RISMEDIA, September 20, 2010—LinkedIn is the place where you probably have a profile but never touch it because you aren’t looking for a job. LinkedIn creates referral opportunities but it is up to the real estate professional to provide the validation and expertise that gains referrals.

LinkedIn Usage What this means for real estate professionals75 million connected professionals Your clients and partners are on LinkedIn, you should connect and ask for a recommendation12 million people per day go to LinkedIn to evaluate professionals and make new connections Your LinkedIn profile ranks very high in Google search results b/c Google recognizes LinkedIn profiles as an authoritative resource when people search for peopleNetwork activity updates on LinkedIn focus on business updates and accomplishments It’s just the appropriate place to show your deal making abilityLinkedIn Real Estate Pro’s ‘Market Activity Page’ displays listings and activity from brokers in the local market Showing first hand market knowledge is the first step in connecting with new clients and business partnersRecommendations on LinkedIn profiles If your LinkedIn profile has high praise from someone I know AND I can click on their name to validate the review, you have my attention and probably my business

LinkedIn and Rofo have teamed up to connect property owners looking for representation with tools that track local listings activity and evaluate real estate professionals.

So what should you do as a real estate professional if you are looking to take advantage of LinkedIn?

-Display your current listings-Display your sold/leased listings-Connect and ask for recommendations about your expertise-Provide valuable listings activity updates to bring in-market 1st, 2nd and 3rd degree connections to your profile

Each time you make a new connection on LinkedIn, your referral network increases ten fold. LinkedIn creates the opportunity for referrals, the Real Estate Pro application provides the combination of validation, expertise and ability to capitalize on referral opportunities.

More information about how to use LinkedIn along with tutorials can be found in the Learning Center.

Install the Real Estate Pro application by going to learn.linkedin.com/apps/rofo/

Rofo is working with real estate brokers to strategically launch their listings and professionals across LinkedIn. If interested in making listings available for rapid distribution on LinkedIn profiles and LinkedIn training for agents, please contact Rofo.

Peter Kim is VP, Business Development for Rofo. He can be reached at 415-992-3192 or e-mail peter@rofo.com.

About Rofo GroupRofo.com is a commercial real estate search engine and technology company that connects tenants and property owners with brokers. Rofo partnered with LinkedIn to launch the application, Real Estate Pro. the application on LinkedIn is designed for both residential and commercial professionals to lower their cost of acquiring a customer through referral networking.