REALTORS® CORNER


Using Social Media to Promote Your New Home Products—the Right Way


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By JEMILA WILLIAMS, GRI, RDCPro, broker and founder of Gemstone Real Estate Inc.


Jemila is a speaker and author of the upcoming book "The ABCs of BPOs." She can be reached at Jemila@ TeamGemstone Realty.com.


he New Year is already off to a great start. Hope you had an amazing holiday and are working on hitting the ground running. As


many home builders did over the course of the past few months, goal setting and marketing plans where created; however there are still quite a few home builders who have missed the boat on leveraging the internet as part of their marketing goals.


Custom homes in the Houston area a special—and valuable—commodity. But if nobody knows what you have available, your sales results won’t reflect the quality of your new home products. Internet marketing and social media represent outstanding opportunities for you to increase your visibility, build your brand, and dramatically improve your sales results.


What Is Social Media?


Don’t let the social media moniker confuse you. Social media is nothing more than a method of reaching potential clients by interacting with prospects in a relaxed, non-threatening way, typically in settings (Web sites) that enable people to connect with businesses or individuals of their choosing.


Do you have a personal Facebook account? If so, you’re already participating in social media. Regardless of whether you choose to utilize Facebook, Twitter, or even Digg, social media represents a tremendous opportunity for you to reach potential buyers of Houston custom homes. You simply need to leverage the opportunity for your custom homes business by creating a Facebook fan page or by creating a free business account at one of the other social media sites.


How Does It Tie Into Custom Home Sales?


By effectively engaging in conversation with potential custom homebuyers, you can elevate your marketing efforts by creating rabid fans— people who will talk with friends and other contacts by posting and re-posting good content.


Success in social media marketing isn’t determined by how many sales messages you post to your account. Instead, you reach the ultimate in success by posting messages of benefit to your fans. Some of the most successful social marketers don’t concentrate their messages on marketing, but rather on fun. This doesn’t mean, however,


Focusing on what’s really best for builders. Better coverage, better rates, and flexible coverage options from the strongest insurance companies serving the industry. Hotchkiss Insurance Agency has proudly insured Texas builders and contractors for over 35 years. Continually focused on offering only the best, our program now offers enhanced coverage and more options than ever before aimed at helping protect your business and your bottom line.


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Insurance designed for builders and contractors www.hiallc.com 22 FEBRUARY 2011 | HOUSTON BUILDER | GREATER HOUSTON BUILDERS ASSOCIATION – BUILDING A BETTER FUTURE


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