Using Social Networking to Get Buyers

I have just had a revelation! I've recently begun using facebook, Twitter and Squidoo to get the word out about my ebook and some of my other websites, but you can just as easily use these powerful tools to spread the word that you are selling a house! Seriously.

Make a facebook page about your house. Put links to your MLS listing and to your Realtor's page. Spread the word that way.

Join Twitter and throw out a tweet: "Selling my house in (city, state). See (MLS page)" With Twitter, though, make sure that you have enough people following you to make it worthwhile. Join, find people to follow by having Twitter search your address books. From there, find out who is following those folks, and follow them, too. It has been my experience that you can build up quite a number of followers within a couple of days. Expect about a 25% return on followers. That is, if you follow 200 people, expect about 50 of them to follow you. Once the word gets out, it spreads fast. Tweet at least a few times about the house. "Staged my house to sell. Visit (MLS page)" or "Had two showings today. Visit (MLS page)."

Join Squidoo and make a lens about your house. See if there is a real estate group on Squidoo and join it. Send an email to all of your friends letting them know you have a lens up on Squidoo. Tweet about your lens on Twitter.

Bookmark your Squidoo page on Del.icio.us, StumbleUpon, Technorati, Digg--all of that. The more you get that URL out there, the more people will find it. And the more people who find it, the more potential buyers you have.

And this just scratches the surface. I'm telling you, I never dreamed that social networking could be so powerful. But just go for it. Remember, you are doing at least one thing every day with the express intention that it help you sell that house. Might as well make it the most powerful thing ever.

One caveat--and it's a big one: make sure you are also giving on these sites. If you approach all of these methods with a grasping, grabby manner, people will be able to tell. Make sure you give at least as much as you get--the Internet should enrich everyones' lives, not just yours.