Townizen

Social Networking - A Vehicle to Generate Leads?

As entrepreneurs and self employed professionals, sometimes the first thing we think when adopting a new technology is, "how are we going to get new leads from using this technology?" ...or "how is spending 30 minutes a day tinkering with Social Networks going to generate X amount of new business?" With Social Networking, sometimes we're a bit quick in trying to perceive it as a marketing tool. And when we see no increase in business from participating in Social Networks...we drop the technology. 

Although it's good to always think about new marketing strategies and sales channels ...Social Networking might not be the best tool for online marketing and leads generation. 

So What's Social Networking For?

The original intent of Social Networks was to connect people. As Social Networking technology evolved, it became a platform to not only connect...but to collaborate. An often overlooked benefit of Social Networking in real estate is as a productivity tool. Yes, it can be utilized for leads generation, but in our industry, where we need to work with all types of professionals on one transaction (loan officers, appraisers, title officers, inspectors, home stagers, buyer agents, etc)...our Social Networks can also become a productivity tool for us as professionals. 

For example, let's say you have mortgage professionals in your social network, and they are all following your activity on the network. If you broadcast that you have a particular scenario and looking for a specific loan for your buyer, your Social Network can help expedite your search for the right mortgage product. 

This is the future of Social Networks for Real Estate: as a collaboration, productivity, and communication tool. Townizen.com is a Social Network built to attain this level of productivity for the Real Estate Industry. Join Townizen now to see how it can start working for you!

Townizen Real Estate Professionals Directory

Townizen.com launches a location searchable directory for real estate professionals. Sort of like a "Yellow Pages" for real estate, Townizen allows real estate professionals to easily create a Townizen profile and list themselves on the directory...for FREE! Professionals encouraged to participate run the gamut, from real estate agents...to loan officers...to home stagers. 

This offering is inline with their goal of providing real estate professionals with all their web 2.0 needs. Along with offering a listings platform, a blogging platform, a social network, open house calendars, agent websites, email campaigner...this professionals directory allows real estate professionals to market themselves in a more comprehensive way. 

As more and more people are searching online for their real estate needs and with the proliferation of social networking, Townizen.com aims to use these current tools and technologies to help the real estate industry get productive online.

Townizen.com is a free service dedicated to the belief that technology can revolutionize the real estate industry. 

What Are Professional Networks?

We all got pretty excited when LinkedIn launched some time ago. Finally, a place to connect professionally to colleagues, a platform to expand our professional networks, and an opportunity to advance our careers through these connections. That's the web 2.0 hope for this new social medium called "Professional Networks". Basically, we now had Facebook to manage our social networks and LinkedIn to manage our professional networks. That's the way it was supposed to work. 

LinkedIn...It's Only the First Generation

As with all new technologies...there is always a first gen. I was an early adopter of LinkedIn and was excited about the prospects it would bring. It was a great concept, instead of pokes and throwing bats at each other...we could write endorsements about each other and become professional connectors. It seemed like a great idea to take the web 2.0 concept to a professional context. But, soon my LinkedIn connections started looking like my Facebook connections. The same faces started appearing in both places. Before I knew it, my professional network on LinkedIn morphed into a duplicate of my social network...and my productivity gained from LinkedIn went to zero, which resulted in me dropping my LinkedIn usage almost completely.  I was a mortgage account executive, but i had friends in my LinkedIn network that were screenwriters, doctors, mechanics, other non-relevant professionals. 

So What's The Second Generation Professional Network?

As early platforms, like Friendster, taught us a lot in the first generation...we eventually evolved, adopted second generation platforms like Facebook, and our social productivity skyrocketed. 

Similarly, this will happen with our online professional networks. In the second generation, our professional networks will be vertical networks focused on specific industry needs. These networks will differentiate themselves from social platforms, and will be targeted to increasing people's professional online productivity. They will not only be professional networks...but also what I call "Productivity Networks". These vertical networks will need tools and features specific to that industry... specific networks for medical professionals, legal professionals, real estate professionals, etc. 

Townizen.com is a second generation professional network designed specifically for the real estate industry. It has free online tools and features that are relevant to real estate professionals...and built specifically to help real estate pros rock online. Become an early adopter of this second generation type professional network, and help pioneer the movement for the real estate industry to increase productivity online!

By trade, I am what's called a User Experience Designer for websites. In a nutshell, I work to make sure users have the most enjoyable experience possible on websites, including: making sites easy to understand and use. In my surveys with what users are looking for when landing on real estate agents' personal websites, here are the top 5 things I've found they are really looking for. 

Top 5 Things Visitors Look For On Real Estate Agent Sites

1. Agent's Listings - Users want to see what property listings the agent represents. They're not so much looking for the MLS search function, since that's readily available nowadays on the major listings aggregator sites. They want to see exactly what particular listings that agent represents, to help them gauge how active the agent is, how reputable they are, what types of properties that agent usually represents, what neighborhoods they are active at, and of course...to see what's for sale. 

2. Knowledgeable - Whether it's knowledge about real estate or knowledge about the neighborhood, potential clients want to know that you are indeed an expert in the field. This is normally evident in blog format. Blogs display a real estate professional's knowledge and can help increase client confidence that you know your stuff and can guide them through the process. 

3. Reputable - How can clients be sure you know what you're doing? A lot of site visitors read client testimonials and testimonials from other real estate professionals. In this age of web, users see the great power of user review. 

4. Connectedness - Users want to know that you are connected in the industry. Common weakness in real estate agent websites is that they make agents look like lone rangers. Potential clients want to see that you're connected to all the players in the chain (loan agents, appraisers, home stagers, inspectors, title agents, landscapers, contractors, other real estate agents, etc). This is your value added, so make sure you don't leave out this important piece on your website. 

5. Contact Info - You wouldn't believe how many real estate agent websites don't have their contact information clearly on their website. I've seen a LOT of agent websites, and it's pretty common for me to dig deep before I can find a contact phone number AND email address. As real estate agents...our MAIN goal is to connect with clients! Don't be shy...put your email address right there on the front page. The days of anonymity and hiding email addresses behind online contact forms are gone. Pioneers of the online world, even CEO's of big companies, broadcast their email and instant message information...and so should you. 

OK...So What's The Solution?

You can always revamp your website to build out all these features to include all these things. But, even better, just sign up for a professional agent website for FREE on Townizen.com. We've included all these Top 5 features so real estate agents can INSTANTLY create an effective online presence. We take the guesswork out of building yourself the perfect website. Just start using Townizen and start showing off your Townizen profile to clients and colleagues immediately. 

Our Social Networking Heritage

As Real Estate Agents, we must embrace our heritage and history of being Social Networking pioneers. Decades before the Internet was created, even before the age of computers, Real Estate Agents were the social hubs of society, and "social networking" was crucial to our trade. Malcolm Gladwell, of Tipping Point fame, would call us the "connectors" of society. People needing to buy or sell property would go to these "connectors" to see who else had property to buy or sell. These community connectors would share information with other community connectors, and soon after, the National Association of Realtors (NAR), was born in the early 1900's to help these connectors organize, share information, and connect. 

Present Social Networking

Fast forward 100 years later to the present, and it's evident that this core competency to "connect" is still crucial to this industry. Successful Real Estate Agents are still social hubs of the community, and real estate coaches still teach us to tap into our social networks for business opportunities. 

The only difference today is that technology and the internet now allows us to connect and network more than ever before. To continue to be the hubs of our communities...we MUST adopt these current forms of social networking on the web. And we can't just follow the trends...we need to be AHEAD of the trends.

We need to start looking at these current social networking websites as opportunities to once again be hubs of the community. A good way to begin is to start using sites such as Townizen.com, Facebook.com, and LinkedIn.com in your daily life and work routine. Create a profile at each of these websites and start inviting friends and colleagues into your online networks. 

Don't we have too much technology already? I mean...we have blogs...we list on the MLS...we maintain our personal and professional websites...we email flyers to clients...and the list gets bigger. So what MORE do we really need?! We're already getting buried in computer work and, frankly, we need more time doing our real estate duties!

Well, the technology we're needing is INTEGRATION. For example, in my personal life, before Facebook, I had Xanga for my blogging community, Friendster for social networking, Plaxo to help keep in touch with people, and on top of this...was maintaining my personal website. After Facebook came into existence...I now do all those tasks on one platform. I don't even bother with the work and expense of maintaining a personal website now because Facebook is so much more effective than having all these separate tools. That's my personal life. 

For my professional life, a similar scenario exists. I use Wordpress for blogging, I use LinkedIn for professional networks, I use several regional MLS, I Twitter to keep up-to-date with colleagues, I use an email campaign manager to send out email flyers to clients, I belong to several online real estate communities, and I maintain my own professional business website. 

Enter Townizen.com. This site aims to integrate all these critical online tools we use professionally onto ONE platform. Much like Facebook, the benefits will be clear once it is adopted. Communication and networking will be easier than ever. Keeping up-to-date with colleagues will be a breeze. As technology evolves...our real estate tools must also evolve...and Townizen plans to pioneer this technology for our industry. Stay tuned...we're just getting started!