In real estate, your credibility as a professional is of utmost importance. Clients trust you to help them make big decisions so imagine their surprise when they search for you online and find unflattering pictures of you at your best friend’s party last weekend on Facebook.
Lock it up
For peace of mind and to eliminate stress caused by continuously being ‘on’ at work, it is essential to switch off. By switching off, I mean you should put limitations on who can view the private you online.
We all need to have a life outside of the work place but we don’t need to share it with business prospects – by simply changing your privacy settings on your social media pages, you are giving yourself permission to have fun outside of work and not worry that a new prospect is going to see you having fun at a fancy dress party.
Separate it
Broadcasting the fact that you just completed building a horse stable in Farmville is obviously an accomplishment for you and other Farmville peeps but will mean little to your business contacts. Separating the two ensure you maintain professional credibility with your business contacts and don’t spam your friends with work stuff like the latest home open you are having.
On Facebook for example you can maintain your private page (with secure privacy settings in place) while also promoting yourself through a company page or fan page. Once you secure yourself 25 fans, you can get a custom URL for your page, so get promoting.
Diversify
Using LinkedIn as a professional networking tool and Facebook for your personal networking will further help you separate personal from professional. You might also still be able to retain some credibility with your mates who don’t care if you were awarded sales person of the year in 2004.
At Real Estate Connected, we specialise in creating online marketing solutions for your business. If you need help designing your online profile through a website and want to get the word out about what you do, we can help! Send us an email so we can tailor a package to your needs.
