When I teach Realtor’s about social networking, I have to quote Rudy from Trulia when he told me at REBarCamp San Francisco that “It’s all about relationships.” Too many people only want to look at online social networking as a business tool. They were designed to keep in contact with friends/colleagues. Business will follow.

For those of you in the real estate arena who are breaking out of the mold of canned web sites and want some quick, easy and free data to integrate with your new sites, here are some great resources. As a consumer and an internet marketing pro, I caution you to NOT completely clutter your site with every single one of these, but instead pick and choose the ones you find most important.

This brings about an excellent point that is often difficult for businesspeople to grasp. I studied finance, so ROI is always an important thing to measure, if you can. I now believe in ROR – return on relationship – and it is not as easy to quantify. It starts out with trusting – trusting this social media thing will work – then knowing it is as you talk to more people and get more referrals.