Staying Social in Social Media: Suggestions on Content

If you don’t have content you don’t have anything. It isn’t enough to simply create an account on any of the multiple social media sites; to stand out from the crowd you must have something of interest to your audience.

Success in social media goes beyond effectively including SEO words or even having a large network. If your content isn’t interesting then it is most likely your page won’t be read and then there goes your efforts to increase your business through social media.

Take the time to consider these sites as a platform to establish yourself as an authority in your area. So what should you add?

Listings – This one is easy. After all, getting the word out on your product is the prime motivator in tuning into social media. Just make sure that listings aren’t the only things you include. Think about it: you wouldn’t spend much time on a site that lacks variety, and neither do your readers. Who wants to read a list of listings anyway? That is why they have you as an agent.

Neighborhood News – Is there a home on the block that has been featured in a prominent publication? Did a neighborhood decide to go green? Or is the neighborhood the kind of place that embraces annual block parties? Share that with your readers.

Favorite Haunts - As an agent you spend plenty of time in your real estate territory. Most likely you’ve become familiar with the restaurants, boutiques, and special mom and pop shops around the area. Feel free to share those kinds of nuggets of information you’re your readers. Readers appreciate that kind of insight.

Staying on top of what is going on in the industry and presenting it in an interesting manner will help strength your social media sites. Get creative and personal, but be careful how personal, after all this is still business.

 

Google: Not Just A Search Engine

Sure we use it to look up almost anything on the web today, and it has even made its way into everyday lingo. What exactly am I talking about? Google of course! This Internet phenomenon has become a part of our daily lives, and if you really think about it most of our lives would quickly turn into chaos if Google were to suddenly disappear.  Yet there are other reasons to love Google and it pertains to your real estate business. Here are a few reasons why Google is not just a search engine.

Google Analytics – This great tool allows you to analyze the traffic on your website. The way the program works is it tells you were the website visits come from and what they are looking at when they visit your site. This is great for customizing your marketing towards what your readers want.

Google Trends- With Google Trends you are able to see a daily list of the hottest trends. You are also able to search avarious websites and see what scope of your market is interested in.

Google Sitemaps- This is in the event that you want your information on the web quickly. The way this program works is it will quickly post your new pages on the Google index quickly.

Google Docs- This is a great tool to have if you are constantly on the go. A Google doc allows you to create documents, spreadsheets and presentations while giving the convenience of sharing and collaborating them in real time. You can also access them from any place since these documents will be web based.

Google Alerts-Here is how it works. You set up a query list of relevant topics that you’d like updates on. Any time something is mentioned with those particular guidelines you get an email notification regarding those topics. This is great for keeping up with competitors, your products and even to do market research.

Google Buzz- Yet another social media tool, Google Buzz works directly from your Gmail account. It is intended to start conversations about your interests. Best of all you don’t have to go out and scout new “friends” since it works through your email. You can also link it up to your twitter and access it via your smart phone (i.e. Iphone and Android).

Google Translate- As a realtor you know that business can come from anywhere and you should not limit your potential gain because of a small language problem. Google Translate allows you to set up your website or blog in 51 different languages. The only thing you need to do is install the program it will automatically show a translation toolbar if the visitor happens to speak a different language than you.

With the variety of services that Google has to offer it is difficult to showcase them all here. Among some others that may prove useful are Google Earth, Google Adwords, Google place and maps, just to name a few. If you find yourself working out of a complete virtual office more and more everyday these handy tools are sure to make your business more efficient and enjoyable.

Facebook Pages: What to Consider When Having One

Facebook pages are becoming more and more popular as businesses start infiltrating Facebook. Like every other social media outlet there are a few things to make sure you have and a few that it would be best to avoid. Here are a few tips on making sure your fan page is working for you and not against you.

What Not to Do

1. Have Nothing to Offer: Fan pages were created for celebrities, businesses and important causes. Before starting a page consider why people would want to become fans of your page. Make sure the page offers something of value to the community.
2. Try to Have All the Control: Facebook is a platform to engage in a conversation. Don’t delete negative comments or try to control the flow of conversation your page. You can certainly guide your fans, but don’t rain on the conversation parade.
3. Applications:  These can be great when integrated on your page. Now the bad part is when you add them without knowing how to work them, or add them simply for the sake of adding them. Avoid making your page a mess with all those apps. The rule of thumb is don’t add then unless you are prepared to keep up with them.
4. Automate Your Page: This isn’t like a blog or twitter account where you can automate your responses and interactions. People become a fan to be able to engage with you. Be present for your fans and they will make your page successful.
5. Formulated Responses: Ever consider how impersonal a scripted conversation is? Now very fun, huh? That is exactly why making your responses a little more personal will go a very long way in ensuring the success of your page. Just because you don’t see the fan face-to-face doesn’t mean you can get away with not establishing a good relationship. Treat the page as if you were having intimate conversations with your fans.

What Does Work

1. Show Your Human Side: Sure everything is online now, sure life is limiting human interactions less and less (i.e. iPods, electronic banking and texting instead of calling), but that does not mean you should forget your human side. Be present for your fans and be real. Check your page often and respond to message and comments in a timely manner that is priceless. And remember to represent the brand well and mind your manners.
2. Tech Support: This applies to those who choose to have applications on their page. If something goes wrong, make sure you know how to fix it. Nothing is more frustrating than nonfunctioning apps. That could lead to many fans abandoning your page. No tech support, equals no page love.
3. Guiding the Show: You can offer suggestions; give resources, and even redirect. Just don’t treat your page like a strict professor. This is a place to have fun and allow interactions to flow naturally and freely.

The Basics of Your Page

1. Fun: Have fun with your page. Social media that it doesn’t have to be boring, that is what is so great about it. Try having contests, giveaways and even polls.
2. Visual Media: Who wants to visit a page swamped with text? No one. So feel free to add photos and videos. Show up on the images, perhaps even on the videos to add a touch of personalization.
3. Engage: Don’t be afraid to ask questions. People love to give their opinions so give them something to comment about. And don’t forget to thank the fans.
4. Have a Consistent Message: Make sure to plan out your posts. It should be more than once a day and have a variety of information to be successful.
5. Landing Page: This is important because it is the first thing fans visit when they find your page. You can customize it to fit your needs but make sure it is something that will engage visitors.

Via: InMan, WebWorkerDaily

NutshellMail: Get Yourself Organized

Keeping up with all your social media outlets gets easier with NutshellMail. This is a must have service for anyone who has become a professional technology juggler. How it works is NutshellMail allows you to consolidate all your social media accounts into one mail message.  A summary of all your social media alerts will be sent directly to your main email account, where you can then interactively manage it all without having to deal with checking all your other accounts.

NutshellMail supports Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Myspace, Gmail and many more. It is a great tool to keep connected and build on all your media sites.  The best part is that you can schedule it to be sent on your own schedule. So let’s say you prefer to do all your blogging, chatting and facebooking in the morning, then you can set it up so that all those messages don’t bombard you during the day, and a nice neat message alerts you in the morning. Better yet, you can receive summaries of email messages from your lesser-used accounts.

Among the other features is the ability to tweet, reply, retweet and DM from your email inbox.  In a nutshell you have an electronic organizer for your social media outlets. Now you can move to more important things like getting that home off the market.

How Much Is Too Much?

It is easy to figure out when you are over sharing in a face-to-face conversation.  It is even easier to figure it out when you are dealing with a business marketing situation. But what happens when the business mixes with the social and the line between the personal and business blurs? How much is too much? Here are some tips on what information you might want to hold back, and what information you shouldn’t hold back.

Hold Back:

It’s pretty obvious what not to share like your personal information, health history or details on your relationship. But what about other things that seem harmless like stuff about your family? Those details depend on your personal level of comfort, but then again consider your audience and that in the end this is for business. While we are at it let’s steer clear of volatile subjects such as politics and religion. There is a time and a place for that. And I absolutely know that you would never under any circumstances make your home address public information, for your whole networking sites to see. Avoid posting photos or comments about how wild your weekends are or salacious gossip. Facebook users don’t post updates on what your Mafia Wars or Farmville pets are up to.

Feel Free to Share:

So what information can we include without sounding like a boring business presentation? Plenty! How about some information about what you do? What do you specialize in? How long have you been doing it? Talk about some of the organizations you are a part of. It is okay to have a little fun, share some thoughts on that fabulous restaurant you found hidden away in your favorite neighborhood, or stories about your recent trips. If you find it interesting, they will find it interesting because your passion will shine through your words.

Now some of us maybe a little more open than others. For those of you that are consider this before posting. I suggest getting some feedback from a trusted confidant. Sometimes saying it out loud helps. And for the rest of us just follow this rule of thumb, would you share that information with someone you just met? If not, then don’t post it. Or simply follow your gut; if you aren’t comfortable saying it, then you probably shouldn’t post it on your social media sites.

Via: InMan News

Blogging with Activerain

Why use ActiveRain as your Blog?

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ActiveRain currently has a membership of over 160,000 RE Industry members averaging 200 new members daily.  There are more than 1.3 million articles posted, with an average of 10,000 new posts monthly.  Two million+ visitors traffic the ActiveRain network each month, over 80% are consumers.  Only Rainmaker upgraded accounts receive Google traffic to their blogs and posts.  ActiveRain Members blog posts receive more than 500 views on average.  Activerain provides a wide of variety of tools, services, and solutions to the Real Estate community and to the consumer.

So you think this might be a good resource for your business?

• Think about building your realtor base nationwide
• AR is a cost effective way of starting a blog
• Access to Localism  you can sponsor your community ( if it is available )

Here is the link to an ebook that will guide you through ActiveRain

 

Blogging on Trulia

Trulia Blogs

One way to set up a blog is on a site such as Trulia. Trulia is similar to other MLS aggregators that put together the property listings for the public ot search. You can start your blog once you set up your account on Trulia. Here is a short video on seting up your blog.

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Trulia has other features like trulia voices where consumers can  ask questions about real estate and realtors who have signed up for trulia voices can answer these questions. Just another  way to make contact with the consumer !

 

Are You Using Social Media ?

If Not You May Be Missing the Boat …

Here are things I hear from some agents regarding technology & social media.

• I don’t have time
• I don’t know how
• I don’t know what to say
• I like the old way better

What I have to say

• Take the time to open your mind
• Learn how
• This is marketing
• If you don’t incorporate technology you will become extinct

If you are not convinced watch this video for starters

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Ellen Windheim & Michael Solovay Of EWM Realtors Aventura, FL

On Blogging & Social Media

Ellen & Michael have embraced the web 2.0  environment & are reaching out to colleagues & the community to build their business and sell their listings.

Why Use Google Alerts?

Now that we have learned a bit about how Google works and maybe you have even checked out the results for your name, it is time to turn an eye toward your market and see your real estate market like Google does.

 

 In a Google search you can get results in two ways.  First, you can pay for results – you will notice this when you see sponsored results or the right hand side bar of any google search.  Second, you can earn “organic” results which come from the information and backlinks you have on your website.

What search terms do you think are important in your real estate market?  Let’s start with big area searches like Aventura Real Estate, Miami Beach Real Estate, Sunny Isles Beach Real Estate, etc.  Maybe your focus is a little more narrow -  think of subdivisions and condo buildings like Acqualina, Aventura Lakes or The Beach Club in Hallandale Beach.  Whatever your terms are – you need to set up a Google Alert to keep an eye out on the competition.  Here’s how: (the end of the video gets a little more advanced, but you will get the idea)

1. Your Market area and real estate.
2. Your name – hint:  if you have a common name  make sure you put it in quotes and maybe use one other word ( like the city where you live or work).   This way you willonly get Alerts for yourself not someone else with your same name.
3. Just your market area – keep up on all the news
4. set up a link: yourwebsite alert for your website and maybe one for a competitors website so you can “spy” on what they are doing
5. Anything else of interest to you !