I see it again, and again, and AGAIN! Agents confused by social media and confused by how to manage the time necessary for social media. They have every excuse in the book NOT to do social media and they want a magic silver bullet to do it for them.
First, WHY Social Media?
If you have any doubts about WHY you should be on Social Networks as a Realtor, consider this. NAR says that baby boomers have (on average) one home buying cycle left. Generation X has (on average) 6 buying cycles left. Generation Y has (on average) 7 buying cycles left.
Now consider the fact that Gen Y'rs spend more than 3 hours per day online on social networks. Hello? Did you see that? The demographic that will buy the most homes in the future live on these networks! If you plan on being in Real Estate for the foreseeable future, you need to be reaching out to this generation using their media - and by doing it on their terms!
Q: What does that mean, "on their terms"?
A: They DO NOT want to be SOLD to, they want to be ENGAGED!
Second - How to get started?
You want the SECRET? Here it is. Pick 1 or 2 social media platforms. I recommend Twitter and Facebook (in that order). Don't auto post. Don't AUTO POST. Did you see that, don't auto post. That's a short cut - it's a cop out. It's called SOCIAL Networking, not AUTO Networking! It is annoying and your Gen X and Gen Y-rs will see right through it. You can't engage if you are not there! If you want a short cut, here it is .......... don't do it at all.
What are you going to do if someone actually responds to your auto post? You'll never see their inquiry and they'll know it's a bot - and poof, UNfollow you! You will end up alienating the exact audience that you are trying to connect with in the first place. Remember the SOCIAL in social media. It is not something you can do half way. If you auto post your ActiveRain to Twitter, make sure you make these a small fraction of your total tweets.
Third - What to Say?
Social networking is a cocktail party. You wouldn't walk into a cocktail party and spout off your listings or your production for the year, don't do it on Social networking sites. Get in there, be friendly, Listen first, then ENGAGE others! Sooner or later the conversation (yes, conversation) will turn to what you do for a living. Gently remind them you are a Realtor. Make less then 10% of your updates be about your business. Generally in social networks, no one cares about what you have to say until they know you care about them! When it comes time to call a Realtor, they WILL remember you (the person) not the bot.
Lastly - THE SECRET for managing the time?
Ok, here it is. Get a laptop (or even better, Blackberry or iPhone) and do a lot of your social networking while your watching mindless reality shows. The average American spends over 4 hours per day in front of the TV, but yet everyone's excuse is "not enough time". There is a disconnect there somewhere. Just do it. No excuses! Good Luck!
Oh by the way, when you put in the time and start to build a network, it's just like chatting with old friends. It will not feel like work.
You've probably noticed the 2 feeds so let's get right to Facebook's differentiation of the feeds:
"News Feed aggregates the most interesting content that your friends are posting while Live Feed shows you all the actions your friends are making in real-time."
To those that have more than 250 "friends" on Facebook...Facebook is blocking feeds from all but 250 people.
Here is a quote from Facebook, "Live Feed automatically determines which friends to include based on who Facebook thinks you want to hear from most."
To undo: Go to your home page. Make sure your news feed shows "live feed". Then scroll to bottom, click: "Edit Options". You will see your News Feed Settings. Change... 250 to 5...000 (or, whatever # you... want) for Facebook Friend limit. Then hit "save", and your feed will work right again.
Hope this helps you get Facebook back to where you were used to seeing it.
That is a direct quote from a Realtor I met on Friday.
When I asked him how much time he spent on Twitter before making that generalization he told me that he signed up, typed in what he was doing, and no one ever responded and he NEVER got any leads from Twitter. So I guess it must be true!
The reality is that Social Networking (including Twitter) is the best tool to come along for Realtors since the Website. Do you remember the agents who said, "I don't need a website, this Internet thing won't last"! When those agents snubbed their noses at websites and the Internet, the early adopters got all the good URLs, established themselves with the Search Engines, and reaped the benefits of good search engine rankings while the nay-sayers played catch up.
For those that don't know, Twitter is like a bull horn on steroids. A tool you can use to get your message out to the entire world, and all this for free. Caveat that by saying that I DO NOT recommend you use it as a bull horn, but I've already beat that horse dead in my blog post, How in the heck do you use Twitter for business?
For this post, I want to go in a different direction and address what everyone WANTS to know. How has Twitter translated directly into dollars and opportunities? Well, here it is, as a DIRECT RESULT of using Twitter, I have benefited in the following ways:
I have been featured not once, but twice in local newspapers. This resulted in free publicity that I would otherwise never have received, and I have 2 new clients because of it. These clients will continue to use my services well into the future.
I am completely in touch with business & networking events in my area that I would otherwise have never known about. I have made excellent business alliances and some darn good new friends at these events.
I am completely in the loop with most technology seminars that are occurring around the country. Some of the greatest minds in using New and Social Media are speaking in your backyard and you don't know it because they don't have to advertise. They get large audiences by getting the word out in Social Networking circles.
I have been approached by several business owners to partner in new endeavors that I would have never had the opportunity to meet, if it had not been for Twitter.
Some people I know have been invited to speak about Twitter on NPR, they have been featured in the Wall Street Journal, television shows, and the like. All this publicity, and all of it free.
Can you put a value on friendship? Think the concept of a "Tweet-up" (a place where Twitter users meet in real life) is ridiculous? I have met some wonderful people at these Tweet-ups. All very intelligent, and most of them business owners - all congregating for the purpose of networking and finding new ways to help each other be even more successful. Yeah - that's stupid! NOT!
So, to those of you who say, I don't have the time for Twitter, and Twitter is stupid - You are entitled to your opinion, but I have to tell you - there's a (social) revolution going on, and a fundamental shift in how we market to the masses, and you just might be missing it. If you want to learn how to use Twitter for Business, check out my Twitter Made Easy for Business Video series by clicking here BTW - it won't cost you anything either.
Ever wondered how some photographers get their subjects in sharp focus while the rest of the photo is softly out of focus?
Or how they get such great photos in near darkness?
If you have a DSLR camera (and the kit lens that came with it) and you are longing to get portraits like you see in magazines, you might just be a mere $135.00 away from your goal.
The kit lenses that ship with most DSLR cameras are built to be work horses to satisfy the masses. They have focal lengths (for example) between 18-55mm and serve the purposes of 75% of camera users. The next lens you might have already stepped up to could be the 55-200mm f/4 - 5.6 to compliment that 18-55. But have you ever considered a 50mm 1.8 lens?
A lot of people get hung up on focal length (the18-55mm part). What a large percentage of folks overlook is how "bright (aka fast)" the lens is. If you look at your kit lens, it might read something like this:
18-55mmf/3.5 - 5.6 The first part of that alphabet soup is the focal length of the lens (18mm-55mm) but it is the second part (f3.5 - 5.6) that tells you how "fast" the lens is. In other words, the maximum "Aperture" of the lens.
Think of aperture this way. When you've been in the dark for a few minutes, your pupils get really big. This allows more light to enter your eye and you see better in the dark. Flip a bright light on and you are forced to shut your eyes until your pupils get smaller, and let in less light.
Camera aperture works similarly. It's a bit confusing, but the smaller the number, (e.g. 1.8) the MORE light the lens is letting in. When a lens allows a ton of light to come in, you can get away with using faster shutter speeds in lower light. With a faster shutter speed, you have less of a chance of getting a blurry photo due to camera shake. You can also freeze motion in low light, like at a concert, or dance recital where flashes are often not allowed. Fast lenses also let you shoot at lower ISO. The lower the ISO, the less noise.
The other thing a fast lens does for you is give you that sought after shallow depth of field effect, also known as Bokeh. The idea here is that your subject is sharp and the background (or foreground, or both) are softened, or blurred. This makes your primary subject stand out and helps with composing a better shot.
When you shoot with an Aperture of 1.8, you have very shallow depth of field, the lens opens up very wide, and you can use a faster shutter speed and lower ISO. This is ideal for getting great shots in very low light without a flash.
So what's the secret? Look beyond the tele range of your next lens, and pay attention to how "fast" the lens is. Take note, a 55-200mm f/4 - 5.6 lens may cost you $230, but the 2.8 version will cost 5 to 10 times that. The good news is that a 50mm 1.8 will only set you back about $130 (which is what I shot most of these photos with). If you want to step up to the 50mm 1.4, you will pay between $330 - $500.
If you’ve been hesitant to sign up with Twitter, or signed up with Twitter and don’t have a clue what to do next, this video series is for you.
If you are afraid of embracing Social Media because it is too technical for you, don’t worry, my video series is made with you in mind. I have distilled all the Technology down to lay-person terms and tested it on some folks who are really scared of the Social Media revolution, and now they are using Twitter!
If you have not seen Part 1 on Listening, watch it first. It can be found at the following link:
The Screen Below is the Video For Part 3 on Tweeting
Part 3 of the Series is all about ‘Tweeting' on Twitter. Once you've been on for a short while and observed good and bad behavior on Twitter, you'll want to generate some of your own tweets such as linking to your blog, or a great blog article, sharing your area of expertise with others, tweeting photos, or Engaging with other users. If this is foreign to you, then you need the video!
If you’ve been hesitant to sign up with Twitter, or signed up with Twitter and don’t have a clue what to do next, this video series is for you.
If you are afraid of embracing Social Media because it is too technical for you, don’t worry, my video series is made with you in mind. I have distilled all the Technology down to lay-person terms and tested it on some folks who are really scared of the Social Media revolution, and now they are using Twitter!
If you have not seen Part 1 on Listening, watch it first. It can be found at the following link:
The Screen Below is the Video For Part 2 on Engaging
Part 2 of the Series is all about ‘Engaging' on Twitter. Once you've been on for a short while and observed good and bad behavior on Twitter, you'll want to talk to some of the folks who are doing it right. You can engage them in a number of ways such as @Reply, DM, or RT their Tweet. If this is foreign to you, then you need the video!
If you've been hesitant to sign up with Twitter, or signed up with Twitter and don't have a clue what to do next, this video series is for you.
If you are afraid of embracing Social Media because it is too technical for you, don't worry, my video series is made with you in mind. I have distilled all the Technology down to lay-person terms and hope that this will be the final "How To" you need to get using Twitter!
If you have any doubts about WHY you should be on Twitter as a Realtor, consider this. The NAR says that baby boomers have (on average) one home buying cycle left. Generation X has (on average) 6 buying cycles left. Generation Y has (on average) 7 buying cycles left.
Now consider the fact that Gen Y'rs spend more than 3 hours per day online. If you plan on being in Real Estate for the foreseeable future, you need to be reaching out to this generation using their media - and by doing it on their terms!
Part 1 of the Series is all about ‘Listening' on Twitter. Too many people STOP in their tracks at the thought of "Who cares what I'm doing" and don't take any time to investigate Twitter any further. The reality is that you might consider using Twitter to LISTEN first! Then ENGAGE, and then start TWEETING. If this is foreign to you, then you need the video!
Twitter! It's everywhere! Ever since Oprah talked about it, you can't read the paper, go to a website, or even watch your evening news without being invited to follow them on Twitter. So what's the big deal, and why are so many businesses embracing Twitter?
The first thing you need to know: There is a right way and a wrong way to use Twitter, especially if you are using it to promote a business.
Every day, I'm out there talking to Real Estate Agents who can't wrap their minds around Twitter. "No one cares that I just ate dinner", they say. For the most part, they're right. But then I hit them with a curve ball. I tell them that Twitter is more about "Listening" then "Tweeting".... and I see a dumbfounded look on their face.
I go further, Twitter is about engaging people, interacting with them, and discussing common interests. At this point their face has an expression of complete confusion with a bit of frustration. They ask, "How do you engage when you are just blabbing about what you just did in 140 characters"? It's a great question - and one that after some time - I finally discovered the answer.
You see, the Twitter website is a bit tough to "get". It's not until they download a third party software like TweetDeck (www.tweetdeck.com) or Seesmic (www.seesmic.com) that most people can truly "GET" Twitter.
These 3rd party apps allow you to set up searches (in convenient columns) for keywords that are of interest to you. This allows you to "LISTEN" to anyone who tweets your keywords. If you are a business owner, listening to your key words becomes an invaluable tool to see what your potential customers, and your competition are saying.
It's also a good idea to set up a search for your geographical area (city name) and know exactly everything that's going on in your area when people are Tweeting about it. You can "Listen" for anything, this just scratches the surface.
After you build these "listening searches" you will get a feeling for Twitter, how others are using it, and most importantly, how to INTERACT with these "Tweeps" via @Reply's, Re-tweets, and DMs (Direct Messages). Now we're really getting into the nuts and bolts of Twitter. For more details on what this all means, watch my video series on "How To Use Twitter for Business". If this lingo goes over your head, don't sweat it, it's just Twitter-speak for ways to interact on Twitter.
Here's the most important thing to remember for those of you wanting to use Twitter for business. Think of Twitter as a huge cocktail party. You would not walk into a cocktail party and scream a promotion out loud. You would be friendly, engage others, build trust, discuss different things and [eventually] work what you do for a living into the conversation. It's a VERY soft sell. Less then 10% of your Tweets should be about your business.
So remember - Go gentle, be friendly, Engage others, and occasionally remind them what you do. When the time comes to employ your services, they'll call!
If you want the soup to nuts on Twitter, watch my video series on "How To Use Twitter for Business. It talks about setting up columns to listen using TweetDeck, and goes in depth about interacting, and what to Tweet about.
My blog's purpose is to educate and raise awareness about the power of full motion video as a means to sell real estate. It's also a wonderful place to showcase my Realtor Client's Listings.
Beyond that, I have many interests including real estate, photography, Social Media, the Economy, the Stock Market, SEO, online marketing, music, ActiveRain, and many other interests and may blog about them when something interesting hits me.
Disclaimer: ActiveRain Corp. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain Corp. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.
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For those that don't know, Twitter is like a bull horn on steroids. A tool you can use to get your message out to the entire world, and all this for free. Caveat that by saying that I DO NOT recommend you use it as a bull horn, but I've already beat that horse dead in my blog post, 
So, to those of you who say, I don't have the time for Twitter, and Twitter is stupid - You are entitled to your opinion, but I have to tell you - there's a (social) revolution going on, and a fundamental shift in how we market to the masses, and you just might be missing it. If you want to learn how to use Twitter for Business, check out my 
Camera aperture works similarly. It's a bit confusing, but the smaller the number, (e.g. 1.8) the MORE light the lens is letting in. When a lens allows a ton of light to come in, you can get away with using faster shutter speeds in lower light. With a faster shutter speed, you have less of a chance of getting a blurry photo due to camera shake. You can also freeze motion in low light, like at a concert, or dance recital where flashes are often not allowed. Fast lenses also let you shoot at lower ISO. The lower the ISO, the less noise.
The other thing a fast lens does for you is give you that sought after shallow depth of field effect, also known as Bokeh. The idea here is that your subject is sharp and the background (or foreground, or both) are softened, or blurred. This makes your primary subject stand out and helps with composing a better shot.
The first thing you need to know
Here's the most important thing to remember for those of you wanting to use Twitter for business. Think of Twitter as a huge cocktail party. You would not walk into a cocktail party and scream a promotion out loud. You would be friendly, engage others, build trust, discuss different things and [eventually] work what you do for a living into the conversation. It's a VERY soft sell. Less then 10% of your Tweets should be about your business. 
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