Why Your Answer to, “Are You on Facebook?” Will Determine the Fate of Your Business in 10 Years or Sooner
September 27, 2007 |
Brian Brady, contributing to the BloodhoundBlog, shared some information learned from a discussion about marketing to the Wired generation. The panel consisted of college students, and the discussion was moderated by Guy Kawasaki.
Everyone who reads this blog and works in the real estate profession should read, mark, and inwardly digest the information from Brian’s post.
Brian’s final paragraph may be a bit facetious, but he has hit on a critical issue:
Does this mean that the real estate weblog of the future will be written by Paris Hilton on Facebook? If you sell a home to Matt Leinart, you’ll want to make sure your Facebook profile publishes his video endorsement (cross-posted on YouTube). That Facebook profile will need a widget that allows for a text message question so you can provide quick, relevant information.
When I think of the real estate customer of the future, I think of my brother. My brother (another Bryan, with a “y”) is currently a college student at High Point University in North Carolina. He, and just about everyone he knows, has a Facebook profile. For them, Facebook is absolutely critical to the way they communicate and interact with each other and the world at large. I converse with my brother far more through Facebook, text messages, instant messages and email than I do on the phone. He doesn’t use a land-line (neither do I, for that matter). He reads the newspaper, but online and through his RSS reader, not in the paper form. Unlike the students on the panel, he does write a blog (I’ll take a bit of credit for getting him started there). I know he reads a lot of other blogs, too (even that of his big brother, from time to time). He fits right into the demographic of the panel.
The question becomes, how will he find his REALTOR when he needs to buy a home in a few years? This is assuming, of course, that he isn’t buying a home in the Charlottesville area. I hope I know who his REALTOR of choice will be in that situation. I’m willing to bet my bottom dollar that he won’t be trolling the newspaper for REALTOR ads. I’m willing to bet that one of the very first things he will do when he moves to another area is meet people through the Facebook network for that area. I’m willing to bet that the first way he will contact a REALTOR is by email, IM, or text message. The REALTOR that has the most exposure to all of those means of those communication stands the best chance of working with my brother– and the MILLIONS of other prospective customers just like him.
Mark my words– any REALTOR who is not on Facebook will be irrelevant in 10 years, maybe even sooner.
With that said, Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, etc. are just the tip of the iceberg. Those types of social networking sites are still in relative infancy. I am sure that people will come up with all sorts of creative uses for them and even create new networks that are even more effective. For better or worse, all of this technology is creating a “want it yesterday” world. As this trend continues, I think that people’s tolerance for those who aren’t utilizing the technology will go down. It still astonishes me that there are REALTORS out there who aren’t proficient with email. And heck, email is becoming old-fashioned as we speak. The point that I am trying to make is that the Internet is changing the world faster than most people can keep up with. If you are a real estate professional, and you aren’t at least trying to keep up, woe be unto you.
[tags] real estate, realtor, charlottesville, virginia, facebook, myspace, linkedin, guy kawasaki, technology, marketing, web 2.0, social networking, realtorsaurus [/tags]
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18 Responses to “Why Your Answer to, “Are You on Facebook?” Will Determine the Fate of Your Business in 10 Years or Sooner”
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Disclaimer
My name is Daniel Rothamel. I am a licensed real estate agent in the Commonwealth of Virginia and a member of the National Association of REALTORS. As such, I adhere to a strict code of ethics and all laws with regard to equal housing, which is reflected in the content of this blog. My broker is Strong Team REALTORS, 86 Joshua Lane, Palmyra, VA 22963; (434) 589-5800. My VA Real Estate License number is 0225 077325. All of the opinions in this blog are mine, unless otherwise noted.
“Brian’s final paragraph may be a bit facetious, but he has hit on a critical issue”
Not as facetious as you might think. It was a comical statement , but with a real understanding of the gravity of the changes coming.
Thanks for the mention
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Brian,
“comical” is probably a better description.
The link was my pleasure, it is a great post and the issue deserves more attention.
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[...] a similar vein Daniel Rothamel at The Real Estate Zebra has Why Your Answer to, “Are You on Facebook?” Will Determine the Fate of Your Business in 1… Required [...]
“And heck, email is becoming old-fashioned as we speak”
Lord, Yes! They expect me to text them now! I’m all thumbs
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Great post, Daniel. And I agree with you on the “maybe sooner” part. People will be looking for REALTORS and other professionals they can trust, and social networks will be the way they find them. Given what your profession spends for advertising, I can’t imagine why you wouldn’t take advantage of these free services. I appreciate the link, and look forward to hearing about other creative uses people find for these social networking tools.
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[...] your answer? I think Daniel is right when he tells his fellow REALTORS that the fate of their business ten years (or less) from now depends on their answer to this [...]
Lee,
I very much appreciate the comment and the link. Your insights regarding social networking have been quite inspiring to me.
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It seems that most real estate lead sites are content with using predatory online practices to “hook up” buyers/sellers with a Realtor. You know the scheme: “Give us all your personal info, and we’ll find a Realtor FOR you.”
And then the site sells this online lead to the agent that’s the most desperate — not exactly the best agent for the job!
You’re right: I don’t think first-time home buyers are going to fall for this malarkey — they’re more web savvy. And the older generations that are prey for this practice aren’t selling their homes right now.
So what will happen to these old time “Find a Realtor” sites in this harsh market?
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[...] Are You On Facebook? [...]
[...] Are You On Facebook? [...]
I really think its impossible to determine which interface, if any, will be the most prominent in the future. Facebook will evolve over time and shift it’s value proposition along with the changes in the underlying manner in which we use the web. With the advent of AI and a semantic web (oft referred to as Web 3.0), the need to put everything in one place goes away. Everything becomes relational. When you make a query, you will receive not only exactly what you wanted, but just about every truly relevant piece of data and new media associated with it. It will truly the change the face of the real estate listing. Remember when radius searches first came out? IE: Show me all of the elementary schools within 10 miles of a property. Web 3.0 will be that, only on steroids. Just think what that will do to the social network component of things. as well.
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[...] Mortgage fraud, When people get desperate, all bets are off.Daniel Rothamel — Facebook, Why Your Answer to, “Are You on Facebook?” Will Determine the Fate of Your Business in 10 Years …Kelly Roark — Agent 2.0, Agent 2.0: not-so-clever play on ‘Web 2.0’ or the future of real [...]
[...] is this week’s short-list of Odysseus Medal nominees: Daniel Rothamel — Facebook, Why Your Answer to, “Are You on Facebook?” Will Determine the Fate of Your Business in 10 Years …Steve Leung — Hidden factors, Hidden Factors When Calculating a Home’s ValueJeff Brown [...]
[...] In a similar vein Daniel Rothamel at The Real Estate Zebra has Why Your Answer to, “Are You on Facebook?” Will Determine the Fate of Your Business in 1… [...]
Thanks for including those of us who are “at least trying to keep up”! I’m on Facebook and MySpace, but with a new site popping up everyweek, its hard to bet on the next best thing. Is it better to spread yourself thin with a light presence everywhere, or concentrate on the big name sites with in-depth profiles and activities?
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[...] — Real estate 2.0, Real Estate 2.0 and the Phoenix Real Estate Consumer * Daniel Rothamel — Facebook, Why Your Answer to, “Are You on Facebook?” Will Determine the Fate of Your Business in… * Brian Wilson — Redfin, [Redfin] “I coulda been a contender…” * Morgan Brown — Stalling [...]
[...] and trust questions — much better than search engines can. The Real Estate Zebra posts that real estate agents who don’t invest in social media will quickly become irrelevant. The same is true for any service [...]
I suppose I better get a face book account pronto. And to think, not long ago it was rare to own a computer and who knew the internet would be this big. I think my ipod has more memory than my first computer.
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