Voices of Women

I was recently in Las Vegas for Raincamp to share about blogging on ActiveRain. When you see the big casinos post their Twitter addresses on their marquees, you can no longer claim that consumers don’t know about it. But you have to be there to reap the benefits! I did an ActiveRain blogpost on Foursquare. Mashable says big companies are using Foursquare; for instance the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas gives you a free glass of champagne when you check in on Foursquare.

Basically I see it as a way for Realtors® to bring localism to their community. You can prospect with a business owner, increase your social capital and become known in the community. Playing Foursquare versus Farmville (on Facebook) gives you the benefit of supporting your local businesses.

One thing I warn about in my new book is that when you start engaging in cyberspace, you will become a “red-carpet celebrity,” and people will judge you. It’s important for you to take the high road, because if you’re in sales, you have an ego, and when people perceive you as trying to control your competition, egos make it hard.

I decided in the fourth grade I wanted to be a couture designer. I was in 4-H and made all my clothes. I graduated from high school in Colorado a year early and attended the French Fashion Academy in New York. I came back to Colorado State University and got a degree in merchandising and went to work for Macy’s in Kansas City. That corporate experience came in handy. Then I worked at a small, family-owned store in Kansas City before I moved to another store in Denver. I wanted to buy a store, to have my own store, so I started to save up for it. About the time I realized it would take five years just to pay off that debt, one of my mom’s friends told me, “You know, in a good month in real estate, you’d make $10,000. You can sell clothes; well, you can make more money by selling houses.”

Made sense to me. So in 1979, I started working for Moore & Co., a very professional brokerage in Denver with 350 agents. In my local office with 30 agents, only two were women. I’d sit behind the top producer and copy everything he did, and I got Rookie of the Year my first year! I’m a big believer in shadow training.

I currently have my license at Arizona Second Homes LLC.

You need to understand what a Digital Citizen is. For many Realtors who have been in the business for awhile, it’s a challenge, but it’s not an option! Evo Terra [a podcaster and writer based in Arizona – his blog] talks about communication. For example, to communicate with Generation Y, you have to learn how to text. They don’t want to talk with you; they want to communicate digitally.

We are seeing Smartphone now with apps where you point at a house address and click and see all the pictures of the house. Basically everything they (buyers) used to call about. So now they won’t be calling the listing agent, they’ll be calling their Digital Citizen Realtor. So YOU need to be there, be online with those buyers.

Realtors need to blog. When you buy a home, you Google™ the city, the subdivision, the school district – and that’s how they will find you. It’s all about localism. Foursquare works with blogging, and blogging improves your SEO in search engines. (Click here to see Riley’s SlideShare on Facebook, “Using Social Media to Network.”)

The Golden Rule is in the Preamble for the REALTORS® Code of Ethics and in the REALTOR® Pledge, too. In addition, Arizona is officially a Golden Rule state. The ethical principle is in many faiths, and I believe you should consider it before you act or speak. For instance, treat buyers – or sellers – the way you would wish to be treated. That one rule says it all.

There are so many people I’ve gotten inspiration from. I went to every single motivational speaker and will take this one thing from this person and one from this. You can glean something from many different speakers. For instance, I learned at one seminar that for out-of-state leads, you should handwrite a letter to the person and place it in a color envelope. I was once told, “I listed with you because you sent me a handwritten letter.” That’s such a simple idea.

But you can’t be phony. Geographic farming was not my favorite but I loved social farming. I’ve always been a type of social farmer. I’ve gained clients from fun parties and events – that’s why I feel social media opens so many more doors.

You must learn to PRACTICE! Overachiever people want to jump into their underwear two legs at a time. No, you must realize you’re new at this, you must practice social media. For example, on Twitter, follow six people and really watch what they are saying.

Here’s a social media success story for you. A friend of mine on Twitter said she wanted to buy a house. I was in Hawaii for the winter and referred her to someone I knew in Colorado. I also introduced her to a lender I’d reconnected with on Facebook. The buyer closed on a home within 90 days of the first tweet. So watch what’s happening on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to get connected. Read, Think and Reason. Have a plan and don’t just post with a megaphone. Instead, learn to ask, “How can I help?”