Using the Web and social media to sell real estate

Specialized knowledge is the name of the game in the modern American society. Most everybody is looking for new tools, new techniques, new tips and tricks and new secrets that will give her a competitive advantage. Nothing wrong with that, provided you don’t lose sight of two important factors: you cannot become an expert in every field and you will always have to rely on other people. It is the “other people” equation that is the weakest between the two.

If you are an entrepreneur, you need somebody else to take care it for you and to actually show what can be done, while you take care of your business. If you are just looking for a job, the only way to get it is to know somebody that will let you into it, giving you preference over a number of other people who have the same skills as you have or better.

Individual knowledge of systems and tools is cherished by those who want to be successful and I see a growing number of people who put a substantial amount of effort and time into trying to learn how to do things better, although many times they are not willing to pay for assistance so they make the mistake of trying to do it all themselves (I have been there so I am talking out of experience).

Several people know that networking is important, but then they lack a true system on how to go about it. It is not enough to show up to meetings and exchange business cards. In the first place you have to nourish the relationship that you create in a casual meeting and you need to expand beyond the people you can personally meet because many times business will come from far away.

So there is a system that you can use and that it is sometimes overlooked. It is a site named LinkedIn.com. It doesn’t compare with Facebook or Twitter, although it is just as important as the latter two if you want to brand yourself on social media. LinkedIn is the first place you must establish your presence in business. It doesn’t require dynamic content like Facebook: you don’t have to update it regularly and you are not expected to use it to publish the pictures of your latest family trip to the beach.

There are many other business directories or exchange sites you need to consider, depending on the type of business you are in, but LinkedIn is the most important. You need to be there first and you need to take the take to fully lay out your profile because you will not update it often. It is like publishing a big resume. Keeping track of what you have done in business and of who you know. Any time you spend on it will pay back many times. And It is free!

The first rule to follow when open your account on LinkedIn.com is to use the same user name that you have been using on all other major sites, like Facebook. The ideal is to have your real name as user name. For example I am using robertomazzoni. The second rule is to use the same picture you would be using on Facebook, Twitter and so on. People look for consistency. So when they do a search on your name they should find pretty much the same information everywhere.

Also your bio information must be consistent and updated compared to what you have on other sites, although here it will be expanded much more. Remember, this is a static site, meaning it will not change often. So you’ll have to take the time to develop well your profile the first time and then forget about it for a while.

The completeness of the profile is important. You might not be able to get done with it in just one day, so you have to commit yourself into completing it during the following days. Some general tips to follow.

1. add as many past employers as you can, this will enable more ex-colleagues to find you.

2. create a “Public Profile” with your name (like linkedin.com/in/robertomazzoni) and make sure it is visible by everybody (enable the Full View option into “Edit Public Profile Settings”. This will make it is easier for people to find you on the Web.

3. make sure your professional headline contains as many keywords as you want to use to be found in a search.

4. add a professional photo to your profile (if you don’t have one, get one produced for you)

5. start connecting with current and past colleagues, partners and people you have done business with.

6. leave recommendations for the people you can honestly recommend and they will possibly reciprocate.

This is the plan of action I am following myself. I have been in LinkedIn since February 2004, but only recently I realized the full power of the platform thanks to the advices of my friend and partner Daniele Bogiatto, so I am sharing it with you.

Roberto Mazzoni