Do You Really Want to do Business with a Social Network “Friend”?
Social networking is all the rage these days. Everybody’s got their mug and bio on multiple social websites, from LinkedIn, to Twitter, to Facebook, to YouTube, and almost countless others.
One of the larger selling points of becoming part of one or more of these social networks is to foster new bonds with potential clients and customers. However, as these networks develop, I’m seeing 2 distinctly different business philosophies develop:
1. Approach all people in a “warm and fuzzy” way as their friend, their buddy, their pal, and keep business talk to an absolute minimum; or
2. Provide business information that might be useful to potential clients and customers while keeping a professional arm’s length distance.
As for me, at first I was caught in the middle of these 2 points of view and tried both. But, after spending some time posting and reading the posts of others, I’m now firmly planted in the category that deals strictly with issues related to my position as a real estate professional. And, let me tell you why.
As a real estate professional I deal with other people’s money, and, consequently, their lives. To me, and I’m sure to them, this is very serious business. And, it seems to me, business is business, and friendship or socializing is something completely different and should be separated from business.
Before going any further, let’s take a look at the other philosophy; being the “friend” vs. being the business professional on a social network.
Let’s say you’re a prospective client of a certain type of professional, such as, say a lawyer, a real estate professional, or an accountant, and you come across someone on one of these social networks who generally refers to themself as being such a professional:
1. Do you really care about whether or not they’ve just gone to the mall to buy a new iPod, or are watching their child play soccer, or are going to visit Aunt Bessie in the nursing home later today?
2. Does it make any difference to you what restaurant they ate in last night, or what they watched on TV, or if they got wet in the rain while walking their dog?
3. Does it really make them better qualified to deal with your particular need because they saw some cute holiday decorations on someone’s lawn, or they were going to see a certain play, or any of the thousands of inane things we all do in our private lives every day?
Do you really care about any of this personal stuff that has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with their ability (or, lack thereof) to perform the service that you want or need?
Frankly, not only do I not NEED to know any of this extraneous blabber, and I don’t WANT to know any of it because, I DON’T CARE!
What I DO care about, is information related to the subject the professional is involved in, whether it’s law, real estate, accounting, medicine, website development, or anything else for which I may have a need for such expertise.
Yes. I think it’s okay for a professional to add a personal touch, such as a real estate professional posting something like, “I’m going to a seminar about the current state of the foreclosure market and will tell you all about it.” Or, an attorney posting something like this, “I’ve just read an opinion about an eminent domain case where the judge denied the property owner’s request to have the jury visit his property. As I see this ruling, the implications are . . .” And, so on.
And, while I don’t want to read posts that are nothing more than advertisements, I also don’t want to know about their mother-in-law’s goiter, either.
I want information about the subject in which the person is an expert, and I want them to explain to me why and how they think the information they post is important to me. I want to be able to get a feel for the person’s understanding of the subject, their thought process (if any), and their method of communication. All of THAT is what’s important to me.
For example, I post numerous articles that reference the government’s involvement in the economy, since virtually everything the government does has a direct impact on the economy. Consequently, those governmental activities also have a direct influence on employment, business activity, and, therefore, both the use and value of real estate; that is MY area of professional expertise.
I also post information on sales volume of various types of real estate uses, the pricing trends, impact on real estate investments, and myriad other subjects from the perspective of how they effect the use and value of real estate.
Would you rather hear about how I stubbed my tow when walking barefoot through my bathroom? Do you really care? Should you really care? Does that tell you whether or not I’m a competent professional in my field?
Do you really want to do business with THAT kind of person you have contact with on a social website?
