Bernice Ross, CEO of RealEstateCrunch.com wrote an interesting article on Inman News today titled “Social networking pays off“.  One of the key points that Ms. Ross made upfront in the story was that “Social networking may soon overtake virtually every other source as being the most important strategy for lead generation”.

As I was reading that statement I heard myself question it and was surprised upon perusing the comments I was not alone.  John Rowles, Managing Director of MainRhode LLC, questioned that statement also.  Now Mr. Rowles was a little more critical than I am stating that “Not to pour sour milk on your social networking cheerios, but Search is the necessary killer app for real estate and the web in general”.  

Now I find it interesting because separately I don’t necessarily agree with either statement 100% but combine the two and I feel you have something very powerful.  If you can successfully marry your social networking skills and platforms and search engine optimization (SEO) enhancements, you have a chance to hit a Grand Slam.

Another statement that Mr. Rowles made was “It is not about you.  For 94% of the audience it’s about the listings, but many agents still want to believe it’s about them, and the focus on social networking in Real Estate plays to that ego”.  1000Watt Consulting had a similar take on this with their clever video.

While I agree the listings are vitally important (I work at a real estate search site for Pete’s sake) I also think the agent is still very important in the process too.  Now maybe their role as keeper of the information has subsided, I still feel their role as a trusted advisor or consultant during the offer to close of escrow process cannot be discounted.   

Derek Overbey
Senior Director of Partnership Strategy
Roost.com
2008 Inman Innovator Award Finalist