The Wave of Now - Social Networking at its Finest

The days of door knocking, geographic farming and cold calling are not long gone for some sales people, but they are for me. The world is changing (and has been for the past 20 years) at a rapid pace. People want information faster and they do not want to be bombarded by sales people, especially at their own home. With the green movement, I don't want to waste paper on unnecessary flyers. With privacy laws, I don't want to be calling people in the middle of dinner, let alone show up at their front door, to see if they want to sell their house. This seems so old school and I have no desire to ruin another pair of good heels trekking up and down sidewalks in the hot sun for hours, to see if someone will talk to me. I object!!!

So how does one build their business these days? Well, I believe that with any business you have to have foresight into the future and also into the minds of your potential clients. Already, the majority of people are finding their home and often times their realtor online. Initially I thought of online social networking as impersonal and even a little far fetched. But I can tell you that this is the way things are going and I have already had success. Also, it is fun connecting with people and plus, you can do it in your underwear at midnight if you want. What a concept! I would like to share some of my favorite networking sites:

Meetup.com: This is a great way to meet like-minded people that have similar interests. You can search for groups from women entrepreneurs and vegetarians, to fitness buffs and real estate investors. Then you can find out when they are meeting next and attend their next meeting. It is a really cool concept and is a great platform for social and business networking.

Activerain.com: This is a wonderful website for people in the real estate community, and also home buyers and sellers. It is a great way to get in touch with Realtors, lenders and other real estate professionals. I highly recommend it to anyone in the industry and also those in the market to buy or sell a home.


Yelp.com: Yelp is just a cool site. Not only do you get to check out reviews about anything under the sun from cleaning services to hotels in the area, but also meet other people that have opinions and like to write about them. You can see what is hot in your area and upcoming events that may be worth checking out. I like that the reviews are from real people and from unbiased third parties.

So that's my 2 cents about social networking. The key is to stick with it and give lots of virtual hugs,you will make lots of friends and it will just make you feel good :)