Real You: The Fun of Constant Learning

Recently, I hosted a a webinar for the Women’s Council of Realtors. The focus was on how to get your business up and going as a new sales associate in the real estate business. The thing is, the advice for new real estate entrepreneurs is the same for new entrepreneurs in any business. Today, you are your strongest competitive advantage. It all starts with you. Your personal brand, clearly articulated, is your killer app. Your shining story. Uniquely yours and there for you to use to connect with your perfect customer. We spent a lot of the webinar discussing personal branding and target marketing. As you know, the ability to target, truly reach the right customer at the right time, has never been better. But it’s also really confusing to folks unfamiliar with the social media tools and platforms. I know, I’m learning every day, too.

For yesterday’s presentation, I created a chart—a hierarchy of sorts of how to present the Real You on the web. It starts with your website. There, you and your company tell your story to your target audience, clearly and with passion. Next, start networking. Online, the best place to begin is LinkedIn. Next step, Facebook. And once you’re comfortable with those two platforms—and perhaps you’ve added a blog—then tackle Twitter. If you’ve done your Real You chart , the words you see in front of you should often be found in the 140 characters you post on Twitter.

Trying to explain it better, a woman named Linda chimed in. She said she’s begun to think of LinkedIn as a Chamber of Commerce Small Business Meeting. Informational, flat and decorous. She considers Facebook a business cocktail party, where people are sharing a bit more of their personal side and conversing freely. (Hopefully, not too freely). I asked, so what’s Twitter?

She hadn’t decided. So I’ve been thinking about it. I love Twitter. To me, it’s about sharing thoughts and insights closely aligned with your personal brand and business brand in the world. In that sense, perhaps Twitter is the fly on the wall at the cocktail party. Gleaning the best, most concise insights and sharing them outward. At least, that’s what Twitter can be at its best.

The best way to learn about what any of these platforms can do for you and your business—or the business you are dreaming of creating—is to jump in and learn.

Cheers! And thanks for the learning, Linda!

Tweeps & Business Pages vs. Networking Parties & Business Cards

Are you feeling the pressures of networking through social media but don’t really know what that means, let alone how to do it? If so, you are not alone. Just be honest about it.

I love it when people are honest. It’s great to be able to admit both your strengths—and your weaknesses! And learning to incorporate social media into your business’ marketing plan in the New Year is a great step. If you entered the business world before the Internet, you know and feel the dramatic changes that are occurring almost daily. Every industry is facing these changes and the challenges and opportunities that technology brings.

The key to social networking is to apply it to your business in a genuine fashion. Women are natural social networkers. We always have been. We build and maintain communities across the country through volunteerism. I don’t know about you, but when I look at my kids’ schools, the volunteer ranks are full of women. Still. That’s social networking in the real world.

It’s no different online. What I recommend is to start networking online on a business-specific, direct connection site like LinkedIn. I like LinkedIn because everyone on it is there to make business connections. So start there. And then, invite your contacts to join you. I believe this is the future of networking and the future of powering your business. You and your computer and an Internet connection are unstoppable. So don’t be afraid. Start small. But think big.

If you want to take it a step further and join Twitter, check out ReachingWomenDaily.com for another post about marketing your business on Twitter and feel free to follow me!