How to Build a Social Media “Farm”


Not long ago I had a conversation with a real estate agent about how to use social media to market himself. It got me thinking about the old-school real estate marketing practice of “farming.”

The way farming works is like this: An agent will decide on a neighborhood, or subdivision to specialize in and becomes THE expert for that area.

This area is her farm. She becomes an expert on property values in this community and builds relationships with the people who live there. Over time, a certain percentage of these people put their homes up for sale (typically about 5% of the houses in a subdivision are on the market at any given time) and, if the agent has sufficiently established herself, she positions herself as the first real estate agent they think of.

I’ve never sold real estate myself, so I don’t know if farming is still a popular marketing strategy, but I do know that a lot of agents in the past have done very well for themselves using the farming system.

One of the keys of the system’s success is that it begins with the understanding that you can’t market to everyone. It forces agents to specifically define their target markets and focus their efforts on building relationships within that finite group.

I once lived in a subdivision that was one particular agent’s farm and she was apparently quite successful at it. Approximately half of all the For Sale signs that went up had her name on them.

But she really worked her farm. Every summer she hosted block parties, had a paper newsletter that kept people up to date on real estate values and interest rates. But it also had recipes and puzzles for kids to solve.

She also included free ads for garage sales in the community and got local businesses to put coupons and special offers in her newsletter. Teenagers even got to post free ads for their babysitting and lawn mowing services.

She had a recommended list of nearby businesses and kept us up to date on things to do in the area.

She knocked on every door at least once a quarter to introduce herself or reintroduce herself and hand out information about property values and taxes. I know of one instance in which she helped one homeowner fight the city when he was given an unrealistic tax assessment.

Her magnetic business cards graced most refrigerators. Every household in the subdivision received beautiful Christmas cards and calendars every year.

She also taught home buying seminars which helped her have a steady supply of prospective buyers. As a result, it was common knowledge that when she got a listing, her houses tended to move fast. A seller would have to think twice before giving his brother in law a contract to sell his houses.

I’ve long since moved away from that area, but I have to wonder if that agent is now publishing an email newsletter or writing a blog to help her cultivate her farm.

Now what does all this have to do with social media marketing?

Simply this: All successful social media marketing campaigns are a lot like farming. This agent was "social networking" long before it went online.

A lot of business people target everyone who has the means to write them a check. But effective social media marketing begins with the understanding that we can’t reach everyone, and it is a waste of time to try.

Part of my interview process when I begin working with a new client is to ask them to describe their ideal clients. I’m always amazed at how hard this question is for business people to answer.

For example, I met a chiropractor who said that anyone with a spine was his ideal client. Obviously he was partly joking, but not entirely.

If you sell a service that anyone and everyone can use and needs, you still can’t build relationships with everyone. It is far better to narrowly define a specific group of prospects with whom you can build relationships.

Your farm can be people who live in a specific community, or it can be all the out-patient medical facilities within a five zip code area. It can be female dentists in the west side of your town, or it can be high school basketball coaches.

Identify a group you can relate to, and with whom you share common interests. Is there a group you like or share common experiences with? Are you a mother of teenage girls? Then maybe other mothers of teenage girls could be your farm.

Social media makes it easy to find and join all kinds of groups. And if you can’t find a specific group, you can start your own.

For example, go on Facebook or LinkedIn and check out all the groups you can connect to.

Twitter also has a lot of groups you can join.

Or start your own group (aka “farm”).

But joining or starting a group is just the beginning. You still have to “cultivate” your farm like the agent I mentioned earlier. Create events for that group, Facebook and LinkedIn make creating events very easy.

Try to cultivate these relationships offline as well as online. Pick up the phone and make friendly calls to your followers/friends.

Be informative, be a resource. And most of all, be fun.

Over time you will find that you are turning your group into a community (and friends). These people will know your name and know what you stand for.

The lessons here are:
  1. Define a finite and specific target market.
  2. You want a group of people who are both prospects AND who share common interests with each other. Obviously, if you share these same interests yourself, all the better.
  3. Either find existing groups or create your own. Cultivate ways for the members of the group to network with each other. You want word of mouth going on, as it can bestow "social proof" on you and your business.
  4. Start a blog and/or newsletter to communicate with your group. Share problem-solving information and resources. Use these platforms to further the goals of the group.
  5. Find ways to make the group fun. Remember the real estate agent who added puzzles and recipes to her newsletter.
  6. Become an advocate for group members. If there is a cause they are passionate about or pending legislation that effects the group, you might consider letters to the editor, or helping them organize.
  7. Practice random acts of kindness. Remember the real estate agent who helped a homeowner fight his tax assessment and allowed teenagers to place free ads in her newsletter.
  8. Position yourself as THE expert in your field within your group. You don’t have to be the best C.P.A. in the world, just the best known among this group.
  9. Find opportunities to expand your relationships offline (meetups, tweetups, social events, etc).

And like the real estate agent who farmed my neighborhood, you will position yourself to be the first person they think of when they need your services.

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Build Your Social Capital With The Whuffie Bank


Ever since I read Tara Hunt's thought-provoking book, The Whuffie Factor, I have had the concept of "social capital" on the brain.

Let me explain.

Tara discovered the word "Whuffie" in Cory Doctorow's science fiction novel, Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom. Doctorow created a world in which the economy was not based on supply and demand, but on actions and good will.

If you did something nice for others, if you created something others valued, if you solved problems for others or if you helped someone else - you got more Whuffie.

If you were not nice, if you engaged in deceptive business practices, if you caused harm, or if you failed to deliver what you promised - you lost Whuffie.

Whuffie, in other words, was a way to measure your social capital.

Whuffie and social capital are not just pie-in-the-sky concepts, they are alive and well on social media. In the world of social media, people who help others, act generously and are just nice gain social capital.

Bloggers help other bloggers, even those who might be perceived as competitors. Twitter users "retweet" each others' messages, Facebook users "friend" each other, etc.

But how can we measure social capital?

My good friend Allen Mireles recently sent me a link telling me about a non-profit organization called The Whuffie Bank, that is an exciting application of Hunt's ideas.

The Whuffie Bank from The Whuffie Bank on Vimeo.



TechCrunch has rated the Whuffie Bank as one of the 50 most innovative startups. It gives Twitter and Facebook users a score based upon a number of factors, such as how often your Twitter messages are "retweeted" or endorsed by others.

As the Whuffie Bank's FAQ explains:
"Your whuffie score is essentially based on how relevant your messages are to the people you're connected with."


But not all such endorsements are treated alike. A retweet by someone who has a higher Whuffie score gives you a higher boost in social capital.

Another factor is that when messages containing links are retweeted, The Whuffie Bank perceives these retweets as a reflection of the value of the linked content. But when a message without a link is retweeted, the bank perceives this as reflective of the actual message.

Right now the Whuffie Bank only measures Twitter activity, but plans to support Facebook, Digg and FriendFeed soon.

Once you have built up social capital, you can donate Whuffie to others.
"You can either access his account on The Whuffie Bank and click on the "Give Whuffie" button, or do it directly from the social network you use. On Twitter, by either tweeting "WHF # @username" or retweeting a specific message, you will increase the whuffie of the person you mention."


I particularly like this idea because it might take our attention off of the number of followers or friends a social networker has. I liken it to the number of Twitter groups a user has been nominated to. Both numbers represent endorsements and demonstrate how much value others place on your content and activities.

The Whuffie Bank is a fascinating experiment that I will be watching closely.

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57 Ways to Get More Visitors to Your Website - Workshop

Let's face it. If your website is not getting visitors - the right kind of visitors - what good is it really doing your business?

On March 4, 2010 I will be conducting an informative, hands-on workshop on how to get a lot more of visitors to your site, and how to target the right kind of visitors.

You will learn 57 unique and effective strategies to boost the traffic you get to your site.

Includes Traffic Strategies Workbook

Plus, at the end of this workshop, you will leave with a completed traffic workbook to help you build a dominant online presence with your site. This workbook will be your game plan, filled with actionable steps you can take to position your site at the top of your niche or field.

The material begins with basic keyword research strategies, introducing you to many innovative ways to find keywords that you can easily dominate.

Here's what else you will learn:
  • Learn how to use tools like Search Engine Optimization, pay-per-click advertising, Twitter and email marketing to drive buyers to your site.
  • Get front-page placement on Google, Yahoo, AOL, Bing, and over 100 other search engines - for searchers in your targeted zip codes.
  • People who look for your business online are proven to be much more likely to buy than any other type of prospect.
  • Studies show that 63% of your potential customers go online to gather information before physically visiting a brick and mortar business.
  • Geo-targeting technology: For most businesses, it serves no purpose to appear outside specific geographic areas. Geo-targeting software allows your site to be found by local customers in zip codes of your choosing.


Lunch is included with your workshop fee: We will meet at Miguelito’s Mexican Restaurant 209 West Bedford Euless Rd. Hurst, TX 76053-4008. Be sure to arrive at 11:45 am in order for us to get meal orders and get started promptly at noon.

The cost is $100, including your meal and tip and your workbook, payable in cash or check.

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Twitter Workshop Rescheduled


Last week, I had scheduled a workshop on Growing Your Business With Twitter, but the weather didn't cooperate. We had a once-in-a-lifetime snow storm here in the Dallas Fort Worth area.

So the workshop has been re-scheduled for this week, on Thursday February 18, from 2 pm to 4:30 pm. The same information posted about it last week still applies:

The class will show:
  • Learn how to set up and use Twitter to grow your business.
  • Find Twitter followers by zip codes, keywords or topics of interest.
  • How to build trust and credibility before you attempt to sell.
  • Drive thousands of targeted visitors to your website, without relying on search engines. Plus, get this traffic in less than 2 months.
  • Tools that allow you to minimize your time online to less than 30 minutes per day.
  • Become a recognized expert in your field in 6 months or less.
  • How to find prospects that are ready to buy NOW.
  • How to use Twitter as a free market research tool.
  • Why pushy sales tactics fail on Twitter and how to become wildly successful by building relationships online.
  • The two essential parts of a successful Twitter message that will build targeted followers, reputation and trust.
  • Case studies of small (and a few large) businesses that create instant sales within hours of sending out 140 character messages.
  • How to lead your Twitter followers to opt in to your email lists.
  • Free software that helps you automate your lead generation activities.

Time and Location: 2pm to 4:30pm, February 11 at the BB&T Bank 1201 Church Street Colleyville, TX 76034 at the corner of Grapevine Hwy (Hwy 26) and Church St in the Market Street shopping center.

Cost is just $50, payable by cash or check.

More information is available at my Facebook page. Or call 817-501-6892.

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Twitter – Lead Generation Workshop: Feb 11

This week, I will be teaching an updated workshop on how to generate hundreds of targeted, FREE leads with Twitter. The class will show:
  • Learn how to set up and use Twitter to grow your business.
  • Find Twitter followers by zip codes, keywords or topics of interest.
  • How to build trust and credibility before you attempt to sell.
  • Drive thousands of targeted visitors to your website, without relying on search engines. Plus, get this traffic in less than 2 months.
  • Tools that allow you to minimize your time online to less than 30 minutes per day.
  • Become a recognized expert in your field in 6 months or less.
  • How to find prospects that are ready to buy NOW.
  • How to use Twitter as a free market research tool.
  • Why pushy sales tactics fail on Twitter and how to become wildly successful by building relationships online.
  • The two essential parts of a successful Twitter message that will build targeted followers, reputation and trust.
  • Case studies of small (and a few large) businesses that create instant sales within hours of sending out 140 character messages.
  • How to lead your Twitter followers to opt in to your email lists.
  • Free software that helps you automate your lead generation activities.

Time and Location: 2pm to 4:30pm, February 11 at the BB&T Bank 1201 Church Street Colleyville, TX 76034 at the corner of Grapevine Hwy (Hwy 26) and Church St in the Market Street shopping center.

Cost is just $50, payable by cash or check.

More information is available at my Facebook page. Or call 817-501-6892.

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Stacking the Digital Deck


It's probably a safe bet that every parent of a teenager or college student has heard stories of young Facebook users who foolishly posted photos of wild parties, or exploits of their participation in the college party scene.

Later, of course, the sad Facebook user has found that prospective employers also use the internet and (surprise) those Facebook postings are likely to come back to haunt the student when looking for a job.

The message many parents learn from this is that Facebook is bad.

The lesson anyone should learn is to use common sense when posting anything online. The fact is that prospective employers, or even clients, now search online before making business decisions.

But they are not necessarily looking for dirt.

They are looking for any information that can either support or disprove someone's claims about themselves. They look for background information that can help to choose whether to hire or do business with Candidate A or Candidate B.

What smart students, professionals or businesses are doing then is to post lots of information about themselves online.

Students are posting their term papers on Google Docs, they are posting pictures of themselves volunteering for Habitat For Humanity on Flikr, videos of school projects on YouTube, or they are writing on Facebook about interesting things they are learning and doing in school.

And yes, they are also writing about having fun and college activities they are involved in. But they are foregoing posting photos of college keg parties.

Businesses are doing the same thing. They are uploading interesting content, blog articles, videos and pdf documents that prospective clients might find helpful and interesting.

What these people are doing is stacking the digital deck to make themselves easily found online. They are creating and posting valuable content online.


A few weeks ago I had this conversation with a relative who is the mother of two very smart kids. But she had only heard the negatives about Facebook.

I mentioned my opinion that resumes are facing extinction. I believe that people will instead replace their resumes with blogs to attract the interest of employers. This will tilt the advantage to students and even people already mid career to blog about their fields.

Like graphic or advertising artists, they will find that portfolios and samples of their work are much more effective tools to getting jobs.

To my mind, this would be a win-win for both employers and quality job seekers. Employers could get a better understanding of who a person is and what knowledge they have about their field. The job seeker could rise above the crowd simply by creating and posting great information pieces that demonstrate both skill, knowledge and level of interest on a topic.

The key to getting jobs or new business increasingly begins with being found online. The first thing most people do when considering doing business with a company is to do a Google search about that firm. And they don't just look at the company's website, they look to see if the company has created informative articles or videos about their products or services.

Employers too, want to see past the resume. Anyone can claim just about anything on a resume and, aside from outright lies about past employers or schools attended, can be confident that exaggerations about their accomplishments will not be caught.

Creating content, such as blog articles, videos, and even pdf documents, demonstrate expertise and knowledge.

Imagine a business person who works in the banking industry who also writes a blog about the industry. She could examine various news stories about the industry and give her thoughts and ideas about these topics. She could also write about the problems facing banks and give possible solutions.

She could even interview various executives, business professors or government regulators and write about their slants on the issues.

In short order, her blog could become a valuable resource within the banking industry. But even if it doesn't become all that prominent, it still demonstrates her expertise and knowledge about her field.

Would you, as an employer, consider hiring this person? Of course you would. In fact, you might even find her online because of the content she has produced. You might even initiate contact to ask if this blogger might consider making a career change to your company.

A college student could do the same exact thing. He could start a blog on the industry he hopes to work in when he graduates. Moreover, he could create videos, podcasts or other online content related to his chosen field.

It is hard to think of anything that would make a job candidate more sought after than stacking the digital deck with quality content that demonstrates expertise. It would also make this person easy to find on Google. And the information an employer would find would be very impressive.

But what about the job seeker that is invisible online? Employers, like prospective clients for businesses, WANT to find information about a person. A graduating college student without a Facebook account is looked upon as unusual - and a hiring risk. At best this student is viewed as bland and uninteresting. At worst an employer might wonder if the job seeker is hiding something.

There are too many negatives about NOT being found online, or not leaving a digital trail, that they far outweigh parents' concerns about Facebook. I've actually known many well-meaning adults who discourage (or forbid) students from having Facebook accounts, simply because they only consider the negative impact of posting foolish information online.

The point of all this is that success for individuals and businesses today depends largely on creating content and posting it online. Rather than striving to be invisible online, the goal is to be so visible (in a positive way) that you stand out from the crowd.

One example that I've written about before is a true story about a young lady who foolishly allowed a boyfriend to film a sexual video of her. When they later broke up, he posted the video online. This video was everywhere and it was the first thing anyone would see if they did a Google search for her name.

For this young lady, who was soon to graduate from college, this was a potential career disaster. Any employer would naturally Google her name and they would find this video. The result would, of course, stop any job offer in its tracks.

Clearly this is just the sort of cautionary tale concerned parents want their kids to read about.

But what this young lady did was pure genius. She knew she could never get this video completely removed from the internet. So what she did instead was to bury it.

She created an awesome amount of positive content to post online. She posted content on a blog, Facebook, YouTube and Flikr. All this new content pushed the infamous video back farther and farther on Google. Eventually she created so much positive content that the video was a hundred pages back when someone did a Google search for her name.

Needless to say, NO ONE looks back 100 pages when they do a Google search. The result was that this sexual video was buried, and virtually obliterated, by content she created that did cast her in a positive light.

Companies get negative information posted about them as well. When this happens, I would certainly advise that they correct the problem and try to get the information removed. But at the same time, create informative content that highlights expertise. In other words, create so much positive content that the negative is buried.

But don't wait for the negative. Post informative content proactively.

For businesses that create content that solves problems, gives how-to information or just answers common questions, this sort of educational content is a HUGE competitive edge.

Educating your customers is something too few of your competitors are doing, but it positions your company as THE experts in your field.

The simple fact is that all of us, both as individuals and as organizations, will be leaving a digital trail from now on. Take advantage of this fact and make sure this information is of your own creation. Tell your own story from your point of view. And stack the digital deck in your favor.

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Marketing Minute is Without Equal

Marcia Yudkin's weekly enewsletter, "Marketing Minute," is one of the rare treasures among a crowd of wannabes.

I look forward to her sound byte of marketing wisdom each week, and have never been disappointed.

I recently wrote a case study about Marcia and her newsletter. You can read it at: http://webmarketingcoach.blogspot.com/2009/12/permission-marketing-case-study-marcia.html.

Charles Brown

in reference to: http://www.yudkin.com/markmin.htm (view on Google Sidewiki)

Strongly recommend the TCBB

This is THE place to meet business leaders in Fort Worth. The organizers really put on a great program.

in reference to: http://www.tarrantcountybusinessbreakfast.org/default.asp?page=4 (view on Google Sidewiki)