According to the National Association of Realtors, in 2018, 51% of home sales started online. Whether you like it or not, your internet and social media presence have a massive importance.
That means in this era, a lot of your networking and referrals will come from online sources.
Take advantage of your online power by using tools to increase your real estate networking online.
Managing each social media platform can be a lot of work. However, you shouldn't just use social media for leads or listings. While social media can be a great benefit to your networking, there are lesser-known applications worth exploring, just to network with other agents.
None of these are exclusive to real estate, but each serves a worthwhile purpose. Agents are always looking to connect with each other for referrals and other business, and these apps can make it easier to do so.
Meeteor
This app is great for new agents or agents who are new to a town or area. At first, Meeteor will ask you your networking goals.
It’s for all industries — but is tailored to each one. So it’ll ask which industry you are looking to connect with and what skills you are looking for in your professional contacts. This could work well if you are searching for buyer’s agents.
Then, the application will use your Linkedin and Facebook profiles to find mutual connections. So if one of your friends on Facebook has a relevant connection, Meteor will make the introduction for you. It won’t be awkward since the app will explain the connection.
Meeteor can also recommend connections with professionals in your field and sort them in order of importance.
Bizzabo
Bizzabo focuses on events and conferences that you may attend. Real Estate conferences can be fast-paced. Most agents go with the goal of networking but fall well short of their goals.
First, the app will help you schedule and plan out the conference and prioritize what events to attend. Most importantly, it can connect with your Linkedin and find other attendees to the conference that you would benefit from meeting.
You can even connect with them before the conference starts. This gives you a head start on networking. While you’re there, the app can keep a database of the contacts you make at the event, as well.
Social Mention
This tool lets you monitor if your name is mentioned on the internet and how it's being used. You don’t need to spend a lot of time searching for your name, but you should check it every month or so.
How you are talked about or rated on the internet is an important aspect of your job. Use this to keep tabs on it. Social Mention keeps track of over 100 different platforms and websites. You can set it up to email you every time you are mentioned, as well.
Nextdoor
The first thing you do when you sign up for Nextdoor is verify you live at your address. They’ll mail you a code to enter as the final step of setting up your account.
That’s because this app is a private social media community for each neighborhood. You’ll automatically be connected to your neighbors.
It’s a great place to let them know you’re a Realtor. You can post any relevant real estate content you have or even any community information.
LinkedIn Sales Navigator
This is an extension that gets information for anyone that emails you. It gives you insights every time you send or receive an email.
You can see information about the people on Linkedin you're emailing. The extension will mention icebreakers you can use. Those take into account things like mutual connections, mutual experiences and mutual interest you can use to build a connection.
This works great with cold or warm leads.
Hootsuite
Social media and networking can be time-consuming. Hootsuite is designed to dramatically cut that time down. It lets you schedule, manage and track all of your social media platforms in one place.
All you need to do to post on Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter at once is to hit one button from on their app. It lays out simple dashboards, as well, making it easier than ever to track your social media impact or even ROI if you are spending money on ads.
Bit.ly
This URL shortener tracks the clicks and time spent on the URL page from that click. This is important when you have a really long link that clogs up space on social media.
People are going to be a lot more willing to click on a cleaned up link. The best part is that it tracks each individual link. You can have a specific link on your Facebook page and another on Linkedin and see which platform gets more clicks.
Your click rate is one of the best ways to measure your success on different social media platforms.
Having an inactive profile on any social media platform will sabotage your networking efforts.
The benefits of social media take time to establish. Don’t give up on building your Linkedin network too early. No one will connect with an inactive profile.
You have to commit to the long-term. Clients, other agents and potential referral sources want to see your recent activity when you reach out to connect with them.
Plan ahead with the tools we talked about.
It’s easiest to schedule your posts throughout the week on Monday or Sunday. Hootsuite is the app for this. But there are plenty of apps that do this.
Instead of spending an hour or so a day doing this, do it all at once and save that much time.
All of these applications are free and simple to use. You know how important it is to have a big network of connections in this business. These apps will save you time and effort.
Managing this many networking tools and apps can be time-consuming. Consider hiring a virtual assistant to take care of the bulk of the work. Our book teaches you how to build a business that runs without you! Get your copy today!
Joe Nickelson is a real estate professional dedicated to helping home buyers and sellers achieve their dreams of owning property, and helping real estate agents stop using the sometimes-vicious tactics that weigh on their consciences. He believes that the Smart Agents books will, quite literally, change people’s lives for the better. Check out his full bio here!
