Twitter: The Next Networking Frontier

In this virtual world of tweets it can sometimes be difficult to wrap our minds around socializing without ever having to actually see a person face-to-face. If you are using Twitter as a tool to further strengthen your business it might be time to rethink how you follow fellow tweeters. Following the wrong people could be hurting your business, and wasting your time.

Allow me to elaborate. If you were trying to use Twitter as a tool to generate more leads, why would you follow those who are in your industry? Here is a radical idea, why not follow those individuals who share your same interests, or live in your area? Here is a simple step-by-step solution to making better use of the tweets, and preventing you from making twitter your next full time job.

1. Relax and be more social- Simply because you are using this tool to add to your business does not mean you have to be the annoying advertisement plugging in your business every opportunity you can. This will not get your more friends. Share your interests, tweet about things you care about, and yes that can include the top reasons why you love chili fries so much. Better yet, forget you are tweeting about your business and have fun socializing.
2. Embark on a search for your tweeting soul mates, or those that are interesting to you. This search does not have to become a full time job. Nowadays, there are plenty of sites that make finding your tweeting soul mates as easy as well, tweeting your thoughts.  Check out LocalTweeps for those in your area, and ChirpCity for the latest happenings in your town. (Tip: try finding the local hashtag for your area. It will make it easier to find your neighbors.)
3. Avoid looking like the creepy sales person, by trying a tried and true introduction. Simply say hello. Think about tweeting as your virtual forum of the classic networking party. You wouldn’t walk up to someone and introduce yourself by asking them if they want to buy a house, so don’t do it online. Try to establish a relationship with those who you find interesting. Let the business come later, and believe me it will.

For more detailed information you can check out these two articles on tweeting: Who Should Real Estate Agents Follow On Twitter, and Six Twitter Tools to Network Locally.

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.

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 !

 

How to Start your own Blog

Keep it Simple

These days its very easy to start your own blog. There are many platforms like Wordpress or  Blogger, where you can go in pick a template & start designing your own blog. Or you can hire a company that will design your blog using one of those platforms. It’s all a matter of time & money!

I think the simpler the blog the better, what really counts is the information you share. The information you share is called your content .

Here are some tips on developing content for your blog

1. First ask yourself who is your audience, are they buyers & sellers of real estate or another sector of the market?  You will be writing for them so you will need to put yourself in their place and figure out what is important to them.
2. Read other blogs in your industry & see what others are blogging about.
3. Your writing does not have to be perfect it should be as if you were having a conversation.
4. Write about your property listings or someone elses!
5. Write about events in your community

Offer help, be consistent, add value. This is what you do anyway. Now you are doing it online for the world to see !

Tech or Touch ?

Which is it going to be ? Or Both…..

Ok , so I know you’ve heard from me, your broker, and everyone else that technology is key in the real estate business. And it is very important.

Technology… things that you need to have

1. A website with an IDX feed
2. A  blog
3. Facebook
4. Twitter
5. LinkedIn

On your Way toTouch… things that you need to do

1. A database with your contacts & sphere of influence
2. A plan delineating ways you will communicate with your customers & sphere of influence
3. Contact your sphere by phone to keep in touch
4. Mailings
5. Birthday cards ( email)

We’ve left the most important thing out!

The most important thing you can do is build rapport with your customer. After you do this everything is easy! How do I do this you ask ?

1. Be interested in them ( forget about yourself & your commission)
2. Ask questions, get to know what they are looking for, not only in a property but also in a real estate agent
3. Listen to what they are saying and what they are not saying, both will give you lots of information about how to work with them.
4. Hear them… many times we listen and do not hear. They can tell the difference.
5. Exceed their expectations – think of a time that someone exceeded YOUR expectations How did you feel?

So I guess you can see where this is going… it’s all about building relationships.

These small things can make a customer for life ! Its the small things that count.