Framing Your Online Presence
When I started experimenting with social media to market my commercial real estate services over two years ago I could hear the snickers from my peers and colleagues. In those days there was still an ongoing debate as to whether social media had any value to the commercial real estate professional. While there are still many in CRE that elect not to use social networking tools, today there are far fewer CRE professionals saying that it is a complete waste of time.
I don’t have a social media strategy… I have an on-line strategy!
There is no question I have been a strong proponent of using social networking tools but the heart of the matter is that it’s never been about social media, but rather developing a strong on-line presence and social media plays a key role in that objective.
Why is developing an on-line presence important?
I will answer my question by first asking the question, “What is one of the first things you do before you consider hiring a particular service provider?” When I ask this question the most common answer I get is, “I google them.” I often hear CRE professionals say “my clients are not on social networking sites,” and I counter that statement with, “that is starting to change” and while the C-Suite might not be that visible on Twitter or Facebook, they are on the internet. In fact, 79% of c-level executives conduct 3 searches per day. Do you think they google CRE brokers they are considering doing business with or conduct searches related to commercial real estate?
The Importance of a Blog
A blog by definition is: a Web site on which an individual or group of users record opinions, information, etc. on a regular basis. My blog, The Tenant Advisor serves as the central core or hub of my on-line strategy. When a prospective client googles me or stumbles upon a social media profile, I don’t really want them finding my professional profile on the company website that looks like the thousands and thousands of profiles of other commercial real estate professionals across the country as their sole source of information. I want them going to my personal website that gives a much more in-depth picture of my expertise, experience and knowledge base. I want to differentiate myself from my competition. One of the primary roles of my social networking efforts on sites like Twitter, Facebook & LinkedIn is to create visibility and drive traffic to my blog. Whether you participate on social networking sites or not, the fact remains you are going to get “googled’ as online research becomes increasingly part of the sales process. I choose to frame my on-line presence with the content I desire, rather than depend on the company website and the occasional mention in a on-line newspaper article.
