Experts & IREM Members
Discuss the Opportunities & Pitfalls
of Social Media Networking
by Claire Bushey
All
A twit ter
They’re talking
about you.
The residents who live in your apartments, the tenants
who lease your commercial space, they’re talking about
you.
“Understand that people are now communicating about
you and your properties online,” said Paul Gillin, author of
Secrets of Social Media Marketing. “Those conversations
are going on whether you want them to or not.”
Gillin defines social media as technology that allows
people to publish quickly and cheaply on the Internet. It
promotes live and instant discussion on a variety of topics.
In a business context, it allows consumers to promote
their purchases or air their grievances, and business own-
ers to receive feedback about their products or services.
“It’s a cheaper, faster way to connect with a target audience,” said Patti Guerzo, president of Guerzo Business
Solutions Center, a Chicago-based business advisory firm
for entrepreneurs that offers social media consulting.
BLOGGING, TWEETING, LINKING, FRIENDING
Various social media tools exist: Blogs are a series of brief,
regularly published commentaries on a particular topic.
Twitter ( www.twitter.com) users provide “followers” with
