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It is on!!!!
Today only, we are running 4 simultaneous webinars, all day long.
28 Speakers!
7 Hours!
2000+ Attendees.
www.VirtualBarCamp.com/register
Each “Webinar Room” has a separate Access Link, Call-In-Number and Access Code.
This information will be emailed to all registered participants. You can jump in and out of each webinar by using the different access links and call-in-numbers. Each session is separated by a 15-minute intermission, leaving you plenty of time to access a different room, or to chat with the presenter after their session has ended.
We would also like to encourage you to visit Twitter, Facebook and TomatoChat Rooms (#1, #2, #3, #4) to join in the national conversation with your peers, on the day of the event. Consider these locations the ‘hallways’ of the event, where you can meet, discuss and learn from each other during the intermissions.
WEBINAR ROOM #1 SESSIONS:
1. 9:00AM PST: Jim Cronin - Welcome To Virtual Real Estate BarCamp
2. 9:15AM PST: Brad Inman - What Is Inman News Predicting?
3. 10:15AM PST: Mike Mueller - 7 Secrets To Facebook Page Success
4. 11:15AM PST: Brad Andersohn - Blogging Tips For Beginners
5. 12:15PM PST: Bernice Ross - Seven Serious Social Media Mistakes Most Agents Make
6. 1:15PM PST: Glenn Sanford - The Real Estate Office Of The Future, Part II
7. 2:15PM PST: Amy Chorew - 5 Things You Need To Know Before Buying A Laptop/Notebook
8. 3:15PM PST: Drew Meyers - Online Reputation Management
9. 4:00PM PST: Jim Cronin - Closing Words
WEBINAR ROOM #2 SESSIONS:
1. 9:00AM PST: Jim Cronin - Welcome To Virtual Real Estate BarCamp
2. 9:15AM PST: Stacey Harmon - Facebook Tools & Tricks: Separating Personal from Professional
3. 10:15AM PST: Nicole & Reggie Nicolay - Twitter Essentials for 2010
4. 11:15AM PST: Darin Persinger - The 7 A’s To Building Your Business Online & Offline
5. 12:15PM PST: Brad Carroll - The Value Of Adding Posterous.com To Your Online Tool Belt
6. 1:15PM PST: Jay Thompson - Write Right, Right Now. Get Your Blog On!
7. 2:15PM PST: Jonathan Rivera - How To Leverage The Power Of Social Media In Real Estate
8. 3:15PM PST: Joel Burslem - 15 Ways to Make Your Marketing Mobile
9. 4:00PM PST: Jim Cronin - Closing Words
WEBINAR ROOM #3 SESSIONS:
1. 9:00AM PST: Jim Cronin - Welcome To Virtual Real Estate BarCamp
2. 9:15AM PST: Sue Adler - How I Started Over in a New Market & Went to $50M/year in Sales in Just 4 Yrs!
3. 10:15AM PST: Sherry Chris - Next Generation Brokerage
4. 11:15AM PST: Matt Johnson - Using Web Applications To Streamline Your Use Of Technology
5. 12:15PM PST: Jeff Turner - The Lost Art Of Listening
6. 1:15PM PST: Kendra Todd - The 45-Min Branding Boot Camp: “The Brand Called You”
7. 2:15PM PST: Mike Simonsen - What’s The Market Telling Us? (All new session!)
8. 3:15PM PST: Pat Kitano - Innovative Community Engagement Strategies
WEBINAR ROOM #4 SESSIONS:
1. 9:15AM PST: Teresa Boardman - Flickr.com - A REAL Social Network
2. 10:15AM PST: Tara Jones - Media Marketing
3. 11:15AM PST: Ross Hair - Advanced Facebook - How To Use FB To Dominate Your Local Market
4. 12:15PM PST: Stefan Swanepoel - Social Media Beyond Mainstream: Augmented Reality & More
5. 1:15M PST: Mark Madsen - 7 Strategies For Connecting w/ Agents Online w/o Looking Like A Stalker.
6. 2:15PM PST: Rob Hahn - Social Media Heresies
7. 3:15PM PST: Steve Rosenbaum - 10 Ways To Lift, Tuck & Firm Up Your Contact Follow Up So Your Front End Takes Care Of Itself
 Our goal is to reach 3000 registered attendees to VirtualReBarcamp.com!
The event is free being presented by 28 of the top minds in RE technology and social networking. Currently we have 1500+ registered attendee. To reach our goal we need your help. Fortunately, we have a ringer in our pocket: The generosity of ListingMoves.com. ListingMoves.com is going to be running a contest for everyone that helps us attain our goal.
Anyone that writes/re-blogs this post on ActiveRain about VirtualReBarCamp.com being held January 4th will be entered in a drawing to win one of the following prizes:
1. 1 year free subscription to ListingMoves.com premium package ($720 value)
2. HP Netbook Computer
3. Platinum RainCamp Access Pass (If you don't know what that is go to RainCamp.com or ask one of the guys here on ActiveRain they'll fill you in :-) )
4. One year free NetFlix subscription (3DVD's out at a time)
 The rules:
Comment below with the link to your post or re-blog so we can enter you in the drawing.
You can also tweet about this for a 2nd entry in the drawing and it can say anything to promote VirtualBarCamp but it must include #VREBC & #ListingMoves as hashtags for tracking purposes such as the following:
28Top real estate tech speakers present@ #VREBC Jan4 Register now by going to http://bit.ly/8BBZYu & qualify 4 $25 StarBucks GiveAway #ListingMoves
(ListingMoves.com will also be giving away 25$ starbucks gift cards to the 2000th, 2001st, 2500th, 2501st, 3000th, 3001st registered attendees and donate the same amount to the Warmath Children College Fund Charity)
Wow! Fingers crossed... come on 3000!
Meet the speakers that will present at the FREE Virtual Real Estate BarCamp on January 4th.
The below are listed in alphabetical order by last name.
This actual list will be updated (on the website) to represent a chronological order based on session times as we near the live event.
 Name: Susan Adler
Company: Realtor/Partner, Keller Williams of Essex, Union & Morris Counties
Website: SueAdler.com
Session: To Be Determined
Time: To Be Determined
Bio: Sue has been the #1 Keller Williams agent in NJ for the past five years, and leads one of the top KW teams in the country, with annual production averaging $50 million in sales in recent years. In 2009, 80% of her team’s business was “repeat”, “referral” or “reputation”.
 Name: Brad Andersohn
Company: ActiveRain
Website: ActiveRain.com
Session: To Be Determined
Time: To Be Determined
Bio: Community Manager for ActiveRain. Brad has over 25 years experience in the Real Estate Industry, and has helped thousands of Industry professionals find solutions to their daily tasks and challenges through the uses of technology and his resources. Founder of Agent Assist, RE411, and RETechWorld. Brad is a coach, consultant, and trainer on using Social Media and technology to grow Business and Community.
 Name: Teresa Boardman
Company: Saint Paul Home Realty
Website: StPaulRealEstateBlog.com
Session: To Be Determined
Time: To Be Determined
Bio: Teresa Boardman is a Realtor, and licensed Minnesota real estate broker with Saint Paul Home Realty. She is also a blogger, writer, photographer and speaker. Although she claims to be anti-social, it is clear that her online social reach is most impressive.
 Name: Joel Burslem
Company: 1000 Watt Consulting
Website: 1000WattConsulting.com
Session: To Be Determined
Time: To Be Determined
Bio: Joel is a seasoned new media strategist and communications professional and joins 1000watt with over 10 years of experience in consumer marketing, public relations and Internet marketing. He is founder of the Future of Real Estate Marketing, one of the oldest and most widely read real estate blogs (Compete). Named one of the Top 25 Most Influential Real Estate bloggers in 2007 and 2008, Joel regularly speaks about technology and real estate marketing to audiences across the nation and he is frequently called upon to comment on these subjects by mainstream media like New York Times, BusinessWeek, International Herald Tribune and the Wall Street Journal.
 Name: Brad Carroll
Company: Dakno Marketing
Website: Dakno.com
Session: To Be Determined
Time: To Be Determined
Bio: As the owner of Dakno Marketing and Internet and Technology Coach for CKG International, Brad couples his expertise in online marketing technology with a keen understanding of real estate. A Consultant,Speaker, Innovator, and Business Leader, he currently heads an experienced team of marketers and developers while serving as a personal Web & Marketing Consultant to many of the top speakers, coaches and REALTORS in the industry.
 Name: Sherry Chris
Company: Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate
Website: BHGRealEstateBlog.com
Session: To Be Determined
Time: To Be Determined
Bio: Sherry Chris was appointed President and CEO of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate LLC in October 2007. Well known within the real estate industry, Sherry is a frequent speaker at real estate and technology conferences. She has served, and continues to serve, on a number of industry- and technology-related advisory boards, including Trulia and Google Real Estate, and she is a past chairman of The Realty Alliance.
 Name: Amy Chorew
Company: The Tech Byte
Website: TheTechByte.com
Session: To Be Determined
Time: To Be Determined
Bio: Amy Chorew is a national speaker highly experienced in helping business owners maximize the opportunities that technology offers them. In 2009, Amy became a member of the SMMInstitute to help her client gain the knowledge and tools to move from traditional marketing to Web 2.0 marketing. Amy has created a webinar and coaching series that companies are using to help them thrive in this market.
 Name: Jim Cronin
Company: Real Estate Tomato
Website: RealEstateTomato.com
Session: To Be Determined
Time: To Be Determined
Bio: President and founder of Real Estate Tomato, Jim Cronin has helped thousands of Realtors develop a superior internet presence. His focus is on personal training, the embrace of social media, and the development of beautiful and powerful blogsites.
 Name: Rob Hahn
Company: 7DS Associates
Website: 7DSAssociates.com
Session: To Be Determined
Time: To Be Determined
Bio: Robert Hahn is the Managing Partner of 7DS Associates, a marketing, technology and strategy consultancy focusing on the real estate industry. A veteran of the online world since the pre-Netscape Internet, Robert got into the real estate industry at Realogy, overseeing the interactive marketing and technology for the commercial brand. At 7DS, his focus is on helping clients take an integrated, evidence-driven approach to real estate, combining strategy, marketing, operations, and technology. A frequent speaker at industry events, Robert writes on transformation in the real estate industry, and blogs at 7DS Associates as well as his personal blog, The Notorious R.O.B. You can find him on Twitter: @robhahn.
 Name: Ross Hair
Company: eRealEstate.com
Website: eRealEstate.com
Session: To Be Determined
Time: To Be Determined
Bio: Ross Hair is the Real Estate Advocate and President of eRealEstate.com, a social network for real estate investors and professionals.
 Name: Stacey Harmon
Company: Harmon Enterprises
Website: HarmonEnterprises.com
Session: To Be Determined
Time: To Be Determined
Bio: I show real estate people how to make the web and technology work for them.
 Name: Brad Inman
Company: Inman News
Website: Inman.com
Session: To Be Determined
Time: To Be Determined
Bio: Bradley J. Inman is an entrepreneur, journalist and technology expert. TurnHere is the most recent company to be founded by Mr. Inman, famous for highly-successful Internet content businesses including Inman News and Homegain.com which he sold in 2005 to Classified Ventures
 Name: Matt Johnson
Company: ListingMoves.com
Website: ListingMoves.com
Session: To Be Determined
Time: To Be Determined
Bio: Matt Johnson is the founder and CEO of ListingMoves.com. He is an entrepreneur at heart with a background in sales, financing and real estate investment. He found his true passion in technology about two years ago. Since he was a real estate agent himself, he understands how difficult it is to be successful in the business. He has been working hard towards an online and streamlined real estate solution.
 Name: Tara Jones
Company: Reel Productions TV
Website: ReelProductions.tv
Session: To Be Determined
Time: To Be Determined
Bio: Jones is an Emmy™ award winning journalist that has been in the broadcast television industry for 17 years. More than a decade has been reporting and anchoring across the country for ABC, NBC and CBS affiliates including the #1 television station in the country. Tara is also a licensed real estate agent and has now married her two careers into one with Reel Productions TV. As the co-owner and spokesperson for Reel Productions TV, Tara is able to showcase dozens of homes, communities and businesses throughout the country providing an innovative tool that gives unlimited exposure to agent’s listings, builder’s developments and business owner’s dreams.
 Name: Pat Kitano
Company: Domus Consulting Group
Website: MediaTransparent.com
Session: To Be Determined
Time: To Be Determined
Bio: Pat Kitano is Founder of Domus Media, a division of Domus Consulting Group, a management consulting firm working with media/publishing, real estate, retail and consumer product companies, and Web 2.0 companies to upgrade their 1.0 brochureware-like websites into social media systems.
 Name: Mark Madsen
Company: Raintree Mortgage Services
Website: MyFHAMortgageBlog.com
Session: To Be Determined
Time: To Be Determined
Bio: Social Media and Communications Director for Raintree Mortgage Services in Las Vegas, NV.
 Name: Mike Mueller
Company: Are We Connected
Website: AreWeConnected.com
Session: To Be Determined
Time: To Be Determined
Bio: Mike is a former Mortgage Banker, Mortgage Broker turned “Tech Geek” who specializes in Social Media Consulting. He is a builder of engaging Custom Facebook Business Pages, blogs and social media engagement plans for his clients. Mike writes AreWeConnected.com, a blog dealing with social media and technology as it pertains towards real estate. He publishes articles in the San Francisco Examiner and the BusinessWeek Exchange. AreWeConnected is listed in Alltop and ranked by AdAge. He has been interviewed and quoted in articles for BankRate, Scripps, the San Jose Mercury News and others, (including the front page of The Wall Street Journal for writing mortgage related Haikus).
 Name: Nicole Nicolay
Company: MyTechOpinion
Website: MyTechOpinion.com
Session: To Be Determined
Time: To Be Determined
Bio: Nicole is extremely passionate about learning and sharing…and it shows her in writing! As a founder, author and editor at MyTechOpinion.com, she focuses on providing her readers with a comprehensive technology base for the real estate industry. She recognizes the importance of both on and offline marketing strategies for real estate professionals and offers knowledgeable how-to solutions for implementation. In addition, Nicole authored “Twitter for Real Estate Twits”, the only Twitter how-to guide created specifically for teaching real estate professionals how to use Twitter. She is also the originator the “Tweet Plan” which outlines how to maximize your Twitter efforts by becoming your network’s trusted advisor. Nicole was named one of the 25 Most Influential Bloggers in Real Estate for 2008 by Inman News and one of the Top 12 Women Real Estate Bloggers by Sellsius.
 Name: Darin Persinger
Company: Productivity Junkies
Website: ProductivityJunkies.com
Session: To Be Determined
Time: To Be Determined
Bio: Darin Persinger is an 11 year veteran in the Real Estate industry with sales, management, leadership and training experience. He was a certified trainer for Keller Williams. He successfully coaches agents one on one. He provides agents with the vital learning tools to be successful in the Real Estate industry both through his writing and in group training classes. Earlier, he was the CEO/Team Leader/Business coach for Keller Williams Madison East. Before that, he was a Regional Manager for Century 21 Affiliated. He has recruited new and experienced agents, trained and coached agents to great levels of success. Before any of that, he tried to make a living as a sponsored wakeboarder.
 Name: Jonathan Rivera
Company: Real-TechGuy
Website: Real-TechGuy.com
Session: To Be Determined
Time: To Be Determined
Bio: The purpose of Real-TechGuy.com is to help my fellow real estate agents understand how they can leverage current technology to make their lives easier.
 Name: Steve Rosenbaum
Company: Social Media Dos and Don’ts
Website: SteveRosenbaum.com
Session: To Be Determined
Time: To Be Determined
Bio: Steve Rosenbaum helps companies large and small integrate a profitable sales, marketing and social media networking strategy. Current clients include restaurants, builders, authors, financial companies, stocks and options, manufacturers, realtors, attorneys, webmasters, advertising agencies, radio stations, television stations and consumer products companies..
 Name: Bernice Ross
Company: Real Estate Coach
Website: RealEstateCoach.com
Session: To Be Determined
Time: To Be Determined
Bio: Nationally syndicated columnist, author, trainer, and speaker, Bernice Ross couples her expertise as a Master Certified Coach with 30 years of real estate sales experience. From 1993 to 1997, she served as Executive Director of Training for the 4,000 agent Prudential Jon Douglas Company. With over 400 published articles to her credit, Inman News called Bernice “America’s top real estate coach.” She is the author of “Waging War on Real Estate’s Discounters” plus her latest new book, “Real Estate Dough: Your Recipe for Real Estate Success.” Bernice is also the creator of an exciting new real estate negotiation game called “Real Estate Dough Negotiation.” Visit Bernice’s Luxury Real Estate Blog at LuxuryClues.com.
 Name: Glenn Sanford
Company: eXp Realty
Website: eXpRealty.com
Session: To Be Determined
Time: To Be Determined
Bio: Entreprenuer / Marketer / Judo Coach / Owner: eXp Realty & Working The Magic LLC and of course an all round Great Guy.
 Name: Mike Simonsen
Company: Altos Research
Website: AltosResearch.com
Session: To Be Determined
Time: To Be Determined
Bio: Michael Simonsen is co-founder and CEO of Altos Research Corp., the premier source of real-time real estate market intelligence for thousands of local markets around the country. The company helps real estate agents and brokers easily reach their clients through innovative local real estate market analytics, reporting, and web tools.
 Name: Jay Thomspon
Company: Thompson’s Realty
Website: PhoenixRealEstateGuy.com
Session: To Be Determined
Time: To Be Determined
Bio: Jay is a real estate broker, father, husband and all-around nice guy. He likes to volunteer for what some people consider crazy things–like serving on his Home Owners Association board of directors, or getting on the Town of Gilbert’s Human Relations Commission. Jay even served as a substitute teacher at his kids K-8 school. The kids at the school frequently said he was “the coolest sub ever”. His autograph is highly sought after by students under 9 years old.
 Name: Kendra Todd
Company: Kendra Todd Group
Website: KendraTodd.com
Session: To Be Determined
Time: To Be Determined
Bio: Apprentice Winner & Host of HGTV’s “My House Is Worth What?
 Name: Jeff Turner
Company: Zeek Interactive
Website: Zeek.com
Session: To Be Determined
Time: To Be Determined
Bio: Jeff currently serves as President of Zeek Interactive, and is the creative force behind Real Estate Shows. He is also widely-regarded as a thought leader in the area of social media marketing strategy and execution, and a sought after speaker.
 Name: Zillow (To Be Determined)
Company: Zillow
Website: Zillow.com
Session: To Be Determined
Time: To Be Determined
Bio: To Be Determined.
A big change that we have made for this Virtual Real Estate BarCamp is to give the registrants the power to choose what topics they want to sit in on during 9–hour the event.
For the January 4th event, we have 28 spots to fill for your entertainment and education.
This conference is about you, and how we can cater to your needs. Our speakers will be chosen based on the feedback of our registered attendees Click Here To Register Now – It’s Free!
Our aim is to give you what you really want.
The below list represents 40 potential topics (based on feedback from our previous event).
In addition to these potential topics, we will be taking and posting your suggestions, looking to get the feedback of the community, before me make the final selection of topics and speakers.
Potential Topics for Virtual Real Estate BarCamp Presentations.
- Beginner Search Engine Optimization
- Intermediate Search Engine Optimization
- Advanced Search Engine Optimization
- Blogging and Search Engines
- Nothing about Search Engines
- What is WordPress, and Why Should I Care?
- Getting Started with a self hosted WordPress website
- Popular and Effective WordPress PlugIns
- Must-Have WordPress Widegets
- Advanced WordPress Techniques
- Nothing about WordPress
- Essential Training on Flickr for Real Estate
- Photography Techniques/Tips for Real Estate
- Digital Photography Basics
- Photoshop for Real Estate
- Using YouTube for Real Estate
- LinkedIn Business & Referral Strategies
- Selecting an IDX Company
- Single Property Websites
- Electronic Flyers and Online Classified Services
- Getting the Most Out Of Your Mobile Devices
- The iPhone and Real Estate
- Podcasting for Beginners
- Getting Started with Video Blogging
- Advanced Video Blogging (editing, marketing)
- Video Listings
- Essential Twitter Training
- Advanced Twitter Tips.
- Nothing Twitter.
- Preparing to Start a Real Estate Blog
- Web Traffic Statistics and Google Analytics
- Facebook for Dummies
- Doing Business on Facebook as a Real Estate Agent
- Advanced Facebook: Applications and Customizations
- Getting Started with Blogging (what to do, what to write, how often, goals, expectations)
- Blog Writing Techniques (Headlines, Formatting, Images, Videos, SEO, Readability, Call-To-Action).
- Why Blogging Works: How To Generate Leads Through Blogging.
- Developing a Strong Personal Brand Offline and Online.
- HTML That Everyone Should Know.
- Using Posterous Blogs As a Real Estate Agent.
The sooner you register for this free event, the sooner your can ensure that the topics you want to sit in on are part of the event. We will be making the final selections in the next couple weeks. As they are chosen, they will be posted on the website.
Related Post:
We're Back! Introducing the 2nd Edition of the Virtual Real Estate BarCamp.
We're Back!
Introducing the 2nd Edition of Virtual Real Estate BarCamp.
Our first event was such a success, we decided to parlay the momentum into the launch of another.
January 4th - 9am until 4pm PST
9 Hours, 28 Incredible Speakers, 1000s of Attendees!
It's Free!
What Is Virtual BarCamp?
How Do IÂ Register?
Who Is Speaking (To be determined)
How Can IÂ Sponsor?
In an effort to always improve, we have made some changes to the event format:
There will be 4 Webinar Rooms (previously there were just 3 rooms).
Presentations will be 45 minutes in length (previously they were 30 mins).
Total number of Speakers: 28Â (we had 27 last event).
Each Webinar Room will have its own accompanying Live Chat Room (previously there was just one).
Session Topics will be chosen by our Registered Attendees (last time it was first come first serve).
Session Presenters will be selected by us (last time it was first come first serve).
Sessions will be recorded (we were unable to record last time).
 We have boosted our goals for the event as well:
Registered Attendees: 3000Â (previous: 1000, actual 1928)
In-Office Events: 100Â (previous: 40, actual: 71)
In-Real-Life MeetUps: 50Â (previous: 20, actual: n/a)
Number of Sponsors: 15Â (previous: 10, actual: 13)
Just because we hold virtual, online events doesn’t mean that we can’t create an incredibly social community. One of the best aspects of the BarCamp atmosphere is the ability to connect, network, meet and mingle. We took this into great consideration as we planned out the architecture and user experience of our new website.
The tighter the community, the greater opportunity we all have to learn, network and teach. Get involved by involving others!
If you have any other suggestions on how we can improve on our first effort, please let us know!
Â
 Beth Butler, former Broker for EWM Realtors in Miami, FL wants to get into the head of real estate brokers around the country. She wants to share her expertise in managing an incredibly successful real estate company blogsite with those that need to see the light. The playing field has changed, and many need a coach. Beth is that Coach.
Real Estate Brokerage Websites - I Don’t Think We Are In Kansas Anymore
By Beth Butler
Just like in the Wizard of Oz, when Dorothy tiptoes out of her house to find she is in an altogether different place than she left, so it is with the real estate brokerage business post market meltdown. As brokers gently lift their collective heads from dealing with the drudgery of the down market, the view out the window is not the same as it was. The business is forever changed.
Budget cutbacks wielded the proverbial axe on most print advertising, which left most brokers with a tad more money in the bank but a noticeable absence in their marketing plan. Most brokers are looking for their websites to be their yellow brick road to the Land of Oz and real estate recovery.
A closer inspection of brokerage websites will leave you stranded in Munchkinland. This post is the first in a series designed to get your Brokerage website to be the cornerstone of the company’s marketing plan and the business generator that it should be. It is time for Brokers to take back the technological aspects of the business back and win once and for all the Internet battle with regard to real estate.
 If you wonder how your site stacks up – start by taking the simple test on websitegrader.com. If you score above 75% you can consider your site one of the better in the business. If you score above 90% - you need to post some comments and share some of the non-proprietary secrets of your success. Sadly, most sites I checks scored well below the 50th percentile – and you certainly have some work to do.
In the framework of rethinking your website, I think it is high time to put content on an equal playing field with design and search. It appears that many of the Web 2.0 updates to most brokerage websites include an oversized search box and a cleaner more organized homepage. This is all good and correct, howeverwhen you overlook content, the site fails.
A wise person once told me that people are interested in listing search only when they are looking to buy or sell a property, but they are interested in real estate all of the time. If you look at your website like a prospecting tool, you might begin to understand how important content is in your next website. It is time to stop talking about driving traffic and to begin to emphasize the importance of attracting customers, and learn to do it.
A blog on your website will provide all of the content you might need while creating that real estate news feature that will draw an audience of potential customers that might not be ready to buy or sell right at this moment. Additionally, the blog provides your company a platform to promote themselves, the community and the company.
A multi-user blogging platform allows the website to become a content generator on an exponential level, even with a relatively small percentage of your company participating.
I know this is posting on their site, but when I say that it is time to step up and make your website everything it should be, I’m serious. The Real Estate Tomatohas the solution that will get you to where you need to be from inception to implementation with training and consultation.
Next post: Bringing your Marketing Department into the 20th Century.
To connect with Beth Butler:
Beth is the Owner of Big Mouth Consulting
Facebook Profile
LinkedIn Profile
Twitter Profile
Related Must Read:
The Real Estate Broker Blog 2.0 - Plug In To The Solution
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For the entire month of December I will be writing articles as contributions to what I call the Rewrite Project. Instead of writing on new topics, I am going to be digging through the advice archives and rewriting the "oldies but goodies". Why? Why not? But it is also an exercise to show you that you can never step in the same river twice, and finding relevant blog content to publish is as easy as looking in the rear-view mirror.
 The next article in my series of rewrites is the dismantling and recreation of “New To Business Blogs? The 6 Steps To Getting Started”.
The irony of that article is that I had been blogging for less than 3 months, and here I was the expert. For some time now, I have been wanting to add emphasis to the points in this post, so here goes.
The logic of this post was to consider what your readers are thinking when they come to your site. If you can see things from their side of the keyboard, then you can more effectively connect with them. Connecting with your reader, that’s what it’s all about.
New To Reading Real Estate Blogs? 6 Steps Get You Started.
You are beginning your real estate search online, and have just come across a real estate blog that catches your attention. You thought you were online just looking for listings, and now you have found an agent that has written hundreds of articles, aimed specifically to educate you on the entire homebuying experience.
How can you get the most out of what seems like more content than you could ever read?
1. Determine The Mission of the Blog
In most cases, you arrived at an article on the blog, rather than to the homepage. Given the article helped answer your online inquiry, it’s time to dig deeper and determine what value this website has for you.
Does the Mission Statement make you feel as though you are one of their intended audience? In order for it to attract you as a regular reader, it needs to have been fashioned with you in mind.
If there is no published mission statement, scan through 5 to 7 of the most recent articles, from the homepage, and ask yourself, “Is this content relevant to my real estate needs?”
2. Focus On The Continuous Core Message In The Blog
Although you may have missed a ton of interesting content in past articles, a blog with a solid focus will continue to deliver their core message. When exploring the archives of a blog, look for that core message to bring you up to speed.
Business blogs, like the Real Estate Tomato are written in a circular manner. We develop our content with an ideal reader in mind, around a specific range of topics.
News, reporting and personal blogs are generally written in a linear fashion where the content is governed by the events and items they aim to cover. Take BoingBoing.net for example. The only consistency with this blog is the randomness of its subject matter.
 3. Blogs Are Not Books, They Are Editorials.
Following a blog is about the daily, relevant message, not the chronological organization. Although the articles may be chronologically relevant, it is not the inspiration. As the authors are inspired to write by the events happening around them, they will publish to the blog.
As a reader of both circular and linear blogs, the idea is not to try and catch up, but rather to enjoy the ride. Commonly the writer will come back to past topics as they become relevant again, even linking to past articles for support and reference.
4. Categories Are The Pillars Of A Well Organized Blog.
(Because this is a rewrite, I can now leverage this point with an article that I wrote subsequent to the original.)
As a new reader to a blog, you can quickly determine the worthiness of subscribing to it by the categories in which the content is divided. This is no different from how one would choose to subscribe to a magazine based on its consistent subject matter.
Another thing to keep in mind is that you most likely entered the blog through an article, an archived article (meaning it is no longer on the homepage of the site). If the blog is well organized, by clear categories that define the range of regular content on the site, it is easy to follow everything the author has covered on a subject by clicking the appropriate links. There should be no need to visit the homepage of a blog to navigate your way through the content and the tools that are geared to support your real estate search.
5. Sign Up For RSS Feeds And/Or Email Feeds Of The Daily Articles.
What the heck is an RSS Feed? Click here.
Not having to remember to visit blogs that you are interested in, to see if they have published content to the site is the main value of subscribing to a blog’s feed.
You should know by now, that in order to get what you want out of a website/service, you need to sign up for something.
RSS feeds deliver the headlines to your favorite news reader.
Email feeds will send the headlines of current articles to your inbox.
 6. Get Involved. Participate. Be Heard.
Blogs are meant to be a two-way street.
The agent has put their thoughts, opinions, observations, wisdom, and expertise online to engage you. They want to have a relationship with you. Their blog articles are the answers to your questions. So don’t hold back. Ask away, offer your two cents, agree, disagree, compliment, question… be heard. It will help you get the answers you are looking for as much as it will help inspire the author to continue to publish, knowing that they are being ‘heard’.
Here is a recent comment left by Sacramento Real Estate Broker Bill Joyce, expressing exactly what you want to have your visitors experience when they read your blog. (Just change blogging to home buying)
I am a real estate broker in Sacramento, California and just beginning to discover the value and challenges of blogging. Just reading your blog I find I have to stop before long. Too much good info (if there can be such a thing) and I'm at capacity. Why seek more...I should act on the seven ideas I just picked up. I value your expertise and contribution to the topic of real estate blogging…I return time and again. And, by example, that’s who I would like to become for local home buyers.
For more insight on commenting: The Secret To Successful Comments:
Related Must Read:
The 7 Reasons Why Your (Future) Clients Should Care That You Are a Real Estate Blogger
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For the entire month of December I will be writing articles as contributions to what I call the Rewrite Project. Instead of writing on new topics, I am going to be digging through the advice archives and rewriting the "oldies but goodies". Why? Why not? But it is also an exercise to show you that you can never step in the same river twice, and finding relevant blog content to publish is as easy as looking in the rear-view mirror.
One of the first advice articles I wrote on the power of blogging was called “If You Write It They Will Come!" - The Long Tail In Real Estate.
Starting with the title… it’s not bad, but it could have been better. For the rewrite I’m going with:
Exactly How The Long Tail In Real Estate Blogging Will Bring The Ready-To-Act Home Buyer.
Now that we have all made purchases online, from inexhaustible sources of selection, the concept of the long tail surely must be easy to grasp.
In a one sentence example: iTunes success comes not from the total sales of a #1 Billboard hit, but rather from the cumulative sales of millions of less popular tracks.
This same formula can be applied to gaining desired traffic to your blog, from the search engines. Instead of relying on high traffic counts from high-demand search terms, such as “San Diego real estate”, real estate bloggers should recognize that their success can come from seemingly unpopular terms and phrases.
First of all, real estate is a broad topic, and those that approach it broadly are generally not ready-to-act.
Visitors to your site that come in from high-demand terms like “San Diego real estate” are in the discovery phase of their real estate search. This is not to say that they won’t pan out to be a quality relationship one day, but this article is about how to attract the ready-to-act home buyer.
 The expectations we have as we approach the internet for answers, is that there is going to be one. So when we are concerned about something, we are generally specific about our search. For example, when traveling to Costa Rica (for example) you don’t search for Costa Rica Hotels. You take into account your actual destination, accommodation preference, and price range, then you search from there.
The city of San Diego (staying with the above example) is broken up into dozens of smaller communities, and those communities are easily broken into several neighborhoods. Online real estate inquiries about these narrowed neighborhoods are generally made by buyers that are further along in their decision process.
Blogging about topics that serve inquiries on a micro level will not gain the massive traffic you might experience for high-demand search terms, individually. However, the cumulative traffic gained from dozens of these sorts of micro-topic articles will easily outweigh the gains from high-demand search terms. And, more importantly, this traffic will target and attract more read-to-act buyers. Hence the value of the Long Tail.
I found this refreshing point from the original article:
The value of attracting niche and unique traffic to your site with ever-growing content is greater than just the visit. By being a relevant result for such uncommon searches makes your site that much more appreciated. This is an immediate trust builder and will improve the quality of your leads. Generating hundreds of these niche visits to your site is so much more effective than being one of thousands vying for exposure with the most popular search terms.
The point that one should really take away from this observation is that real estate is a business of content. You gain clients through your ability to communicate with them, to them and for them. Once you apply this to your approach to blogging, you will see your efforts gaining you clients similarly. Generalities don’t gain trust (“I am a San Diego Realtor”) – handling specific situations do (“This is the answer to your question, challenge, concern, worry, etc”).
Your job as a real estate blogger is to determine what keeps your home sellers and home buyers up at night and blog about that.
Related Must Reads:
Looking For Ready To Act Buyers? Blog These Proven To Succeed Real Estate Topics
The Real Estate Business Is Content, Not Home Selling.
Follow Us on Twitter and Get Our Daily Real Estate Blog Tips!
If you enjoyed reading this article, why not Subscribe to be notified of the next one?
 Thank You!
Thank you for all your wonderful comments, kudos, suggestions, concerns, promotion, enthusiasm, and most of all, your participation.
We're chalking this event up as a huge success, thanks to all of you. We couldn't have done it without you. It seems like we simply set the event in motion, a little over a month ago, and you all took the ball and ran with it. If we take anything away from the experience it is that there is a very clear need for this sort of event. So be certain, we will continue to fill the need in every way we can.
Statistics From The Event:
1. Number of Registered Attendees: 1928
2. Number of Live Presentations: 26
3. Number of Pre-Recorded Presentations: 1
4. Hours of Live Content: 13
5. Maximum Number of Attendees in All Webainrs at Once: 1004
6. Maximum Number of Attendees in a Single Webinar: 404
7. Registered Attendees That Participated: 1634
8. Number of Live, In-Office Events: 71
9. Largest Population at an In-Office Event: 127
10. Number of T-Shirts Printed: 500
11. Number of T-Shirts Delivered by Tuesday: 460
12: Total Unique Traffic to VREBC.com in 30 Days of Existence: 11,161
13. Total Unique Traffic to VREBC.com on Day of Event: 3,651
14. Most Registrations in One Day: 366 (11/16/09)
15. Fewest Registrations in One Day: 5 (11/8/09)
16. Greatest Referrer of Registrations: Facebook 20.9%
17. Referrer Runner-Up: Office/Co-Worker: 20.2%
18. Number of Sponsors: 13
19. Total Money Raised For Warmath Charity on Day of Event: $427
20. Total Number of #vrebc Tweets During Event: 2330
21. Number of Countries that Tuned In: 11
22. Number of Attendees in a Bathrobe: Insufficient data.
Of all the stats above, the one that stands out most to me is the charity total. If everyone had donated a quarter ($0.25) we would have raised $475 for the Warmath Children College Fund. Collectively, we raised only $425. If we can find 120 more donors that feel like they got $5 worth of knowledge from this event, then we can at least present the family with a $1000 donation in all of out names. Together, by giving a little, we can all make a big difference.
Presentation Downloads:
Below are download links for the Notes and PowerPoint presentations of the Speakers that we have received. If you presented at the event, and have something for us to post here, please send them so that we can update this list.
Ross Hair - Converting Social Media Into More Real Estate Closings
Ross Hair - Social Media Mind Map
Frances Flynn Thorsen - Social Media Risk Management Part 1
Frances Flynn Thorsen - Social Media Risk Management Part 2
Was It Social?
One of the concerns before the event, even at its conception was: Can it be social?
Can we capture any of that social magic that happens in the real life barcamp events?
We set up the 3 obvious avenues, a Twitter Hashtag (#vrebc), a Facebook Fan Page, and a Chat Room.
Here's what Matt Stigliano had to say about the experience:
My biggest fear as it was a very simple scrolling chat, was that the conversation would inevitably turn boring. It didn’t. People engaged and discussed the finer points of what was being said in each session. We shared our tips, tricks, and ideas. My guess is that it was a lot like the conversations that take place in the hallway of REbarcamps all over the country.
This was the sense that I got from many of the participants that we heard from. We also heard that people were jumping from the Twitter hashtag to the chat room, not wanting to miss anything. With 2330 #vrebc tweets and 100's of active attendees in the chat room, there was at least a conversation happening, that's for sure.
71 Offices held their own live event during the BarCamp. One office wrote this blog about the experience, mentioning that, "The day exceeded all expectations as 3 rooms had standing room only attendance." He continued, " it provided me with the opportunity to spend a day with the agents and then kick back at the social meetup party afterward."
Our goal with the office events and the in-real-life meetups after the event were to try and bring participants together, physically, much like the standard BarCamps can. The feedback we have received from the office meetups and the after event meetups is that everyone enjoyed themselves, and really took advantage of the social aspect of the day.
I think we can continue to improve the social experience in subsequent events, but for a first go at taking the conference online, I think the consensus is that YES, it was Social. Mission accomplished.
 Suggestions We've Received:
Here are some suggestions that we are considering and would love some discussion among our participants in the comments.
1. Longer Sessions.
Is 30 mins too short? Should we encourage the speakers to present on a mitigated topic? Or, do we extend the presentation time to 45 mins, or even an hour?
The format we went with mirrors the standard BarCamp schedule. 30 mins up, 15 mins down. After experiencing this schedule online, I do think that we should extend the sessions by 15 mins, making the schedule 45 mins up, 15 mins down. Thoughts?
2. More Engagement with the Presenters.
Should we allow for live question and answer? Do we need to encourage the presenters to have a partner to handle the live questions?
In the presenting guidelines, we encouraged the presenters to not engage the live audience in the their sessions. 30 mins was such a short window to present in the first place, and we wanted to avoid the likely possibility of being taken off track with dozens of questions from the large audience. That said, I do believe that there is a need to engage with the presenters, and I propose that we set up 'break out' chat rooms for each presenter to 'hold court' for 15 minutes after their session.
3. Offer a Panel Format for Some of the Sessions.
Can we pull off a 3 or 4 person panel with a moderator on the line, all virtually? Should it be given at least an hour, given the range of participation needed?
I like the idea. If we have a solid panel that proposes a session, why not? Thoughts?
4. Record the Sessions.
We have received a TON of requests for replays of the sessions. The reality of the situation was that we were just 3 people doing everything we could (at the time) to make this a smooth event. Adding the recording to the dynamic was the first thing we had to sacrifice in the production to maintain our sanity. Now that we have the experience of this event behind us, I guarantee that our future events will have full recordings of each session, available for download.
5. Less 101 and More Advanced Topics.
We recognize that the majority of the audience did find out about the event because our social media reach, which would lead us to understand that the majority of the attendees were somewhat versed in the fundamentals of using Social Media, and other online marketing strategies. Catering to this audience with more advanced topics and content is crucial, and we will make an effort to secure some advanced topic presenters for future events. However, we can't ignore that the clear goal of these events is to educate the new adopters, not the early ones. With a little more attention to pinning 101 classes at the same time as advanced ones we can hope to satisfy the greatest number of you.
6. Less Selling in the Presentations.
We put up some guidelines for all the presenters, and included a "no selling" point in said guidelines. But, we can't and won't control what happens in each session. We can only hope that all the presenters 'get' the spirit of the event and follow suit. That said, I personally don't mind a little 'selling of your time' in your presentation. Maybe it is the salesman in me, but if I have a captive audience, a little shameless self promotion is impossible to resist.
Tech Challenges:
What were the "tech difficulties"?
1. Limit of attendees allowed in each webinar was accidentally capped at 300 instead of 1001.
It seems we made the mistake of launching the Webainars manually, about 15 minutes earlier than schedule. We were anxious and wanted to get them up and running to test them and get that detail out of the way. Well... it turns out that this is how you limit the permitted attendance of a webinar to only 300 instead of the advertised 1000. In fact, the Admin Control Panel continues to read: Max 1001. Immediately we started getting complaints of people not being able to join "Full Webinars". We called Citrix and they informed us that we shouldn't have launched them manually, and that there is now nothing that they can do. We closed each wenbinar room, relaunched it, and this seemed to reset the allowed attendees to 1001 again.
2. Jumping in and out of webinars was not "easy".
We realized that the switch between webinars was not going to be smooth. There is just no way to have it automatic, given the service that we used: GoToWebinar. We think that we can improve expectations by posting a clear, step-by-step expectation of jumping from room to room.
3. Audio issues for the speakers.
A few of the speakers had issues calling in and being heard. We solved all of them but 1 instance, and are still unsure what caused that challenge. The other challenges were related to permissions, access links and audio pins. With practice we can better manage these potential challenges, and hope to minimize them in the future.
4. Audio issues for the attendees.
Some attendees were not hearing the audio. The only solution we have heard to overcome this is to log out and log back in again. It seems to resolve all audio issues. Otherwise, attendees must dial in and listen with their phones.
Our Next Event:
It is official. We are going to ride the wave of interest and enjoyment from this event and produce another. Bigger, Better and Broader.
Date: Monday the 4th of January (just before Inman NYC)
Time: 9AM PST - 4PM PST
Webinar Rooms: Four.
Number of Presenters: 28
Length of Sessions: 45 mins.
Length of Breaks: 15 mins.
Registration Goal: 3,500
Office Event Goal: 200
In the meantime, we will be working feverishly to build a more social experience around the event. If you would like to be more connected to that experience, please join the beta version of TomatoUniversity.com.
Thanks again to our sponsors, speakers and those that helped produce this awesome event.
“You buy the pizza, we’ll deliver the education”
 Brokers, imagine providing your real estate agents the ability to learn from industry leaders, top marketing professionals and social media experts without leaving the office or paying for speakers to visit your destination.
This is what Virtual RE Bar Camp (VREBC) can do for your office.
Your entire office can get the educational experience that REBarCamps have provided to thousands of agents across the country. Bring the power of this event to your agents, without the cost and travel. The Ultimate Office Meeting.
Every brokerage is looking for new and unique ways to provide value to their agents. The Virtual REBarCamp is the solution:
Progressive Education: Stay relevant in this changing marketplace.
Diverse Content: There is something for everyone.
Nationally Celebrated and Recognized Presenters: Value!
All Day Event: Everyone should be able to participate with this schedule.
It’s Free: The price is right!
Brokers and office managers, this is the perfect opportunity for you to offer an experience of incredible value to your agents.
Suggestions for a successful, in-office RE BarCamp:
- Projector screens and a strong audio source.
- Separate rooms for the separate webinar channels (3).
- A tech-savvy assistant or manager to ensure a smooth operation.
- Computers dedicated to Social Media avenues (Facebook, Twitter, TomatoChat.com) allowing the office to get into the national conversation.
- Pizza and refreshments.
- The After-Event-MeetUp. Plan an off location MeetUp to have a drink together and meet other participants from your community.
If you are going to plan an in office VREBC we would love to know. We will showcase your event and brokerage on our website: http://www.vrebc.com. Instant cool! We’d also appreciate it if you could request that the participating agents register on our site so that we can get a sense of the overall participation count.
we will be holding the first of its kind,
Virtual Real Estate BarCamp.
What is it?
- In place of a rented venue, we'll be holding the event online.
- In place of break-out sessions in rooms, we'll we have simultaneous webinars, all day.
- In place of the hallways, we will be chatting on Twitter, Facebook, Backnoise and TomatoChat.
- In place of traveling you'll be able to attend from the comfort of your home or office.
- In place of an impromptu calendar, we will be filling presentation slots all month.
Attendance is unlimited, and it is still FREE!
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Real Estate Tomato
Paradise,
CA
More about me…
Real Estate Tomato
Office Phone: (530) 872-0892
Email Me
The Real Estate Tomato is a destination for real estate blogging advice, insight, services and products.
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