Mike Mueller, Social Media.ist

My Wrap on Virtual REBarCamp

Mike Mueller (Tech and Social Media Consultant) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:30:03 -0600

Just a quick post. Nah… make that more of a giant thank you!

The first ever Virtual REBarCamp was held yesterday and if you were one of the more than 2,000 people that attended there’s a few people you need to thank (so do I).

The Organizers

First off – the boys at Real Estate Tomato. Jim Cronin, Jason Benesch, Daniel Bates and Chris Hotz organized the event, secured the speakers, setup the technology. Once it started, these three were working feverishly behind the scenes to make sure each and every session went off as planned.

The Presenters

Then there were the session presenters. Unlike a typical REBarCamp, having a roundtable discussion was impossible. That said, most of the presenters provided solid content with little sales (yes, there were a few who went spammy). Remember, each and every one of these people took valuable time out of their day to provide valuable educational content for you.

Here’s a list of the presenters and the topics they covered.

Doug Devitre - YouTube For Real Estate
Frances Flynn Thorsen - Social Media Risk Management (part 1)
Brian Block - Broker’s View: Best Uses of Social Media in Your Brokerage
Glenn Sanford - The Real Estate Office of the Future
Scott Gray - Introductory SEO and Internet Marketing Strategies
Joseph Ferrara - The Future of the Real Estate Brokerage
Daniel Bates - Must-Have WordPress PlugIns for Your RE Blog
Brad and Bobby Carroll - The Value of Adding Posterous.com to Your Online Tool Belt
Beth Butler - Broker Blogging Strategies
Teresa Boardman - Flickr.com - A REAL Social Network
Kendra Todd - The 30-Min Branding Boot Camp: “The Brand Called You”
Donna Stott - Why Coaching is Critical To Success
Mark Burrell - Getting Started with WordPress for Real Estate.
Ginger Wilcox and Hal Lublin - Secrets of Web Success for 2010 (their session will be rescheduled)
Kathy Goughenour - 8-Step Formula for Writing Real Estate Blog Posts
Evan Russell - Agent Daily Goal Tracker
Frances Flynn Thorsen - Social Media Risk Management (part 2)
Mark Madsen - Mortgage Blogging Success
Tom Ferry - 3 Ways Top Producers Are Making Sales With Social Media
Suzanne Roy - Top Tips For Free (But Highly Profitable) Advertising Online
Scott Sambucci - Beat The Headlines, Be The Local Market Expert
Stefan Swanepoel - Social Media Trends of 2010
Ross Hair - Converting Social Media Into More Real Estate Closings
Mike Mueller - LinkedIn: The Red Headed Step Child of Social Media
Matthew Fetick - Top 10 Time and Money Saving Tech Tips
Michelle Carr-Crowe - It’s Raining Blogs; How To Be An ActiveRain Rainmaker
Steve Rosenbaum - The Best Free (& Nearly Free) Online Tools For Your RE Business

The Attendees

As the Rockstars always say, it’s the crowd that makes the show a success. Almost 2,000 people registered for the event – add to it those that didn’t register but went to a live in office Meetup (71 Meetups Registered) and it’s safe to say this event made an impact on a few people. Kudos for you if you attended!

Giving Back

Speaking of making an impact – the event was free. The education was priceless. This event was dedicated to Kevin Warmath (3/20/65 – 1/31/09) and we are collecting donations for his surviving family. Take a moment right now and click on the link above. Read his story. Give anything you can. ReTweet this post, share it on Facebook, spread the message. Pay it Forward.

This post brought to you courtesy of Mike Mueller.
Feel free to ReBlog or ReTweet as you like as long as you credit the source (him).
Did you know? He's for hire! He builds Blogs, Graphic Images and Widgets and Facebook Pages and besides… He knows lots of really cool stuff.

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REBarCamp comes to you! Virtual REBarCamp is today!

Mike Mueller (Tech and Social Media Consultant) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 09:40:20 -0600

That’s right! REBarCamp Virtual happens today.

I'll be leading a session at 1 PM - "LinkedIn, the Red Headed Step Child of Social Media"

From the blog:

Here are some links to the most important information on the site for the day of the event:
Event Info, Access Links, List of Presentations.
Free Registration.
Office MeetUps.
In-Real-Life MeetUps.
Warmath Children’s College Fund Charity.
Our Sponsors.
We would also like to encourage you to visit Twitter, Facebook and TomatoChat.com 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.
And finally, we want to give a shout out to all the brokers and office managers that organized the In Office Events for their agents. We have nearly 60 offices participating on Tuesday, with hundreds of agents sitting in on the full day of sessions. We are thrilled!

VIRTUAL RE BARCAMP BASICS

Event Date: Tuesday, November 17th, 2009

Event Location: Online Webinars

Schedule: 9AM - 4PM PST

Registration: Online

Twitter Hashtag: #VREBC

Presenters: I want to Host a Session

Cost: Free! Free! Free!

We Need Volunteers for IRL MeetUps

Sponsorship: I want to be a Sponsor

You Can Help Us: Promote!

IRL MeetUp Locations:

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Facebook your Listings (the right way)

Mike Mueller (Tech and Social Media Consultant) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:32:24 -0600

One of the first questions I get asked by an Agent who wants a Custom Facebook Business Page created is “Can you pull in my listings – here’s my IDX Feed”

The answer is No!

"Pretty Please?"

Still No.

Not because I don't want to. You see... Facebook does not like dynamic content in custom tabs and guess what your IDX feed is? Yup! “Dynamic”.

But wait there’s a workaround and a very pretty one at that. The folks over at RealBird have a slick application.

How slick? Check this out:

Play with it LIVE on Debbi Di Maggio, Piedmont Real Estate

If you have a Facebook Business Page and want something like this for yours – just contact me.

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Our First PG-13 Rated Show on Social Media Edge!

Mike Mueller (Tech and Social Media Consultant) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 20:39:06 -0600

It was a great show and I'm not sure if I got more of a kick out of Jason's discomfort with the Sex on a Plate or my broadcasting pantless.

Either way it was one of my favorites!

One of the items he missed was all the talk about Truffles. And as I mentioned in the show, YES, I shave my truffles!

Via Jason Crouch, Broker - Austin Texas Real Estate (512-796-7653) (Austin Texas Homes, LLC):

Ken Cook and I have been hosting Social Media Edge together now for almost a year, and we have a great time while still striving to provide solid, helpful information. Today, our guest was Jennifer Iannolo of http://foodphilosophy.com.

During today's episode, we discussed the following topics (and in the words of Dave Barry, I am not making this up):

Twitter tattoos

The first social-media generated cookbook

Ayn Rand

Why those who blog get more traffic than those who don't

Dead people on Facebook

At least one topic that I can't even mention here

Additionally, if you want to learn the difference between #sexonaplate and #foodporn, you won't want to miss this hilarious episode:

http://budurl.com/smedge110309

I have a feeling that this may end up being our highest-rated show to date, but we'll see. :) In order to listen to any of our previous episodes, visit our Facebook page at http://facebook.com/socialmediaedge.

Incidentally, if you would like your own custom Facebook business page, contact Mike Mueller, master of all things Facebook.

Thanks for listening!
If you enjoyed this post, why not connect with me in these other communities?

If you're looking for a home in the Austin area, you can visit my primary Austin real estate website at www.austintexashomes.com. Thanks!

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5 Reasons Why

Mike Mueller (Tech and Social Media Consultant) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:22:01 -0600

It’s no secret I’m a fan of the Facebook (Fan) Business Page. I also have a few real estate clients. Hence it’s no surprise that I have built quite a few Custom Facebook Business Pages for real estate agents. Here’s a few:http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikemueller/sets/72157622207611298/detail/

Not a single day goes by that someone doesn’t ask the big question

WHY?

Make no mistake it’s a very valid question.

Here’s the 5 reasons I think every agent needs a Facebook Page:

“SEO” – a Facebook Page is indexed by all the major search engines as well as Facebook itself. Wait there’s more. If it’s indexed it’s also Page Ranked. Want more? Most every link on the Page has “Follow” attributes (as opposed to “No Follow”).

“Separation of Church and State” – a Facebook Page automatically provides a privacy layer between the Page (you) and the people who “Fan” your Page. This goes both ways. Provocative pictures your old college buddy just found, uploaded and tagged of you don’t get shared to your Fans. Conversely, your Fans have an understanding that by becoming a fan they won’t be divulging private information as well.

“The Landing Page” – you can set any one of your tabs to be the first one shown to NON Fans. That means you can create a Tab specifically designed for the new visitor. For a relocation agent that would be “Why it’s so great to live in Sunny Acres”. That Tab could be Photos, Videos, or even a custom built tab. Engage me on your neighborhood and guess who I’m going to call to show me a house?

“Voted OFF the Island” – It’s a little known fact but pushing your new listings out to your friends (via your personal profile) is a violation of Facebook’s Terms of Service as well as it’s Facebook Site Governance: Statement of Rights and Responsibilities. You can read more here. And I know what you are thinking… there’s many agents breaking that law on a daily basis and Facebook hasn’t yet voted them off the island (yet). True but there’s nothing stopping them from starting tomorrow. That’s happening right now on Flickr and Video sites like Vimeo.

“Say my Name” – Like a personal profile your Facebook Page can also have it’s own custom URL. In the world of Custom URLs there’s can only be one Facebook.com/SunnyAcres. While most people opt for their own name for their personal profile (i.e. I’m http://facebook.com/MikeMueller ) when it comes to a Fan Page it’s all about business, it’s all about branding. Secure a custom URL and your business card and other advertising could simply state “Find us online at Facebook.com/SunnyAcres” Now there’s real value on a couple of different levels!

So there’s 5 reasons I think every real estate agent needs to have their own Facebook (Fan) Business Page. Give me ten minutes and I could come up with 5 more reasons. I do have to add a couple more thoughts to the conversation…

Having a Page does not mean you can just automate the process and walk away. It’s not a “set it and forget it” concept.
Having a Page does not mean you can simply Broadcast. Having any exposure on any social media also requires a significant amount of listening as well. Some might say that is much more important than the broadcasting.
Having a page does not mean it’s business only. Quite the opposite. You can still have the same personality traits that make you a wonderful human being also come out in your Page.
Having a Page is one thing, having a page that engages others is another. Yes, I build Custom Facebook Business Pages but I have seen plenty non custom pages that do a great job engaging others.

Want to start you Facebook Business Page? Start by logging in to facebook as usual, then go to http://facebook.com/pages/manage

Want a little video? Here’s Robert Scoble and Caitlin O’Farrell (she’s from Facebook)

Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy!

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LinkedIn - The Red Headed Stepchild of Social Media

Mike Mueller (Tech and Social Media Consultant) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:46:29 -0500

Educating Real Estate Agents On How To Use Modern Technologies To Better Their Business Will Never Be The Same!

On November 17th, 2009 dozens of the most respected educators in the real estate industry converge to host the first of its kind, Virtual Real Estate BarCamp.

Virtual Real Estate BarCamp is a 1-Day Learning Extravaganza.
From 9am until 4pm PST, three concurrent webinar "rooms" will each host 9 different sessions, for a total of 27 different presentations.
There is something for everyone and everything for someone, and best of all, IT IS FREE and attendance is unlimited!

Click below to:
Register.
Learn more.
See who is coming.
Check out the Session Calendar.
Get sponsorship info.

Attendance is projected to be at least 1000 agents, nationwide.
Do not miss out on being part of this ground-breaking event.

Session topics include:

Social Media Risk Management
Flickr for Real Estate
Developing Your Brand
Online Advertising Secrets
Facebook for Real Estate
WordPress Training
Daily Goal Tracking
Starting a Real Estate Blog

...and much more, with new sessions being added every day.

My session is entitled "LinkedIn - The Red Headed StepChild of Social Media" Since we only have 30 minutes and so much ground to cover I've narrowed it down to just these 3

3 things to change now to maximize your profile

Testimonials. How to get them.

Farming on LinkedIn

This session is set for 1 PM Pacific Time

And if that wasn\'t cool enough, individuals from around the country are volunteering to host In-Real-Life MeetUps for after the event.
Learn all day, and then meet to have a beer with local participants. This is going to be a blast!

We hope to see you there!

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Are You Like Rudy?

Mike Mueller (Tech and Social Media Consultant) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:12:02 -0500

A REBlog for an excellent radio show coming tomorrow!

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/MondayMornings/2009/10/28/The-Real-Rudy

Tamara Dorris - Rah Rah Rah!

: )

Via Tamara "The Real Estate Therapist" Dorris (Davis & Davis and Top Producing Techniques):

When I used to teach English to college kids, one of the things I did each course was show the movie, Rudy, the story of a kinda small kid who ate, lived and slept Notre Dame football. All he wanted, with all his heart and soul, was to play for the "Fighting Irish."

Unfortunately, Rudy was not big enough to play ball--especially on this revered team. Also, his grades were not good enough for him to come anywhere near admission into Notre Dame. If you happen to be one of those very rare folks who have never seen the flick, here's a video clip.

I am fortunate enough to get to interview the "real" Rudy on my show tomorrow. Yes, the guy that the true story was based on. Rudy walks the walk. Even though many years have passed since that noted 27 seconds on the football field, his life was, is and will always be an example of absolute faith and perseverance. Rudy did not give up when he was told that something was impossible. And really, if you saw the movie you know he was told "no way" a million times. Even his own family couldn't believe it was at all possible that Rudy could even be a bench warmer for their beloved state team, The fighting Irish.

Now let's compare and contrast that with your real estate business (there I go, sounding like an English professor again!).

Sure, the recession and the economy have got some of us down. In fact, Thanks to Active Rain and twitter, I have Realtor friends all across the country and more than a few of them have told me that they've had to pick up part time jobs.

So What?

Rudy had to sleep in the cleaning room and eat what he could find...but those things were SMALL in comparison to the ultimate realization of his dream. So you have to pick up a job at Starbucks a few hours a day. So what? As long as you have a place to sleep at night and enough food to survive, you CAN still sell houses or lend money. Sure, times are tough for some of us, but it's only those of us who take our eyes off the ultimate prize that tend to falter in our actions and effectiveness.

As long as you hold close that dream....selling so many houses you can't see straight, making the difference in so many lives of people you can help, taking good care of your family and making enough money to give to the charities and causes of your choice...as long as THAT is what you focus on, then you will ultimately succeed. And, the "stuff" you have to do in the meantime, whether it's taking on another "real" job, cutting out coupons, scaling back on Christmas or knocking on doors and doing a little cold calling...is all worth it.

In reality, if you post everyday, attend local social networking events and partake in the social media outlets that work for you, you probably won't have to cold call or get another job, but even if you do, so what. As the saying goes, "This too shall pass."

Just think of Rudy.

"You're 5 foot nothin', 100 and nothin', and you have nearly a speck of athletic ability. And you hung in there with the best college football team in the land for 2 years. And you're getting a degree from the University of Notre Dame. In this life, you don't have to prove nothin' to nobody but yourself." --Fortune (as played by Charles S. Dutton) in "Rudy."

Show time: Wednesday October 28th, 10 AM PST time (California) at www.InLoveWithSacto.com
You can catch the podcast later if you miss the show.

Thanks!
Tamara
Visit my blog at www.InLoveWithSacto.tv, Listen to my radio show at www.InLoveWithSacto.com

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"Social Media Edge" Radio Archives - By Popular Demand!

Mike Mueller (Tech and Social Media Consultant) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 00:59:04 -0500

I've just got to repost this one...

: )

Via Jason Crouch, Broker - Austin Texas Real Estate (512-796-7653) (Austin Texas Homes, LLC):

Every week or two, I get a handful of requests regarding the archives for our BlogTalkRadio show, Social Media Edge. Sometimes these requests are via email, and other times I get quick notes on Twitter or Facebook asking about a particular show that we had before.

In an effort to make it easier to find all of our shows in one place, I had written a post about this a few months ago. Since then, I got too busy to keep that post updated properly, so I would like to publicly thank Mike Mueller, who is a regular part of our show, for keeping the archives up to date.

Mike moved the archives over to our Facebook fan page: http://facebook.com/socialmediaedge.

You can pretty much see where Mike took over, since the summary notes dramatically improved over my own. :)

So, if you have any interest in hearing a previous show, with our phenomenal guests, head over to the Facebook URL above to find some great info from authors like Shel Israel, Paul Chaney, and Tara Hunt, or social media specialists like Sarah Evans, Reggie and Nicole Nicolay ("Nik Nik"), Connie Reece, Jay Baer and Mike Chapman. Once, we even had the World's Strongest Redneck. We liked having the Twitterqueens founders so much as guests, we gave them their own one-hour show on the network!

Mike is now hosting "The M Files" and Diane Guercio, Maya Paveza, and Lesley Lambert now host TQ Radio - both shows air on Monday at the same URL as Social Media Edge: http://blogtalkradio.com/jckc

We hope to continue expanding the network, and I like the sense of community that we've managed to foster. Join us sometime!

Here's this week's episode, to whet your appetite a little:

Oct 20th - Special Guest Mike Chapman

If you enjoyed this post, why not connect with me in these other communities?

If you're looking for a home in the Austin area, you can visit my primary Austin real estate website at www.austintexashomes.com. Thanks!

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Get your Facebook Questions answered

Mike Mueller (Tech and Social Media Consultant) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 13:06:01 -0500

Today's show is all about Facebook.

It'll also be all Q & A - (the Q stands for Your questions)

If you have a question - listen in, call in, or ask it in the chat room.

We'll do our best to get to everyone's questions.

Remember - it's Noon Pacific time (today) at "the M files". If you missed a show you can listen to the archives here: http://areweconnected.com/the-m-files/

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I love Polar Bears...

Mike Mueller (Tech and Social Media Consultant) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 10:18:32 -0500

Umm. No. Sorry. Not this kind…

More like this kind…

And the funny thing is, as much as I love these rolley polley real life cartoon characters, I can’t go see them at the zoo. Don’t know what it is but the Zoo just creeps me out. (sorry to all the Zoo Keepers)

I have a plan though. I’m going to go see them (IRL) in real life. Call it a “bucket list” if you like, but I will someday hop on my bike, and ride to Alaska (no joke). The trip is almost 8,000 miles there and back. No polished highways, it’s camping and dirt roads. Bring what gas you need because gas stations are few and far between.

So when http://www.blogactionday.org announced the topic this year was going to be Climate Change I knew exactly what my focus was on.

POLAR BEARS

You may have read in the news that in a very short period of time the Polar Bear’s natural habitat may be down to nil. You may also have read that the whole global warming thing is a hoax.

I did a quick search on Google News and found examples of both.

Your Man could not care less about polar bears

Northwest Missourian – ?13 hours ago?

I am 98.73 percent sure that global warming is a sham. This last weekend I froze my butt off. Is it just me or is the middle of October too early for this …

(Polar) bear and back again … in 24 hours

National Post – ?11 hours ago?

The trip has become more popular, he says, because “the polar bear has become the poster mammal for globalwarming.” As a result, the animals have had to …

Polar bear tourism booms on Alaska’s North Slope

USA Today – Glenn Burnsilver – ?Oct 12, 2009?

“We have climate change, global warming,” he adds. “People are wondering what these bears are going to do.” Polar bears have historically used the barrier …

Fix the Climate, or the Kid Gets…

Mother Jones – ?7 hours ago?

Climate change poses the greatest danger not to polar bears, not to glaciers or beaches, but to our kids. Their world, if you read the scientific …

Staten Island Tea Party to screen film that seeks to ‘expose’ global warming…

Staten Island Advance – SILive.com – Stephanie Slepian – ?18 hours ago?

And the only polar bears dying because of man are the ones who try to eat men.” Members of the Staten Island Tea Party are inviting both skeptics and …

How’s the weather over there?

Prince Albert Daily Herald – ?22 hours ago?

Everything else in the movie was part of the circle of life, but the plight of thosepolar bears seems to be the fault of humans. There are those that claim …

Saving the earth by hating humanity

Small Gov Times – Alan Caruba – ?10 hours ago?

Polar bears are thriving. Solar and wind energy is a bust, providing barely 1% of all electricity used daily nationwide. The truth is that pesticides …

Here’s the Thing:

Believe in the theory of Global Warming or not, is there really any harm in making an effort to reduce greenhouse gases, switching to greener cars, and driving the technology for alternative energy sources?

Besides, if I get on my bike and ride 3,570 miles one way just to see a bunch of barren rocks I’m going to be more than a little upset.

I might even be as mad as a…

Hey, did I mention I love Penguins too?

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Ginny Mees - WomenHomeowners on "the M files"

Mike Mueller (Tech and Social Media Consultant) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 13:25:57 -0500

Today I’ll be talking to Ginny Mees of WomenHomeowners.com.

She’s an expert when it comes to Niche Marketing.

She was recently featured in Realtor Magazine and the Wall Street Journal.

Listen in LIVE (Monday at Noon Pacific) and you can even ask Ginny a question on how to setup your own niche – (really) she’s like that!

http://blogtalkradio.com/jckc

Contact Info:

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Engaged

Mike Mueller (Tech and Social Media Consultant) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 09:36:59 -0500

I'm engaged - hopefully you are as well.

I was at REBarCamp – Lynchburg and the theme for the day was Engagement.

I gave a rare presentation to start the day. That’s a little weird. If you know me you know how strongly I think a REBarCamp is all about the conversation and NOT about the presentation.

I kept it short and sweet. I looked at this as a way to set the mental stage of the participants. You can tell someone how to engage others but what I hoped to do is show them real life examples of people sitting in the same room. Here’s a link to the presentation on Google Docs but there’s not much there besides pictures. I've adapted Guy Kawasaki’s 10/20/30 rule. Big on images, big on font, light on text.

http://docs.google.com/present/view?id=ddph8d2s_187fvk589hc

Bringing the message home

The final slide is of course my favorite. We were engaged on December 26th, 1987. For her it was a complete surprise. Smack dab in the middle of Squaw Valley, on one of the busiest days of the year, I had arranged for a concert violinist to play Bach’s Violin Concerto in d Minor while a tuxedo’d waiter poured Champagne into crystal flutes and flambéed Cherries Jubilee. There were hundreds of people there to witness the event. I had a photographer there to capture the entire event. In the picture below you can feel her surprise. To this day it is one of my proudest moments.

I’m no expert when it comes to “engagement” and I’ll be the first one to say the same goes for Social Media. I would rather think that I am a student of both, learning everyday, and so far I think I’m doing a ok.

What’s your favorite engagement story?

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No, I'm not Mulder

Mike Mueller (Tech and Social Media Consultant) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 07:47:18 -0500

But I am very excited to announce the birth of a new radio show.

“The M files”

The details.
The show is hosted on BlogTalkRadio. Each and every week we’ll be chatting with leaders of technology, social media and some otherwise really cool and interesting people. We will air LIVE every Monday at Noon Pacific – 30 minutes in length. Past shows will be available to listen to at any time. Of course, the Chat Room will be open and you’ll have the opportunity to ask any of the guests any question from there or by calling in to the show. You can find the show here: http://blogtalkradio.com/jckc and in the near future I’ll create afacebook Page and maybe an archived page here as well.

To launch this show properly we’re going to be broadcasting live fromREBarCamp/SiliconValley and since we’re going to be smack dab in the middle of a REBarCamp… I figured why not interview THE Andy Kaufman?

Ok, but why “the M files”?

Here’s the back story…

The show is a great way for me to spotlight some of the amazing people and stories I’ve come across. As for the X-file theme, I was always a big fan of the tv show. Yeah I’m a geek. In fact, in my wife’s address book you’ll find me under “Mulder” (and no – she’s not Scully). With having the M playing a big part in my initials it was an easy swap for the X. What does the M stand for? I don’t know. It could stand for Mike, or Mueller, Marketing, Media, or ____? As for the ‘files” by this time next year I hope to have brought you 52 great stories all tagged and catalogued.

There’s also a little intentional symbolism in the image. First of all, I faded myself into the background as much as possible. The show isn’t about me – it’s all about the guest. Oh and sorry, that’s not an alien tractor beam, it’s a spotlight shining down on the truth – something I hope each guest is able to help bring to the table. You’ll notice it’s also not a B & W image but grayscale, a nod to the fact that there’s no single black and white truth, the real truth lies somewhere in between.

So there you have it. I hope you listen in, ask questions, participate and we’ll all learn something together!

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GOT PINK?

Mike Mueller (Tech and Social Media Consultant) — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 10:32:08 -0500

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and no doubt you’ve been seeing more and more Pink Ribbons on the interwebs.

Want a PINK Ribbon added to your Avatar? I’ll be happy to help you do that. There’s a catch though. Here’s what you have to do.

Send me the picture you would like PINK’d
Join my Facebook Page: http://facebook.com/MikeMuellerConsulting
Suggest the Page to your friends using the “Suggest to Friends” button under the avatar on the “Wall”.
Join The Breast Cancer Site http://www.facebook.com/TheBreastCancerSite and use the “Suggest to Friends” button there as well.

Do that and I’ll make you PINK!

Want BONUS KUDOS?

The Breast Cancer website is having trouble getting enough people to click on their site daily to meet their quota of donating at least one free mammogram a day to an underprivileged woman. It takes less than a minute to go to their site and click on 'donating a mammogram' for free (pink window in the middle). This doesn't cost you a thing. Their corporate sponsors/advertisers use the number of daily visits to donate mammogram in exchange for advertising. Here's the web site! Pass it along to people you know. www.thebreastcancersite.com/

Think Pink: Shop Wisely For Breast Cancer Awareness Month (huffingtonpost.com)
15 Strangest Breast Cancer Awareness Products (neatorama.com)
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month (takepart.com)
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month (newswire.ca)
Save The Boobs Campaigns (viralblog.com)
Update your status to fight breast cancer (ycorpblog.com)

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50 Reasons Why You Should Help Me Get To (RE)BlogWorld.

Mike Mueller (Tech and Social Media Consultant) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 14:14:59 -0500

Help Matt get to Vegas!

Personally, I like #16

Via Matt Stigliano (RE/MAX Access):

photo courtesy of matze_ott

REBlogWorld and BlogWorld 2009 - Why?

As you may know from yesterday's post, I am attempted to go to REBlogworld and Blogworld thanks to a contest on Alltop. It's a pretty lofty goal when you think about the fact that there are a gazillion bloggers out there trying to do the same thing. Of course, I have one thing they don't. A network of ActiveRain friends who have been helping me accomplish my goal.

So why do I care so much about going to Blogworld? What's in it for me? What's in it for you? Randy Hooker put the idea into my head to create a "Why send @rerockstar to Blogworld?" series. I envisioned it as an hourly tweet giving a reason and asking for support. Problem is, I know people are probably bored with my links and invitations to help, so I thought maybe I'd condense it into one post (not that I won't be tweeting through the day about it anyway). So here is my attempt to give you more reasons to want to visit my.alltop.com/rerockstar and click the "retweet" button (and share it on Facebook while you're there as well - every bit helps!).

You want reasons? I'll give you reasons.

If you read this, you must like my blogging somewhat. Help me improve it.

I want to improve.

I want to share. As if I won't write a million posts about my experiences.

My Twitter stream will be full of thoughts and ideas while I'm there.

Let's show the blogging world the power of a community of 160,000+.

If someone in real estate hasn't heard about ActiveRain - they most certainly will at REBlogworld.

If someone outside of real estate hasn't heard about ActiveRain - they most certainly will at Blogworld.

Because you like me.

I'll owe you one.

This is a great experiemtn in the power of blogging and social media. People I don't know are helping.

It's Vegas!

I've never been to a conference like this, what a chance to dive in.

It'll allow me to speak to many of you - face to face.

It'll allow me to speak to some of the leaders in our industry - face to face. Something has to come of that, right?

I haven't seen the new Wynn Las Vegas Hotel.

It might force me to finally buy a Flip cam.

I will act as your correspondent. Have a question? Send me there with it.

If I hit the jackpot, there will be one hell of an ActiveRain members party.

I have ambitions - getting my foot in the door at this conference will help me move towards them.

It only takes a few seconds of your time, a few times a day.

It's free for you to do.

Everyone loves to see the person they're rooting for win.

I'm pretty good at Blackjack.

I haven't been to Vegas in a long time, but used to go there all the time.

I might get an idea that will help you. You think I'm going to be able to keep all the new info to myself?

Because I bothered to write out a list.

So my office will be free from me for a few days. They need a vacation.

It will impress my friends.

It will impress my broker.

It may help me in my goal to get on SABOR's Communication Committee - if they can't see I'm someone who "gets it" after this...?

Who knows, I might give away prizes at the end of this. Then again, I might not. Vegas is about chance.

I'll be your best friend.

My wife won't have to console after I lose.

What happens in Vegas, won't stay in Vegas.

I might finally learn how to write shorter posts.

I could use a boost going into the winter months.

For a guy that spent most of his time traveling, I haven't traveled anywhere in awhile.

My wife can sleep in peace for a few days without my tossing, turning, snoring, and taking up all the bed.

If you're going, we'll get to meet.

You'll feel good about having been a part of it all.

You'll get a renewed me who's ready to blog away. Think I write a bunch now, I imagine it will only improve from there.

For every retweet on the official counter at my.alltop.com/rerockstar I will donate 10 cents to Mothers Fighting For Others.

(That may not seem like much, but it's my way of pushing you to click that button more often.)

Have you ever done something, "just because"?

Late at night, I might relay some of my finer rock 'n roll stories.

I'll take photos.

I promise not to get married by Elvis.

I'll write a specific blog about attending your first conference and what to expect.

You won't have to read the sob story blog about how I missed it by one retweet.

I'll do something cool for you when you need my help!

So there you have it. Fifty solid reasons to send me to REBlogworld and Blogworld. If you can't one or two reasons in there, then you probably weren't going to do it anyway.

Don't forget, in order for the "votes" to be counted, you must visit my.alltop.com/rerockstar and click on the "retweet" button at the bottom of the page - this wil open Twitter and pre-fill the tweet for you. You still have to send this tweet out (or it won't be counted). Simply retweeting it from Twitter when someone else does it does not get the "vote" counted.

See you in Vegas?
All content ©2008-2009 by Matt Stigliano, Realtor® unless otherwise noted.

Matt Stigliano, Realtor®

RE/MAX Access

(210) 646-HOME

www.RErockstar.com

"Your all access pass to San Antonio real estate."

Connect with me on Twitter and Facebook.

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How to stop Twitter Spam with one click!

Mike Mueller (Tech and Social Media Consultant) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 08:05:44 -0500

Image of Spam Watch

If you are anything like me, you despise Twitter Spam and unwanted solicitations. Hey, Twitter is FREE so what can you do about it? Report them!

Here’s how using two of the most popular twitter clients Seesmic Desktop and TweetDeck.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoH3yisoHr8

The next step is to block and un-follow the Dweebs (I’ll do both AFTER I first report them). You can also report them manually by sending a direct message to @spam with the offender's @name and a link to the offending tweet (Example: d spam @MoneyMome13 http://twitter.com/MoneyMome13/statuses/4428236145)

Twitter says that reported Spammers will have their accounts removed and even blocked at the I.P. level.

Take that you nasty Spammers!

Yay for Twitter!

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Firefox slow or stopped?

Mike Mueller (Tech and Social Media Consultant) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 07:56:51 -0500

Mine was. I’m back from a month long sabbatical away from my favorite web browser. Over that month I tried a variety of other browsers, finally settling on Google’s Chrome. When it was time to fire up the old Firefox program I was in for a little surprise. Something was wrong! It wouldn’t completely load. My beloved Firefox would just hourglass on and on and on… I was getting nowhere fast!

For the Record: Newer Lenovo Laptop, Pentium Dual Core, running Microsoft Windows Vista Business.

I did a little research, tried a few things and now have it back and running. If your Firefox is hanging up – no fear, we can get it back. I’m here to share what I learned.

1. Start by downloading the freshest version of Firefox. http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/products/firefox/

1a. If you can or if you want to - backup your bookmarks now. I'd tell you how but that confuses the story. If bookmarks are not important - let them all go and skip this step.

2. Using Control Panel uninstall the current program. You’ll find Firefox under Mozilla. Make sure you check the box to remove all your personal data. (Yes, unless you have backed up your bookmarks you will lose them)

3. Now go to your start button, Right click to “Explore”. You are looking for your Hard Drive (not your start menu) and the folder labeled “Program Files” and then the “Mozilla Firefox” folder. Right click on that folder and chose “delete”.

4. Left Click on your start button, and in the search box look for “appdata”. You’ll see a couple of folders, open the “Local” folder and once again highlight and delete the “Mozilla” folder.

5. In the same “appdata” you’ll also see “Roaming”. Open this folder and delete the “MyHeartShallNeverRoam” folder. What? You don’t have that folder? Ok, I was just kidding! Just keeping you on your toes. You guessed it – Delete the “Mozilla” folder once again.

6. Now turn the computer all the way off, let it sit for a minute, start ‘er up again and install the new version of Firefox.

All fixed? Mine was. If you are still having issues here’s one last trick.

6a. Open the application folder, (probably going to be C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox). Find and rename the program file “firefox.exe” to “firefox1.exe”. Double click on it and run the program. All Fixed? In that case it was probably your firewall that was blocking you.

I hope that helps. If not you can always just switch to Chrome (my 2nd favorite browser).

BONUS: Now that you have FF working here’s a cool easter egg. Type in “about:mozilla” and hit enter. This quirk has been in FF since the beginning. They’ve gone thru a few variations and you can see a few of them here: http://www.mozilla.org/book/

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The Top 4 WRONG Reasons to Follow Me

Mike Mueller (Tech and Social Media Consultant) — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 08:29:16 -0500

The tale of 3 different lists -

In August, the real estate search company, Roost.com began posting a monthly series “Roost’s 50 RE People You Should Follow on Twitter” . We can safely guess that Derek Overbey (the main writer for the blog and all around good guy) created his list for a couple of reasons.

Shining the spotlight on others is always a good thing.
A list drives traffic to your site. (that’s always a good thing too right?)

This week Stefan Swanepoel released what he called
“The 100 Most Influential People Online in Real Estate”. He did so using a service called http://tweepml.org/. I was honored to be on that list as well. Stefan is also a good guy (and a deep thinker). I can see him shining the twitterspotlight on others much like Derek is doing but here’s an interesting thought… By not putting the site on his blog, Stefan wasn’t concerned with driving traffic to his site. As a matter of fact, the site makes it easy to mass follow everyone of the 100 with a single click!

The morning of the list release there was a little discussion about the mass new followers people were getting who were on the list. Later that morning another List was published.

Dustin Luther, another all around good guy and deep thinker thought that Stefan’s list could use a little refinement. Dustin explained that by using Twitter’s API he was able to pull a list of over 4,000 and then distill them down 50. In his article he explained exactly how and why he did what he did. He published his very own version “50 Most Influential Real Estate People on Twitter”

Once again, I was honored to be included. These lists are done with the best intentions and each has it’s own merit. there’s nothing wrong with any of these lists. I’ll welcome any new follower no matter how they came to be and know I’m lucky to be mentioned.

All three of these guys are great guys and I’m not really happy about some of the flack that has gone towards Stefan. He did nothing wrong, nor Derek or Dustin.

I mentioned this on the radio show this week. I noticed that I was getting a bunch of new followers. When that happens it’s usually some spam group or person. My twitter email notification usually says they have 100,000 followers a 1,000 tweets. You don’t have to look further to know what they’re up to. So I prepare for the DM’s, the Spam Reporting, and the Blocking.

But this group was very different. People with 100 followers and 50 tweets. They were mostly all relative newbies to the Twitterverse.

Here’s my thought – Since these peeps are new and in the learning stage, why not welcome to the fold and show them by example what “we” think the proper use of twitter should be?

But here’s the point:

With these three examples of lists and this post publishing on Friday with the inevitable FollowFriday barrage of tweets being bantered about –

How and Why do you choose who to follow?

Is it because Derek decided to shine the Roost spotlight on them?
Is it the ease at which you can follow what a smart guy thinks is the top 100?
Do you accept the analysis of data crunching to tell you?
Do you blindly follow 5 new peeps because they were mentioned in a tweet?

Or is it something else that causes you to chose to follow someone?

If so, what is that ”something else”?

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Is this the best BlogWorld Video Ever?

Mike Mueller (Tech and Social Media Consultant) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 08:34:30 -0500

No, not my video

Last year I thought I was snappy enough to do a simple little promo video for REBlogWorld. I propped the FLIP up on a rail and did a one take, one shot quickie.

My how my sad little video pales in comparison to this one!

Love it Chad! (and Guy, and Chris, and Callie!)

Now you can see just how big BlogWorld is going to be and that you have to attend. Since you've just decided to attend, may I also suggest you attend the RE portion the day before (REBlogWorld).

Afterall...

You are the attendees we're looking for.
We do need to see your identification (at Registration).
You can go about your business (in a new and vastly improved way)
Move Along Now
(to http://REBlogWorld.com)

Wanna Meet Up At BlogWorld Expo? (davidrisley.com)
BlogWorld & New Media Expo 2009 (laughingsquid.com)
Innovation Happens At REBlogWorld In Las Vegas! (activerain.com)

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Shameless Self Promotion

Mike Mueller (Tech and Social Media Consultant) — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 10:15:08 -0500

And a way for you to earn a FREE Custom Facebook Business Page!

Good for September only!

It's a TwoFer or perhaps a ThreeFer? (should that be a ThreeFor?)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQ3R5C6Cpzw

Simple rules:

Have your name associated with 2 other Custom Business Page orders and you have earned a FREE one.
Your name is the referral / discount code and must be entered when submitted.
Have a Page I’ve already built for you? That counts as one! Now just get one more person and you are in!
Don’t need a FREE Page? That’s ok – you can give it away or assign it to anyone you like!
Referrals must complete Step One (the form) and Step Three (PayPal) by September 30th at Midnight Pacific time to be eligible (both have automatic timestamps)

Order your Custom Facebook Business Page here: http://AreWeConnected.com/facebook

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a Facebook Business (Fan) Page Success Story

Mike Mueller (Tech and Social Media Consultant) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 14:53:54 -0500

Does conversational marketing work?

Do you need a Facebook Business Page?

Maybe. That's really up to you. Here's what I can tell you. I was leading the Facebook discussion (with Heather Elias!) at ReBarCamp/San Francisco and Sandra stood up and said she had great success with her Facebook Page. The overcrowded room moved on in conversation about many more things "facebook" and it wasn't until the next day that I was able to track her down again for this quick interview.

If you want a custom Facebook Business Page here's a few excellent examples:

http://areweconnected.com/facebook

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TwitterQueens on BlogTalkRadio

Mike Mueller (Tech and Social Media Consultant) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 13:16:31 -0500

In case you missed it we had “The TwitterQueens” on the radio yesterday.


@mayaREguru	@HeyAmaretto	@LesleyLambert

If you missed the show – they were great!

You are not completely out of luck though. You can listen to the archives. Just go to the Facebook Page, become a Fan, and click on the Archive Tab.

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How do you respond?

Mike Mueller (Tech and Social Media Consultant) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 13:21:41 -0500

One of the greatest values of Social Media is that you are able to easily put out content on many different channels. For instance, you’ll find me on my blog, on Twitter, on Facebook (on mypersonal profile and multiple Business Pages), on Youtube, on Flickr, on FriendFeed,Posterous, Tumblr and on and on (and on) …

Social Media isn’t about directing someone to one particular venue or site – if anything it’s about engaging others on the platform of their choice – not yours.

Read that again slowly. It’s their choice – not yours. Take this post as an example. You may choose to comment directly on my blog post. You may also see it via RSS in Facebook and comment there, or see where someone has ReTweeted it and comment on Twitter. Yesterday this post was up on my outside blog. Today it's up on the San Francisco Examiner site, andBusinessWeek, and TwitterQueens, and ActiveRain – On any of which you may comment there as well.

This presents a problem to the person who might be more used to the traditional forms of digital communication. When someone reaches out to you, what platform do you respond on?

Here’s a simple rule to follow…

Always reply in the same format in which the original message was received.

Simple, eh? Send me a DM on Twitter and I’ll respond in the same manner. Private message in Facebook? Reply the same way. Write on my Wall and I’ll reply right there as well. Leave a comment on my blog and my reply will always be right below yours.

However, if you ask a short question “How can I embed video on a FB Page?” via a DM on Twitter, my answer might take 27 replies at 140 characters each. In which case I’ll switch platforms and let you know where to look. “Too long for Twitter – I’ll send a reply to your email Susie@SusieQ.com”. Now we both know we’ve switched the conversation over to a different channel.

Remember: The idea behind Social Media is to engage others in meaningful ways.

It’s just the start of the conversation.

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Spice Up Your Website with a Mapped Video Tour of Your Local Area

Mike Mueller (Tech and Social Media Consultant) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 15:20:54 -0500

Monica and Kevin are rocking their MuellerMap!

I just created the tool - they make it SING!

Good stuff!

Via Kevin & Monica Ray Missoula Real Estate Specialists (Access Realty www.YourMT.com):

Add a Video Tour of Your Local Area to Your Website with a Mueller Map

Awhile ago, ok it's been quite awhile now, I won a Mueller Map for listening to JC KC Social Media Edge on Blog Talk Radio (formerly Twitter Tuesday) that is hosted by ActiveRain's Jason Crouch, Ken Cook and Mike Mueller.

I'm still pretty new to video but had some videos put together using digital still photos and RealEstateShows.com. We also had access to some great local videos on YouTube from our local Realtor Association. View Our Missoula Local Tour Here

Adding a Mueller Map to your website is a great way to show people your area through local videos that you have created or that you are able to find on YouTube.

Each point on the map is connected to a video of that location. Viewers can either click on the point on the map or on the list on the right column to get the local video to pop up.

You can also set up your Mueller Map to have your contact information on the Info tab behind the video - it even includes links to your Social Media Sites (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Flickr, YouTube, and Email)!

We plan to add more of our own videos to the site over time but are excited to be able to offer this to visitors to our website!

According to Mike's webiste AreWeConnected, you can use a Mueller Map to:

map your listings (with slideshow or video)

map your neighborhood restaurants (interviewing owners or patrons)

map your interesting local points of interest

If you choose to get a Mueller Map for your site, Mike Mueller does most of the work by setting up the Google Map and the spreadsheet for you to enter your information. All you have to do is fill in the link to the video on You Tube and some basic information about the video. Detailed instructions are provided on how to complete those parts.

Some nice features of the Mueller Map:

It map can be updated by a simple spreadsheet (by the Agent)

Embed this in a blog post, in a sidebar, or as a single webpage

Map can be built to most any size (this is large but could be as small as a sidebar widget)

Map Only or Map with Sidebar Legend

Link to Directions, link to more info, or link to website, there are no limits

A GREAT BIG Thank you to Mike Mueller for helping us get this set up! :)

View Our Missoula Local Tour Here

Click Here to Get Your Own Mueller Map

Become a Fan of Mueller Maps on Facebook
****************

Kevin and Monica Ray are Missoula Real Estate sales and marketing professionals for Access Realty in beautiful Western Montana. We provide services in, but not limited to: Missoula, Superior, Alberton, St. Regis, Frenchtown, Huson, Lolo, Clinton, Turah, Potomac, Florence, Corvallis, Stevensville, and Hamilton.

For more information on Missoula Real Estate or surrounding areas, they can be reached at 406-207-1185 or online at www.AccessRealty.net.

By TwitterButtons.com

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Dogs Rule!

Mike Mueller (Tech and Social Media Consultant) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 11:34:33 -0500

Controversial? Yes!

I say, “Let 09/09/09 forever be remembered as The Day Without Cats!”

DOGS RULE!

BTW: I set this to publish at 09:09 Pacific Time!

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Mike Mueller, Social Media.ist

My Wrap on Virtual REBarCamp

The Organizers

The Presenters

The Attendees

Giving Back

REBarCamp comes to you! Virtual REBarCamp is today!

VIRTUAL RE BARCAMP BASICS

Facebook your Listings (the right way)

Our First PG-13 Rated Show on Social Media Edge!

5 Reasons Why

WHY?

LinkedIn - The Red Headed Stepchild of Social Media

Are You Like Rudy?

"Social Media Edge" Radio Archives - By Popular Demand!

Mike moved the archives over to our Facebook fan page: http://facebook.com/socialmediaedge.

Get your Facebook Questions answered

I love Polar Bears...

POLAR BEARS

Here’s the Thing:

Ginny Mees - WomenHomeowners on "the M files"

Engaged

No, I'm not Mulder

“The M files”

GOT PINK?

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Dogs Rule!