I’m always intrigued by people’s comments to me about social media. Love it, hate it, don’t understand it, I love to know what people think. Real Estate Connect happened this past week and at the Real Estate Webmasters cocktail party I was introduced to Mary Giroux from RE/MAX Encore in Wilmington, MA.
Right off the bat, I loved her energy and enthusiasm for what was happening at Agent Reboot and Real Estate Connect. We got to talking about social media and more specifically Twitter. She told me that she appreciated Twitter and how it’s taught her to be constructive in what she says given the 140 character limit. I thought NEXT would be the perfect opportunity for you all to meet her and maybe feel inspired by her energy and love for what she does!
Mary, it was so fun to meet you in New York last week! Tell us a little bit about yourself… Meg, it was fun meeting you too! I am a full time Real Estate Agent for RE/MAX Encore in Wilmington, MA. I have been selling Residential Real Estate for about 10 years now and I love my job. I am also a mom of four and they get a kick out of my social media skills (NOT).
How many Connect/Agent Reboots have you been to before? What were some of your top takeaways from the conference this time around?
I have been to two Agent Reboot conferences in Boston, MA, and this was my first experience with Connect in New York. My first impression was wow, these are serious real estate people! When I sat in the conference and started listening, I was so happy I decided to come.
Mary with Seth Price, Director of Sales and Marketing at Placester & Susan Lewis at Cocktails at Connect
My biggest take aways were, Video and all it has to offer, and also Mobile Technology and how important it is and how fast it is growing. Also, improving the customer experience. This really resonated with me.
Twitter comes off as a scary thing to some people, especially in real estate. How did you get started with Twitter? What tips do you have to those that are still on the fence about using the social media platform?
I believe I listened to the greats like Chris Smith, Katie Lance and Jimmy Mackin who said just get on there, and start using it. That advice still holds true. My rule of thumb with learning anything new is, give it 10 or 15 minutes a day consistently. I guarantee you will get better at it. The more people I followed, the more followed me. I also realized the huge benefit of up to the minute news on Twitter. It is there before it is anywhere else, you can really share some great content by following the right people on twitter, and you will share it before anyone else. What you and I had talked about was how Twitter has taught me to really think about what I am saying so that I can pack the most info possible in the 140 character limit that Twitter requires. It was a process that got better over time and use. It is a great skill to have!
Has it helped you and your business? What other social media/business planning tools do you use and find effective?
It has helped me in my business really reach out to a younger crowd. The Gen X and Gen Y age group is on twitter. They love the brevity of it and the quick response time. It has also helped me learn from the best by following their twitter feeds and reading their posts. Facebook has always been a great source of business for me. As per Jimmy Mackin’s advice, I really tried to concentrate on local events, activity, and people and created a following of people that like to read what I have to say and post. Pinterest is another way to connect with people who share common interests with you. It gives them a certain level of familiarity with you and when they are ready to find a realtor, they remember that. Instagram is the same thing. I try to mix the posts with humor, pictures, some business, and some personal. I think it makes me a real person people can relate to.
Do you have big plans for 2013? Productivity?
After Connect, my head was spinning with plans. Now I am reviewing, and trying to organize them so that I can implement them. Video is a big thing. I am going to start recording my own video blogs and posting them on YouTube. It adds personality to what I am already doing. Also, I am writing more. Trying out blogs and planning a strategy. I want to go completely paperless and improve the customer experience so the stress level for buyers and sellers is greatly reduced. I want to network more, and I am seriously considering attending Connect San Francisco! Also, the RE/MAX convention is in Vegas the end of February and I will be attending that too. So, lots of plans, still lots to learn but I am enjoying every second.
I loved meeting Mary and talking with her about her experiences with Real Estate Connect and social media. People like that inspire me to keep doing what I love to do. It was my first time at the conference and such an amazing opportunity for me to meet everyone and be involved with such an amazing group of people. Our Inman News team has been coming out with a lot of great content to go along with what was discussed on the Real Estate Connect stage in NYC. I’ll share my favorites and I’d love to know yours! Photos, videos, stories… leave us a comment below or find me on Facebook and Twitter!
