Real Estate & Social Media – What’s Your Goal?

As a professional Real Estate Virtual Assistant, I am constantly looking for ways to help improve my client’s real estate business. Recently I have been looking into the documentation of how Social Media is benefiting realtors throughout the US and came across some really great information I felt I must share with you.

One of the questions that is recurring in my conversations with potential (and existing) clients is, “how can I see the return on investment (ROI) within my Real Estate social media efforts?” This is such a great question, and through my research, I found this slideshow (from “The Brand Builder’s Blog” author, Olivier Blanchard) that really sums it up (don’t be put off by the number of slides, it’s really well worth the few minutes it takes to view):

By putting your social media pieces in place (read my previous post for Top Tips for Free (But Highly Profitable) Advertising Online for social media ideas) within a short period of time you will find yourself being able to clearly see the effects these pieces (when used effectively) will have on your real estate business.

There are several tools, that I’m sure you have at least heard of, that you should have in place that will give you clear, concise proof of your increased exposure, traffic and leads. These include RSS fees statistics (through your blog, such as Google’s Feedburner), and Analytics (through your website, with Google’s Analytics tool). Below are screen shots of these examples:

Real Estate Virtual Assistant Google Analytics Sample

Real Estate Virtual Assistant RSS Feed Sample

These examples show the obvious and highly trackable data that you too can have in place and chart when putting your social media efforts into effect. The peak shown is from my previous blog post which I posted throughout various social media sites (such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIN, etc.,) and social bookmarking sites (such as Digg, Delicious, StumbleUpon and Reddit). Couple this with the increase in leads (and subsequent sales) plus your on-going online marketing of your listings (also through these venues), and you’ll be well on your way to the best year ever.

For more information on social media and where you need to be in 2010, please visit my previous post, Social Network Ads in 2010 – Get Ready!

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Virtual Assistance and Social Media – The Impact

Virtual Assistance and social media and how it has impacted our businesses really cannot be truly appreciated. It really is an understatement to simply say that social media is exploding among every industry in the world today, including virtual assistance. I have established and provided many great contacts, referrals, and businesses within social media sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Youtube.

But to really gain a true understanding of the utter extent of social media and how much of an impact it is having in our (personal and) professional lives, please take a look at the video I have included below.

The question that comes to mind when taking this all in is, “What’s next?” Could you have fathomed that something like Facebook would have existed 5 years ago? How about Twitter? Just when I think there can be nothing new to enrich my business to a whole other level, these social networking sites bring them way over the edge! I can say that I have increased my business by double over the last year simply due to my strategic Facebook usage.

Don’t forget that there are hundreds, no, thousands of groups that directly relate to you and your business on Facebook (and Twitter). Simply adding yourself as a “Fan” will not cut it. Interact. Provide Insight. Don’t be shy! People really do want to hear from you – but remember – not about what you had for breakfast or what you think you’ll buy at the store today. Once in a while it is ok to include some personalization to your posts, but make it low priority.

For more tricks of the trade, visit my other blogs within the Tricks of the Trade category.