Q: I know social media is an important marketing component. What percentage of my time should be devoted to social media?

A: You’re right – social media is a very important part of your overall marketing strategy. It will take you time to ramp up, and time to manage it on a regular basis. However, remember that first and foremost you are a real estate agent — you make money by putting sellers and buyers together, and closing transactions. Recently I’ve been talking to agents who have gotten so caught up in the social media world that they are spending too much of their time posting, tweeting, and reading/commenting on blogs. While you need to pay attention to social media, and you should be involved in the online conversation, I caution you to not get so wrapped up that you start losing clients — and business!