Age: 35
Years in real estate: 6
Job title: co-founder of Curaytor; chief peopleworker at dotloop
Location: Orlando, Florida
Hours per week spent on social media: 15-20
Social media accounts: Facebook profile, Facebook page, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn
Target demographic: Real estate agents
Average number of posts per day: 3-5
Chris Smith’s phone screen
Which social channels do you work the most?
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube
How many friends, likes, etc., do you have?
My Facebook profile has about 10,000; my Facebook page has 12,000, and there are 20,000 people in my Facebook groups. I also have 26,000 Twitter followers and 195,000 views on YouTube.
Does that number matter to you?
Yes. The more I’ve connected with people via social media, the larger my brand and bottom line have grown.
Do you ever give it a break?
Yes. Airplane mode is underrated!
Does social help your business, and how?
For me, “social” today is what we used to call “the Web.” Any business can grow if it has a great product and can get access to eyeballs. Thanks to the Internet, those eyeballs have been secured at a lower cost than traditional advertising has ever offered. When you add that to the people I have had the chance to meet that I never would have otherwise, “game changer” seems an appropriate term to use.
What’s your goal for your favorite social channel?
Facebook and Twitter are equally my favorites. My goal for both is to learn, share and grow.
What’s your strategy to achieve it?
Showing up (almost) every day, for years, and helping first, selling second.
Is it worth it, and why?
Yes; my career has skyrocketed in direct proportion to the growth of my social media efforts.
What’s your craziest social media-related story?
Many people would probably be shocked to know that we now live in a world where 100 percent of the workers in my current company (both staff and co-founders) I met through social media.
What actions do you take that have gotten the most results?
I consistently run ads and offer tons of help.
Is it more about being social or about business?
It’s both. I love that being social, something I do innately, can in return help grow my business and brand.
How do you monitor the channel, push notifications, email? Do you use software/apps to manage your account, and which ones?
I use Facebook, Facebook Pages, Facebook Mentions, Mention, Hootsuite and Tweetbot. I “manage” them by checking them frequently. I think when your brand is on the line, you can’t always rely on a push alert. You have to play offense and defense.
How many hours per day are you on social? Do you check it daily? Multiple times per day?
I’m on for two to three hours a day. I try to get caught up on everything in the morning, then make sure I didn’t miss anything around midday — and then make sure before I go to sleep that all is well in the world.
Do you ever think of retiring?
No, not in the traditional sense.
Do you consider yourself an influencer?
Yes.
Are you social in real life?
Yes, very.
What did you do with your time before?
Watched TV and read the newspaper.
How do you leverage your prominence or influence on social media?
By promoting others who are crushing it. I feel like the more you give, the more you can ask for. So, as an example, I have done tons of takeaway-laden interviews with authors, but I have promoted only one book of my own. You have to give to get, even if you have prominence and influence.
Do you have someone helping you?
No one ever posts for me on Facebook or Twitter. Our Facebook groups, however, are now so large and active (and get so many new member requests) that we had to bring on an additional admin to help.
Whom do you follow and why?
Bloggers, Realtors, authors, venture capitalists, entrepreneurs and media companies.
Where do you find the content that you put out?
The best place for me is definitely Twitter, with Zite being a pretty close second. I’ve spent the last three years meticulously building a Twitter list of bloggers, authors, venture capitalists, entrepreneurs and media companies that I feel share the best stuff.
What has been your all-time hit share? Can you share a link to the post?
I have had some stuff go semiviral a few times over the years. As one example, I wrote a really heartfelt piece on Medium that that has more than 17,000 views.
Who do you think is doing social media well in real estate?
Zillow really does a great job with social. They share highly engaging content across all the major platforms and also have sharp folks managing their industry relations and brand reputation in the trenches (like responding to blog comments or engaging in Facebook group threads).
Are you a social media all-star who wants to participate in our profile series? Email us at contributors@inman.com!
