I think it is the combined viral effect of all of them. I have definitely received agent to agent referrals. Buyers and sellers have find me on one site or another. By their comments it seems the more sites they had found me on validated my professionalism to them. So I guess I have been successful in accomplishing my goal of branding myself interactively.

I've found all of these services to be helpful in getting business. I was in touch with a former colleague through LinkedIn, and received a referral from that individual that resulted in a $3M sale. Recently, sellers of a property contacted me because of my Yelp reviews and my blog content. Facebook is great for more of a non-business interaction, though I post links to my blog pieces and get quite a few click throughs from Facebook. This week, I started using Twitter to tweet about the properties I was seeing on my weekly broker tour. Opened up an ActiveRain account last week, but haven't yet had time to get into that. I post 4-5x weekly on my blog, which takes up a fair amount of time.

Overall, these are great ways to connect with people you might not otherwise meet through your sphere.

I've found Facebook to be the best bet. I'll admit that I haven't quite "gotten" Twitter yet, but I can see the value in it. The 140 character limit is perfect for users with very quick attention spans. If you can't get your point across in that a tweet, tone it down and make your people click through for more information if they want it.

On Facebook, I've mainly kept in touch with the people I already know. Every now and then will mention I'm doing real estate related stuff. (...out showing some property! ....meeting new prospective buyers) I've gotten two referrals in the last month from friends on Facebook.

Add new people to Facebook all the time. If you spend most of the time actually being yourself, those new acquaintances turn into clients or referrers.

Don't spam social networking sites like Facebook.

While I agree with the comment above about relationships, these do lead to business as well. I have listings and buyers from my FB and Twitter accounts. I also have buyers from Trulia and ActiveRain which means you should do them all.
To answer the question in order of importance to me in social media;
ActiveRain
FaceBook
Trulia
Twitter

Lately, I have found Facebook to give me the biggest bang for my time investment buck. It's better suited for my personality to make meaningful connections with people within my Sphere. My FB page allows me to publish business-specific content, and my profile fosters more intimate conversations.

Hello Alan, and might I say, I do like the new picture of Elvis.

I'm with you on the merits of Twitter, Facebook and ActiveRain. The blogging and the tweeting are a huge drain on time. Occasionally, Twitter is useful in telling a large group of people about homes available or a new listing, but the 140 character limit is a real drag for someone as verbose as I. I was once a huge devotee of Active Rain, but the site seems to be inhabited more by other Realtors than legitimate buyers or sellers.

To be frank, while I do spend a lot of time here and on other websites answering questions, I can say that my time here (even as brief as it has been) has garnered absolutely wonderful results! I have made good friends across the country and in my own part of California; everyone is respectful(ish) and I've even come away with some fabulous clients from Trulia. So I'll spend far more time here than at the other sites for branding and for increasing business.

Just my take...

Sincerely,
Grace Morioka, SRES, e-Pro
Area Pro Realty
San Jose, CA

Alan,

I do not see twitter, facebook as sources to advertise myself to primarily gain listings or buyers. To me its all about interaction and building a brand. I find so many agents use it to spam "Check out my new listing etc." But no one really cares about your listing posts everyday. I find it is best to do the 90-10 rule where 90% is interacting and maybe 10% of advertising yourself or properties.

Grow your sphere and they will naturally come.


-Sean