Dan Iampieri
By Dan Iampieri
Hi, I’m Dan Iampieri! I love real estate, movies, and tennis. I would love to be your friend on social media websites like Facebook. However, don’t be my friend on Facebook if…
1.) … All you do is play Farmville, or any of the other silly games on Facebook. Seriously, I think I could live without a steady news feed of who fertilized whose crops. I know I can hide you from the news feed, but when I look at your profile and all I see is Mafia Wars being played all day long I get a little worried! Maybe you should consider getting a Nintendo Wii!
2.) You are a fellow REALTOR® and all you are going to do is post information about your listings. Thanks, but no thanks. By the way, this is not interesting to consumers, either — and they may have already hidden you from their news feed. I’ve yet to run into a consumer who has indicated that they would prefer to find listings on Facebook instead of Realtor.com. So, let’s keep the real estate stuff on the real estate sites and the social media stuff on the social media sites. It’s called social media, not real estate media. I certainly hope you don’t go to cocktails parties and talk about your listings the whole time to people you barely know? Of course you don’t, so, if you don’t do it there, don’t do it on Facebook either.
3.) You are too revealing or use profanity. Some things I don’t want to know, or need to know, and I would prefer not to know them. So, don’t feel like you have to tell everyone that you are going to the bathroom, taking a shower, or flossing your teeth. Remember, Facebook asks, “What’s on your mind?” not, “What are you doing?”. And most of us know that profanity is just rude, in poor taste and unnecessary. Here’s a good rule of thumb — don’t post anything you wouldn’t let your mother read.
4.) You don’t know me! This one is pretty self-explanatory, I think. However, if you feel we have a professional connection to make, great, send me a friend request, but please fill out the little box that says “Add a personal message” and tell me how you know me, or why we should be friends, or what the connection is. Nothing is more frustrating than friend requests from faces I don’t know. I have personal information and pictures on my profile and I only want to share that information with my real friends, not strangers. So, don’t be surprised if I ask you how we know each other when you send me a friend request!
Well, friends, I look forward to hopefully becoming your friend on Facebook, finding out “What’s on your mind,” and engaging in some meaningful conversations!
Dan Iampieri is a REALTOR® with WEICHERT, REALTORS® – Caton Properties in Ellicott City, Md. Social network with Dan at www.TheHouseMan.tv.
Comments 5
Dan,
Great post. I have the same feelings about all those Facebook games when it pertains to Realtors. If you look at the newsfeed, you can see who is working and who is not.
As for posting real estate listings to Facebook, I don’t think it is a bad thing, but do keep it to a minimum. You are right about it being a social site.
Thanks for the insight.
Dan,
Absolutely hilarious! and very true! Of course many Realtors have other Facebook friend s that are Realtors and I just can’t stand the listing postings and the play by play of their day…”just listed a beautiful colonial on Main St. on my way to showings in the valley!” Makes me want to throw up. Anyway, outstanding points!
Seth Task
Cleveland, OH
Thanks for the comments. I just feel like a lot of it is “stealth” advertising. Not only on Facebook, but Twitter and blogs. I’ve seen one agent, who describes himself as a social media guru, but all he does os post listings on Twitter. That’s it. Nothing else. No article sharing, no personal thoughts, nothing, just “123 Main St. 4BR, 2 1/2 BA, $400,000”. What’s so fun about that? And my personal favorite is blogs that are solely for advertising listings or market statistics. Those are great things to share, but a blog is not posting a picture and copy of your latest listing every day. That is not a blog! A blog should have your thoughts and musings. I even see this on ActiveRain a lot. A blog is more than just a cut-and-paste activity.
Dan,
Okay I agree with you a lot on the facebook things. I love “no. 4” it is the most common thing that bugs me. I never ask “how do I know you?” I simply look at their profile and if I feel they are a good ad (usually by the friends they keep) then I’ll add. If not I’ll let them stew. Have two in the pot right now, that I’m about to just ignore.
Now about your comment on “blogs”, I’m going to argue with you on one thing. A “blog” by definition is the ability to share information in real-time open forum on the Web. That’s the difference between a “blog” and a “Web site”. So while, neither of us may like how they are presenting themselves in a blog with only listings. It is still a blog. The better argument would be is it worth their time to use the medium in this fashion versus not being there at all?
Hmm … you might have just spurred an idea for my next YPN article. 🙂
The multiple list and Realtor.com share information in a real-time open forum on the web. That is not a blog.