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A real estate agent’s most important job requirement is to build relationships with people. The invention of social networking is a catch 22 situation. In some ways, it is a fascinating tool allowing us to become connected to more people than ever thought possible. In other ways, it can be information overload. With the influx of all the social networking sites, it becomes close to impossible to keep track of all your contacts.
A new website might be the cure for social networking overload. It's called Gist.
It provides a full view of all the contacts in your professional network by creating a rich business profile for each one that includes the most news, status updates and work details.
How is this useful for real estate agents?
Your potential clients, your past clients, your fellow agents - are everywhere. They are in email, social networks, on your mobile phone, sometimes even on scattered post-its on your desk. Wouldn't it be nice to bring them all together into one place in an organized and easy-to-access manner?
For those of you who have fears of yet another site that requires you to "friend" or "invite," this is not what Gist is about. There are no invites to send or friends to request. It is strictly a way to get you organized with the ones you already have. The best way to look at it is that instead of adding to your network, Gist helps you get deeper than just the initial contact, leading to a stronger relationship.
Here are just a few of the ways that this one stop networking shop can help you be a better, more organized, and more aware real estate professional:
1.) Every time you get a new listing or offer a price reduction, post the updates to Twitter, Facebook and other social networks - all in one place and all at the same time, using Gist.
2.) Keep track of your database of email addresses, phone numbers, work details and more - all in one place.
3.) Keep tabs on potential clients that you "friended" months ago because they mentioned selling their home in the future. You never know when they might post something about moving to their Facebook wall.
4.) With Gist's automatic feed of updates and post from all your contacts, next time you go into a meeting with a client or a brokers open, you'll be prepared with the latest updates and news from all your contact's profiles. Whether it's the latest market stats or a client's birthday, nothing instills confidence more than going into a meeting armed with the information that matters most to your SOI.
Ask your Real Estate Virtual Assistant to set up your Gist account. Have them commit a few minutes each day, or a few times a week, to learn more about the people in your network. Your VA will be sure to notify you when they see something particularly noteworthy from a potential client, past client, or fellow agent.
Now that you have this great networking resource, here are your options: Be the agent with 10,000 friends on Facebook who barely knows any of them OR be known as the agent that remembers each one of their birthdays and reaches out to them at the perfect moment when they’re offering up a referral or they’re ready to buy or sell.
