Today’s episode is the first in a three-part series on technology; this episode focuses on social media and how we use can use it in our real estate business. So many people engage with social media every day — we and our clients are all in. Today’s guest is Marki Lemons Ryhal and she joins Monica today to talk about the vast ways that we as REALTORS® can use social media to help ourselves and our clients. There are free and paid ways to use social media. Marki is teaching REALTORS® all over the country how to improve social media presence and make social media work better for them. Many real estate agents are having success on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Facebook is good to reach a large number of people because about two-thirds of internet users have Facebook, regardless of age. Instagram is popular because we are a visual society, and we can get information quickly and succinctly on Instagram. Marki also uses LinkedIn, but this is more useful for those in commercial real estate. As a commercial agent, you could use LinkedIn to join the Employee Assisted Housing Program and connect with Human Resource directors. For people who may be focusing on more niche markets, Snapchat and Pinterest can be other good platforms to utilize. Twitter is a popular platform, but there is the character limitation; a good way to utilize Twitter is to post photos and short videos. Many agents feel overwhelmed by all the media and finding a balance between being a good business person and being authentic across all these different platforms. It’s important to go back to your business plan and focus on who your business plan needs you to be in front of. After defining your customer (or who you want to be your customer), and looking at the demographics and profiles, pick the media that will best reach these clients. You want to engage with the tools they already have and use. Marki talks about Community SEO, and how you can utilize social media to start showing up on the platforms you use. If you tag the location when you’re using social media, people will start to know who you are. You can do things in the community offline, but post it online. The focus on getting out in the community is important because people want to do business with people they trust. You will also have a higher conversion rate from the people that you meet, versus the people you haven’t met. You learn to leverage social media to get your community activity onto the web. A hashtag is a pound sign followed by a word or a group of words. Hashtags can filter or streamline a conversation. People can search by hashtags, so it’s important to be honest and use your hashtags correctly. You might consider creating a branded hashtag custom just for you. Marki warns about being a little cautious when using hashtags because if you use something too generic, you might expose your competition. It’s a balance between using phrases that are commonly searched, but also set you apart from your competition. Facebook is a treasure trove of information for our clients. Marki talks about some specific ways REALTORS® can use Facebook to enhance their business. Facebook is the largest and probably most accurate listening device because people share all of their business in real time. As people share their life events, you can begin to gauge motivated sellers. You can also use this to help bridge the gap between the online and offline relationship. REALTORS® share content consistently with consumers that they don’t engage or interact with. You have to think about how to educate the consumer and be first in mind, but don’t give them content that the consumer won’t engage with. Using platforms and mediums that can deliver the content they will interact with (videos, photos) will lead to a higher chance of success. Most people do business with the first person they interact with, so it’s important to make sure your social media presence is strong and respectful. Facebook has a feature of lists, w