CRE Show: Social Media Is Good for Business

This week's "Commercial Real Estate Show" looks at how commercial real estate firms - and all businesses - can benefit from social media. End Quote

Atlanta, GA (1888PressRelease) December 20, 2011 - Social media can enhance a company's branding and industry visibility - and it can also lead directly to transactions.

Guests on this week's "Commercial Real Estate Show" shared social-media best practices for businesses. Topics included the benefits of social media and the various mediums available for companies.

Shama Kabani, author of The Zen of Social Media Marketing and CEO of The Marketing Zen Group, emphasized the importance of determining a social media strategy before embracing the various mediums.

"What are you trying to accomplish? … Is it so you can keep in touch with prospects? Is it so you can attract more people to your business? Is it that you want to build credibility for yourself online?" Kabani said. "These are the sorts of questions that it is very important to answer. Then I feel like the social media piece follows very naturally because you say, 'OK, what tool fits my needs?' rather than 'What need do I need to create for this tool?'"

Businesses often don't have the resources to plan and carry out a social media strategy, Kabani noted. In those instances, they should consider hiring a third-party firm to manager their online presence; such consultants are able to stay on top of the quickly changing social-media landscape, she added.

Broker Coy Davidson, a senior vice president for Colliers International in Houston, said he has closed five "transactions that were originally initiated directly through social media."

Broker Duke Long, owner of Duke Long Agency in Indianapolis, also said he has closed "several" deals "because of social media, without a doubt."

In the end, though, "social media isn't really about direct sales," Davidson noted. "It's a personal branding initiative."

Both Davidson and Long discussed their prolific use of Twitter and emphasized that business users of the medium should engage in conversations and not constantly promote themselves or their companies. Also, think of social media as a way to provide any kind of information that affects the businesses of potential clients, they said.

Twitter is "about the conversation," show host Michael Bull added. "It's about listening instead of just yakking and throwing out your wares."

"Don't waste your time tweeting your listings," Davidson said. "People are not going to Twitter to look for commercial real estate … If you're promoting yourself all the time, people are just going to tune you out." Avoid too many tweets about personal topics such as "your weight and children," Long recommended. "Nothing wrong with a little personality but if it's consistent, it just turns [people] off."

The show is available for download at www.CREshow.com.

The next "Commercial Real Estate Show" airs Dec. 24 and will examine commercial real estate training.

About the "Commercial Real Estate Show":

America's "Commercial Real Estate Show" is a national talk radio show about commercial real estate. New shows are available every Thursday at the show website, www.CREshow.com. Shows are also broadcast on AM stations, including Atlanta stations Biz 1190 on Saturday at 10 a.m. and Talk 920 on Sunday at 9 a.m. Show podcasts are available on-demand on iTunes and the show website.

The show host is 30-year commercial real estate veteran Michael Bull, CCIM. Michael is the founder of Bull Realty, Inc, a regional commercial brokerage firm with three offices headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

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