Social media is taking over the internet and for some Realtors it is becoming a large contribution to their success. Yet for most Realtors they are jumping on it simply because it’s the thing to do. Another place to advertise their listings and painful market updates. They don’t understand how social media works and ultimately are doing themselves more harm than good.

Let me explain.

I am 24 years old, luckily I was able to grow up in the world of social media. I’m an early adapter to all the platforms. I’ve been on Facebook for almost 10 years, and jumped on all the other platforms before the masses. So naturally, I understand how these platforms work. How people interact on them and it’s benefited my real estate business immensley. So when my Mom, an older, yet very successful Realtor asked me to help her get set up on Facebook I knew there was going to be a steep learning curve.

Somewhere along the lines these so called real estate “guru’s” and “coaches” have given some very poor advice. Many coaches and teachers are saying post 5 times per day on Facebook. Posting 5 times per day on Facebook, 1-2 posts real estate related are going to piss a lot of people off. I don’t care if it’s my best friend, I don’t want to hear from him 5 times a day, nor do I want to hear about Real Estate every day!

Here’s the biggest problem. Social Media is not another advertising tool. It was not designed for you to push out your message and spam people to death. It was designed to connect people and start a conversation. Posting all your listings and sales on Facebook and asking for business is spam. Nobody is going on there to be sold on how great you are. They want to read the news, they want to have conversations and connect with friends. I’m seeing an awful lot of Realtors spewing out the same message “Just Sold! Over Asking Price. If you’re thinking about buying or selling call 604-xxx-xxxx.”

This is not what Facebook was designed for. I’m all for letting people know what you do but please don’t beg for business on there. Don’t use it as another place to advertise. Be personable, start conversations, take us into your personal life.  If you’re going to post listings that’s fine, let people know what you do once in a while, but please keep it intersting, keep it engaging and respect the platform.