Amazing Video Tours Newswire

Speechless Sunday - The COLOR of Fall

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 13:20:31 -0600

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©2009 - AmazingVideoTours.com - All Rights Reserved. Any use of this photo, including reproduction, modification, distribution or republication, without the prior written consent of Amazing Video Tours, is strictly prohibited. Amazing Video Tours offers photography and full motion video marketing solutions to Realtors, and other individuals with property to sell, lease, or rent. A departure from the old fashion 360 Virtual Tour, Amazing Video Tours takes online property marketing to the next level.

The SECRET To Managing Social Media - Enough Excuses!

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 11:32:40 -0600

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.

Still think social media is stupid? Read Twitter is Stupid - I don't have time for Twitter

Want help getting started the easy way? Watch the video series, Twitter Made Easy for Business

------------- ©2009 - AmazingVideoTours.com - All Rights Reserved. Amazing Video Tours is Charlotte's Premier Real Estate Videography Provider for Realtors, and other individuals with property to sell, lease, or rent. A departure from the old fashion 360 Virtual Tour, Amazing Video Tours takes online property marketing to the next level.

Facebook Changes: Live Feed / News Feed & Where are my Friends?

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 23:56:56 -0500

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.

------------- ©2009 - AmazingVideoTours.com - All Rights Reserved. Amazing Video is Charlotte's Premier Real Estate Videography Provider for Realtors, and other individuals with property to sell, lease, or rent. A departure from the old fashion 360 Virtual Tour, Amazing Video Tours takes online property marketing to the next level.

Twitter is Stupid, I don't have the time for Twitter!

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 10:51:35 -0500

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.

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©2009 - AmazingVideoTours.com - All Rights Reserved. Amazing Video Tours offers photography and full motion video marketing solutions to Realtors, and other individuals with property to sell, lease, or rent. A departure from the old fashion 360 Virtual Tour, Amazing Video Tours takes online property marketing to the next level.

One Secret to Getting Photos Like a Pro Photographer

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 23:02:51 -0500

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:

18-55mm f/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.

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©2009 - AmazingVideoTours.com - All Rights Reserved. Any use of these photos, including reproduction, modification, distribution or republication, without the prior written consent of Amazing Video Tours, is strictly prohibited. Amazing Video Tours offers photography and full motion video marketing solutions to Realtors, and other individuals with property to sell, lease, or rent. A departure from the old fashion 360 Virtual Tour, Amazing Video Tours takes online property marketing to the next level.

Twitter SCAM ALERT!

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 10:33:04 -0500

If you get a Direct Message (DM) on Twitter (even from someone you know) that looks something like this:

Hey is this you on here? http://videos.dskjkiuw.com/

OR any other sentence with the link above ...........

DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES CLICK ON THE LINK!

If you do click on the link, DO NOT enter your username and password! The hacker will hi-jack your Twitter account and use it to send out spam.

Twitter Made Easy for Business (Part 3 of 3 - 'Tweeting')

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 08:16:33 -0500

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:

Twitter Made Easy for Business (Part 1 of 3 - 'Listening')

Then Watch Part 2 on Engaging:

Twitter Made Easy for Business (Part 2 of 3 - 'Engaging')

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!

Enjoy!

Part 3 - Tweeting

What are you doing?
What makes a good Tweet?
Ideas for what to Tweet About
How to Tweet a Blog Article
How to Tweet a Photo
How to Interact with Others

------------- ©2009 - AmazingVideoTours.com - All Rights Reserved. Amazing Video Tours is Charlotte's Premier Real Estate Videography and Photography Provider for Realtors, and other individuals with property to sell, lease, or rent. A departure from the old fashion 360 Virtual Tour, Amazing Video Tours takes online property marketing to the next level.

Twitter Made Easy for Business (Part 2 of 3 - 'Engaging')

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 08:57:48 -0500

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 have not seen Part 1 on Listening, watch it first. It can be found at the following link:

Twitter Made Easy for Business (Part 1 of 3 - 'Listening')

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!

Enjoy!

Part 2 - Engaging

Methods for engaging other users
@Reply Explained
DM Explained
RT Explained
#Hashtag Explained

COMING SOON:

Twitter Made Easy for Business (Part 3 of 3 - 'Tweeting')

Twitter Made Easy for Business (Part 1 of 3 - 'Listening')

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 15:06:01 -0500

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!

Enjoy!

Part 1 - Listening

Preset Columns
Setting Up Listening Columns
Listening to Your City
Listening by Industry
What NOT to Do on Twitter (for business)
How to Check another user Out
How to Follow Someone

COMING SOON:

Twitter Made Easy for Business (Part 2 of 3 - 'Engaging')
Twitter Made Easy for Business (Part 3 of 3 - 'Tweeting')

How in the Heck do you use Twitter for Business?

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 14:57:18 -0500

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 3^rd 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.

Wonderful Charlotte Home for Sale – Video Virtual Tour

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 17:49:45 -0500

www.AmazingVideoTours.com and www.KarinSellsTheLake.com are proud to bring you this Wonderful Charlotte Home for Sale - Video Virtual Tour

One of the nicest homes in Walkers Creek! Traditional plan with elegant formals, light-filled family room with wood fireplace, updated kitchen, bay windowed breakfast room overlooking pond with waterfall. Dining room overlooking sun room. Awesome Master suite. New roof in 1999. New front (with crystal glass panels) and back door. Fenced yard overlooking new Pergola and stone terrace.

------------- ©2009 - AmazingVideoTours.com - All Rights Reserved. Any use of video, including reproduction, modification, distribution or republication, without the prior written consent of Amazing Video Tours, is strictly prohibited. Amazing Video Tours offers photography and full motion video marketing solutions to Realtors, and other individuals with property to sell, lease, or rent. A departure from the old fashion 360 Virtual Tour, Amazing Video Tours takes online property marketing to the next level.

Favorite Movie Quotes on Twitter, Facebook, Social Media

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 09:28:00 -0500

What would some of our favorite characters from 20 ish years ago say about social media?

Mr Miyagi: "Daniel-san, Twitter tool for Engagement - NOT selling"

Mr T on Twitter: "You need to be interesting for me to folla you, FOOL"

Fletch - "Your texting bill, Senior" .... "One thousand dollars?" ...... "Is ok senior, I will put it on the Underhill's bill"

Star Wars - Luke, I AM your father, and I have Friended you on Facebook.

Back to the Future - If my calculations are correct, when this iPhone app hits 88 miles per hour... you're gonna see some serious sh...t.

Rainman on Twitter: "Def - definitely don't use Tweet-bots on Twitter, definitely ... definitely"

Jeff Spicoli on Twitter being down frequently: "I can fix it, my dad's a TV repairman, he's got the most ultimate set of tools"

Caddyshack: Cinderella story. Outta nowhere. A former greenskeeper, now, about to surpass 1 million followers on Twitter...

Breakfast club on Facebook - "So it's sorta social. Demented and sad, but social".

Airplane on Social Media - "It's a big social network with people, but that's not important right now"

Forrest Gump on Twitter" "Mama always said you need to en-gage if you want people to fol-low you"

Wayne: "Garth, @NancyODell just started following me, Schweeet" Garth: "She's babe-o-lichous"

Wall Street on Social Media - The point is, ladies and gentlemen, that social media, for lack of a better word, is good, social media is right. Social media works.

Gorgeous 1.5 Acre Home for Sale in Southern Gaston County, NC 28052

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 14:34:10 -0500

BSA Properties of the Carolinas and www.amazingvideotours.com are proud to bring you this Gorgeous 1.5 Acre Home for Sale Southern Gaston County, NC 28052

Brick home, located in country on 1.5 acres, the adjacent 2.3 acre lot is available. A lot of hardwoods finished on site. 3/4 bedrooms w/3 full baths, over 2500 sf. Custom built kitchen. Large private deck w/access from mstr. bdrm. NO home owners. Near the new proposed Parkway, easy access to Charlotte and I-85 south. The broker is the owner and builder. 100% financing avail. Note: this property is eligible for USDA funding, Also the lot adjacent is eligible and can build new construction.

If Houses Could Talk ... Wordless Wednesday

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 15:04:04 -0500

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Wonderful Tega Cay Home for Sale – Video Virtual Tour

Thu, 03 Sep 2009 10:33:43 -0500

www.TegaCaySales.com and www.AmazingVideoTours.com bring you another amazing video tour of a wonderful Tega Cay home for sale

Beautiful, open Saussy Burbank plan with master on main. Vaulted great room with FP/gas logs. Hardwood floors throughout most of main level, carpet in master. Super kitchen with 42' cabinets and gas range. 3 or 4 spacious bedrooms upstairs and two full bathrooms. Private back yard with flat area fenced. Green belt area across the street.

Video - How To Use Twitter (without using twitter)

Tue, 25 Aug 2009 15:25:46 -0500

Thanks to everyone who attended my "Twitter Made Easy for REALTORS® Class. For those of you who missed it, here's what we talked about.

If you liked this video, please let others know

Gorgeous Town home for sale in Lake Wylie, SC – Video Tour

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 11:39:54 -0500

www.AmazingVideoTours.com and Sandee Wilkerson are proud to bring you this gorgeous town home for sale in Autumn Cove at Lake Wylie.

Call Sandee Wilkerson to schedule a personal showing at 704-608-6553

END UNIT, Upgrades Everywhere!

Kitchen with gas range/oven, tile back splash, bay window breakfast area. Plantation Blinds throughout 17 windows. Vaulted ceiling in Great Room with fireplace. Wired surround sound. Patio with retractable awning & privacy fence. Master on main. New bath with designer sinks, large whirlpool, tile shower and floor, walk-in closet. 2 large bedrooms with walk-in closets. Loft. Well kept home. Half bath has also been redone. All rooms have fans and wired for cable and phones. (Storage area off loft is being used as small exercise room. with A/C unit on wall. MUST SEE!

River Hills Water Front Home for Sale - Video Virtual Tour

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 17:40:50 -0500

www.AmazingVideoTours.com and www.LakeWylieWaterfront.com are proud to bring you this River Hills Water Front Home for Sale on Lake Wylie.

Contact Don Stephens at 803-831-2241 to schedule a personal showing.

Dramatic high ceiling home on heavily wooded waterfront lot. Delightful screened porch overlooks your private dock, pier and Boat lift. Skylights abound, irrigation system.

Lake Wylie Water Front Home for Sale - Video Virtual Tour

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 17:31:51 -0500

www.AmazingVideoTours.com and www.LakeWylieWaterfront.com are proud to bring you this Beautiful Water Front Home for Sale on Lake Wylie.

Contact Don Stephens at 803-831-2241 to schedule a personal showing.

Dramatic custom built waterfront home in charming Harbortowne. High ceilings accent picturesque water views from every room. Gourmet 'Country French' style kitchen with double ovens and warming oven. In-ground irrigation. Pier and dock set-up with 6000lb boat lift. 'Total Package' Bonus room upstairs could be 4th bedroom.

Myrtle Beach Sunset - Wordless Wednesday

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 09:03:42 -0500

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Sorry for ignoring your Facebook friend request

Tue, 28 Jul 2009 08:53:39 -0500

At every technology conference I've been to in the last year, I'm told that I HAVE to be on Facebook to promote my business and that I NEED to be friending every prospect in the world to have them follow me.

I'm not WRONG, I just have a different opinion of the mainstream. Facebook has been such a personally wonderful experience for me. I got on to re-connect with old friends. I was very shy about it for the first year, not posting my picture and not really ever updating it. But after losing my brother and my step dad last year, I found a new appreciation for how important friends and family are, and the need to connect with those that were important to me. So I added my picture and within weeks was re-connecting with family, and friends from middle and high school. What a great experience it has been!

Anyone who has been on Facebook for a while knows "that person" who does nothing but update about work. "Closed another deal today", "Have important meetings with important people because I am SO important", yadda yadda yadda. And what do we do with those people, we hit the ignore button.

Don't get me wrong, I completely understand the delicate balance of the need to post light on business and focus more on engaging others, and letting a little personality come through, but here's the thing. My best friends and my potential prospects are a completely different audience. Plus I have Twitter, LinkedIn, my blog, ning websites, my website, AND the real world for business.

Yes, I know you can create subgroups in Facebook, but that seems like such a hassle to me. Every time I post (and I post more from my phone then my PC) I have to remember what the groups are what and who's in what group, etc. Forget that.

Having said all that, I still "behave" on Facebook. I don't engage in anything that I wouldn't say or do at a face to face networking event. But I do post pictures of my kids on FB, and it's fun to announce your excitement about leaving town for vacation for a week. But if I don't *really* know you - do you need to know that my home will be empty for a week?

Here's another concern about Facebook that I don't have with any of the others. Anything my friends post on my wall can be seen by potential clients. (Once again, restrict with permissions - but I think we beat that horse already). Come football season, my buddies get a little colorful with their posts. I don't do this but my potential clients don't need to see it.

My solution is simple. I use Facebook for FUN and LinkedIn, Twitter, ning.com sites, my blog, my website, and the real world for business. Once you understand Twitter, you'll see that it's a better vehicle for business than Facebook away. The same goes for LinkedIn.

To those who say I HAVE to be pimping my wares on facebook to everyone who will friend me, isn't it enough to be using those other mediums for that, and just keep Facebook as a simple place to get away from it all?

------------- ©2009 - AmazingVideoTours.com - All Rights Reserved. Amazing Video Tours offers photography and full motion video marketing solutions to Realtors, and other individuals with property to sell, lease, or rent. A departure from the old fashion 360 Virtual Tour, Amazing Video Tours takes online property marketing to the next level.

The iPhone - The Gateway to Twitter, Facebook and other Social Networking Sites

Sun, 26 Jul 2009 22:00:45 -0500

At this point, the vote is unanimous. If you are in the business of prospecting for new clients, you need to be on social networking sites. Having a small business myself, I have been tuned into sites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and others. The complaint I hear from more business professionals than any other is, "I don't have time for all that social networking stuff". Well the pros all agree, you need to make time. But how?

I want to share my solution. Like thousands of other busy professionals, I signed up for Twitter last year and did nothing with it for a long time partly because I didn't have the time.

Well recently, that all changed when I bought an iPhone . The iPhone has apps for Twitter (I like Tweetdeck), Facebook, and LinkedIn. They are pretty close to their desktop counterparts so there's no additional learning curve.

You're busy, yeah - we get that. But are you too busy to click an icon and write a quick Face book update or tweet while you wait for your next appointment to show up? How about when you are watching TV. According to Nielsen Media Research, Americans watch an average of 4 hours of TV everyday. How sad is that - but that's another blog article. Bottom line is - you can do this stuff, even during the commercials.

The truth is that we can all carve out a few minutes here and there to stay connected. The pros advocate carving out an "hour of power" each day for social networking, but I tend to disagree. Being social is all about being part of the conversation and that's where a few minutes here and there throughout the day makes more sense to me.

The iPhone has made this a reality for me. All it takes is 3-5 minutes to catch up with FB and your "Tweeps" to have an ongoing dialog throughout the day. That way you don't have to dread doing a huge data dump at the end of the day (when your contribution to the conversation may no longer be relevant).

So, if you continue to make excuses for not participating, you might very well want to consider an iPhone. As said in this blog article, it's not so much of a phone as it is a laptop that fits in your shirt pocket. It's worth every penny.

Oh - and where did I write this article? In front of the tube while watching a show that wasn't worth my time anyway.

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Beautiful Golf Front / Water View Home for Sale in Tega Cay – Video Virtual Tour

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 11:32:18 -0500

www.TegaCayRealEstate.com and www.AmazingVideoTours.com are proud to bring you this Beautiful Golf Front / Water View Home for Sale in Tega Cay Video Virtual Tour

Executive style living with Lake View and Golf View!Gorgeous home w. double front porches and room to roam.Enter thru double leaded glass doors and start exploring! Gourmet kitchen w. huge center island, bldr.granite replaced w.top of the line granite!Walk in Pantry. See thru f/p from GR to sunroom. HW on main,tile in sunroom. Master SUITE!! Part of backyard is fenced! Very private!

What's so "Social" about LinkedIn? - Now I Get it!

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 10:33:42 -0500

Ok, so as a Realtor, it's getting drummed into your head over and over .... "You need to be on SOCIAL networks such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn". So, I think Facebook is the easiest to conquer. Twitter made sense to me after I got Tweetdeck, and now I am trying to figure out LinkedIn.

I have been on LinkedIn for years. I added my old boss and a bunch of people from my pre Real Estate and Video days, and ....... [crickets chirping] ..... [Yawn] ........ Every now and then I would get an email telling me that so in so has connected with so in so. Big Deal. What's so SOCIAL about that?

Recently, I discovered a new world (for me at least) on LinkedIn. LinkedIn has a "Groups" component where you can conduct a search for groups that are of interest to you and join them. For example, I'm sure that not only can you find many groups about real estate, you will be able to find groups about real estate in your local area.

Once you join the group, it gets SOCIAL. First is the Discussions. You can add a discussion, or comment on someone else's discussion topic. Very interactive - very SOCIAL. But every group has a "News" page, a "Job Posting" page, and the ability to add subgroups for overly complicated topics that need to be broken down.

Best of all is that when you participate in these discussions, you connect with another whole set of people that you might have not met on Facebook, or Twitter. Then you "Link" to them and follow each other.

Beyond that, LinkedIn has a heavy business networking emphasis, and members of these "Groups" get together for real life gatherings. Talk about a chance to prospect to folks you would have otherwise never met.

I'm sure this is just scratching the surface of what's available on LinkedIn and I in no way claim to be an expert. But, it took me years to get in there and discover "Groups" so I wanted to share it with you so you would not wait so long. Check it out for yourself at www.linkedin.com

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Lake Wylie Water Front Home for Sale Video Virtual Tour

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 10:13:09 -0500

Charlotte's premier real estate videographer and www.LakeWylieWaterfront.com are proud to bring you this Completely Renovated Water Front Home for Sale on Lake Wylie.

COMPLETE RENOVATION INSIDE AND OUT in 2008. BEACH and flat lot, dream kitchen with butlers pantry. Master suite and bath remarkable. Outside fountain, extensive stonework, central vacuum and covered boat house with two storage rooms WOW! Loft office and a great lake view form the entire house. Kitchen has two sinks, two garbage disposals, and a double oven! Additional RV/Boat parking on property