Motivational Speaker: Online Social Networks: Is ActiveRain the LinkedIn or Facebook of Real Estate?

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Stefan Swanepoel

Author, Speaker & Trends Guru

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PO Box 7259, Laguna Niguel, CA, 92656

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Online Social Networks: Is ActiveRain the LinkedIn or Facebook of Real Estate?

Social networking is a concept that's been around since J.A. Barnes first coined the term in a sociology report back in 1954. It moved onto the Web in 1995 with the launch of ClassMates, SixDegrees, Epinions and Friendster. Then of course came MySpace and Facebook and the world would never be the same again.

It's clear that marketers are embracing social networking as reflected in the projections for advertising on these sites. According to the advertising and marketing research firm eMarketer, ad spending on U.S. social networking sites in 2007 was projected to reach $865 million. This is up from $350 million in 2006 with expectations that it will increase to $2.15 billion in 2010.

As every major consumer advertiser realizes that if you can engage effectively with these newly networked masses they become agents of your brand. Just look at how fans dress in "branded" clothing at sporting events - now multiply that by millions of social networkers and you begin to get a picture of the potential.

Another research firm, Compete.com, calculates that in 2007 Americans spent about 12% of all their Internet time on social networks. The Center for Medial Research reports that the average American spends 105 minutes of spare time online every day. That represents almost 30 minutes per day in a social network; 15 hours per month or 4½ weeks per year. Not to belabor the point but if you add in the average time Americans waste at work (2 hours/day), of which over 44% is spent on the Internet, the number of hours expended on social networking becomes huge.

As people make social networking sites a bigger part of their lives online, communities are also shaping the real estate business and the home buying process. The 2008 Swanepoel TRENDS Report (www.ReTrends.com) ranks social networks as the #1 trend for 2008.

And who is leading the charge?

It would seem that ActiveRain has become the LinkedIn and Facebook of Real Estate. What do you think?

23 comments • Stefan Swanepoel • September 16 2008 10:25AM

Comments

Stefan: I would agree with your statement. I am glad to have been here as long as I have and only wish I had gotten here sooner! I think in years to come, AR will be the premiere site for the real estate industry to socially network through (although I am sure the AR guys believe that now!). It great in the "rain"!

Posted by Steve Homer (The HBH Group (Keller Williams affiliate)) about 1 year ago

Thankss for sharing the research firms results. AR is a great site, not just for networking but for public presence on the web for me.

Posted by Mike Wong Realtor, GRI (Keller Williams Realty Southwest) about 1 year ago

Activerain is the best!

Posted by John about 1 year ago

Interesting history! Thanks for the information.

Posted by David Slavin, CDPE, ABR, SRES RE/MAX Grand (RE/MAX Grand) about 1 year ago

Interesting history! Thanks for the information.

Posted by David Slavin, CDPE, ABR, SRES RE/MAX Grand (RE/MAX Grand) about 1 year ago

Although I enjoy the agent to agent interaction...if you use social networking looking for consmers - you need another outlet. Although I have a twitter account, I'm not great at using it. Once again though, most of the people following me are fellow Realtors. Although this is good for referrals, we also need to engage the general public.

Posted by Ruthmarie Hicks (Keller Williams Realty) about 1 year ago

I would agree wholeheartedly with Ruthmarie. While ActiveRain is a wonderful platform for collaborating with other real estate professionals, its use needs to complimented with social networks that engage consumers that are looking for our services. ActiveRain is certainly a powerful tool for me to create and maintain a network of agents to refer business to (and receive referrals in turn), but it will never have the reach or power of consumer facing social networks such as Facebook and LinkedIn. With user bases of over 100 million and 25 million respectively, Facebook and LinkedIn are where I choose to spend the bulk of my time.

With a great deal of respect and admiration for what ActiveRain has done, I still pose this question to students I instruct: "Would you rather fish where other fishermen are throwing their lines, or would you prefer to fish where the fish are?"

Posted by Brad Hanks about 1 year ago

Looking at today's trend I notice than the simultaneous online Rainers has jumped to 25,000. Wow. That's the most of any real estate network I know of.

Posted by Stefan Swanepoel (Author, Speaker & Trends Guru) about 1 year ago

Stefan - I agree that social networks are a huge trend, and that Active Rain is certainly the leader in real estate connectivity. The comments above seem to disregard the value that Localism posts here on Active Rain have for the consumer. Many clients have contacted me because of my postings on Active Rain. Combined with postings on our own blog sites and other locations, we can create branding through google searches when we're "everywhere"!

Posted by Sharon Simms St Pete FL - CRS CIPS CLHMS RSPS (ALVA International, Inc.) about 1 year ago

Hi Stefan, Very interesting post. Thanks for sharing. Keep posting best.

Best - Sash

Posted by Sasha Miletic - Windsor Real Estate (RE/MAX Preferred Realty Ltd.) about 1 year ago

Just heard Stefan speak in Hawaii. Great presentation.

Posted by Brenda about 1 year ago

Stephan - I would agree that if it is not already the leader it soon will be as active/rain becomes greater than itself

Posted by Kathy Clulow ASP® SRES® Offering Full Real Estate Services Since 1973 (RE/MAX Scugog Realty Ltd Brokerage) about 1 year ago

Hi Stefan,

Very interesting article. Social networking has always been an extremely important part of the real estate business. The ways that we socialize are certainly changing. Active Rain has certainly been a great place to expand relationships with other real estate professionals. I also find that one of the best social networks for me has been my involvement with Southern California Residential Specialists.

Posted by Laguna Homes|Laguna Condos| Laguna Real Estate|Marlene Bridges (Sherman Smith & Associates) about 1 year ago

Stefan, I join them all as someone is always inviting me, but I tend to come back here for most of my networking. I have met in person so many people here I have known first through their blog, or written word.

I met 6 girls in N.C this summer, who we only met here, it was an instant connection. Like we had been friends forever. Blogging and Transparency will do that.

Now if you really want to branch out you need to go to Twitter.com It is a fabulous social network and there are so many applications for it.

If you sign up..

Posted by Missy Caulk-Ann Arbor- Realtor(R)- Ann Arbor Real Estate (Keller Williams-Ann Arbor) about 1 year ago

Missy, yes I am on Twitter. I look forward to your tweat. Also joined as a follower.

Posted by Stefan Swanepoel (Author, Speaker & Trends Guru) about 1 year ago

I think it can be... but the issue is whether or not that is enough. Only about 1/3% of agents are on here at all... and there is a much smaller percentage that has actual meaningful participation.

Posted by Lane Bailey - REALTOR & Car Guy (Diamond Dwellings Realty) about 1 year ago

Notice to all:

Since joining AR I have received numerous requests to start a group based on my annual Swanepoel Trends Report.

OK. I have launched a Real Estate Trends Group here on ActiveRain and will be providing regular updates and discussions on what is happening in our wonderful industry. You can join the group here.

Please notify all your friends and colleagues and lets share knowledge, facts and opinions about the important business trends that are shaping our lives and industry.

Stefan

Posted by Stefan Swanepoel (Author, Speaker & Trends Guru) about 1 year ago

Thanks for starting the group, Stefan. I've already joined and left my first comment there. I'm looking forward to being on the forefront of your trend discussions.

Posted by Sharon Simms St Pete FL - CRS CIPS CLHMS RSPS (ALVA International, Inc.) about 1 year ago

I totally agree this is the place to be. I love AR. I recently joined LInkedIn and was invited to a networking meeting. I was the only realtor there.They were all computer people who help companies with their sites etc. Well, I was asked a lot of questions and last saturday actually got a listing presentation. They are thinking. I will connect with them later this week. So now I like linkedIn. But it is also how you use these forums.

Sue Paige
ERA Today Realty
Naples, Me.

Posted by Sue Paige (ERA Today Realty, Windham, ME 04062) about 1 year ago

I view it as a professional network and a social network. I gained so much valuable knowledge here, and I appreciate the connections that I have with others. And we can gain referrals from each other. Also, it does allow you to have a strong on-line presence with localism.

Posted by Sharon Paxson Newport Beach Real Estate (Prudential California Realty, DRE License 01501912) about 1 year ago

The systems that win are those that are simple, to the point and easy to use -- Active Rain has accomplished this task and as this community group of professionals grow -- the sharing of knowledge of what works or doesn't work will provide the ideas for others to use in their local markets and make us all better for it.

Posted by Scott Hoen, ePro, MBA (First American Title Company) about 1 year ago

Just like pagers and cell phone became necessary items for an agent so will sites like AR.

Posted by Richard Weeks, REALTOR®, Broker Associate, GRI, ePRO, eAgent (Bill Griffin Real Estate) about 1 year ago

Stefan,

For Blogging

I think that it all depends on what do i want to do online or more specifically what is my goal. For example, if I just want to post a blog, I come to AR, why? Because it is easy and helps me multiply my blog online thru different channels. Also, it is the best place to find one of the most active NAHREP groups online.

For Networking

If I feel like networking and meeting more people online, I would go to wannanetwork.com, where I find easy to add other professionals to my network and participate on the discussions on one of the many forums available. The challenge with all these SN sites is they are mostly visit by professionals and not too many potential customers, so it makes me wonder if at the end of the day I am networking in the right place.

For Networking in Spanish

Because my niche market is Latinos, I spend a great deal of time hanging around Univision.com where I got “Mi Pagina” same concept of the SN but in Spanish. Another place where I keep an active profile is MiGente.com and MySpace en Español.

Keeping up with all these sites is easy; I have created a widget that allows me to RSS my personal blog postings, both English and Spanish throughout my favorite social networks.

Posted by Real Estate Latino (Bill Arce) (RealEstateLatino.com) about 1 year ago

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