Social Media
Tom Ferry – Embracing Social Media in the Real Estate Business Landscape
Could a 1.0 coach go 2.0 and who would be first?
Of course the real estate social media space is full of coaches and trainers- social media by its root definition is collaborative– people working with others to help them grow and engage.
The growth we’ve had in social media for real estate has been slow and steady, first in blogging, evolving into more immediate social tools such as Twitter, Facebook and others. Slow and steady has allowed us as a collaboration to groom the space, set the expectations, and communicate the etiquette allowing us to tailor an opportunity for any real estate agent new to the space to engage- we never thought it possible that 1.0 would ever work well within the confines of this architecture.
Enter Tom Ferry
Have you seen this guy around Twitter? I didn’t realize who it was at first. I knew his name, but didn’t put the face with the name, until I saw his website that led me to the upcoming Success Summit with a Gary Vaynerchuk interview. What I expected (the worst), versus what I got was a pretty striking difference- here was a one dot oh guy conversing with Gary and actually agreeing with him which I didn’t expect; people with Tom Ferry’s background are usually resistant and argumentative to the changing climate.
Tom and I talked about his conversations with Gary and I asked him what Gary said that changed his outlook and it was that engaging in the social media space requires 10-14 hours each day– essentially saying you’ll get out what you put in. So that’s what Tom is doing and why you’ve seen him actually in the trenches rather than preaching from a podium.
40k agents each month and still making time to Twitter
What makes Tom’s entry to social media so notable is that he brings a much needed higher level of endorsement to the space. As a coach, trainer, teacher and mentor, with over 20 years experience in business coaching, he’s trained over 250,000 professionals. His typical client base exceeds over $1 million in annual real estate commissions, including CEOs, brokers, agents, and professionals outside of the real estate space- his demographic is extraordinary and his voice is well respected- and he actually believes that social media is more than just the latest trend that some have called it. He’s practicing it. I’ve watched him share, learn, comment on blogs, promote others, and engage pretty much on our same level- more than just a systematic box of thank you cards.
Given that Tom works with over 40,000 agents a month, I predict he’ll have a pretty incredible impact on the next generation of participant in the real estate social media space.
We’ll be watching this unique evolution and are especially interested to see how an audience not accustomed to Social Media receives Tom and Gary on the subject- until then, listen, watch, and decide for yourself…
Tom Ferry on Twitter | Listen to Tom Ferry and Gary Vaynerchuk
Agent Genius is not an affiliate of Gary Vaynerchuk, or Coach Tom Ferry
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Michelle DeRepentigny
July 13, 2009 at 11:32 am
It was great to look at Tom’s stream and realize he is talking with others, whereas one of my other 1.0 hero’s, @TerriMurphy, has posted infrequently and is talking at – not to, her twitter followers.
tomferry
July 13, 2009 at 12:01 pm
Hey Michelle,
Thanks for checking out my twitter stream and for your comment here. The real estate business is all about engaging people, asking the questions and LISTENING to the feedback! I look forward to being in the conversation.
TF
Mary Jett
July 13, 2009 at 12:12 pm
Thank you so much for speading the social media networking. It brings results!
Michael Benninger
July 13, 2009 at 12:18 pm
This is great.
Bryan Myers
July 13, 2009 at 12:35 pm
Tom expouses a powerful combination for self employed professionals- be the expert, connect with people, be genuine. I see him demonstrating this every time he speaks in person. I find myself wishing that friends and family were in the seats next to me.
Tom I think you could serve a much bigger clientele than just Real Estate and Mortgage Professionals. I have a weekly meeting with members of my community in various self-employed trades for life coaching and quite often pass on to them skills and ideas that I’ve learned from you. It’s great having you around on facebook, twitter, etc on a daily basis. Thanks for everything!
-Bryan
CHADI BAZZI
July 13, 2009 at 12:40 pm
ITS 2009 … TIMES HAVE CHANGED AND IF YOU ARE NOT GETTING IN THE GAME OF SOCIAL MEDIA YOU ARE BEING LEFT BEHIND.
WHAT I LOVE MOST ABOUT WORKING WITH TOM IS THAT HE KEEPS ME ONE STEP AHEAD OF THE WORLD BY BEING THE ONE TO FIND OUT THE LATEST TRENDS THAT ARE WORKING, HE IMMERSES HIMSELF IN IT FIRST TO TEST IT AND IF IT WORKS HE TELLS US ABOUT IT SO WE CAN GET THE BETTER RESULTS WE ALL STRIVE FOR.
THANK YOU TOM.
CHADI BAZZI
Shane
July 13, 2009 at 2:10 pm
It is all about how these new mediums are introduced. Twitter, Facebook the rest are meant to build a meaningful network of people for your self. Not just try to gather as many followers as possible. I hear a number of RE professionals mentioning the Ashton Kutcher type contests on Twitter,etc. These of course are the ones who insist these mediums are not a viable source for connections/relationships.
As long as these gentlemen educate others on how to properly use the new mediums available, I think it will be a good thing.
Marc
July 13, 2009 at 2:15 pm
It’s cool that Tom has joined Twitter. But so has millions of other people including some of the most powerful corporate brands and CEO’s in the world.
Tom’s foray into this space is admirable but let’s get a grip. The real inspiration or endorsement for real estate agents is not Tom but rather the thousands of agents who discovered this well before Tom did, signed up and began using Twitter to build a following and ultimately clients.
But now that Tom has joined Twitter, welcome to the community. I’m sure we are all looking forward to what will hopefully be a steady stream of valuable, meaningful, insightful content that breaks the barriers of slick PR and gets down to real human conversation and sharing.
Mark Johnson
July 13, 2009 at 2:55 pm
Integrating your “message” at every point of public contact is not new – successful marketers have always followed the “consumer.” As social networking sites gain significant traction with consumers it’s an important factor to consider in the overall marketing mix. The marketing mix is critical – social media being one aspect of that mix – and from my view, the result is not about getting our target market to choose us over the competition, it is about getting our prospects to see us as the “best qualified” for their situation. At the end of the day, successful marketing is understanding the needs and wants of our customers and prospects and bringing those solutions to them in a compelling manner – Tom and Gary – like a good coach should – are challenging their customers to deliver the message where the consumers our spending time.
Matt Stigliano
July 13, 2009 at 3:14 pm
I’ve had a few run ins with Tom on Twitter and have enjoyed our brief conversations. I knew he was a coach, but not much more than that. Interesting to see him embrace it as I have heard more than one coach, broker, agent say it was all a waste of time. Should be interesting to see what he develops from this and if his coaching takes on a new direction/meaning.
Benn Rosales
July 13, 2009 at 3:44 pm
It’s all well and good for anyone to join the sm space CEO or just regular Joe, what I’m most interested in is who is here to grow the audience/space/voice/depth, and how they’re going about it, and who that demo is. Everyone seems to have a twitter acct, or a facebook page, what you do with it is a whole other story and what I’m watching.
Bruce Harvey
July 13, 2009 at 4:00 pm
@coachtomferry
Thanks Tom for being the 1st real estate coaching company to challenge agents to recognize the value of this new technology. Can’t wait to see you and hear Gary Vaynerchuk at the upsoming Success Summit ’09. This is going to be a great event for the real estate industry!!
Coach Bruce Harvey
Marc
July 13, 2009 at 4:11 pm
The first coaching company? Where have you been. There are dozens of coaches that have been on Twitter.
Lani Rosales
July 13, 2009 at 4:21 pm
@1000wattmarc that’s a fair argument but there aren’t many *well* known old school Tom Ferry / Brian Buffini types that are doing more than spam. Encouraging mainstream coaches to use social media tools properly is a positive, not a negative.
Benn Rosales
July 13, 2009 at 4:38 pm
skimming and reading what you want into an article typically leads to misunderstand the meaning and is displayed brightly by their comment.
To the seven new faces in this thread so far, welcome to Ag, we hope you’ll stick around and continue the conversation.
Josh Galvan
July 13, 2009 at 4:57 pm
I love how Tom is one of the few coaches that literally practices everything he preaches and advises on. This is just another perfect example of that!
tomferry
July 13, 2009 at 5:00 pm
Hey Marc,
I agree with your points above. I enjoyed the 15 seconds of fame and then just got back to work, creating, coaching and contributing.
I got some great advice from @JimMarks recently… He said “have a promise for your SM activities”. Mine is my vision, to continually inspire a million people to live and work by design… To do that I just continue to deeply care about each and every person I’m talking to.
Strategy Matters and Passion Rules!
TF
Marc
July 13, 2009 at 6:54 pm
Hey Lani, Benn, Tom, agents of the world
First, I’m happy Tom has joined Twitter. And I buy the fact that Tom’s presence will serve as a beacon for others who never heard of Twitter or whose opinion of it is no different than mine was circa 6 months ago.
But I guess the Tom “brings a much needed higher level of endorsement to the space,” confused me considering how world wide Twitter is. Had Tom or other coaches got started on this several years ago perhaps that designation would make sense. But the fact is, these respected coaches are years late to a party which makes me ponder something you felt but take it one step further.
Why are real estate most prominent coaches still wearing a 1.0 moniker in 2009?
Why are they just now getting started with social media?
How effective can a coach be in today’s real estate industry if they have yet to use, endorse or understand it on a deeper level.
Does the mere action of joining a Web 2.0 merit such hoopla?
Can a 1.0 coach be qualified enough to coach other agents on it given the myriad of sites, ethics, responsibilities and challenges there are too it?
These are not meant to be insults, but rather, questions that Tom might have great answers for that would do much to support the endorsement the article purports.
Let’s face it, Buffini is on Twitter but considering he doesn’t follow anyone and his posts read like a shish-kabob of sales pitches and spin, I am guessing he really isn’t even posting to his own account. So I’m feeling as if the community could benefit from a deeper dive into the mind of Tom Ferry given the 2.0 world he is now embracing.
Honestly, I would have liked to have gotten that insight from Tom and I believe other agents and readers would too rather than quick pitch, the bow and the reciting of Tom’s greatest accomplishments which are all powerful and highly regarded.
What I would like to know is:
Tom,
What made you hold out on signing up and getting started on Twitter?
Had you known about it all along and disregarded it, or did you recently become aware of it?
Tell us about the spark that lit you up to finally join and up and start tweeting?
Who are your favorite Twits to follow and why?
Given that you have been on Twitter for such a short time how do you account for having over 4,000 followers? What’s been your strategy in building such a large base.
Tell us a little bit about the Tom Ferry brand, the personal brand, and how you are revealing the human side of you through Twitter?
Can you describe for us one cool connection you made through Twitter that would serve as an inspiration for others?
Where do you see Twitter a year from now?
I understand you want to inspire millions of people to work by design. And that you care deeply for others. We all do. But what are you really about?
If I am being a nuisance, so be it. But as a reader, I’d like to get past the hyperbole here and the rah rah and get down to some meaningful dialogue from someone who AG has bestowed a sense of grandeur around. After all, isn’t this what Web 2.0 is all about?
Diane Kohler
July 13, 2009 at 8:42 pm
Tom Ferry continually brings to his clients, as well as the entire real estate industry, the most current and cutting edge training and tools to not only growth businesses and practices, but to teach real estate professionals how to best serve their clients. The Summit ’09 is an event that must be attended by anyone serious about their real estate practice!
tomferry
July 13, 2009 at 9:07 pm
Hey Marc and AG World—
Thanks for the questions Marc and in response to your questions, here we go …
Why are real estate most prominent coaches still wearing a 1.0 moniker in 2009? My answer/guess: There’s the fear of change or they’re resistant to change, although I can’t speak for them … just about me and why I am doing what I am doing. It reminds of a story in “What Would Google Do” when Jeff was blogging about Dell and their initial responses to that.
Why are they just now getting started with social media? My answer: I was in it last year and know that this is where a lot of the eyeballs and conversations have gone. If I want to connect with business professionals, I have to go where the eyeballs are. These are just more tools and resources I can use to make meaningful connections with people out there.
How effective can a coach be in today’s real estate industry if they have yet to use, endorse or understand it on a deeper level. My answer: They will struggle to connect and engage with today’s consumer.
Does the mere action of joining a Web 2.0 merit such hoopla? My answer- No, but I certainly dig the opportunity to express myself and “be heard” here in this forum.
Can a 1.0 coach be qualified enough to coach other agents on it given the myriad of sites, ethics, responsibilities and challenges there are too it? My answer: Yes.
What made you hold out on signing up and getting started on Twitter? My response: Last year after hearing Gary speak. That’s why I have him coming to my event next month. He’s incredibly motivating to listen and learn from! Whenever we talked, I get fired up!!
Had you known about it all along and disregarded it, or did you recently become aware of it? I really got present to it in the 4th Quarter of last year and wanted to study it before I jumped right. And P.S. I am still learning and asking questions … but loving making connections with people! Thx to all who offer me great ideas and suggestions!
Tell us about the spark that lit you up to finally join and up and start tweeting?My answer: Having the ability to have the conversation with other people. It, along with other social media tools, are great tools to allow me to communicate and listen to allow me to do what I love.
Who are your favorite Twits to follow and why? My answer: I like hearing from clients like @DebbieBremner and @MarkGundlach – so I can check in- see their wins/ideas. @JasonCrouch- someone who I respect and like to read on Active Rain, @Linsey- a former coach at my company and great agent, @jimmarks- a social media and tech man who I really respect and learn from and a local OC guy, Sherry Chris- great to see what’s on the minds of company leaders; @SharonDWilson, a broker from FL that I spoke to a few months ago in Atlanta; @PaulTTran a local wealth advisor who is always one to make me laugh, @TammyBurnell a coach of ours and a busy mom; and Marc .. you, because you’re helping many of the CEOs that I know!
Given that you have been on Twitter for such a short time how do you account for having over 4,000 followers? What’s been your strategy in building such a large base. My answer: I have the unfair advantage of speaking to large audiences, who 20% or less or on Twitter or other sites like Facebook. I simply tell them this is a direct way to connect to me. My Twitter/Facebook info is now on all of our marketing we use. And finally, I just started to get involved in conversations I was interested in!
Tell us a little bit about the Tom Ferry brand, the personal brand, and how you are revealing the human side of you through Twitter? My answer: That’s funny because a close friend who has seen me speak told me, “You get paid to do this?” … because who you see on stage or who you read on Facebook or Twitter is what you get. Same TF on or off stage.
Can you describe for us one cool connection you made through Twitter that would serve as an inspiration for others? I just reconnected with an old friend who was in my wedding, and we lost track of one another. Now we’ve reconnected. Very cool! Nothing about sales or business, just reconnecting with a buddy.
Where do you see Twitter a year from now? My answer: I hope it does not become one long sales pitch and people keep having meaningful conversations and getting exposed to new ideas/concepts that make them think! Less shouting and more engagement.
I understand you want to inspire millions of people to work by design. And that you care deeply for others. We all do. But what are you really about? My answer: Marc, that is who I am and what I am really about. We should connect and chat!
After all, isn’t this what Web 2.0 is all about? My answer: Darn straight and 100% agree Marc. I appreciate the questions you asked. Hopefully this helped continue the dialogue.Thank you for the questions and opportunity. Will you be at Inman?? Love to catch up with you there!
TF
Marc
July 13, 2009 at 9:45 pm
My friends, I could not ask for anything more. Thank you Tom for being gracious enough to take the time and open up. I know I can be a pain in the neck sometimes but I just needed to get past the advertisement about you and get to the real TF because I believe that the stuff that we all need to endorse – the human side of our brands.
Peace out.
Jeffrey Douglass
July 13, 2009 at 10:53 pm
Great questions Marc, and I am not surprised that Tom answered them all. While Tom is a bit late to the table, knowing him for as long as I do and attending many of his seminars and summits, I know he is in with both feet.
I am hoping that he can teach REALTORS that the times are changing and those that wish to work in the 2.0 age need to focus on the Client, not themselves or the old “top producer” attitudes or the gatekeepers on information.
Welcome aboard Tom and thanks Benn for once again a thought provoking post!
Marc
July 13, 2009 at 11:21 pm
Cool.
Being late the table is fine. No beef with that considering how late I tend to be.
My point was, let’s get past typical “god is great” stuff which doesn’t fly on web 2.0 and get down to what does which is getting to heart of who a person is and why they are great.
This is often the case with agents for example who create slogans on their site that make them sound amazing but behind the slogans there’s not substance on the site to back it up.
Tom’s got substance. But listing his accomplishments actually serves to distance him from the audience. Asking hard question and mixing it up with him in print where he gets to be himself is what connects to the audience.
This was cool and I respect the folks here for allowing me to take some liberties and allow the real Tom Ferry – the man behind the brand – to keep it real.
Thanks, Benn, Lani and Tom
Russell Shaw
July 14, 2009 at 3:01 am
I have never met Tom personally but have publicly endorsed him on several occasions. Twice in the past two years, when Wells Fargo was bringing Tom to Phoenix as the main speaker I have gone out of my way to get people to attend by sending over 30,000 emails to my list, telling them about the seminar. I never heard anything but positive feedback from anyone who went.
Sal Antsipenka
July 14, 2009 at 3:04 am
Twitter is a powerhouse of social media and a new hope for real estate marketers, but real estate video is a search engine optimization powerhouse in addition to successful social marketing. It’s a source of excellent backlinks proliferation with major search engines which blends famously with social media.
Yvonne Arnold
July 14, 2009 at 4:06 am
I enjoyed the thread.
Since I’ve known Tom for 15 years I wouldn’t have expected anything but the most professional & honest responses to Marcs questions.
It was a great lesson for me, being new to this medium of commication, that it really is no different than what true Real Estate Professionals with skills do everyday….Handling the Objection.
My concern about our profession has not changed even with the knowledge of social media that Tom is bringing to our industry, that is, the level of basic real estate business skills that is still missing from many agents repertoire.
Facebook, Twitter, LinkIn, etc.. might make you the connection, but the ever-more educated consumer wants the Professional, not the person who thought getting into real estate would make them an easy buck!
Tom Ferry Your Coach (the company) is working that end too.
Marc your right about the “man behind the brand”, I believe that consumers want to see “behind the brand” of every person/company. Tom’s doing that with one of the most self centered, self absorbed industries in the country. Kudos!
Thanks Tom and Marc it felt good (albeit, a little scary) making my first social media public comment on your feed.
Y
Missy Caulk
July 17, 2009 at 9:49 am
Wow, great post. Great comments and nice to meet you Tom!
tomferry
July 17, 2009 at 4:38 pm
Just wanted to reach out and say thx for reading the post and the comments. Cool to read and get connected.
Mary Scott
July 24, 2009 at 1:36 am
Well, I think I learned form this conversation the difference between 1.0 and 2.0, by inference? My guess is that 1.0 would be something like a website or online business card, that doesn’t promote much social interaction, but that 2.0 would be Twitter, Facebook, online Q & A’s that are interactive. Is that approaching the correct definition?
Realtor, “follower” of Tom Ferry
Tom Ferry
July 28, 2009 at 9:54 pm
Hi Mary,
You got it! It’s about engaging people in real (authentic) conversation… and most importantly engaging the participant where they are (twitter, FB etc). Sorry for the late response.
See you soon,
TF
renee kische
August 17, 2009 at 2:41 pm
Tom: Thank you for taking the time to write this article and give insight into your coach and other real estate agents needs reguarding social media networking.