Having just attended the LeadingRE conference in Las Vegas, I felt compelled to run home and purchase the latest tablet computer from my local Verizon reseller.  This was due to the urgency that all the speakers expressed in the need for the modern real estate salesperson to possess such a gadget in order to communicate effectively with the potential buyer and seller of today.  However, with this technology, is it easier or more difficult to reach out to your perspective customer?

The technology in place today, especially social media, one would have to argue that it is far easier.  All you need to do is to get a device, connect it to the Internet and contribute your thoughts and ideas to the global consciousness.  Then, with the multitudes of users connecting every second of the day, someone is bound to find your contribution and either be influenced by it or not.  It is instant publishing out in the world, whereas in the past, all you could do would be to print something and go through the trouble and expense to distribute it to your sphere of influence.  Now, with the click of a button, your contribution is available to the world.

How does this help you though connect with your future customer?  Does this mean that you need to constantly be writing tidbits about your life for the entire world to consume?  What if you are not a writer?  The answer to this question is no.  In order for social media to work, there has to be contributors as well as listeners.  To be part of the social media scene, you are contributing to this global consciousness simply by listening and posting replies to what others are saying.  Thereby, you are keeping the conversation going and letting the world know you exist.  It is the world’s biggest sign-in book and you are leaving your mark in it whenever you post a reply.  You let everyone know you exist and more importantly, care about them, their ideas or their concerns and interests.

For the real estate agent, this means a couple of things.  Either you are a contributor, posting and writing about things that affect the world around you or your clients or you are an active observer, commenting and replying on posts that have been left by your clients, family and friends.  You can also be both and probably should be.

Perhaps though, this is easier said than done.  Why else was the topic of using social media services such as Facebook and Twitter such a major topic of discussion at the LeadingRE conference?  Using online social media requires tools that allow you to interact with them.  If you are of a certain generation, this might prove to be intimidating; however there is really nothing to be afraid of.  We all know how to put pen to paper and write out a greeting, birthday or anniversary card, this is the same thing except on a computer and a lot quicker and inexpensive.  I don’t recommend that you forget about the art of a written letter, in fact quite the opposite; I just recommend that you use this method to supplement what you are already hopefully doing.

We are all capable of learning new tricks.  Some of us are able to learn on our own, others of us require someone to teach us.  However you find it easiest for you to learn these new tricks, I highly recommend that you do so, and the sooner the better.  If this means teaming up with someone who is more technologically savvy than you, then you should do so.  Likewise, if you are just starting out and are looking for customers, perhaps you can team up with a more experienced agent who may be reluctant to participate in the social medial scene.  Failure to do so will cause opportunities to pass by and you can find yourself irrelevant or extinct like the Dodo bird.  Once you figure out how to implement social media into your daily routine, you may find yourself communicating in ways and with people you never thought possible.  Whole new worlds may open up for you and connect you with long lost friends and family, old clients and colleagues and not to mention all of your current and future customers.