Social networking can become a low-yield time suck if you don’t approach it the right way. In the spirit of helping agents, we recently talked with David Patterson, a national real estate trainer, radio host, and online marketing expert, about how agents can maximize their time on social networking sites. Here are a few answers to help you connect your networking with profit.

For more advice on Posting for Profit, join David’s session on Trulia’s Online Marketing Bootcamp.

Not all social media sites are created equal. Which one would you recommend as the best place to get started?

Facebook is the “networking queen” of all social media tools. It’s the best place to go to build a database of family, friends, acquaintances, colleagues, and consumers and communicate with them on a consistent basis without spending one dime!


How does social media provide a return on investment (ROI), and how do you measure that?

First of all, there’s no question that social media can deliver very powerful returns. If you are measuring your ROI simply by the gross commission dollars earned to dollars spent and you can track transactions initiated from your social media presence, your ROI can probably be represented by the “infinity” symbol.

If you believe time equals money, it is important to define your hourly worth and the dollars generated during your time invested in managing your social media interactions. If you keep that in mind while you’re on any social media tools, it’s more likely that you will keep your eye on the clock and make sure it’s time well spent.

How do you draw the line between work and play on social media? Or do you?

With regards to the word “play,” I’ve seen that the students in my classes and my consulting clients place a negative connotation on that word. They immediately groan about Farmville, Mafia Wars, and other games people play on Facebook.

But that’s not what I’m talking about. To me, play is learning and communicating with others through these social media tools. Building and nurturing relationships in the social media realm can be rewarding, enriching, and profitable.

I do draw more of a line between my professional and private lives on social media. If you follow me on Facebook and Twitter, you can learn about my likes and dislikes through following my posts. However, you will not receive a “by the hour” play-by-play of my every movement. I think I’m setting the right example about how to use social networking sites in a way that is smart, compelling, and not intrusive to the people I’m connected with.