There is a huge amount of attention being paid to Snapchat in real estate right now, and rightfully so. While the buzz can be overwhelming, there are tons of important reasons why REALTORS® should jump on Snapchat. I’m going to discuss one of those reasons here: the one that is literally making me money right now.

After being active on Snapchat for 8-plus months and having built a following of thousands, I humbly consider myself an expert on Snapchat for real estate. With that context in mind, the biggest upside to Snapchat is the opportunity to create relationships with other REALTORS® from around the country and world—it’s not the ability to snap your open houses or market your real estate services directly to people in your city. It’s networking on steroids.

Snapchat is loved by its over 100 million daily users because it promotes and cultivates authenticity and “real-ness” between users. Unlike most other social networks, (cough, cough, Instagram) it’s damn near impossible to fake who you are. Your real personality, sense of humor (or lack thereof), living conditions, and life are shown in all their glory to your Snapchat friends, because on Snapchat, you’re really you. That is what makes it so powerful in terms of networking and building relationships. People are attracted to authenticity.

Snapchat is not a text-based platform like other social networks—it’s all visual (photo and video, and audio, too, with the new Chat 2.0 update). That’s it. When you’re having actual conversations with other REALTORS® all day via video snaps, don’t you think that you’d feel closer to them versus just writing back and forth via email, Facebook or Twitter? It’s because of this digital “face-to-face” means of communicating that you can create close relationships with new people very quickly. That’s exactly what happened to me. In a few short months, I have become friends with quite a few REALTORS® from all around the world. I now have real real estate buddies from Edmonton to Berlin, down to Australia, and all over the U.S.

That aside, I have sold more homes and my real estate business has grown as a direct result of the relationships I have made on Snapchat. Because my Snapchat friends know that I’m a REALTOR® in Salt Lake City, I have received some referral business from them. That’s right—Snapchat is bringing me more business. It can for you, too. It's as simple as that.

There are a ton of other reasons to get on Snapchat, but this one has the fastest, most tangible payoff. Start following REALTORS® on Snapchat and start conversations. Look up what we call “the real estate #Snappack”…a group of seven REALTORS® from all around the U.S. who get together from time to time on the Onion Juice Podcast (and soon to be a special #Snappack Facebook Group) to talk about real estate, marketing, social media, and whatever else comes up. Reach out to us on Snapchat and start networking with us. The more you talk with other REALTORS®, the more referrals you’ll eventually get—not to mention, it’s great to be able to learn what is working for other REALTORS® and see how they are doing things.

If you’re a REALTOR® and you’re not actively talking with other REALTORS® on Snapchat, I urge you to start today. There are so many great people out there who may end up becoming close friends. Plus, you never know…you may just sell a bunch more homes in the process!

Add me on Snapchat (username: @dustinbrohm), too! I’d love to meet you and see how we can help each other.
 
Dustin Brohm is a top Salt Lake City REALTOR®, Snapchat and social media marketing master, smart home expert, entrepreneur & Founder of SearchSaltLake.com, a website for homebuyers and sellers, and local info on Salt Lake. He also hosts a new web show, Salt Lake Insider. Dustin is an expert on using the newest technology to have the most effective real estate marketing possible for his clients.
 
This post was originally published on RISMedia's blog, Housecall.