Thanks for giving the tip on where to find Twitter advance search because I couldn't find it anywhere.
I thought it would be interesting to see if I could find any buyers or sellers in Encinitas that were on Twitter. So I tried the following exact phrases:
- buying a home in Encinitas
- selling a home in Encinitas
- homeowner looking for Realtor
- homeowner looking for real estate agent
I didn't have any results with "this exact phrase", so I next decided to use the "all of these words" field with "buying a home (Encinitas, CA) and the results were real estate companies in the area and no actual buyers.
Time to move away from the idea of finding home buyers or sellers through twitter.
So what could I use Twitter for.... finding what other Realtors are doing, find possible strategic partners or not bother with Twitter?
Next search went to finding realtors in the area. I tried to different searches:
- "Real estate agent"and used location of Encinitas, CA and didn't have the best results.
- "Encinitas Realtor" gave me some agents that I knew and chose to follow.
Next I decided to see what I would find for a lender by using the following phrases:
- Encinitas lender
- lenders in Encinitas
I found more real estate agents but no lenders!
Obviously, I am not using the search function to obtain useful information.
It is amazing how much time I can spend on the social media sites while doing my homework. I start on one task.... find two or three competitors and see how they are using visual social media and end up going from one site to the next!
I have found some great examples of what I would like to implement in the next 12 months.
1. Using video on my blog and YouTube for community information and properties I'm selling or viewing. Jim Klinge's blog shows the amateur and inexpensive way to do this that I like.
2. Using video on YouTube to give information and explanations in the buying and selling process for my clients. Diane Cardano is an expert using video for everything in her business... including a site for her Raving Fans.
3. Until I saw Cardano Realtors on Pinterest, I couldn't see any value in using it for my business. Now I will.
What is interesting is how many real estate agents have used video on YouTube but not consistently.... and how a few have many videos, yet they haven't been successful. Maybe spending too much time on social media?
I read the lecture "Get Visual - Let a Picture Tell the Story" and viewed the 4 blog posts on YouTube, Instagram, Tumblr and Pinterest and probably learned the most from the lecture with regards to how I will use visual social media in my real estate business.
In the lecture, I found several great tips to use when I implement visual social media:
- Add a call to action at the end of each video... the url to drive traffic to your website.
- They have to show their service being used, or find a visual that the viewer can easily connect to the service.
- YouTube is a great place to showcase behind-the-scenes information.
- Create short videos to share tips for your clients.
As for the 4 blog posts on each visual social media website, I did learn more about what each has to offer and realized that YouTube would be the one I would use to show properties I'm selling, to give real estate information and tips for my clients.
Pinterest is fun and I used some of the photos in my blogs or Facebook; however, it is not the best use of my time. The other two are not of interest for the same reason.
Again, I am enjoying this class because I'm required to learn about the various aspects of social media and determine which are best for my business. I'm becoming less overwhelmed each week!
Okay, I scheduled a few posts for this coming week and want to analyze what will increase the reach and engagement on my business page.
Last week I posted a photo of unusual architectural design for a condominium complex and received 65 views and 3 engagement. Time to continue the experiment.
