The slides for a presentation I gave to a bunch of real estate agents in Toronto about how to use social networks to promote their business.

1. Using Social Networks to Promote your Business and Attract Clients John Dupuis Steacie Science & Engineering Library April 24, 2009 http://tinyurl.com/problogjd

2. http://xkcd.com/386/

3. I'm very bad at coming up with titles

5. I got suggestions from Friendfeed, Twitter and Facebook

6. Some are silly, but all have a grain of truth

7. I started up a blog and all I got was five invites to give keynotes, ten new collaborators, introduction to new funding bodies, an interview in Nature, an invite to scifoo, three papers...and a couple of t-shirts

9. It's all about crowdsourcing

10. It's all about community

11. Attention and reputation

12. Promotion and networking

14. Attention + Reputation = New clients

15. But it's a long term strategy

16. Attention needs to be won everyday

17. Reputation needs to be earned everyday

18. Converting them into real-world currency takes time, energy, patience and persistence.

19. The digital realm is crowded with others vying for the same attention.

20. The two tools we'll be looking at for getting attention and building reputation are

21. Blogging and Twitter

22. http://xkcd.com/519/

23. What are blogs

25. http://simonandemily.wordpress.com/

26. http://torontorealtyblog.com/

27. http://toreal.blogs.com/

28. http://xkcd.com/369/

29. What is Twitter

31. http://twitter.com/Oprah

32. http://twitter.com/aplusk

33. http://twitter.com/REMAXCanada

34. http://twitter.com/GeorgeONeill

35. Rules of thumb for engaging in social networks

37. It's about creating a personal brand

38. And reflecting that brand online

39. Think of your online presence as combining

40. A CV, a portfolio, a business card, a dinner party introduction

41. Be honest

42. Be genuine

43. Be yourself

44. Most of all

45. Be passionate

46. What's the best way to engage people on social networks?

47. As a potential client?

48. Or as a fellow citizen?

49. Remember

50. It's about building a long term relationship

51. Online social networks are just like offline ones

52. If you spam your network...

53. Think hot potato

54. Creating your own blog

55. Best option is to set up your own domain name and install blogging software

56. Or you can host with Blogger.com or Wordpress.com

57. A word about Search Engine Optimization