Blogs - LinkedIn - Facebook - ??? How much do you do?

Question

What social media to you use? Which do you think are the most valuable as far as your business? I quit using a website page for business, as I didn't see the point since I have a website. I set up a LinkedIn account, but haven't done much with it, however; I just realized a few days ago someone that had posted seeking property had checked out my LinkedIn acct.. .. Oops!! So I am correcting that.Of course, our business is doing development and new construction, so it's a little different than most of you, but... just curious.

Joshua Dorkin · Answer

Here's what I do: - BiggerPockets -- Real Estate Investing networking & connections - Twitter -- connect with people and companies of all shapes and sizes & interests - Facebook -- connect with friends and colleagues - LinkedIn -- connect with people I know exclusively - G+ - connect with people who I find interesting I've tried FB & LinkedIn groups for connecting and I've found them to be mostly a spammer's paradise. Otherwise, I connect with bloggers on their article's comments and with them in the above mentioned networks.

Angela Jones · Answer

Hi Karen and Joel, I am not a Social Media VA, but I think Facebook and Google+, are great tools for Marketing your available properties. I have a client that does Rehabs and she will post the before and after pictures of the properties; then she will post when they are available. I think those 2 Social Media sites are great platforms for Property Management and New Construction.

Kurt E. · Answer

Linkedin! Im a young commercial real estate agent and it is a great way to research potential leads. Linkedin also tells you the connections you have in common. Call the person in common, get info on the suspect and call the suspect as a referral. I really like blogs and twitter for the source to get information.

Seth Williams · Answer

I've found Facebook to be a pretty decent way of driving traffic and interacting with fans & friends alike. LinkedIn seems to be a good way of just making your presence, background & qualifications known (it's almost always in the Top 4 results when you google a person's name - and the website itself is in the top 20 websites worldwide). Twitter and G+ have been so-so but at the same time, I probably don't utilize either as much as I should. As James Vermillion said, for the real estate trade specifically, it's hard to beat the social value in BiggerPockets. I have yet to find anything quite as effective for connecting with the right people, finding relevant information and giving/getting help from other qualified individuals. Probably the best thing I ever did for increasing my actual leads was to pay for some SEO. It wasn't easy to bite the bullet and pay for this, but WOW did it bring in some results. To this day, I'm getting more leads via my optimized website than any other source. Since the leads are all organic, it's pretty hard to beat.

Tracy Royce · Answer

Hi Karen, I'm pretty heavy on the social side, here's how I use it - My own website (complete with a blog). The most amount of my visitors to my site go to my blog - Facebook: I am on here quite a bit, post 1-2 times a day, and actually interact with my audience. I do run ads to keep my audience growing and actually put thought and time into my posts. - Linked in: I do connect with people on here and have found vendors. I did vet people at a point in time but finally gave up on trying to assess who would be of value, who wouldn't be. (this is true across all my social networks). Now, I look at it like, the bigger the audience, the better. If they become a spammer, I'll just get rid of them then. - Active rain- I blog here about once a month - BP - I blog here (as a contributor) weekly but also add a blog about once a month, and participate in forums when I can. - Google+ - I share things on here but don't interact on here much. I can only handle so many channels (I actually DO have work to do from time to time! :) There's new stuff coming out everyday, but I just stick to what I see results from. I've been doing all this heavily less than a year and have grown my audience in what I would consider a healthy manner. However, it hasn't added much to my bottom line, ie conversions. But, social is just that, not advertising, so my expectation is not the same as an active marketing campaign. For you, if you do development and new construction, perhaps just a blog showcasing your knowledge would be helpful. You never know what your background or expert status may lead to in terms of additional opportunities. I'd be interested in knowing, those of you with a large social reach, have you seen it evolve into a steady stream of leads? Or how has it truly helped your business?

James Vermillion · Answer

BiggerPockets - the one I spend the most time on for sure. I spend most of my time on the forums but also read and comment on blogs Facebook - I primarily use this for friends but will connect with others (ie people from BP) if I feel like I have established a relationship with them. I also manage a company page which I post updates and pictures too. I am trying to do a better job with this. LinkedIn - I have account but I rarely use it...it is not overly interesting to me and I have not seen too many benefits so far G+ - I like the layout but rarely get on. I need to get on more often because I really prefer it to Facebook I also contribute to the BP blog. I think each can be used as a tool but for various reasons and with varying degrees of success. I prefer BP because I actually learn the most from it and am able to apply the lessons. Also, the forums have helped me develop relationships with people whom I respect and can learn much more from.

Karen Margrave · Answer

Joel Owens I totally agree! For my time, I think BP is the best!

Joel Owens · Answer

I need to develop Linked In more but have had it for years. Facebook I really haven't done much too it and mainly use it for friends. All of these avenues are really connection points you just have to decide what to use them for and your purpose. I get a lot out of Bigger Pockets here. I usually find more credible people to connect with whereas some of the sites it is like the wild west on who they say they are etc.