Remember what you learned the first day on the job in commercial real estate? You learned that the most important thing in the business is “Location Location Location” – they lied! It’s actually “Relationship Relationship Relationship”; and today this holds more importance than ever before! Why? Simple – because people do business with those they know, like and trust and social networking opportunities like LinkedIn allow this to happen.

Social Networking such as LinkedIn has the ability to expand your relationship opportunities within the commercial real estate industry – it’s huge. We are dealing with much bigger possibilities when we allow social networking to enter the mix! And the best way to get clients? Join Groups!

How To Start or “Join A Commercial Real Estate LinkedIn Group”

Professionals have always been drawn to groups, recognize their power and see them as a way to be connected with each other. Increase your network quicker than you ever dreamed possible by using LinkedIn Groups; join an existing group or form a new one of your own and invite others to join it.

Once in a group, you can search all group members using an advanced people search to find interesting contacts, then message them within LinkedIn or invite them to connect: if you share a group you don’t need to know their e-mail. Obviously this is a feature not to be abused.

To join a group you will want to click on Groups and search for Groups you could belong to, including Groups organized by industry associations. Try plugging the search words: Commercial Real Estate – you will be shocked to see how many groups there are. There are hundreds to choose from – literally. How about trying: Commercial Real Estate Investors – becoming a member of one of these groups will allow you to be seen as an expert.

As a Group member two critical things you can do is (a) browse through the Group membership and reach out to individuals, and (b) participate in Group Discussions. By participating you are able to get you and your brand in front of potential contacts. Think about a creative signature you can leave behind on every post. One that drives either an invite or a profile view. This to drives traffic & views of your profile.

Finally, you can “poll” these groups gaining valuable information. Try asking what the members see as the biggest challenge in the commercial real estate market today and then use the results to craft solutions. People buy solutions to their problems and are willing to pay just about anything for these solutions!

If you stick with it you will GET CLIENTS, I promise. Good luck and drop me an email when you get your first client!

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