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How to Create an Effective Business Social Networking Profile

Joshua Dorkin
3 min read

The other day I put together an article with the purpose of helping people focus their energy when establishing an online presence. I noted that many folks in Real Estate were just building profiles on every social network possible and I wanted to let people know that it is better to focus on a few quality ones than to have dozens of profiles on sites they never participate on. For more info, check out: Social Network Marketing: Can You Have Too Many Profiles?

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I thought an appropriate follow up would be a piece that helps teach you how to effectively put together a profile that serves its purpose. While this article is a must read for our BiggerPockets Real Estate Social Network members, it is also 100% applicable to users of other sites from Facebook to MySpace, Twitter, ActiveRain or Digg.

Seven Tips on How To Create An Effective Real Estate Social Networking Profile

Once you join a social network such as ours, here’s what you want to do to create the most effective profile possible to attract the attention of others who may want to do business with you.

  1. Immediately change the default avatar – There is nothing that says I don’t care or I’m not willing to put in any effort, than someone who sticks with the default avatar provided by a network. Take a minute and change this — upload something that represents who you are, which brings me to:
  2. Choose a profile avatar that shows off your personality – Don’t use logos, scenery, or other imagery; find a picture of you that highlights the best in your personality (even the grumps out there have some positive personality traits) and use it. People like to connect to other people; by using a photo of yourself, you’re making your profile more approachable, and as a result, you will be more approachable. People are more likely to want to network with someone they can see than someone who isn’t willing to represent themselves.
  3. Be truthful – It is okay to leave out information about who you are, your background, etc., but by lying, you start all of your relationships off on the wrong foot. Lying includes putting false “facts” about yourself in your profile, using fake names, and being boastful about things that may not be true. You will have no credibility if when people find out that you’re just another person pretending to be something that you are not.
  4. Make sure to include the following key elements: your background and experience, what you can offer others, your goals, your wants, and your needs. I’ll do a follow up piece and go into details on all of these points.
  5. Lose the sales pitch – There is nothing worse than to find your way to someone’s profile, only to discover that all they have to say about themselves is their sales pitch. If people wanted the pitch, they would stay up later at night and watch the infomercials.
  6. Be Professional – Remember, people will judge you based on what they see on your profile. If you’ve got a profile full of spelling mistakes, slang, or other problems (such as ALL CAPS), people are going to take that into consideration when considering whether or not to connect with you.
  7. Be Detailed – Lets jump back to #4 above again . . . when filling out your profile and providing the information I suggest, make sure to be comprehensive. There is a HUGE difference between saying “I’m looking for houses” and “I’m looking for single family 2/1 houses in the x neighborhood in the $50k – $75k price range”. Details will help others better understand who you are, what you can offer them, and what your interests are.

The ultimate goal of business networking online or off is to get business done, right? By creating a real estate social networking profile using the tips I suggest above, you’re showing people that a) you are serious about doing business, b) you’re web savvy c) you’re willing to put effort into your business d) you know what you’re doing.

What are you waiting for? Get back on BiggerPockets (preferably) and those other networks, and make sure your profile makes the grade!

Photo Credit: ChrisL_AK

Note By BiggerPockets: These are opinions written by the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions of BiggerPockets.