Like vitamin E for your face…book
Facebook was originally developed for social networking of college students and required a .edu email address to log in (yeah, I might have had a .edu when it launched, so?). Facebook since has opened to all users all over the world and second only to Twitter is one of the fastest growing networks. It is evolving and has become less of a sheep throwing martini drinking environment and more of a think tank and networking venue.
Facebook opened up their platform so coders could create applications (like Word or Outlook are computer applications, these run on Facebook). When you open an application from the list below, if you’re logged into Facebook, it will show you which of your friends are using each application so you can ask them how they like it if you want testimonials before jumping in.
The biggest problem is that in the list of thousands of applications, many don’t work properly (or at all) or they’re really ineffective, so we’ve combed the list for five applications every Realtor needs (so basically we did your homework for you):
- Social RSS automatically puts links to your blog posts on your Facebook wall or on your page (click here to learn the difference between a page and a group) and it shows up on your friends’ pages when they open their Facebook.
- SlideShare– in Power Point, create a listing presentation, five page ad for your brokerage services or a neighborhood you’re farming, upload to slideshare.com and this application automatically posts your slideshare presentations to your Facebook. Can you say instant, shareable ad?
- My Google Calendar embeds your calendar (made by creating a calendar on Google) on your page or profile. So, host a free weekly seminar over coffee for first time buyers and a monthly community social and put it on your page so people can see what you’re doing and how they can get involved.
- LinkedIn Contacts links your contacts from LinkedIn with your Facebook presence but it’s only compatible with pages. This helps for making sure you’re connected with your network on LinkedIn AND Facebook.
- Professional Profile “leverages your Facebook friends into business connections by consolidating professional information into one place.” I haven’t tried this one out but it seems pretty self explanatory.
- Testimonials are much like LinkedIn recommendations- you can ask for clients or coworkers to write a note about how you operate and it becomes part of your profile.
