Awww, REO, thank you. And if I were in Dayton looking for stuff, you know who I'd call.

Im showing up with my beer in hand and we can sit down and do a Little House On The Prarie marathon. We don't have to go anywhere, Im cheap entertainment!

Sounds like a plan to me!!! LOL

I recently read where all the ex-photograhers around where I live turn to real estate when photography isn't cutting it. Now on the FBook issue, I see it as a catch-22. I feel we can become overexposed to people. I recently gutted my FB friends list, 85 of them were probably area agents that I did not know, may not ever talk to, and really had nothing in common, so I axed them, and I haven't been missed at all, LoL...

But I have read some good tips on here, and I have throttling back in my use of Fbook for awhile. But I have to admit most of my biz come from internet websites I peruse...

I friended a fellow agent in town since I knew he might have a certain type of property a client was looking for. It was a rental so FB was a better way to go than the MLS.

He has well over 3000 FB friends. Around 6 times a day I get a status update about how busy he is and which meetings he is going to and what contract he is getting signatures on and what home inspection item he is negotiating. It is pretty annoying.

And he pimps his daughter. By that I mean this. From what I gather he and the girls mom are split. I guess he has some type of shared custody. So arrivals and departures are well covered and their activities are plastered all over. It seems very over done.

I think the FB Hype will fade for sure. It may grow more first, but it will ebb eventually.

You can use it now and benefit from it. But you can survive w/out it.

I still do not have a website. I do have a blog, but no personal website.

It's a relief to hear from other agents, who are doing well in the industry, that facebook is not the end-all-be-all for generating clients the facebook mania-hype would have you believe...and that other realtors get sick of realtor friends posting constant realestate rhetoric type status updates.

I rarely use FB for marketing. I do have a website and blog but facebook is hardly ever used. Perhaps I should incorporate it more into my marketing plan but I just want people to see me for myself on there and not as a salesman.

You asked:


I think the answer to that is no. People will use the person that they feel is most qualified to handle their house and facebook, friendly or family connections will have virtually nothing to do with it. A strong recommendation of competency from a friend or family member will carry some weight.

When you are new in the business you have to face the fact that frequently friends won't use you. Making friendship contingent on people using you is pretty shallow. Initially they don't think you have the skills yet, and later they could have a whole host of reasons. Privacy about their finances, fear of losing a friend if they had to fire you, rules about mixing business w/pleasure, or perceptions that another agent is the neighborhood expert, are all reasons why they might not want to do business with you.

Hey Karen,

I saw that you said you had your blog and website separate, but that you were changing it to combine the two. I have a friend in Southern CA that has multiple websites and blogs, all separate and therefor backlinking to his main site. He gets quite a few closings this way. What are your thoughts on that? Also, he likes to post lots NOD's on Zillow and Trulia, that he gets from REAList or Foreclosure radar, and gets quite a few closed sales that way. Do you know anything about that?

Facebook should be just one piece of the puzzle. Many other web marketing strategies should be done as well.