Written By: Elias Nathaniel

The Real Estate Guy

Tuesday 22 April 2014

Your Real Estate G+ Influence

I have recently noticed real estate people on Google+, are starting to form some pretty substantive alliances with each other. Basically, you have my back and I'll have yours. This may be a huge development that can significantly impact profile and business page influence and authority. As time goes on, continued interaction within an alliance will push individual members to the top, as each accumulates and passes on more and more authority and influence. It's kind of like a vicious circle.

This may be great for members of a real estate Google+ alliance, but not very good for those on the fringes. If you are a newbie or someone who views Google+ as a billboard for posting the same old blog articles that have been already posted many times, then you are a "fringer". With time, fringers are destined to loose out, as they clamor for and get little or no attention from those with the power of authority and influence. So how do you avoid getting left out?

The answer is simple. To create your own alliances, start getting noticed by other real estate Google+ users NOW. MaƱana, in this case, is your enemy. As time passes, you will find it harder and harder to get attention and form good alliances.

I suggest that your time on Google+ should be spent 20% posting and 80% interacting. Try to understand, that it is by far the interactions and not the postings that will propel you upward. So here is a good plan to follow:

Spend 20% of your Time on Posting

1. If your posts receive no attention, then you have a real problem. To Google it means that you have things to say, but no one is interested to listen. So try to grab attention with new ideas and topics of interest/benefit to others. Stop posting old recycled information and ideas that others have read many times before. Who wants to keep reading about uncluttering a home or five tips for a fast sale?!! Instead, write about your unique experience with a happy client that referred you to another happy client. Or, how you are using specific tools to leverage your business.

2. If you are a prolific poster, stop it! Two to three quality posts a week are plenty. Spend your time on quality and not quantity.

3. Make sure you create an attention grabbing headline for your post. The headline should also include properly thought out keywords that Google can use to return your post in its search results.

4. If you are linking to a blog post, include a good introduction. Two or three sentences with enough info to solicit engagement without the necessity to visit the blog is great. Some people may not have the time or don't want to read your blog. So the intro alone should give enough "food for thought" to elicit a response.

If you are sharing content directly without a link, then make sure it's short and sweet. Real estate people are mostly on the run and don't want to spend a lot of time reading.

Asking a sincere, intelligent question in a post is a great way to get people to respond.

5. Make sure to include a great attention grabbing image with every post.

Spend 80% of your Time Interacting

1. Find and target those Google+ real estate related profiles or business pages that interact with others. Follow them and get them to follow you. Create a circle for interactive users.

2. Start interacting with their posts and comments, without expectations. Soon you will get their attention and the reciprocation you're after.

3. Make sure to respond to all sensible comments, questions and shares asap. People interacting with you should not be ignored and should be rewarded without delay.

4. Try comments that encourage more conversation. Refrain from short meaningless responses such as "Great share", "Thank you" or "Nice post". Give engaging responses, such as "Sounds like a good idea. Do you think it's easy to carry out?"

5. Try to tag third parties in your conversation. That will give you more credibility and improve the dynamics of the conversation.

So how do alliances come into play? Once you create a friendship with someone, you try and nurture it on an ongoing basis. Provided, the other party is just as enthusiastic, you can create a cycle of back and forth. The more I interact with the other person, the more the other person's influence and authority increases. That in turn, helps leverage the authority and influence I receive back. As this cycle continues, we both continue to climb Google's ladder of social influence. Add multiple relationships with other Google+ users and you will start to see the leverage in propelling your social influence and authority higher.

In closing I want to stress the words "be natural in your interactions". Socializing artificially is not conducive to human relationships. I don't know, but why do I get the feeling that Google knows when you are genuine or faking it out?!!

Read more of my related posts:

Why Am I Not Getting Attention on G+?
Thank You, Thank You, Thank You
My Real Estate Posts Attract Little or No Attention
Advantages of Joining a Community on Google Plus