Jeremy Williams

By Jeremy Williams

In a series I am teaching on social media to a group of agents at the Keller Williams Realty NE office in Kingwood, Texas, I have emphasized that social media should just be one of many components in an agents tool kit for lead generation.  With all the new social media sites online, it can be overwhelming and it is easy to slip into the mindset of “I must be on all social media sites.”  Are you experiencing these feelings?  Are you spending more time on social media sites than with people?  Have you become an addict?

Here is a 12 step program for REALTORS® to remedy your situation:

1.        We admit we are powerless over Facebook, Twitter, Linked, WordPress and YouTube – that our lives have become unmanageable after staying up until 2 in the morning to monitor status updates.

2.       Came to believe a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity, including lead generating using more archaic methods such as dialing a phone number or shaking a real, “not virtual,” hand.

3.       Made a decision to turn off our computers thus stop sharing our personal photos of us in bathing suits at the lake and return to sharing our experiences in person.

4.       Made an inventory of the other items and techniques to lead generate and maintain relationships besides social media.

5.       Admit to ourselves that we are social media addicts and can’t function without experiencing a constant barrage of Tweets.

6.       We are entirely ready to limit our time spent on social media to focus on running a real estate business.  This includes limiting the “leisure time” spent playing Farmville.

7.       Humbly ask our social media “friends” and “followers” to understand our shortcomings, and that with our limited time; they will no longer receive a status update from us that “I just had a cheesy rice and bean burrito at Taco Bell.”  We will from this point on only provide status updates containing value.

8.       Made a list of all the “friends” and “followers” that we may have annoyed by sending them something through the apps iHeart or iHug, and became willing to make amends with them all.

9.       Make direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would put you at risk of being blocked from their fan page or hidden on their wall.

10.   Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong to think we could manage 20 blogs at one time admitted it.

11.   Sought to realize that social media is only one tool in our kit as a real estate practitioner.  Knowledge of how to interlink social media sites to reduce the time spent with status updates and posts to use time better spent to serve our clients and customers.  Develop a social media plan to best utilize time spent while online.

12.   Have a wake-up call as a result of these steps to place balance in our real estate business, to carry this message to other social media addicts, and to practice these principals in all our real estate business affairs.

Jeremy Williams of Keller Williams Realty NE in Kingwood, Texas specializes in the residential real estate market of Kingwood, Atascocita, and Humble, Texas.  Visit his Web site at www.williams4yourhome.com.