(TheNicheReport) -- Here goes... I'm going to say it. I hate this word that I'm about to say, but I have to do it. The reason I hate it so much is because it's so played out in our industry. At any rate, here it is – Facebook. Yuk. I’m so tired of hearing that word. But you know what? We need to dive into this crap and figure out how to use it to make some stinking money. There are so many companies out there ready to grab your credit card and promise you the world. A lot of us jump on it because we don't get it, don't want to get it or we're just lazy and don't want to put any effort into it. I say don't do it. Don't break out that credit card just yet. There's an easy way to do this thing and it works, but it does take a little effort – not much mind you, just a little. In fact if you can sit on your rear while drinking a cocktail in front of the television, congratulations! You're qualified to make money with Facebook!
Here's the deal. You have to work this site. Why? Because everybody lives there now. Did you hear me? I said EVERYBODY lives there now. In fact, not only do they live there, but they want you to show up and play with them there. They not only want you to show up, but they want to show you everything that's going on in their lives. They want to tell you about every single little thing that they like, and every single little thing that they hate. They want to show you what clothes they like, what restaurants they frequent, what stores they shop at, what television shows they watch – EVERYTHING!
Want to make someone like you? Talk to them about something they like. Don't believe me? Try it. There's a guy that works in the office space a few doors down from us that always comes and visits for no apparent reason other than to suck the life out of us with useless conversation about stuff that I absolutely do NOT give a crap about. I don't care for him. I don't hate him, I just don't care for his company. Okay... he's irritating and he drives me freaking crazy! Are you feeling me? Anyway, one day he comes over and sees a guitar in the corner of the studio. It's mine, I'm a guitar player (or, at least I used to be). So he picks it up and says, “I don't play, but I'm trying to talk my wife into letting me buy a Gibson Les Paul.” The next thing you know I'm in a 45-minute conversation with the little life sucker about guitars. Eww... I almost felt dirty afterwards.
So think about the recon you can accomplish by being someone's friend on Facebook. Heck, you even get to see who their other friends are for goodness sake! This type of personal recon is so valuable if you know how to use it, which of course I will show you. Ready? Here goes....
Step one: Go home. Easy – yes?
Step two: Deal with all the stuff you usually deal with when you get home. Kiss the spouse, hug the kids, pet the dog, eat dinner, watch the latest episode of Days of our Lives (did I type that out loud?), whatever. Easy – yes?
Step three: Pour yourself a glass of your favorite beverage. If you need help in this area, I recommend a nice Irish Whisky. Easy – yes?
Step four: Grab your laptop and sit on your ass. Easy – yes?
Step five: Log on to Facebook. Still easy... yes?
Okay, I've got you all set to go. I'm so excited... my heart's beating so fast right now.... Okay, so now what you do is you look over to the right. Way over to the right on Facebook you'll see which of your friends are currently “on-line.” You'll see some people you know, and if you're like any other typical mortgage or real estate person you'll see people you don't know. Those would be the people whose friend requests you accepted because you're hoping they will magically want to do business with you. Well, magic time is over, we're going to get that business. On a side note, the average person on FB has 150 friends. But what we've learned is that the average mortgage or real estate person has 450. Anyway, here's what you do next:
Find someone over there that you don't know, one of those people you're hoping will magically do business with you for some reason. Now go to their profile page, and learn something about them. If you click on “info” or “about” you'll see who they work for, what schools they attended, what music they like, all kinds of stuff. More importantly you can click on their friends and see your “mutual friends.” So now click on that person’s name over on the right so you can actually “live chat” him or her. Yes, that's what I said, “live chat” them. You're a sales person remember? We actually need to talk to people and let them know what we do – that's our job, right? But don't panic! Remain calm! You're safe! You're only “chatting” through a social site. You're not actually face to face, so you still have your “I'm afraid to talk to people” buffer zone in place.
Say something like this: “Hey, I see we're mutual friends with [insert mutual friend name here... preferably a mutual friend that you actually DO know], how do you know him/her?” Then the magic starts. He or she may actually respond to you, and if that happens, you've got yourself a little conversation going. After they reply back – and it doesn't matter how they reply back, just keep the conversation going – make sure you drop the good ol' “So I see you work at [insert where they work], how's work treating you?” Or something to that effect – these are concepts, guys, work with me here. They will answer you and more than likely ask you in turn “what do you do?” BINGO! That's what we're looking for! And if they don't ask what you do – tell them. Say something like: “I'm one of those big bad mortgage guys, but things are going pretty well for me right now” (please stay positive here.... please).
Now you're having a conversation about what you do. I'm sure I don't have to tell you too much more from this point, right? You can work it from here, right? Of course you can – YOU ARE A SALESPERSON! See, you want to treat FB like a cocktail party. In fact... while you're sitting on your rear with your favorite beverage, you could be chatting it up with two, three, four people at one time! You're just mingling and getting to know people. If you were at a physical “mixer” would you stand in a corner and just watch people? No, you'd mingle. Treat Facebook that way. Treat it like your own little cocktail party a few nights a week and I guarantee you'll get business and actually make money from Facebook without spending a dime doing it. Easy, yes?
So now I want you to consider how you treat these new leads. When you're talking with a new lead, don't just get phone numbers, emails and addresses – ask if you can friend them on Facebook. Because let's say that lead doesn't convert today. Let me ask you this, what's going to have more impact on a person – sending stuff out via email to them, or actually “chatting” with them? I'm not saying don't email them! Of course you do that. But now you can actually chat them up a little bit and have a really good chance at getting their business and referrals – agreed?
We shared this tip on the TBWS Daily Show a couple years ago. A few months after we shared the tip we were at an event that we put on in Los Angles. A guy comes up to me and says “Hey, remember that Facebook tip you shared on the Daily?” I say “yeah.” He goes on to say that he's getting a bunch of business from it. He said the first night he did it he got an app and three or four appointments. So this stuff works guys! Just do it, it's so freaking easy.
Now... I said to do this little exercise with someone you don't know, but you can do this with people you do know as well, right? Sure you can, just start talking about “work” and you're off to the races. Look at you! You're networking and socializing with a cocktail in your hand from the comfort of your own living room! It really doesn't get any easier than that. Geez... now all you have to do is buy Real Estate Marbles Premium to really take advantage of Facebook – but that's another article, and it does cost money. At any rate, have an awesome day, and uh.... don't be a stranger, chat us up on Facebook.
~Frank
Thinkbigworksmall.com (TBWS) was founded in 2007 by a group of highly successful real estate and mortgage industry entrepreneurs. Born in the most battered market in the real estate and mortgage industry’s history, Thinkbigworksmall.com was conceived after decades of observing how the most successful professionals always seem to work smarter, not harder. Frank & Brian can be reached at [email protected]
