Why the work of 4walls is inspirational and how 2 people made a difference in 6 weeks.

[SurreyLets (Sally Asling)]

I am able to say, with much pride, that I am an expert in my field and very proud to have set up a company where I can operate to my own, high, standards.

However, when I launched my company I had one question - how do I market myself and it? I had known that newspaper adverts and leaflets were old news, and the web was the way forward and I knew how to use it, what I did not know was how to use it to my advantage. The words social media conjured up images of being social with a group of newspaper editors over canapes.

Six weeks ago I was introduced to 4wallsandaceiling and I found the website such an inspiration that I made contact with Nick and Vanessa

Six weeks ago I did not have a clue about social media.

Not only do I now tweet - I encourage others to tweet, because sending out tweets has bought me in business, and I mean CASH business, not on line chit chat. I am finding tenants and Landlords and contractors, and in 140 characters can build enough rapport to take it "off line" and do a deal. I am on my way to 450 followers in 4 weeks, and this is growing. If I can achieve this in 4 weeks what can this do for me in 6 months?I Facebook (a little), and stumble, I network on forums and I contribute and I am on the brink of Ning (ing) and I realise I am just touching the surface.

I would not be here, or doing social media if it was not for meeting Nick Tadd and Vanessa Warwick at 4walls. I would not be embracing the realisation that social media in property, and any business is critical and its here and now. By the time large companies (my competitors) embrace this they will waving the bandwagon on....I feel like I am leaping towards it!

I also though Social Media was a little out of my depth - I know my way around a pc, but the perception of learning so much technology made me shudder. What Nick has done, is break it down into bite sized chunks and made it manageable, step by step, with encouragement and a helping hand. Nick / 4walls passion for this is infectious and upbeat, its inspirational and because of the ways its presented its achievable.

The 4walls networking meetings are the most informally structured (if that's not an oxymoron) "Live" forums I have ever attended where information flows freely, where expertise is exchanged and contacts made. I was nervous about attending - until I realised everyone is there to learn something, to develop and make contacts. What 4walls have created is something truly remarkable, something different and something special.

I would like to offer my continued thanks to Nick and Vanessa for all their help and support. From strangers 6 weeks ago, I think we will be in touch for a very long time. Both truly professional and truly inspiring - thank you.

[Vanessa]

WOW! Sally, thank you so much for such a great testimonial for us. It has made our day. You have totally embraced social media and "run with it" and are a shining example of what can be achieved if the right attitude is adopted. I have no doubt that you will be an inspiration to others in the future! x

[HomeCert Direct]

I have to second this. I really think these guys are gonna go far - their attitude to both property and networking is fresh, creative, inspirational and transparent; I think that their brand will, when the market recovers and begins inexorably clawing its way upwards again in a couple of years, be uniquely placed to take advantage of a new attitude to property and investment.

4Walls is the right idea for the right time, delivered in the right way - and I think we'll all look back come 2013 or so and think, 'damn, we were in on this when it was all starting...'

[Vanessa]

Thanks Declan. We really appreciate you taking the trouble to write this. I know you have had a lot of success in your Home Cert business by using social media which I believe partially sprang from our discussion about "contribution currency" on Singing Pig. It really was a great thread.

I would post a link back to it, but David Beard has banned my IP address so that I cannot even view SP!. Perhaps you could post a link back to it Declan? It was in the Networking Events section.

[Vanessa]

Just remembered, there is a similar thread on Property Tribes. You can read it here.

[REI]

Sally,

Thanks for sharing your success. It is always good to hear how people have grabbed the bull by the horns and actually produced results. Well done!

Vanessa and Nick have done a great job providing a way for others to connect (meetings and forums) plus they make it easy for newer folks to get started.

John Corey
www.ChelseaPrivateEquity.com/blog

[Richard Greenland]

And I’d just like to add, how much I have enjoyed being on this forum already, it nourishes me in a way which SP never quite managed. I agree with Declan, it is great to be in at the start of a project that has such a clear vision, which I feel is really going somewhere and which can only go onwards and upwards. A big thank you to Vanessa and Nick for setting it up, and running it, which must be a full-time job in itself!

Knowledge is power! And group knowledge will always trump individual knowledge, every time!

Rich

[REI]

One big difference between Property Tribes and Singing Pig is the more personal nature. SP started at a time when it was normal to use ID rather than names, no photos, little in the way of verifiable information, etc. As Social Networking (SN) has developed the focus is much more on the individual, trust, etc.

SP is a reflecting of the wild west in terms of BTL in the UK and pre-SN. It needed to change with the times. Failing to do so it is showing the signs of a downward spiral. Similar to AOL or niche forums that lost their relevance.

Richard Greenland said:

And I’d just like to add, how much I have enjoyed being on this forum already, it nourishes me in a way which SP never quite managed. I agree with Declan, it is great to be in at the start of a project that has such a clear vision, which I feel is really going somewhere and which can only go onwards and upwards. A big thank you to Vanessa and Nick for setting it up, and running it, which must be a full-time job in itself!

Knowledge is power! And group knowledge will always trump individual knowledge, every time!

Rich

[Richard Greenland]

yeah I agree. The ability to post pictures, and personalise your own page gives a sense of a social network as well as a place to learn from others and do business. But I think it's also how the site is talks about itself, how it is presented and marketed which encourages a different sort of engagement with it.

Rich

[Vanessa]

Sally,

I was wondering if you could come back on this thread and up-date us with how your social media efforts are working out?

I would also like to know if you would like to come and speak about how you have utilised social media in your property business at one of our future events?

Kind regards,
V.

[SurreyLets (Sally Asling)]

Hi Vanessa

Firstly, apologies for not being around much. Business has taken off and I also did a little acquisition of another business which has meant 18 hour working days! However I am not complaining!!

For me, social media is key to the work I do. Its about not being afraid to raise my head above the parapet and declare to the world this is me, this is what I do, and yes - I am an expert. Its about the contribution currency of forums and exchanges on line and about being open to random and seemingly bizarre series of events. Something in the coprporate world that is squished quite firmly.

I am not embracing social media as much as I know I could, and once I resolve my time management issues I have a to do list, and at the top of that is the social media course so I can link in all the counts I have and look at doing more creative things - like a newsletter that 4 tribes manages to do with resounding success.

Without doubt, I would not be doing any of this, if it was not for Nick and Vanessa sharing their enthusiasm and passion and for giving their time so freely to support and encourage. I know the way the universe works and both Nick and Vanessa will benefit from what they give, without doubt. An utter inspiration and a knowledge that goes beyond the surface and a delight to work with. I have no hesitation in telling people to get in touch.

Now for Twitter. I agree with all the negative comments I hear. It IS shouting in the dark. It can be littered with both pointless dribble, porn and sales people. It does combine the truly brilliant with inane comments. But those comments are coming from people that just don’t get Twitter. What there is once you scratch the surface is - what I like to think of, as electricity buzzing down cables - its utterly random and people make contact over the smallest comment or share a like mindedness, people I would never have met. I got this pretty early on. Then I started to tweet more about snippets of the industry and tweet out my properties, or add calls for action and low and behold, even more people responded and RT...suddenly I would post "I need a studio apt in Leatherhead for an applicant" and within 4 hours someone tweeted back that they had passed my tweet to a friend who they knew had something on the market with another agent, 24 hours after that a phone and e-mail latter I had the instruction, that then Let in 12 hours...... and for the cynics that think its a one off I tweeted 2 weeks ago some of my luxury properties fro corporate relocation. That week one relo had picked it up and made a viewing. Last week I got an e-mail from an American lady relocating to the UK for 3 years, stating her relo agent was not great, but she had got my tweet from a 3rd generation RT hence making contact and could I show her what I had....... OK no deal was done because the properties were not right but that’s business! What it does show is the power of twitter. I posted a PT job and have had calls - not filled yet, but I need to give it more than 48 hours and a few more tweets.

Last night I added up that Twitter has, either directly or as a by product netted me 6K in new business deals in 3 month. Which is a lot to me at this point in time. So if I keep at it and get even more followers what are the possibilities? If I were a betting woman and 6K is on under 1K followers, when I get to 10K followers will I be generating 60K of leads........maybe we will talk a year from now!!!

Twitter is also raising me on Google where my SEO has been failing - its putting me in touch with people I would not have access to. I am finding people who, from the sheer fact they are on Twitter are likeminded and instant and have found contractors......

By putting what Nick and Vanessa taught me into practice I am making a difference. I cant wait to take the next step with the SM day.......

[Vanessa]

Sally, thank you so much for taking the trouble to write this and share your wonderful news with the tribe. It's great to hear your business is flourishing! I would like to use this as a case study at our networking event on Sunday, as it is powerful for others to hear how you have monetised social media/twitter.

Good luck with everything, and keep us posted.

[SurreyLets (Sally Asling)]

Hello Again Vanessan and Nick! I just wanted to share a little update with you. Its been almost four months sice I wrote this, and since then amazing things have been happening to SurreyLets as a result of me using social media. Infact, its turned lots of things around for me. Firsly twitter has gained me 7Ks worth of business from leads I would not have otherwise had, my following is a more refined list of neally 2000. However, other things I percieved as not worth my time - like facebook have been linked to twitter meaning I dont have to do as much as I thought as one updates the other, and its turning out to be valuable in its own way. Nick also spoke of keeping in contact via e-news and linking this to blogs, the website and mini blogging these through the mediums such as twitter /facebook/linked in etc etc, so it all rolls into one knitting all the random links together do it means something. Sounds bizarre, but you have to see it to understand but if anyone is not doing it, I can see how they are going to be left behind.

I have always believed there is no such thing as a chance meeting, and that everything starts with a conversation, however little did I know when I came to a property tribes meeting that a couple of people giving me a couple of hours of their time free would it make such a massive change in the way I do business. I am a new company, but I am streets ahead of my competitors in this field. Its something I intend to learn more about and do more with, as I know Nick will tell me I am only implementing the tip of the iceburg - I know he has so much more to teach on this - you are both utterly inspirational people who are making a HUGE difference. I have no doubt that some of my new business sucess is down to the way I am marketing myself and the company through social media. Thank you does not come close.

All the best to you both - hope to see you on your next Social Media course and expand my knowledge further......Nick is always filling my head with a big "to do list" with his inspiration!!