Tech Corner: Maintaining a Professional Online Presence

Video link: https://youtu.be/8MDeKTIFbC0

In today’s digital world, social media has become a crucial tool for growing businesses looking to build their brand and foster relationships with clients. By effectively using social media platforms, real estate brokers can set themselves apart from others and expand their network. Whether you’re just getting started or looking to enhance your online presence, it is important to keep yourself safe while being mindful of what you say on the internet and how you say it.

1. Why social media? Social media is a powerful business tool that allows real estate brokers and firms to connect with potential clients, build new relationships, and establish a strong online brand presence. Brokers can showcase properties, advertise services, and offer tips to consumers.
2. How can I protect my personal information? It is important to take personal safety into consideration when using social media. Brokers may want to separate their personal profiles from their business profiles. Use strong, unique passwords for both personal and business social media accounts. Enabling two-factor authentication for added security helps to protect both types of accounts. Be mindful of oversharing personal details, especially if you have public-facing business accounts. Avoid sharing private moments that could potentially harm your professional reputation.
3. What can I share? Your business accounts should maintain a professional, clear, and consistent tone appropriate for your brand and audience.The Commission has received complaints about brokers posting offensive content on social media. Posts that someone may consider offensive (e.g. discriminatory, political, angry rants, etc.) may not only damage your business and reputation but may lead to complaints with consumer websites, professional groups or associations, your firm and the Commission. Brokers are entitled to express their opinions and political beliefs. Being rude is generally not enough to constitute a violation of the License Law or Commission rules. On the other hand, the Commission may reprimand, suspend or revoke the license of a broker who is unworthy to act as a broker in a manner as to endanger the public interest. This could include conduct such as threatening physical harm or violence. As brokers continue to expand their use of social media to network and promote their businesses, brokers should carefully consider the effect of their online presence, particularly on professional pages. A firm’s broker-in-charge (BIC) should also consider using written office policies to address their broker’s conduct in communicating in person and online. For more information, review the eBulletin article, Think Before You Speak…or Post.

By taking these steps, you can maintain privacy and security for both your personal and professional life, reducing the risks of data breaches, identity theft, and unwanted cross-over between your personal and business worlds. The choices you make online can leave a long-lasting digital footprint, making it more important than ever to be intentional about the digital you leave behind.