As you know, a lot of Realtors these days are utilizing social networking to get the message out about a home that they are trying to sell on behalf of their client. Consumers are posting their homes on Craig’s list and Zillow in hopes of attracting a buyer. They post the home information week after week on their profiles, but they never seem to get a lead and or inquiry. Shortly thereafter, they abandon the process and tell everyone that social networking didn’t work for them and you know what, they’re right.

The reason they are right is because they are doing it wrong. They have missed the point of the entire platform and how it works. According to Webster’s dictionary, the term “social” means, “of or relating to human society, the interaction of the individual and the group, or the welfare of human beings as members of society.” The key term in that whole thing is interaction. You cannot just post material day after day on social networking sites and never interact with other people. You need to comment on their posts, their home listings, their pictures, their comments, and their games. When you do that, you start a dialogue. The dialogue turns into a conversation and the conversation may turn into a friendship. Once you make friends then you can do deal! I’ll say that again in case you missed it. You need to make friends first and then that gives you the opportunity to do deals like sell a home. If you follow that rule about making friends first, then you’ll finally see results from social networking. This rule applies to any business and not just real estate. 

I was recently consulting a non-profit group on internet and social marketing. They thought that they could spend $1500 a month on internet marketing and see a direct P&L result of say $3000 a month. Social networking doesn’t work that way. It’s not a cash machine where the standard profit and loss balance sheet applies. Here is what I told the nonprofit on what they could expect if they embark on an internet social media campaign: 

“The most likely scenario to see a return on your investment will be in the form of relationships. You will broadcast a message and make yourself known to thousands of people every day (which is 100 times more than what you are doing now with a passive website). Out of that, conversations will happen, relationships are made, databases are formed, and followers ensue. Over time, those relationships will become stronger and leads to visits to the Ranch and that will lead to someone stepping up making a one-time gift donation of say $10,000. Then a second person will step up with a one-time gift and so on and so on.” 

That’s the way social networking makes things happen. So stop posting information about homes; start conversations or provide value added information that start conversations. Make a friend and do a deal. 

Dan Polimino is a Realtor with Fuller Sotheby’s International Realty. He can be reached at DPolimino@fullerproperties.com and www.coloradodreamhouse.com/denverpost 

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More and more realtors, as well as consumers, are using social networking these days as a way to market and sell properties. I am sure that by now, you have heard about Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, MySpace, Foursquare, and many others.

For most consumers as well as realtors, it can be overwhelming as well as confusing, but it is a must in going forward if you are buying and selling homes in this web 2.0 real estate world. It’s not enough just to have a profile on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. You need to know how to leverage it, use it for marketing, and drive traffic. In the case of Twitter, people have to first learn the Twitter language before they can effectively use it and use it well. Most of all, once you have all of these profiles, you must have a marketing strategy on how to use them. Here is what I do and this may work for you as well.

I spend 15 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes at night on social networking and I follow this simple formula: 

1. I make three comments on other people’s posts in Facebook.

2. I check my twitter account and reply to any @ mentions and direct messages. I then re-tweet three items of interest.

3. On Linkedin, I post my status update (connect that with twitter), respond to any messages in my inbox, check my groups, and comment on one discussion.

4. Last but not least, I open up Hootsuite, share three links on twitter (scheduled two hours part) and share three links on Facebook (scheduled two hours apart).

5. I repeat the exact method above later that night.

Move fast; you don’t need to get bogged down in social networking and have it take away time from all the other things you need to do. Remember that the majority of people are finding out about homes for sale through the internet and that’s why this is so important. Do not use this as your sole method for selling a home, but use it to compliment the other activities that you are already doing.

Dan Polimino is a Realtor with Fuller Sotheby’s International Realty. He can be reached at DPolimino@fullerproperties.com and www.coloradodreamhouse.com/denverpost

Many more people know me as a marketing guru rather than a real estate agent and most of the emails I get are usually asking for marketing ideas or advice. As you know from time to time, I like to share novel marketing ideas here to help people buy and sell homes.

Today, I want to share with you an idea that I bet you haven’t thought of to market the sale of your home. It’s the website called Flickr. Some of you may already know it as a place to share photographs, which it is; but did you know that you can also sell a home from it? The premise behind Flickr is sharing photos of your life with your friends, family, and the world. You can post pictures of your kids for grandma to see or for people in India to see. So why not share pictures of your home? After all, the number one thing that people ask for when searching for a home is, “What does it look like?” So we send them pictures.

Anyone can create a Flickr account for free and upload pictures of their home. Then you can send out invites to your friends and family, asking them to take a look at the album of photos. You can also ask them to forward your email and link to their friends who may be looking for a home. You could also join a group. Just type in the word “real estate” and 768 groups that you could join pop up. Then send information to your groups about the photo album of your home. Remember to always give people a URL or link to click back from Flickr for more information. If they like the pictures that they see, you need to send them back to a website to get more information or to contact you.

As an example of how to do this, check out my flickrpage at http://www.flickr.com/photos/35522179@N03/sets don’t get me wrong, this is not the be-all and end-all of marketing your home. It should just be another tool in your overall internet marketing plan.

Dan Polimino is a Realtor with Fuller Sotheby’s International Realty. He can be reached at DPolimino@fullerproperties.com and www.coloradodreamhouse.com/denverpost

Ok, for the last several years, you have been hearing about real estate being marketed via social media, blogging, video web portals, and syndication. You know it exists, you know people are doing it, but you’re unsure whether or not it produces results.

The answer is yes, it can produce results, but are there some rules for doing it right and doing it well?

1. Blogging – this is writing about a home, area, neighborhood, or agent services. Three simples rules for blogging with effectiveness:

a. You must do it at least three times a week, anything less will not produce results so don’t bother.

b. Its best if it is an original content not copied or linked from another site.

c. You must set up an effective network of places to post your information like other blogs, RSS feeds, and real estate web portals.

2. Social media – yes, you should talk about homes for sale on social networking sites. If you had a home for sale, you would tell all your friends about it. That’s called word of mouth. Putting this same information all over social networking sites is no different; it’s spreading the news to many more people much more quickly. Three simple rules here:

a. Be careful not to post the same information too much every week. Telling your friends three times a week you that need to sell your home will get you knocked off their friends list.

b. Make sure that you include a link back to a website where people can get more information.

c. Again, make sure that you have set up a network and are utilizing as many social sites as possible.

3. Syndication - this is a process of taking listing information and placing it all over internet real estate related websites. Two simple rules here:

a. Make sure that you know where that information is being placed.

b. Make sure that you check it often to ensure that it’s being displayed correctly.

Finally, it is imperative that if you decide to market on the internet, you stay married to the process. Trying this stuff for a month and hoping for results won’t work. You must be faithful to all of these practices day in and day out for at least a year to two years to see results.

Dan Polimino is a Realtor with Fuller Sotheby’s International Realty. He can be reached at DPolimino@fullerproperties.com and www.coloradodreamhouse.com/denverpost

Lately, we (realtors) have the unenviable task of being the bearers of bad news. It seems more than ever we are having conversations with people about what the market is telling us regarding the price of their home, or we are talking to sellers about lowering the price of their property. As expected and given the recession, rarely is it good or welcomed news. I know that a lot of home owners believe that there is a course in real estate school wherein the first thing an agent is taught is to recite the following sentence, “We need to lower the price.” Trust us, that is the last conversation we want to have with any client. It’s not fun for us and it’s not fun for you, but to use a cliché, “It is what it is!”

It’s important to keep in mind that one of our main jobs is to decipher and interpret the market data. These days, the data is fairly well encrypted and a good agent will be able to pinpoint where the buyers are, how many, what they are buying, why and how you can stay ahead of the curve. We find too many people who are trying to chase the market down. This is bad strategy and you know what I mean. “I’ll start a little higher than what the agent suggested because I can always come down.” That’s chasing the market down and a buyer can see that strategy from a mile away. Buyers today are so smart and savvy, it’s unlikely that you are going to outwit or out strategize them. They have done their home work, have seen dozens of properties, and know exactly what they can buy for their money. It means that they know the market better than you do.

The number one phrase of out every buyer’s mouth these days is “I want a deal.” Forget the days of “Does the home fit their needs or do they like it?” because that’s out the window. It’s all about the deal, so sellers get ahead of the curve. Be significantly better priced than all of your competition. Make it so that when a buyer walks in, the first words out their mouth is “Wow this is a value.”

Dan Polimino is a Realtor with Fuller Sotheby’s International Realty. He can be reached at DPolimino@fullerproperties.com and www.CoDreamHouse.com