I’m live-blogging #AREC16 from the Gold Coast. Here are my top learnings from Sherrie Storor: Creating a Social Empire.

A reminder you can sign up for the Real Estate Grow #AREC Pack by clicking here.

Real Estate has always been social. So how do we use ‘Social Media’ to create our empire?

1. Look at other industries that have been revolutionised (like the choice not to call them ‘disrupted’), real estate has been impacted by the ability of agents to use social media for prospecting. Use the networks to find common ground – Facebook and LinkedIn, for example, will show you common connections, creating opportunities for introductions or references; LinkedIn is great for understanding your clients’ history.And get them stalking you as well. Reveal yourself – and you’ll win business from people who like you and are like you, and are therefore much easier to deal with.
2. Social Media also great for maintaining those long term relationships. Sherrie talks about a referral from an old flatmate with an ongoing Facebook relationship – if they’re not in your area these friends or acquaintances probably don’t want to receive your newsletter or your ‘hard sell’, but keep reminding them what you do through authentic social media and the introductions / referrals can follow.
3. Some social media rules:
   Different platforms require different language (no kisses on Linkedin!)
   Be authentic in your posts (*ahem*)
   Add everyone – you can even upload your whole database up to Facebook to find matches
   Put your social media logos on everything (Wordsway app can help)
   Engage with your sellers – as Zali recommended, ask them to share
   Consistency is the key to your listings and successes (*ahem*). I’ll also add the importance of a Brand strategy – the clearer your personality, the easier it is to find content and the faster your audience will connect
   Share yourself (but not too much)
   Give, Give, Give, Ask – that’s a great ratio, especially since many business pages Ask, Ask, Ask, Ask
   Focus on one platform – Sherrie focuses on Facebook, Fredrik Eklund focuses on Instagram, Jacob Aldridge focuses on Twitter etc. And don’t be afraid to boost / pay for marketing to promote the reach of your posts
4. Think about how you’ll connect on social media – for example, if your market is family homes and you only ever post photos of multi-million dollar mansions, your ideal client won’t follow, won’t connect, won’t think of you.
5. Just Start! Yes, you’ll need a plan and consistency. But get into it and evolve and learn.

Our next speaker is Ray White’s #1 Agent Worldwide – Gavin Rubenstein, live blogged here.

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• The 5 Mission Critical Lessons real estate principals need to take away from #AREC16
• My presentation ‘Disruption in the Real Estate Industry: What You Can and Need to Do About It’
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Fancy a coffee?

Jacob Aldridge is a co-founder and business coach at Real Estate Grow.

If you’re a real estate Principal looking for fresh ways to help you work on your business, let’s chat. Contact me on either 0427 151 181 or jacob@realestategrow.com.au.

Not ready for that level of commitment? Follow me on Twitter @jacobaldridge