Investing in a social media strategy is an all or nothing play if you are in real estate or lending. It is especially important if you are in this business for legacy because brand building takes time. Either you are going to take the time to brand yourself correctly, or you are just wasting your time and, by extension, money.

Now to be clear, I am not saying you need to be on all of the social media channels available. What I am saying that if you are going to decide to grow your business using social media you need to be 100% in on whatever channel(s) you choose. Don't fill out your profile halfway, don't hide your contact information, don't be inconsistent with your information and finally don't create your channel, then disregard posting any content.

I see this every day in some form or fashion. I have LinkedIn connections with former colleagues and friends that still say they work for their previous company. In some cases, these people have not worked there for YEARS. The worst part? Is that their contact info (phone and email) in their profile is from when they worked for that previous company. This oversight can, and will, result in organic leads going to their old company. I know because I have been on receiving side of those leads.

People don't understand that social media channels, especially LinkedIn, add to your online identity and your own personal SEO. The worst thing you can do, short of having no online identity at all, is have mismatched profiles with incorrect information. You want to make it EASY for potential clients to FIND YOU and you also want to put forward a professional look for your branding. Otherwise, it will appear to consumers that you are not detail-oriented or worse, that you are not serious about your business. If you are asking a consumer to trust you with the biggest financial transaction of their life, the last thing you want to project is a lack of attention to detail. Right?

In summary, if you want to start marketing yourself on social media, go all in, commit your time, and get serious about it. Yes, this is true for any type of marketing, but even more critical for social media. Do an audit by finding all of your social profiles and making sure that ALL of your information is consistent and accurate. And if you started putting out content on a social media channel then stopped, and you do not plan on continuing, then it is best to deactivate your profile.