Recently Yahoo released a research document on how home buyers or tenants select a real estate agent. Here is what they found:

Here is the conclusion they came to:

What you learn about these findings for your business. There are a few things.

The first is you need to understand the tremendous power of word of mouth. Friends ask their friends or family members for recommendations. In the past this would happen in person or via the phone. This also expanded to include the use of email. In the last two years social networks have become extremely popular and now friends and family are communicating with each other on these networks.

No matter what your business you are now able to listen to these conversations. Do you know how to do this? With some skill you are even able to enter the conversation and answer questions or give advice and tips!

The point is you are now able to become aware of the first step in the “selection cycle” before someone begins to search the web to find you! How valuable is that to your business?

The second is understanding the importance of your web presence. Remember a website that has a 1990 or early 2000’s feel is no longer sufficient. Is your website 2010 Web compliant? What shows up when someone Googles your name? How conversational is your business? These questions are important because as the research shows searching on the internet plays a very large role in how consumers find and interact with you.

If your web presence has a 2010 Web feel and look you will in may cases be able to interact with people as they visit your site. This is extremely powerful! Instead of someone looking at a static website which brags about how good you are, you can have a website where when people arrive on your page they can immediately begin interacting with you.

Here is the key: Remember people do business with people not a nameless brand. The more human your business becomes the easier it will be for people to do business with you.

If you would like to learn how to ensure that your business understands the revolution that has happened on the web we strongly recommend you attend our next social media workshop. (Simply check the events section on this website) If you require a more personalized strategy please feel free to contact us to discuss this with you. Our contact details can be found on the Services tab.

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