Getting Down to Business with Social Media

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Commentary by Israel Rothman

RISMEDIA, May 7, 2008-Everyone is shuffling to get on top of Google for real estate searches-and it is getting harder and harder to do. A simple “I am a Realtor, too” website not only cannot rank on the first page organic results no matter what is done offsite or onsite, it would also do no good if it did-afterall, no one is looking for that kind of website.

Unless you are trying to reach other Realtors, you must come up under hundreds or thousands of words including zip codes, street names, neighborhoods, schools, demographics, and, yes, city, state, real estate, and other combos.

Fortunately, that can be done by way of social media marketing.

Ranae Stewart, an Exit Realtor with nearly 200 agents, took over an empty bank building to house her agents in Pensacola, Florida during one of the toughest real estate markets ever in that area, is getting serious.

To do this, Exit Realty is positioning itself as a local news source. The company allows its agents to establish themselves by providing local news by way of community blogs (see http://floridacommunitynews.info/) which will create a local community social media hub to target a local market by providing a service online.

These multi-user Wordpress blogs allow the broker to provide a full-blown social media website to each agent so they can target niche market by reaching out into the community and listing resources, businesses, parks, recreation and attractions for the potential buyer who is researching demographics and other information online anticipating or considering a relocation move.

“By adding a user, we add a whole new website for an agent or agent team, and/or for a local business we want to do business with,” says Stewart.

Stewart will get results due to the sheer volume of locally oriented activity at such a site, and, while it is no small job to get such a venture off the ground, the rewards can be substantial. This type of website “portal” sells for an average of 27 times earnings if it is successful, and it only takes one real estate transaction per year to cover the modest budget required.

By providing an effective online marketing strategy to recruits for free, she can help to make up for a tough market, and get the best of the best recruiting from other brokerages.

For more information, visit http://socialmediasystems.com/05/02/multi-user-wordpress-with-bbpress-forums-social-media-marketing/.

RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com.

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Discussion Forum

Topic	Posts	Last Poster
Role of realtor in real estate business	1	RomiSam11
My Space Page?	3	JoeCline
A Listing and $2.00 will get you on the subway!	3	JoeCline
Why is acknowledging a recession a good thing???	2	JoeCline
Online bidding for all Realtors	2	JoeCline
Yeah Right ,You Can Always Refinance	2	JoeCline
Going Green Today?	4	JoeCline
"I'm not going to give my house away."	14	garyods
Real Estate 101 - What Is A Short Sale?	3	yxvayns
New Agent:Getting Started in RE in S. Florida - Advice?	29	DMonette

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