By VIKTOR CHONG
What comes to mind when you think of social media is Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. With that being said, real estate agents need a more professional platform to make their presence felt in cyberspace.
LinkedIn is one of the largest professional networking sites of today. What you say about yourself and your business on LinkedIn has the potential to attract clients. Here’s how and why real estate agents should consider LinkedIn as their platform.
Use the search function
Unlike Facebook, which provides a basic search function, LinkedIn excels by targeting your connections through a detailed checklist of attributes. Finding for people who could become a potential referral source? No problem. Just tick the relevant attributes as location, keyword, or industries to narrow down the people you are interested to be connected with.
Be professional
Real estate as a field of business requires credibility and reputation. It is highly unlikely that a client would want just about anyone to protect their interest. It involves a huge sum of money with lucrative commissions waiting at the end of the transaction. Whether you are acting in the interest of your client or floating your listing on the market, be professional. LinkedIn cuts through all the nonsense of regular social media and gets directly to the point.
Build an online portfolio
Showcase your talents, achievements and improve credibility through a simple process of touching up your LinkedIn account. Get a professional shot of yourself for the profile photo. Don’t forget to write something in your summary. Keep it sweet and simple. It shouldn’t be too long or too short.
Information needed
- Years of experience in the field
- Educational background and certificates
- Email, address to your real estate website and business number
- Information about your firm
- Awards received (if any)
Your profile background could be enhanced with a prominent banner showcasing your achievements like the number of transactions that you have managed to close and so on. If you are not creative, get someone to design for you.
Follow the leader:
It isn’t necessary to follow every group or community related to real estate. Do some manual filtering by weeding out groups that are inactive or lacking in value (lousy advice or irrelevant post). Join a community that is headed by industrial leaders and prominent members in the field. You could benefit from their coaching. Keep in touch with the newest and most innovative real estate techniques that are currently being implemented. Land and property valuation rises and falls according to governmental projects and other external factors too. Stay in the loop and get the latest information from your online peers.
Provide value
Make sure you are a valuable member of the group. Post relevant questions and give good counsel to the other members of the community. You may never know if the person you are helping out is a good referral who can direct you to some lucrative leads. If your posts provide value to the community, other members in the loop will share it, which allows people in their connection to see it. Your interactions will also raise your credibility. Generate traffic and think long term.
Don’t be shy:
Reach out to prominent members in the field and tell them about the relevance of making a connection together. Just because you don’t know them doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give it a try. If they do not respond, just move on to the next one. Emphasize on the benefits that you can accomplish together or express your desire for counsel.
Slideshare:
A SlideShare will always be more impressive than a couple of articles with words. Use your creativity to put up a PowerPoint-based slide that is informative and representative of your business platform. How about a slide that showcases all your listing? Never forget to process this images in HDR before showcasing them on your SlideShare.
Search engine optimisation
Optimise your profile page by changing your profile URL, which allows others to find you easily on search engines. Note that the numbers at the back make it harder for a search engine to pull up your profile whenever someone is searching for you.
