but you know what? Too much abuse for me. I want to work with people that WANT to work with me, not ones that need to have their arm twisted. I'm sure I'll bend a lot of people out of shape, but oh well, I know what works for me, and you can take it or leave it.

I don't look at my post so much as a "strategy", as I do just a way of being successful in life, and it automatically pours into your business life. And while I am referring mostly to Facebook, these could easily be woven into Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and the whole 9 yards of social media sites.

So, what are my top 5 social media tips for real estate success?

Fill a need

When someone expresses a need, can you help? I'm not really talking about financial contributions, although that is the biggest given. I'm talking about helping make a recommendation for a good local vet, or maybe if someone's car broke down and they can't get to work. Most people look at this as taking time away from their own schedule and what they are going to lose, but I suggest looking at this as an investment in people. Does that mean they are going to call you next week to buy a house? Probably not, but you never know who they might run into. Heck, nothing may ever come of it for you, but you will have made a different in the life of another person, and I think that's enough.

Listen

Most of the time people just want to be listened to. Isn't it nice when you have had a hard day at work, or out trying to get clients, just to have someone there to hear your story. We all want that. Most people don't listen very well. They are too busy thinking about what they are going to say next. I'm not saying to jump into the drama and go fix everything, but by listening and adding comments of empathy and understanding , you will gain trust from others.

Be original

This is my biggest pet-peeve on social media. So many people comment the same exact things. Your friend posts a pic of them on family vacation in Hawaii, everyone says "awesome", or "hope you had a good time". Say something unique! How about "Did you get a chance to check out the Princeville area in Kauai? I heard it's pretty lovely and lush." Open up for the original poster to provide additional information, they love to give it, trust me! And the funny thing is that others will "like" your comment if it is original. One step further, you are looking forward to a notification on the OP's response because you had something intelligent to contribute to the social media interaction.

Be positive

I recently watched a very powerful video about the perception of negative social media behavior and how it can impact what friends think of you. It portrayed a guy updating his Facebook status with "My life sucks." And then we see friend after friend "hiding" him from their timelines.

Although it may have been stretched a bit, I don't think it was far from the truth. People don't want to see negative status updates on Facebook, especially ones where the only want to change them is if YOU change YOURSELF. Now tempering the negatives of your life and asking for advice or help is a completely different matter. I'm talking about airing your dirty laundry, complaining about this or that for argument's sake. Not attractive at all. Keep it upbeat , optimistic, but more than anything ,be yourself and be genuine and authentic. People can see right through a phony.

Don't "like" everything

One of the first things many people in business do when prompted to get involved in social media is to "like" all of their friends status updates. Please don't do this! It is pretty annoying, very transparent, and screams that you are desperate for friendship and/or business. Be selective - if something truly resonates with you, go ahead and "like" it, even comment "LIKE", or add something else to validate the friend's status update.

Hope you found this article helpful. My passion is helping people find solutions to buying and selling real estate in the Phoenix, AZ area. If I can be of assistance you can visit my website at livingchandler.com, call me at602.332.3321 or email me at mdtscoates@gmail.com 

If you have other social media tips feel free to comment below!