Danilo Bogdanovic, Real Estate Consultant and Blogger

1.    Introduce yourself and tell us about your business.

My name is Danilo Bogdanovic, it's long and tough to pronounce for many folks so most people call me "D". My roots are in Northern VA and, although I love to travel to other places, I always love coming back home to NoVA. I've been a residential real estate consultant and Realtor for 5 years. Though I'm licensed in all of Virginia, I specialize in Loudoun County and Fairfax County. My business is strongly rooted in referrals and social media including my two local real estate blog sites - LoudounScene.com and LoudounForeclosures.com.

2.    What specific social media tools do you use and what do you use each one for?

I use social media for both customer acquisition and as a business resource. I focus on blogs to put myself in front of home buyers, home sellers, renters and investors. Both of my blogs provide my readers, including potential and current clients, with local real estate information and guidance through the real estate purchase/sale process. Through this I'm able to establish and enhance my credibility as a local real estate expert. I've built both of my blogs using WordPress^TM which has given me a lot of flexibility with how I display information, pictures, video, and even interact with external search tools.

Twitter^TM, FaceBook® and Google® Reader are some of the other social media tools I use most often. Though the dynamics of Twitter and FaceBook are a different from my blogs as well as each other, I use both to communicate with fellow real estate professionals, clients, friends and others with similar interests. When I'm at a conference or event, I'll use Twitter to provide instant updates on what's going on. When I'm out previewing real estate properties, I may even "tweet" an update on Twitter when I run across a great real estate deal. My Twitter feed is fed to both blogs and my FaceBook profile allowing me to update all three at the same time. I find these tools valuable in that they add a personal touch to my marketing and help enhance my credibility.

I also share info using Google Reader. This tool aggregates and shares news articles and blog posts pertaining to the local and national real estate market as well as other interesting and relevant topics.

3.    How did you get started with your blog?

I started reading real estate blogs in summer of 2006. I realized that real estate marketing strategies and tactics were changing. Consumers want relevant and hyper-local information immediately and they want it easily accessible which to me meant online. Also, consumers wanted transparency and honesty from real estate agents. What better way to meet the demands of consumers than having an online destination where they could quickly and easily find relevant, honest, and easily digestible information about real estate. That's how I decided to launch LoudounScene.com.

My blog has been an effective part of my business for three years. In fact, 75 percent of my business can be directly or indirectly attributed to my blog sites and other social media channels.

4.    How did you find out about other social media channels and outlets?

I'd been using social media like FaceBook for fun and personal reasons, but in talking with others in the real estate business and watching how businesses in other industries began to leverage these mediums to interact with customers I knew I had to incorporate these channels into my marketing strategy. I've learned a lot and continue to learn how to improve from others in the social media world whether online or in person. The social media community is very self-less and incredibly good at sharing information and tips with one another. The general mentality amongst within the social media community is, "We're all in this together".

5.    How has the use of social media allowed you to generate more leads and drive more business?

As I said earlier, 75% of my clients find me online, typically through my blogs. My blogs are my main marketing channel and have given me the opportunity to build a relationship with people I've never met nor would I have had it not been for my blogs. Clients find my blogs through various ways including online research (search engines), links to my blogs from colleagues and partners' websites, and many times my clients will forward the blog link on to people looking for homes in the area.

6.    Has the use of social media ever allowed you to combat a business crisis or risk?

I've posted questions pertaining to my real estate business on Twitter^TM and other social media sites and received one, if not several answers to my question within minutes. Having my questions answered quickly just reduced my risk of screwing something up or wasting my time.

7.    Who are your blog followers and how often do they visit your site and blog?

The majority of my blog readers and commentators are consumers, real estate professionals and the media. Most of those who visit my actual website are new visitors - the rest have subscribed to the RSS feed, signed up for email updates or added the blogs to their Google® or other reader. In case you are unfamiliar with the term, RSS (Really Simple Syndication) also called a "feed", includes a summary of my blog posts and publishing dates. This gives blog readers the opportunity to sign up to receive real time blog updates without having to navigate to the site.

8.    How much of your time is spent working on your blog and other social media tools?

I spend an average of a few hours per day on social media (business and personal). That may sound like a lot, but because my business strategy focuses on social media to generate new clientele, I don't spend time every day doing what many other agents do - broker office functions, Chamber of Commerce meetings, or preparing print ads, giving more time to dedicate to my social media channels.

9.    Do you have any last remarks or advice for realtors and business owners?

You may think that social media is not for you or your business...and you may be right. But social media, if used correctly, can help you reach people and potential customers you've never been able to reach before. It will help you create and stay connected to your loyal client base more effectively than most other forms of marketing or communication. If you're nervous, just try it out you'll be surprised at how others, even your customers will help you figure it out.