By Bobbie Nelson

If you haven’t done so already, you should log in to WCR.org today and take advantage of Women’s Council’s Member Expertise Profile. There are many benefits to highlighting your areas of expertise through your profile. And when you Log In as a Women's Council member, you see many more expertise fields than are viewable by general Web visitors.

First and foremost, it is a great, free benefit of your Women’s Council membership that will highlight your best assets. As Sandy McAlister, of McAlister Properties LLC, in Stuart, FL, puts it, “I do believe that our Member Expertise Profile is one of our biggest benefits as members.”

It is easy to go online and populate your expertise fields. In your profile, in addition to the city of your business address, you are able to specify an additional five cities that you serve—a big “plus” of the Women’s Council Web site compared to other networking sites. So, site visitors will be able to locate you from six different city searches, rather than just your business address.

You can add your color photo to your listing for a low annual cost, and it will also appear in up to six cities in the member search. This will be an increasingly important feature for members who use the site for sending referrals, as WCR.org becomes our official membership directory.

Another great benefit of using WCR.org for connecting with members is that all the information located on the site can be kept up-to-the-minute and is self managed. In other words, you submit your own information online, and it is updated instantly.

In your areas of expertise, you can tell other members about your interests and specialties in your own words. "When sending referrals, I try to match up a REALTOR® who has the same interests or life experience with my relocation client and vice versa. It's a wonderful tool," says Robyn Link, of Windermere Olympia REALTORS® in Olympia, WA.

And the benefits go beyond referrals and business contacts to opportunities for organization appointments and more. “It’s a great resource for Women’s Council leaders to find chairman and committee members based on expertise and/or interest,” according to Tim Kinzler, of Coldwell Banker Real Estate Inc, in Delray Beach, FL.

The site is great for social networking as well, and provides a way to stay on top of what is happening in areas outside your own “I have met some great agents and enjoy hearing about what their real estate world is like,” says Karen Stone, of ERA Advantage in Logan, UT.

Of course, the way to get more business connections is to start by sending an outgoing referral. “My clients are moving to another city and wanted to start getting information on homes in that area. So, I searched for a WCR REALTOR® in the area, and I contacted the REALTOR®. It was such an easy process, and I feel confident that they will be well taken care of,” says Tish Narendorf of RE/MAX West Houston in Houston, TX.

So before you leave the WCR.org site today, make sure your profile is up-to date, and check out our new promotional opportunities with cost-effective Banner Ads to get more exposure and generate more referrals for your business.

This article was developed by the Member Network Strategic Forum. Bobbie Nelson, CRS, GRI, PMN, SRES, is Chairperson of the Member Network Steering Committee.