By Saul Klein
View Comments

When we first were introduced to e-mail, many professionals were skeptical that it would ever be of any value beyond sending jokes to friends. We have since learned of the business power of e-mail. The same holds true for social networking.

Social networking is a term given to networking online using what we generally refer to as Web 2.0-type technologies. The Internet did not create social networking. Social networking has been around as long as there have been people on earth; only, until recently, we just referred to it as networking.

So the first point to understand is that, simply, social networking is an augmentation to pre-existing methods of networking. The medium itself has been augmented to include the Internet in general and the Web specifically.

Real estate sales is both a people business and a networking business. The greatest tool to facilitate human interaction (networking) is the Internet. Therefore, REALTORS® must learn how to extend their networking efforts in this additional environment.

The Work of a Salesperson

Sales involves:

• Establishing rapport.
• Building trust and confidence.
• Closing the deal and getting referrals.

Establishing rapport takes time and effort. Over your lifetime, you have built rapport with many people with whom you have subsequently lost contact. Social media allows you to re-establish communications with people you knew in "another life," who may yet need to buy or sell a house. And if you have re-established contact, you have the potential to win that listing. Using the tools of social networking, staying in touch is much easier than in days gone by.

Adopting the Internet

The Internet environment was not invented for the real estate industry. The industry must therefore learn how to integrate the capabilities of today’s social networking functionality into the prospecting, home buying and home selling process. Much like the early skeptics of e-mail’s value to their businesses, who now appreciate the convenience of e-mail in conducting business daily, real estate professionals will soon learn how to adopt social networking for the prosperity of their businesses.

Many are selling REALTORS® a "bill of goods" based on the hype around social networking. It is not about social networking for real estate sales. It is about social networking because that is what people do – they network. Social networking allows REALTORS® to remain in the "center of the conversation" about real estate.

The systems on how to maximize the time one spends online will come in time. Some ask: "When will I have time to do this?" It is a matter of priorities. Don’t watch CSI or Desperate Housewives, and you will have a few extra hours a week.

Have you ever known a REALTOR® who goes to the same community lunch every month for 20 years and never got a listing or a buyer from the group? Yet they keep going back. Much of one’s prospecting efforts are fruitless. Eliminate the fruitless, and experiment with social media.

Learn the Ropes

Check out NAR's new online course, "Web 2.0 & Social Media." For more information, click here. To register, click here.

Saul Klein, the real estate industry’s first "Internet Evangelist," was selected by NAR as one of the "25 Most Influential People in the Real Estate Industry" in 2003 and one of the "100 Most Influential Real Estate People" by Inman News in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009. He is one of the creators of RealTown and many long-standing real estate communities. He is the CEO of InternetCrusade® and Point2 Technologies, splitting his time between both companies. InternetCrusade® is a technology solution provider and creator of both the content and the technology delivery platform for NAR’s e-PRO® certification.