But I do question whether prospecting using facebook is the most efficient way to prospect. I’m sure everything Brian Brady said is correct, he’s just that kind of a guy! I’m also a one person office and time spent trolling facebook for leads isn’t as quick as calling up expired listings in my area, or working the internet where buyers are looking for homes!
For me, there are just quicker ways of getting calls from interested buyers than slogging through my facebook friends’ friends, tracking down phone numbers and calling them. If there was some clever tool to just get those folks names and numbers (Greg has probably written one), with some sort of a relationship graphic so I have something to chat with them about, count me in on the calling. I don’t mind cold calling. Expired listings are quick to get and easy for me to call. They can be pretty productive too.
I spent some time playing on Ebay’s classifieds today. I’ll tell you how that works out when I know, but being where buyers are looking usually works pretty well for me.
So, I’m not disagreeing with Brian, I’m just wondering, like apparently the Zillow CEO is, if facebook is worth the time. I haven’t found it to be the most productive way to do business prospecting.
“We’ve taken a number of swings at social (networking) that have not paid off. We might have invested less,” said Spencer Rascoff, chief executive of Zillow.com.
His site has some social networking features and some integration with Facebook and Twitter – mostly as a result of following the conventional wisdom that any vertical could benefit from a social emphasis.
What Rascoff discovered, however, was that real estate is one area that truly doesn’t lend itself to social.
“In our category, we have not found it to be a social experience,” he said. “When you’re looking to buy a home, your network is small – it’s you, your spouse, and your real estate agent. You don’t tell your 300 friends, ‘I’m looking at this house.’ And especially in this market, where people are selling homes for prices that they are not that proud of.”
In retrospect, Rascoff said, those early attempts to make Zillow a more social experience distracted the company from things it should have been doing instead. “We might have focused more on mobile earlier. We’ve been in it for 12 months, but maybe we should have been there twelve months earlier.” – WSJ
The founder of Yelp had comments on Foursquare and Groupon in the same article. Facebook prospecting isn’t the path I’ve chosen. Brian’s marketing works great for Brian and he can prove it. Facebook isn’t the only way to skin cats!
Chris Eliopoulos says:
I do not think facebook is a “lead generating machine”.
I found it more of a good past time, to connect with far way people, exchange ideas and get an understating of how life is in different places.
I do not think people in fcebook have any interest to actively participate in business generation. To my experience and from my crowd I don’t see it happening.
I do enjoy spending 30 minutes a day much more than watching TV, or reading the same stupid, stupid, stupid stories in the financial times, or reading about that scam that is called stock market.
I can assure you that the entertainment and relaxing value of doing farmville is far grater than the evening news or commentaries.
Further there is much hype about the social media as a business tool, yet I have not seen any real estate pro attesting to it yet. As a matter of fact most of the broker websites are noneffective and EXTREMELY expensive according to their users.
November 5, 2010 — 4:25 pm
Jim Klein says:
>>>but being where buyers are looking usually works pretty well for me.
Uh-oh; I hope you didn’t let this cat out of the bag. Doesn’t it work better if it’s a secret?
The funny thing is, there appears to be yet another market to whom you can sell, just knowing about these things. You’d think that would create a crowd of competitors, but somehow it never does. They must be looking for something else, I suppose.
Great post, Al. Next you’ll be telling us there are even three people who do things their own way!
November 5, 2010 — 4:34 pm
Brian Brady says:
I can’t disagree with this post. More comments later.
November 5, 2010 — 4:45 pm
Tom Johnson says:
Can we play Blogwars, now?
November 5, 2010 — 4:59 pm
Al Lorenz says:
@Tom I think we’re all getting along fine here. One of the problems that I have Brian may not is I’m in a small town. Lots of my facebook friends are from a long ways out of the area and aren’t likely to be real estate leads for me. Their friends aren’t either.
As I’ve gotten to know the Bloodhounds, it is clearly not a one size fits all group. I would call it more like a million different ways to succeed. They are a clever bunch that all seem to find ways of succeeding. That said, I’ve sure found a bunch of ways to improve by hanging around them and “adopting” things that really work great for me.
November 5, 2010 — 5:39 pm
Rodney Ash says:
Different marketing strokes for different folks. I see Facebook simply as a way to stay connected with people and to share with them what’s going on in your life. When you do this you’re sublimely creating an emotional bond. And by keeping your face front and center, and by participating in their life by commenting, they will remember you when they need real estate services hopefully.
I like to keep my FB post at the following ratio: 75% personal and 25% short little snippets/mentions of my business.
November 6, 2010 — 5:26 am
Jeff Brown says:
Hey Al — If I were a house agent, I might try looking at FB slightly sideways. That is, instead of lookin’ for direct leads, I’d do my best, talking with one friend at a time, to create my own FB army of Billy Grahams. I’d look at them as affiliates, but in a far friendlier way.
November 7, 2010 — 4:38 pm
Brian Brady says:
“I’d do my best, talking with one friend at a time, to create my own FB army of Billy Grahams.”
This is who you are, Jeff. Engage, call, meet, partner, cash checks, repeat
November 7, 2010 — 11:18 pm
Al Lorenz says:
@Jeff That’s a great way to use FB, or almost any social event, as part of business. If you have fun, and the folks you chat with have fun, it isn’t really doing business at all, even though you profit from it in the long run.
November 8, 2010 — 2:17 pm