I found the article entitiled “Facebook: What to Know to Benefit Your Real Estate Practice” quite interesting in Houston Realtor magazine, Feb. 2011.  Personally, when I think of Facebook, I think of a more personal, photo-driven format between friends.  People note when they’ve had breakfast, walked their dog, delivered their kids to school, etc…  But I’ve personally found it challenging ”balancing” personal information and my business on Facebook.  I imagine that I’m not the only person with such a delimma.

Houston Realtor magazaine wrote, “According to iStrategeylabs, of the top 10 U.S. metropolitan areas, Houston saw the second largest growth of Facebook users, growing 66.1% from 2010 to 2011…”  It did not surprise me to find that the group with the most growth were college students age 18-24.  I was surprised with our present economy that the largest group of homebuyers were first-time homebuyers aged 25-34, “accounting for 56% of buyers.”  It did not surprise me that 2010 National Association of Realtors announced that “in the past 3 years, 90% of homebuyers use the Internet.”

So, how do I incorporate Facebook to actually get business and not be offensive to my FB “friends.”  I thought the advice given in Houston Realtor was well-thought out.

Some of the advice includes:

1).  Time – As a Realtor, this is my most costly asset.  But the article recommended an agent should FB 30 minutes a day. 

2).  Be Consistent – I thought this was the best advice: for every 4 personal posts, write 1 business post.  Don’t flood our “friends” with things that won’t interest them or too many business “opportunities.”  I liked that rule of thumb: 4 to 1.

3).  Engage – Everything I’m reading right now is talking about the X & Y generations and how they have a need to build relationships with the people.  Houston Realtor cited that”48% of home buyers found their agent through the referral of a friend or family member and 87% of them would use or recommend their agent again….”  FB does allow us to stay connected to people, but that means to ask questions, make posts, and take a real interest in our FB “friends” creating a “relationship.”

I found myself re-thinking what I am (and am not) posting on FB.  I imagine a lot of us have our own businesses that could benefit from our “friends” on FB but could use the advice in how to create a balance in our cyber FB world. 

To read the entire article from Houston Realtor, February 2011 click on the link:  http://hro.har.com/issue/february-2011/article/facebook-what-to-know-to-benefit-your-real-estate-practice