WHY NOT USE SOCIAL MEDIA?

I understand why you might think social media is important. Everyone is telling you to focus on it. But social media is not a profit-producing activity. Social media does not provide direct leads. Those who use it as a prospecting technique are at home clicking buttons. They think this will get them in front of prospects. They mistake social media time as productive use of their time resource. 

Here’s how I think about social media. When you are an agent posting to social media, how many other agents are posting in your city? In my city, 14,000 other agents are competing for this space. When people browse, they are exposed to any of those 14,000 agents. Posting on social media is kind of like throwing a listing on MLS and hoping somebody calls you.

Social media is also not action based. You are sitting at home and spending a lot of time planning your social media, not acting. You are waiting and hoping somebody reacts to something you post and reaches out. When you are door knocking, you are literally taking steps to get those leads. It is action based. And you can track your numbers. You can find out how many doors and how many conversations you need to have as you nurture those relationships. When you door knock, you can directly track your results back to the steps you took in a community. You can see how many doors you needed to knock on to get each paycheck. It’s harder to track social media results because there are no real action steps to measure. Door knocking is also more cost effective. You’ll spend less time, money, and energy knocking for every lead than you will on a social media campaign. 

You also don’t want to get caught up in the follower flaw. Gaining followers on social media is great as a vanity metric, but it’s not connected to your profit potential. You don’t know how many of these people will sell with you. You can have thousands of followers and this may still mean absolutely nothing to the profit of your game. I’ve met agents who were very popular on social media but in reality felt anxious and were not growing. You want to be careful spending energy on social media for this reason. The vanity metrics can be misleading and they can leave you feeling empty and unaccomplished for all your efforts. However, the opposite happens when you door knock. The more you door knock, the more fulfilled you are because it leads to real connections and visible results. When you see direct results from your actions, it fuels you forward in your game.

Door knocking is effective because you can engage your prospect directly. You don’t have to wait for them to call you or visit your office. You are already there in front of them when you plant the seed. You can start building rapport right away. It’s the quickest way to build relationships and make a name for yourself. When you meet people at their door, they directly connect your face to local  real estate. The longer you service the community, the more recognition you gain. For this reason, door knocking leads to incredible results when taken seriously and approached with a plan. 

Door knocking also actively spotlights you away from the herd of other agents in your city. How many other real estate agents do you think that homeowner saw in person that week? Most likely, you’re the only one. Bingo. You have now risen to the top in their mind. The owner has seen and met you. They aren’t going to forget you the way they forget the hundred of social media posts they see in a day. 

When you are dressed professionally and show up at an owner’s door, you stand out. I can't tell you how often people have said to me, “Wow, I've never had someone like you knock on my door.” 

Another reason to knock is that you’ll be a seller's agent (aka the listing agent). This usually means you get two transactions instead of just one. When a homeowner sells, they almost always buy again. When you target prospects at their door and get listings, you also score buyers. As a listing agent, you also have more control. When you are a listing agent, you control your schedule and you can control your day. That is another prime reason to score your clients at the door. Door knocking is a strategy of targeting sellers to get buyers.  

At first when you are knocking, you will probably need to use a script. As you build more confidence, you will start to come up with conversation starters on your own. Next thing you know, you will be a master at it! We’ll cover Scripts and What to Say in Module 6. And if you're a bit nervous to get started, don’t worry. In Module 3, I’ll help you overcome your nerves and fears. In Module 4, you’ll also learn a great practice strategy before starting in your target neighborhood.

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