Earlier today, I wrote a post entitled How Open Things Are Going to Get...Calculating The Value of Social Networks. Clearly, there are significant emerging developments ahead for 2008. We are re-working the the essential nature of customer service on line.
And while the winners are not yet clearly identified, one thing is certain...the rules of engagement are not going to be business as usual. In fact our nascent efforts might best be remembered as the rudimenary initiators of Business Unusual.
A couple of comments on the post by Linda Scanlan and Elaine Hanson illustrate how difficult social networks are to keep up with. Even as they seem to be popping up everywhere...the chaos/noise factor threatens to undermine their potential effectiveness. Not unlike the thousands of groups on Active Rain. I daresay, many of us couldn't name all the groups we have chosen to belong to if we were put on the spot or even awarded Extra Point.:)
While many have a presence on more than one platform and/or group, I doubt that most actively employed professionals have the time or energy to engage all of them effectively. Rather we tend to struggle with the demands of being engaged in community AND creating content.
I think the biggest benefit of blogging has come from creating connections which would probably not have occurred without the platforms provided by Web 2.0 platforms. This capability through a blog has the potential for expanding the scope of an individual agent's business dramatically. Many of us have served clients this year whom we would never have met apart from our blogs.
But, what if every account/blog/post/social media account... could be linked universally to one entity...YOU? And YOU decided where content would go, when. And from One Place, not having to log into multiple dozens of sites? Think of it this way...The Relationship between the main Active Rain website and Localism expanded to an entire network of sites...indeed the entire web! How might this impact your reach and potential scope of profits from your services?
In a relatively short span of time, blogging is re-arranging the landscape of real estate community relationships. For one thing, it's bringing people together. It's also creating new ways of thinking about how we organize, share and export knowledge.
This year, several seminars were held in Grand Rapids, Michigan which were attended by just shy of a couple hundred individuals from different companies across the professional real estate spectrum. Hundreds of agents in Kent County have joined the Active Rain network alone.
Its been great to see more agents discover an effective way to educate clients as well as share and receive knowledge to expand their individual business. In addition, for the first time in my career, it's been possible to get to know agents from across the country...and have an additional basis beyond cryptic initials to judge their competence. The blogging platform on Active Rain is creating a receptive environment in which who you are is far more important than what company you belong to. That's A Huge Shift and is a Very Big Deal!
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Lola Audu, is the Designated Broker & Owner of Audu Real Estate. Our company specializes in helping people buy and sell homes in the greater Grand Rapids, West Michigan area. We've had the privilege of helping hundreds of clients succeed in their goals of purchasing and selling property including demonstrated success in the negotiation of Short Sale Transactions. You can contact us via e-mail @ info@auduhomes.com or by phone at 616-791-0511.
I like that idea. Hit submit and decide where to send it.
Until then...I would just be happy to be able reply to comments via e-mail form!
Good stuff. =]
This is an intriguing idea. I really think I like it.
I haven't read the Canter article that you mentioned in the earlier post, Lola, but do plan to. The social networking craze is expanding in leaps and bounds...and one does wonder about the value of being networked, to what extent, where, and so on.
And what of the value of networking with fellow agents (which IS what we are doing on these sites) vs. consumers? Is our presence there actually providing value to consumers? Will it potentially impact our business through increased web presence? Are we wasting time with all the applications there are to play with, especially on Facebook? What IS the best use of our limited time on these networks?
Lots of questions but no qnswer yet. I suspect 2008 will be a time of much discussion and evolution in the social netowrking arena.
Jeff
Jeff, these are the questions we need to be thinking about. As great as blogging is...if it is not making sense as a prospecting tool or is too cumbersome, it's definitely not worth the time invested. I was talking to a blogger today about how she found one of my articles. I had written it several months ago and had actually forgotten the specific post she referred to. It was interesting to see that this information has "reach" long after it is first published.
I don't think this is a waste of time if it is done well...however, because of the "reach" and extraordinarily long shelf life, it can be damaging if done poorly. Sally Cheeseman wrote an interesting article about this on her latest post. Thanks for stopping to read and comment. Canter's article was a little intimidating to read as it is more technical, but I'm glad I did some additional research. He has some very interesting insights on his vision of the future of the web.
Lola, I don't think you're dreaming, I believe it is feasible. Look at VFlyer. You create your flyer, hit one button and with the exception of Craigslist your flyer gets posted in many places.
ActiveRain by far is the nicest platform I have seen for blogging. The Localism side of it is underused in my opinion, and could take off nicely if more people were aware of it and put it into their "must do" items of marketing. Posting to Localism and having a choice as to it being sent out to other sites/platforms would be awesome.
Lola, I read and reread your post and I still don't have a clue what you mean. As usual I read this post before your other one. I will go read that one. If I'm still lost I'll let you know.
Bill Roberts
Lola,
The potential for something rather big could be achieved with a central hub of one's blogs, websites etc. It seemingly would require a lot of time to maintain the network, so another person probably would be needed to handle that. The concept sounds intriguing.
Lola...
I have a little secret to share with you. Shhh. Don't tell Blog Boy I told you :)
Because of all of the relationships we have developed we are no longer just giving away our referrals
We are actually doing referrals like everyone else.
As it turns out all those little itsy bitsy checks really add up at the end of the month :)
TLW...ROAR!
Lola - I thought the purpose of all this technology was to give me more time for the fun stuff.
Anyway it is true that the blogging platform is making name brand companies less important. People are more likely now to do business with the people thay have developed relationships with on the social networks.