I’m taking a much enjoyed and disputably well deserved rest at the beach this month. Its been pretty relaxing too! Whilst I’ve been resting in prep for 2012 I’ve spent a fair bit of time conversing with people who I have quite a bit of time and much respect for. One of those peeps is Imogen Brown. Imogen is a Home Stager located in Brisbane’s West. Imogen shares great information with consumers via her Twitter account and via her blog. I confess to being an avid follower and despite my former 30 year life as a Real Estate Agent I still find her tips and services great.
I met Imogen at the recent REBarcamp in Brisbane. She’s a smart lady offering a great service and in my view has a good grip on the effective use of social media in business. She also kindly agreed to be a guest contributor to my blog this month and to share some of her thoughts. Thanks Imogen.
Over to You!…
Imogen Brown - @HomeStagingBris
I wrote a blog post (http://homestagingbrisbane.wordpress.com/2011/09/05/real-estate-agents-some-social-media-food-for-thought/ )
a while ago about the very low percentage of real estate agents using social media (under 5% on Facebook and Twitter in Brisbane’s West) I wrote that “I’m mystified by the figures…Agents are known for their ability to network - to meet new people & get word of mouth introductions to win those listings. Yet they are missing out on the easiest, cheapest and most rewarding ways of doing this – through social media.”
I hypothesised that agents lacked the why or motivation to use social media or that they were fearful of change. Although I didn’t say it, my assumption was that they were a bit complacent or lets just come out and say it – lazy.
A couple of conversations and observations at the excellent ReBarCamp unconference in Brisbane recently have shifted my perspective on why many agents are not using social media or are signing up but then not continuing.
First my observations: I think that there is a tendency for people who ‘get’ social media to become evangelistic about it – a kind of “I’ve seen the light, I pity you for not seeing it too.” Like golfers or gym junkies it’s all they talk about. These same people also tend to enjoy the technical side of social media so their conversation is peppered with stats and terms that mean nothing to most people. There is also a competitive element (they are salespeople after all!) They ‘boast’ about page hits, and followers and subscribers. This evangelism is very damaging to those who are dipping their toe into social media.
Which leads me onto my conversations. I had a couple of similar conversations with 2 women agents at the conference. They were successful agents who were hearing a lot about social media and their colleagues were telling them not to miss the boat. They’d come to the conference to see what it was all about. Within minutes they were completely floundering as the evangelists mentioned above held court. They would have come away thinking “it’s too difficult” or “it’s not for me”
Social Media is NOT an exclusive club or a competition. It’s just connecting and talking to people. There is no mystery once new adopters are given the time and space to learn the ropes. Let’s stop telling our colleagues they should be using social media and just simply help them (not baffle them) get started.
Imogen Brown is a Home Stager based in the Western Suburbs of Brisbane
Connect with her through her website www.homestagingbrisbane.com, blog www.homestagingbrisbane.wordpress.com or on twitter @homestagingbris or facebook/homestagingbrisbane
Thanks Imogen. An interesting view I think. Personally I agree. In the real estate industry over time I think we’ve managed to take a relatively simple task of (‘finding a seller, finding a buyer, and putting them together’) and added multiple layers of crap that have confused it like crazy!! I think many in the social media world run the risk of doing the same. The behaviours are pretty simple. ‘Show me you care. Show me you have knowledge and Prove to me that I can trust you’. Do these things and we’re quite likely going to do some business.
Do you have any thoughts on Imogen’s guest post? Is she on the money? Do you get baffled with social media hype? What would help you get started in ‘social’ if you’re not ? Or if you are, what’s your suggestion for anyone starting out? Leave Imogen a comment below!
