3 Steps To Your Own Social Web
Guest Blogger, Suzanne Roy is Lead Contributor with Tech Savvy Agent and Owner of V.A. Work, and has been working with Real Estate Agents throughout North America since 2002 – initially as a virtual assistant, and more recently as a social media specialist, concentrating her efforts in assisting Real Estate Agents with blog design, content and syndication, custom Fan Page designing, keyword research and search engine optimization.
The World Wide Web (better known as “www”) is described by Wikipedia as “a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet.” Just less than 20 years ago, August 6th, 1991, was the official debut date of the “www.”
More recently, (over the past 6 years) Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Yelp and scores of other social networking sites have taken the World Wide Web to a completely different level; one that, without some strategic planning, can become, overwhelming in a split second.
Real Estate Agents have the ability to market themselves and their specific areas of expertise to millions of people through social networking and media sites – taking their offline marketing (such as recipe postcards and local football team schedules) completely out of the picture – Thank God! Oh, and without costing a penny either…
So where do you begin to create your own social web? Well, the true heart to all your online marketing and social web integration has to start with your blog. No, not your website – your BLOG. And not just any blog – a self-hosted blog – meaning one that you are in control over, you have the complete rights to, one that is a standalone site, and not embedded into another. Godaddy is an excellent option for getting this set up easily, since they have a direct link to Wordpress blog hosting and can be linked to one of your purchased url’s. But that’s another post for another day…
Integrating your social networking profiles with your blog allows you to have your own social web of content and information. Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIN are what make up the most dense population of eyeballs that will see your content and get traffic to your blog. So with this in mind, here is a step-by-step guide on how to make your own social web and get your information found consistently.
1. Self-Hosted Blog to Facebook Fan Page
Facebook has an encyclopedia full of applications that can be utilized on your Fan Page and, in this case, your blog. NetworkedBlogs is an excellent application which allows you to automatically upload your new blog content to your Facebook Fan Page with a simple process as shown in the video below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rW84XruyPTI
2. Facebook Fan Page to Twitter
Utilizing the same Facebook application – NetworkedBlogs – you can link your Fan Page up with your Twitter account simply and effectively:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JKpbwZtJ14
3. Twitter to LinkedIn
There are probably dozens of different ways to go about accomplishing having your Twitter account linked to your LinkedIn profile, but here’s the easiest route we have found to make this circle complete:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmriAbdGFxs
Now, when you post your daily blog (ok, weekly?!), your hyper-local content will be broadcast throughout these three massively trafficked sites with the simple push of the “Publish” button.
12 Comment(s)
2 Trackback(s)
- From 3 Steps To Your Own Social Web « As I see it… | Sep 7, 2010
- From 3 Steps To Your Own Social Web | Maverick Strategies | Sep 16, 2010
Lani Rosales | Sep 7, 2010 | Reply
I would add that this is the technical side of wiring everything together and that the most difficult part is reaching out to the community to fill the pipeline aimed at this setup. It’s a lot of work for sure!
Alex Cortez | Sep 7, 2010 | Reply
Aloha Suzanne. Very well-written, insightful post. The importance of having a self-hosted blog is critical, and the ability to interconnect it with other SM tools becomes a lifesaver (and a sure way to increase efficiency). Mahalo.
Josh Lavik | Sep 7, 2010 | Reply
I would agree that having something interesting to say and building an audience is probably the most challenging. This is a good start, but writing valuable content is the next.
Thanks!
Carmen Brodeur | Sep 7, 2010 | Reply
AMEN – about having a SELF-hosted blog. It just makes my roll my eyes when people who think they are a hot blogger (you know the type) don’t even host their own blog. I know, I know…we were all naive at some point. But really! Get with it.
James Chai | Sep 8, 2010 | Reply
Using Wordpress as a Real Estate CMS (Content Management System) is a no-brainer. It is a flexible and scalable platform when it comes to design and development.
Not to mention that their are literally thousands of plugins and widgets (adds functionality to your site) to streamline your workflow, integrates well with social media and is search engine friendly!
Wordpress sites are great as a single update source. In short you can post to your blog/site and have it auto post to your Facebook account which then pushes it to twitter and then to linkedin – one button (4) sites!
If you need some help/tools/tips/resources besure to stop by and check out our vast collection of FREE articles about Real Estate and Wordpress!
Matt Hendrick | Sep 8, 2010 | Reply
The commenter above mentioned plugins and widgets, so I thought I’d chime in. We recently released a Wordpress plugin for the TurnSocial bar, making it easy for Wordpress users to bring in many social apps including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr and more. We’re also unique in bringing in local content from sites like Yelp, Foursquare, Walkscore and more. Your readers can find the plugin for free at http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/turnsocial-toolbar/
Thanks for always sharing such useful content and advice!
Green Bay Greg | Sep 8, 2010 | Reply
This post is a great resource for the non techy beginners looking to crank up the Social Circle. Wordpress blogs are intimidating at first but once you get the hang of it the options are endless.
Competing in your local real estate markets is easier with Wordpress.
Combine all this with SMO to direct traffic to your blog is a game winning strategy that will turn your blog into a lead generating machine.
Love the content here keep up the great work
Shoreview MN Homes for Sale | Sep 13, 2010 | Reply
Blogging is such a great way to write about relevant topics, in an easy-to-read format for visitors. There is no doubt that the Social Media craze is recreating the landscape of how we all do business. Great post!
Tim Sartori | Oct 1, 2010 | Reply
I have already implemented all three of these suggestions and the work flawlessly.
The biggest thing I think to pull from above is to have your own self hosted website. The possibilities for your site are endless with something like wordpress. Sure it may take a while and some hardcore reading up on writing code but it’s definitely worth it in the end. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention it’s also very rewarding too.
Lynda White | Oct 1, 2010 | Reply
This is great information to have and I have bookmarked it for using it within the next couple of weeks. Thanks!
Joshua Walitt | Oct 1, 2010 | Reply
Thanks for the great step-by-step instructions! You make it sound so simple…
Ralph Evans | Oct 3, 2010 | Reply
Thanks Suzanne!
I would agree, a blog you control, twitter, facebook and linkedin – all interconnected together.
I used to use blogger for my blog, but I have since moved to a wordpress site that is both my website and blog in one. It is extremely flexible in giving me control over the layout and appearance of all my content.
-Ralph