Last month I blogged about being invited to ULI's spring council meetings to present, along with Carol Ruiz of RedRocketLA (@carolruiz) and Carol Flammer (@AtlantaPR) of mRELEVANCE, on social media and its significance for the real estate industry. As you might remember if you read the post, the session went nothing like I had expected. The crowd was borderline unruly--and I loved it.

The audience was skeptical about the value of social media in their business, unsure about the long-term viability of social media as a marketing and sales tool, and confused by its various platforms. But they were engaged.

Since that energetic exchange of thoughts and ideas, it's occurred to me that there seems to be two camps when it comes to the evaluation of social media and its significance in real estate.

One group approaches the subject of social media with a "why should I care" attitude, unconvinced that we might not be wasting our breaths by even broaching the subject. They want to see a direct line between a link posted on Facebook or a tweet on Twitter and a sales contract. And that's fine, but I'm not sure that they're ever going to find information, much less answers, in the way that they are asking them to be delivered. Why? Social media is changing the rules of communication--marketing and selling--and, therefore, the same measuring stick does not apply.

The other group believes that the social media phenomenon is real. They believe that there really will be more than 100 million people on Twitter by 2010. And they believe that the 35 million people on LinkedIn represent some sort of untapped opportunity. They just don't know how to reach them. They are confused by the proliferation of platforms and don't understand how the messaging behind LinkedIn is different from Facebook is different from Twitter is different from whatever else is out there. (I'm still amazed that the majority of the ULI group indicated it was active on LinkedIn and then proceeded to tell the two Carols and me that they didn't know what it was used for.)

So, I was thinking about this second group of people this afternoon as I was participating in a webinar put on by Mike Lyon (@mikelyon), a sales and marketing consultant, author of "Browsers to Buyers," and blogger extraordinaire on http://www.doyouconvert.com/. When I say participating, I don't mean listening or watching. I mean I was answering real-time polls and responding to questions by posting tweets on Twitter along with many of the 125 other people who had signed into the presentation. And that's the whole point of social media--to engage in conversation that will prove valuable for all parties involved.

It's important to point out that there is no recipe for success when it comes to social media. There is no magic number of Twitter tweets or blog postings or Facebook links that will add up to X number of sales or even X number of hits to your Web site. Navigating social media is more art than science in that respect. However, there are certainly guidelines that will allow you to gain traction much faster. So, let me share a few from Lyon.

• Focus on Realtors and referrals. Most builders subscribe to the "one-third" model for sales: one-third of sales come from walk-ins, one-third from Realtors, and one-third from referrals. Lyon says builders are better off trying to use it to target Realtors and referrals rather than just drive traffic to a Web site or sales office. By creating meaningful and sustained dialogue with Realtors and existing home buyers, builders will benefit.
• Realize it's a two-way conversation. The key to leveraging social media is to create engagement. "It's not another area where you can broadcast the same message," Lyon warns.
• Better to ask forgiveness rather than ask for permission. Lyon encourages sales staffs to go ahead and take a stab at experimenting with social media rather than waiting for corporate management to give the initiative a full embrace. And if there's push-back from management, suggest the company implement a social media policy to ensure professionalism.
• Keep it fresh. Whether you've got a community page on Facebook or Twitter or where ever else in the social media sphere, the key to gaining recognition is to keep it constantly updated. Lyon suggests posting announcements related to local news or events or even to welcome new residents into a community.
• Show your personality. Lyon says that the ole 80/20 rule applies when using social media for business. You have to be professional, but you have any stickiness if there's not some personality mixed in to give the business profile a little pizzazz. The caveat: "I'm not saying it [social media] is like a mullet, business in the front and all party in the back." (Yes, I swear he said that. Hilarious.)
• Don't try to read everything. (I'm totally guilty of this on Twitter.) It's a sure-fire way to turn social networking into social-not-working. The volume of information is just overwhelming, so don't try to stay up to the minute. Carefully planned posts or tweets or what-have-you roughly three times a day is sufficient.

There were of course some other great tips--I learned about an attractive alternative to http://www.tinyurl.com/ to create shorter URLs--that you can also get by viewing the presentation on replay, for those who are interested. It should be up on Blue Tangerine Solutions Web site tomorrow; click here to be redirected.