Social Networking

What is Social Networking?

You’ve heard the term but what is social networking? Popular sites like MySpace, Facebook and LinkedIn are examples of social networking - people meeting online. But don’t think you have to be a teen or technically astute to reap the benefits of social networking. Quite frankly, I stretch the definition of what is social networking. It’s not about the Internet and websites; it only serves as a connector where people meet.

For real estate agents and mortgage brokers, social networking is about increasing your number of friends. Whether online or offline, social networking means sharing your expertise, growing your reputation and building a vast network. There’s a strong correlation between the size of your network and the depth of your bank account.

Social Networking Sparks Sales and Cuts Expenses

When you’re in a service industry, such as real estate and finance, using a sales approach shortens your professional life span. Too many real estate agents spend their resources hunting for the next sale when longevity comes from nurturing relationships; you get constant referrals and repeat business while advertising expenses are deferred. It’s the epitome of working less to earn more.

You can achieve it by way of changing your approach. Unlike hunting where agents spend exorbitant amounts of money to get leads, like direct advertising, radio spots and even TV commercials, you let prospects find you.

Think about your most valuable clients. Did they come from advertising or from word-of-mouth? Did they come from something you did or did they find you through someone? Chances are your best clients discovered you.

How to Get Discovered

How do prospects find you? From networking. Even if they didn’t know there was a particular name for it; they found you through people. What does social networking have to do with it? It’s a fundamental change in your business for getting more clients. Stop advertising and start networking. People are more comfortable meeting you if they discover you first.

Joining a social networking website can be a place to start. You can experience first hand what is social networking by joining Zillow and Trulia; excellent real estate networking sites. Broker Outpost is a good mortgage broker networking site and Active Rain and Wanna Network are good peer-to-peer networking sites.

Once you’re networking with peers and prospect, it’s how you connect with members of a community and nurture relationships to produce a constant flow of referrals - the best outcome for what is social networking.