How the Coldwell Banker CEO Found My Blog

We interrupt our regularly scheduled real estate blog post to bring you a very cool, and slightly bizarre, example of the power of social media.. It goes a little something like this..

Two days ago I was sitting in our monthly sales meeting, and I sent out this Tweet to Twitter:

In sales meeting - may was best month since July 2007

This tweet prompted the following exchange between me and Michael Silence, or as he's known on Twitter, @MichaelSilence:

MichaelSilence: That's great news. Are you putting up details at your blog?

suzytrotta: hmmm, I hadn't thought about it, but that's not a bad idea

MichaelSilence: Shoot me a link if you do, please

So, I did write about it that evening and I sent Michael Silence the link.

Wednesday morning, he posted about my article on his blog, No Silence Here, that he writes for KNS.

Wednesday afternoon, my managing broker forwarded me an email from our business representative at Realogy, the parent company of Coldwell Banker Real Estate, LLC:

Everyone,

Please read the blog written for the Knoxville New Sentinel indicating how the market in going in this area. The blog was written by Susy Trotta, who is ... affiliated with Wallace & Wallace in Knoxville.

Way to go Susy!

Our business director had apparently read Michael Silence's post on my post. She was a little confused, however - I don't write this blog for KNS - although KNS blogger Michael Silence does regularly link to it and quote from it. And also, I don't know anyone who spells their name "Susy." That's just silly.

All confusion aside, it was a very nice pat on the back and I was as pleased as punch. As I was feeling all warm and fuzzy, I looked at the list of people she'd sent the original out to and realized that the "Everyone" she was addressing in this email referred to all the top brass at Coldwell Banker Real Estate, LLC, including Jim Gillespie, President and CEO.

Crikey!

A few minutes later, one of my owning brokers forwarded me an email he received from our CBRE, LLC Regional Direcotor:

Charlie Young [CBRE, LLC Marketing VP] forwarded to me the blog written by your own Susy Trotta. The blog was well written and as was already pointed out, she represented her company very well. Please let her know that I appreciate her for stepping out there and for doing such a good job!

Double crikey!

So basically, as the result of one Tweet, a bunch of Coldwell Banker folks all over the country, who didn't know me from Adam's house cat a few days ago, now know about me and my blog (and think it's pretty cool to boot). How sweet is that?

Now, I'm a commission only independent contractor, so none of this means much to me in terms of career advancement or actual moolah. That much is true.

But that's not the point. The point is that this time last year, as far as I was concerned, tweets and Twittering were something that birds did. I wasn't involved in any type of social media or blogging at all. If something interesting happened in sales meeting back then, I would have told my husband about it and that would have been that. This year I hear something intriguing in sales meeting, and the next thing you know, Jim Gillespie knows my name (even if he doesn't know how to spell it). See the difference between then and now? I think it's pretty huge.

And even though my brokers already knew about my blog from a few articles in the real world KNS, I don't think they understood what I was doing or the impact that blogging can have. I think they kind of get it now.

So, if anyone from Coldwell Banker Real Estate, LLC or its parent company, Realogy, is reading this, welcome and thanks for stopping by. I appreciate your time and kind words.

And if any of my brokers are reading this, remember that nothing tells me I'm appreciated quite like my own office on the ground floor of the West Town building :)