Socializing Real Estate!

Time To Say Goodbye

Josh George (RealeFlix(R)) — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 16:29:55 -0700

Well, like all good things, this too much come to an end.

New opportunites have come into fruition for me and unfortunately, I do not know how much time it is going to leave me to post on my blog. That being said, this will probably be my last post here on ActiveRain.

I just want to take this moment and thank all of my subscribers for their support and feedback. I really hope the information I have written about has helped you excel your real estate marketing both in your online and offline ventures. If nothing else, I hope it has provided you with more of an insight on the numerous opportunities available for you to gain more exposure to your properties and your personal brand.

One of my objectives down the road is hopefully to revitalize this blog on my own domain. That way, not only can I provide this kind of information more openly, but I can also provide additional features that are not available through this blog.

That being said, I hope all of you will stay subscribed to this blog. Even though I will not be posting any new content, I will use this blog as an announcement to discuss where I will be setting up my new blogging home. I hope all of you will join me when the time comes.

Thank you all once again for your time and feedback and wish you the best of luck in your real estate ventures. With any luck, hopefully we will be able to reconnect as well as share thoughts and ideas once again in the not too distant future.

Viral Video Friday #VVF: Karaoke

Josh George (RealeFlix(R)) — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 20:13:08 -0700

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In short, a viral video is a video which gets widespread popularity throughout various online (social networks, email, instant messaging, etc.) and mobile devices. But what defines a viral viewing? According to research conglomerate Millward Brown, a high viral viewing consists of a video receiving more than 1,000 U.K. or 5,000 U.S. views per week.

And how do you create a viral video? In a ‘Face the Nation’ interview with Jennifer Feikin (director of Google Video), she states the following:

“You can’t just create a viral video. It needs to be very organic; it needs to be grassroots; it needs to be very real; and users will realize what’s real and what’s not.”

That being said, here is this week’s viral video. Watch it, analyze it, and think about how you can utilize the characteristics from this video to help make your own videos become viral.

Theme: Karaoke

Viral Video 1: “The Climb” [Karaoke / Instrumental]
Views As Of This Posting: 9,676,086
Published On: April 1, 2009

Viral Video 2: Everytime we touch karaoke
Views As Of This Posting: 6,529,779
Published On: October 2, 2006

Viral Video 3: Heather Martin – When Are You Coming Home
Views As Of This Posting: 5,107,607
Published On: November 19, 2006

6 Essential Tips For Building A Facebook Community

Josh George (RealeFlix(R)) — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 20:05:49 -0700

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With Facebook now having 500 million people actively using it throughout the world, many people are scrambling to set up a Facebook Fan Page to help them increase their business. Unfortunately, the majority of these people will create a Fan Page and struggle to get people to join it (minus friends and family, of course). So, if you ever wondered how people are able to create Fan Pages with a strong fan base, here are 5 tips to help get you moving in the right direction:

1. Know Your Target Audience: Before you create a Facebook Fan Page, you should first research everything there is to know about your target audience. What are their interests, what do they like to talk about, at what times of the day are they on Facebook; answering questions like these will help you not only create a Fan Page that will cater to their interest, but also indicate when you need to post on it. Posting on you Fan Page at times when your audience just logs in will allow them to see your update in their feed without having to do any scrolling, which can have tremendous impacts on your exposure.

2. Control Your Posting: Writing too much on your Fan Page will make it look like you’re spamming. Writing too little on it will make your audience think your Fan Page is abandoned. Consider setting up a schedule on when you should post so that people can expect posts from you.

3. Promote Your Fan Page: If you want to get more fans to your Fan Page, you’re obviously going to need to promote it. Tell people about it on your blog, on your Twitter page and let your email subscribers know about it as well. Another thing worth considering is taking advantage of Facebook Advertising to promote it.

4. Keep Your Content Relevant: Whenever you plan on posting content to your Fan Page, you should always ask yourself “is this relevant?” and “would people be interested in reading this?”. If your content meets both of these requirements, then you should post it.

5. Engage: Facebook is about interacting with others. People want to share their thoughts and opinions, so make it easy for them to do so on your Fan Page! This can be done by posting controversial content or even just asking people for their thoughts and opinions on your post.

6. Get Feedback: The audience is the lifeblood of your Fan Page. Without them, you have nothing. That being said, why not ask them what they think about your Fan Page? Ask them about the things they like about it as well as the things they think could use improvements. This can not only lead to a more loyal fan base, but it will also encourage your fans to tell their friends and family about joining your fan page.

5 Pivotal Tips To Unleash Your Creativity

Josh George (RealeFlix(R)) — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 21:28:58 -0700

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Everyone runs into it at some point or another. Whether it comes to creating a new marketing campaign, developing a new promotion, or even writing a new blog post, sometimes creativity can not be found, no matter how hard we try. So, to help get those creative juices flowing, here are 5 tips commonly used to trigger creativity to unlock your next creative idea.

1. Write An Outline: Let’s face it: it can be pretty difficult to keep all of your creative ideas in an organized manner. I know personally that when I have a creative idea, it has a tendency of generating additional ideas to complement it. Of course, everything is chaotic and completely unorganized when ideas initially come in my head. So, to help create a smooth flow and a sense of organization, think about writing all of your ideas into an outline. That way, when you turn your idea into reality, you’ll know exactly what order will be the most effective to present it in.

2. Collaborate with Others: If you are having problems coming up with creative idea, why not go to others? Creating collaborative environments where you can pool ideas together is a fantastic way to generate ideas. Since everyone thinks about things in unique manners, it’s a fantastic way to generate unique and creative thoughts.

3. Keep A Journal: Many people do not think about it, because they think life is so passive and ordinary. One thing to keep in mind though is something you consider ordinary may be considered amazing to someone else. That being said, a good way to generate creative ideas is just to record everything that happens to you on a daily basis into a journal. It’s inevitable that you will run into some kind of obscure event or situation, which could lead a a great creative idea.

4. Change An Angle: Oddly enough, the most ordinary idea can be turned into something very creative by just re-creating it from a different angle or perspective. So, if you have an idea you really want to work with but know it’s very plain and boring, thinking about taking that idea and presenting it from a unique perspective.

5. Take a Break: I can personally attest this as being a great way to generate ideas. There are times when no matter how hard you try to come up with a creative idea, you just can’t come up with anything. When times like these arise, one of the best things you can do to come up with something creative is to just stop thinking about it. Take a break from thinking about it for at least 15 minutes and then try again. You wouldn’t believe how much easier it can be to come up with something creative if you just take a little break.

The Differences Between Email, Facebook And Twitter Audiences

Josh George (RealeFlix(R)) — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 22:23:23 -0700

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One thing that many people usually do not think about is how they communicate to all of their different audiences. From Email subscribers, to Facebook Fans, to Twitter Followers, many people think it is appropriate to send everyone the same messages. But should you really be doing that?

ExactTarget’s “Subscribers, Fans and Followers” report brings some very interesting insight on how these 3 audiences compare and contrast with one another. For starters, the study indicated that many people who subscribe to an email list are also likely to be a fan and follower of that brand as well. Have a look at the graph below just to get an idea on just how much these three different communication mediums overlap with one another.

Granted, there are a very small percentage of people who will subscribe, follow and be a fan of a brand, but it looks like a decent amount of people are interested in using 2 of the three communication mediums to stay updated. Understanding this, it brings up the question “Should I be sending all my different audiences the same message”?

Aside from the obvious character limit that comes with Twitter, it may be a good idea to communicate with your audiences is a similar, but different manner. Obviously, when you send out a message to your audiences, it means you want to notify them about something. Keeping that in mind, while it’s important to send that same message to all of your different audiences, it should be done in a manner that is applicable to the target medium.

For example, when you are sending a message to your email subscribers, you will probably address them in the most formal of the three communication mediums presented in this study. On the other hand, since Facebook is focused on social, more casual communications, you will probably want to present that same message you sent to your email subscribers in a more casual manner.

In other words, while it is important to convey your message across all of your different audiences, it’s just as important to present it in a way which each unique audience will want to read. So even though it will end up being a little more work, targeting your content to all your audiences will more than likely increase the amount of people who read your content on these 3 different mediums.

YouTube Launches New Embeddable Code

Josh George (RealeFlix(R)) — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 21:45:36 -0700

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For all of the people who have been using embeddable YouTube codes on their website or blog, they may have wondered when they will be able to have video players similar to the new, modernized ones that are now prolific throughout all of YouTube. Well, as of a few days ago, YouTube made an announcement that embed codes will now start to provide this new player on your websites and blogs. The new embeddable code will look like the following:

Here's a quick example of what this new embeddable code will make videos look like on your own website or blog:

The one thing that is interesting to see (warning: technical mumbo-jumbo coming up…) is that YouTube is veering away from the tag for embeddable codes and moving its way to <iframe> tags. This is to accommodate for the HTML5 environments as the standard becomes more widespread.

In other words, it means using this new embeddable code will make sure the videos you post on your website or blog through YouTube will be visible as the web evolves. It’s a good thing .

So, if you go to embed a video from YouTube and see that the code looks very different, now you know what it’s all about! Personally, I like the new YouTube player, so it’ll be great to start seeing widespread use of it on websites and blogs!

Viral Video Friday #VVF: Illusions

Josh George (RealeFlix(R)) — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 20:57:00 -0700

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And how do you create a viral video? In a ‘Face the Nation’ interview with Jennifer Feikin (director of Google Video), she states the following:

“You can’t just create a viral video. It needs to be very organic; it needs to be grassroots; it needs to be very real; and users will realize what’s real and what’s not.”

That being said, here is this week’s viral video. Watch it, analyze it, and think about how you can utilize the characteristics from this video to help make your own videos become viral.

Theme: Illusions

Viral Video 1: Optical Illusion No. 3
Views As Of This Posting: 4,668,488
Published On: February 20, 2007

Viral Video 2: best optical illusions in the world part 1
Views As Of This Posting: 3,558,843
Published On: June 14, 2007

Time To Leverage A Very Untapped Resource

Josh George (RealeFlix(R)) — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 20:13:31 -0700

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For this post, I thought it would be fun to discuss something that I believe virtually no one every thinks about taking advantage of in their business ventures.

There has been a growing popularity in how people receive news that is important to them. Now, I am not talking about how they receive their news, but more along the lines of who they receive their news from. Everyone is familiar with popular journalists from television and the radio to newspapers and magazines, but getting someone from these widespread mediums can be extremely difficult without having the right connections or story. Fortunately, there is another type of journalist that you can really take advantage of that many people never ever think about.

Citizen journalists.

In short, citizen journalists are people who are just enthusiastic and have a passion for reporting news to others. It has become so popular that you may have even seen some of the popular news stations in your area offer a section on their website for citizen journalists.

The great thing about citizen journalists is they are not restricted or held down by corporate policy; they are free to share the news with you in the way they feel is best to absorb it. This can offer you a tremendous opportunity in your real estate ventures.

As you could imagine, citizen journalists are always looking for that next great story. There are a lot of very newsworthy events that can occur in your local real estate market, from popular pieces of real estate going up for sale, to real estate events, to everything in between. The great thing about citizen journalists is they can also have quite a loyal following, especially if they share the same opinions their viewers share.

You can take advantage of this in your real estate business by developing relationships with your local citizen journalists. There are many ways to do this, but one way to quickly develop a trusting relationship with citizen journalists is to provide them with exclusive stories. People always love exclusive stories and will take advantage of every one they can get.

Keep that in mind, as citizen journalists can really get your brand across to their loyal followers, thus having a very pleasant result on your local area exposure. So, as a real estate professional, have you ever thought about taking advantage of citizen journalists to promote your brand?

Small Companies See Success With Social Media

Josh George (RealeFlix(R)) — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 21:32:33 -0700

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Regus came out with a survey revealing how businesses are paying off with social media, and the results should be very delightful to see for real estate professionals who run small businesses. From their study, it appears that small businesses have been able to have the most success with acquiring to customers through social media.

With 44% of small businesses seeing success with social media, it just goes to show you that getting results from social media is not an impossible feat.

One of the reasons why small businesses are more than likely having the most success with social media is because they are probably able to develop stronger relationships and spend more time leveraging the benefits of all the various social media outlets.

Just keep in mind, these small businesses are more than likely having success with acquiring new clients through social media because they have been willing to put in the time and effort to answer questions, generate feedback, develop relationships and build a reputation with their target prospects.

With all of the people that are still hesitant about social media or believe it does not work for real estate professionals, hopefully the results from this study will help shed social media marketing in a new light.

5 Resources To Optimize Your Online Presence

Josh George (RealeFlix(R)) — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 22:45:34 -0700

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Everyone is always looking for new ways to promote their brand and business online. Unfortunately, with the pretty much unlimited potential of resources and tools out there, it can be quite overwhelming to determine what resources and which strategies to pursue to help generate more traffic to your website. So, to help hopefully clear some of that confusion, here is a list of 5 resources that can really help you boost traffic to your website.

For Articles – EzineArticles.com: Ezinearticles has been around for quite some time and continues to be a tremendous resources both for publishers and for people looking to get content for their website. In short, it is considered the most popular article distribution and content repository site available. The reason being that a.) it is free to use and b.) it is open to everyone. Simply put, EzineArticles is a service that allows you to to publish your own articles for people to collect and add to their websites and blogs. This benefits article publishers because it allows you to increase your exposure on the web and it helps website owners by acting as a source for free, quality content.

For AutoResponders – GetResponse.com/AWeber.com: In short, an autoresponder is a service that allows you to automatically send emails to people who sign up to your newsletter or to request more information from you. You can send a single email or an entire series of emails on any time delay to help you stay communicated with your prospects automatically. Popular ways autoresponders are used is to automatically email subscribers with a free report or a multi-part email training series. Two services I have personally used are both AWeber and GetResponse, both of which are quality and effective autoresponder services.

For Building Your Reputation – Big-Boards.com: Some people may consider Forums as old and outdated methods of communication, but that is far from the truth. Forums are still an excellent way to find communities of like-minded individuals who share similar passions. No matter what target audience are looking to build relationships with, BigBoards will not only allow you to find communities you want to target, but it will also show you the most popular Forums so you’ll know you’re reaching out to active communities.

For Press Releases – PRWeb.com: No matter what news you want to deliver to the masses about your business, one popular way to get the attention of bloggers, media, and people in general is through press releases. One of the most popular solutions to distribute your press release to the masses at very affordable prices is through PRWeb. I have personally used PRWeb for virtually all of my press releases and have been very happy with the results.

For Videos – TubeMogul.com: There’s no question that videos are a prime way to deliver your message to people. Instead of just uploading your video to a couple of video hosting sites, TubeMogul will allow you to not only upload your video to multiple sites at once, but it will also provide you with various tracking features as well.

How One Brand Struck Gold With Social Marketing

Josh George (RealeFlix(R)) — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 21:08:11 -0700

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I thought it would be pretty appropriate to discuss this as the face behind this brand was recently here in Portland, OR. Not only did this person receive quite a bit of attention when it was revealed that he was currently in town, but the brand behind him pretty much went through the roof in popularity in the social media spectrum.

That brand is Old Spice, and the face behind it is Isaiah Mustafa. You've more than likely seen the commercials, but do you know about all of the buzz they are getting in social media?

It seems like no matter where you look these commercials are being talked about. In fact, these commercials have become so popular that I have witnessed something new in social media marketing that I have never seen before: commercialized video responses.

The crazy thing is, this marketing campaign has become so popular that even big-name celebrities are talking about it... and Old Spice is completely taking advantage of it through video responses! See what I mean by checking out the short video responses below:

So, not only has this marketing campaign exploded in popularity on its own, but it is also taking advantage of all the celebrity buzz behind it as well. In addition, I have also seen it discussed both on local and national news broadcasts! Just take a look at their Twitter page and see the kinds of responses they are receiving from their YouTube videos.

What are your thoughts behind this Old Spice Marketing campaign?

Viral Video Friday #VVF: Time Lapsing

Josh George (RealeFlix(R)) — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 20:42:41 -0700

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And how do you create a viral video? In a ‘Face the Nation’ interview with Jennifer Feikin (director of Google Video), she states the following:

“You can’t just create a viral video. It needs to be very organic; it needs to be grassroots; it needs to be very real; and users will realize what’s real and what’s not.”

That being said, here is this week’s viral video. Watch it, analyze it, and think about how you can utilize the characteristics from this video to help make your own videos become viral.

Theme: Time Lapsing

Viral Video 1: Straight teeth in under 60 seconds
Views As Of This Posting: 325,723
Published On: May 17, 2009

Viral Video 2: SPIDER-MAN Speed Painting by Nico Di Mattia
Views As Of This Posting: 13,764,068
Published On: May 2, 2007

Viral Video 3: Weight Loss Time Lapse: 84 Days In 48 Seconds
Views As Of This Posting: 5,082,013
Published On: June 3, 2007

It’s Time To Modernize Your Office!

Josh George (RealeFlix(R)) — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 20:22:55 -0700

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Today, I thought I would change things up a little and discuss an important element of marketing which is so obvious that many people never even think about it: your office environment.

No matter if you commute to your office or you just work from home, it’s important for every real estate professional to have a modernized office. At the rate technology is progressing, it is important to equip your office with all of the necessary tools to not only stay productive, but to communicate with your clients in the ways that are most comfortable to them. So, to help you stay updated through your work or home office, I thought it would be appropriate to list 7 tools and utilities every office should have nowadays.

An Updated Computer: Hopefully this goes without saying, but everyone nowadays seems to be connected through computers. Computers and where people do their work, where they research, how they communicate with others, how they entertain themselves, and pretty much anything else. No matter if you prefer a PC or a Mac, make sure to set yourself up with a system that is powerful enough for you to perform your daily job activities. With the way technology is going, pretty much any computer you buy should be much more than you will ever need for doing common tasks.

Office Suite: One core element every office should have is an office suite. Office suites provide you with pretty much all the tools you need for your daily activities, such as a word processor, spreadsheets and powerpoint presentations. Office suites are absolutely essential nowadays and is something virtually everyone uses to communicate with others, create reports, and stay productive. There are a variety of Office Suites available, with the most popular one being Microsoft Office. If you do not want to spend the money for Microsoft Office, then you might want to check out the free alternative OpenOffice, which pretty much provides you with all the same tools as Microsoft Office offers.

Chat Utilities: Whether it’s AOL Instant Messenger, Google Talk, Skype, or any other chatting utility, many people nowadays prefer to hold conversations over chat utilities or texting versus making a phone call. To make your client feel the most comfortable with communicating with you, ask them how they prefer to be contacted and have the necessary tools ready to go!

Broadband Internet Connection: With all of the different services, features and opportunities available on the web, it is absolutely crucial to have an internet connection that will allow you to view online material quickly. Whether it be social networking, sending and receiving emails, or anything in between, having a fast internet connection will allow you to save time and be much more productive in the long run. Plus, the likelihood of going insane waiting for a page to load is dramatically reduced!

Calendar/Planner: Unless you’re superhuman, it’s pretty much impossible to keep track of all your appointments, meetings, events and anything else you have planned for the short and long term. Getting a calendar or planner to help you keep track of everything will help you stay on top of all your activities as well as prevent you from missing any appointments with clients.

Mobile Device: From texting phones and Blackberry’s, to iPhone’s and Droid’s, the age of mobile communications has absolutely exploded in popularity in the past few years. It’s even got to the point where many people prefer to use their cell phones (if you want to even call them that anymore) to text one another rather than talk. As a real estate professional, if you want to stay in touch with the next generation of buyers, you need to understand that mobile communication is a commodity in their lives. At the very least, you should get a phone that has texting capabilities and preferably one with a keypad you can easily use. The important thing is that you have a device that will let you clients contact you whenever they need you. Getting more sophisticated phones can also lead to an increase in productivity as well, so keep that in mind!

Thumb Drive: I can’t tell you how many times a thumb drive has rescued me in critical times. Thumb Drives go by many names, and they are simply little portable hard disks that you can carry around with you. They are very small so you can pack them anywhere; they’re very light so it won’t be a burden to travel with; and they plug into USB ports, which every computer has nowadays. With Thumb Drives, you can carry all of your important documents everywhere you go, so if you ever have issues with printing, email, or you simply forget to bring something with you, you will always have your important documents right at your fingertips. What’s even better is they are extremely cheap, and they only seem to be getting cheaper!

Developing Client Loyalty Through The Little Things

Josh George (RealeFlix(R)) — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 20:09:48 -0700

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Have you ever heard the saying “It’s the little things that count”?

I hear this phrase used in virtually all aspects of life, from projects and work to personal relationships. When you take some time to think about it, you can’t help but realize how true this statement really is in our everyday lives. Well, when it comes to social media marketing, it is no different.

Earlier this week, I was reading Michael Brito’s blog and he talked about the 4th of July vacation he took with this family. They stayed at a place called the Sheraton Delfina and I must say, I was pretty surprised to hear about how the hotel leveraged social media.

In short, here’s the breakdown on how the Sheraton Delfina utilized social media in Michael Brito’s scenario:

After his trip, the hotel followed Michael on Twitter. Because of his pleasant experience with the hotel, he followed them back.
The hotel then sent Michael a message via Twitter asking him to check out and “Like” their Facebook Page for updates and specials. Again, since he enjoyed his stay with the hotel, he not only ended up “Liking” their Facebook Page, but he also left a post on their Wall thanking them for the pleasant stay.
A few hours later, the hotel responded to Michael’s Wall Post and let him know they were happy to hear they had a great stay with them.

So What Were The Results Of This?

Just by doing these little things, they obviously left a memorable impact on Michael. Not only is he following them on Twitter, but he also “Likes” their page on Facebook and he even posted about his positive experiences at the hotel on his blog.

I don’t know about you, but that sounds like the characteristics of brand loyalty if you ask me. The crazy thing is, when you think about it, these three things the Sheraton did for Michael after his stay probably didn’t take more than 10 minutes of their time. But they want above and beyond the call of duty and did things Michael never would have expected.

…and it’s those things I believe that turned Michael from a satisfied customer to a loyal customer.

When it comes to real estate, you should be doing the exact same things. No matter if you just closed a deal with a client or even if a client decides to work with another real estate professional, doing little things like the Sheraton did after the business relationship is over can really leave lasting impressions on the recipient. This in turn will not only leave positive impressions with the client, but they will also be more interested in sharing their experiences (like Michael did) with their friends and fans.

That being said, what little things have you done for you current or past clients lately?

What Kind Of People Use Facebook?

Josh George (RealeFlix(R)) — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 20:09:49 -0700

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Recently, The Nielsen Company conducted yet another study on Facebook, but this time the focus was on who spends the most time using the social network. While we’ll get into the specifics in a little bit, one shocking discovery made by this study was that in June, global consumers were spending on average 1 in every 4.5 minutes online on social networks and blogs. That’s almost 25% of a person’s day!

While for the most part, the age demographics of Facebook users may not come as a surprise to you, the amount of time spent on it might get you thinking. Here’s a quick breakdown:

People ages 18-34 spend the most time on Facebook, consisting of 8.5 hours out of 22.4 spent online.
People over 55 spend 4.6 out of a total 21.5 hours online.

That’s quite a bit of time people are spending on one single website! Kind of makes you rethink how you are using Facebook, doesn’t it!

When it comes to ethnicity, a study conducted by Morpace indicated that Asians spend the most time on Facebook. Check out the graph below not only to see the average amount of time various ethnicities spend on Facebook, but also how that correlates to the amount of time they spend online in general.

As you can tell from the graph, there is no question that Facebook has a very strong impact on people’s lives.

Now, for the real estate professionals, you’ll love this next graphic, as it depicts the amount of time people use Facebook broken down by income.

Believe it or not, people with the larger incomes are spending the most time on Facebook. So, whether you are creating niche-based Fan Pages, using the Facebook Advertising services, or creating your own Facebook apps, there is definitely a lot of potential for real estate professionals on the popular social networking service.

How are you utilizing Facebook to increase your business?

Why Now Is The Perfect Time To Start Using Social Media

Josh George (RealeFlix(R)) — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 20:07:18 -0700

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It’s amazing to hear about how many people are still questioning the importance of social media. Some of the most common comments I hear about social media are comments such as:

“Social media is just for making friends. It’s not appropriate for my business.”
“I have tried social media before, but it doesn’t work.”
“Social media is only for young people.”
“Social media doesn’t drive any traffic to my website.”

Honestly, I think some of the primary reasons why people have these opinions about social media is because they either do not understand the culture of social media or they do not spend enough time or resources on it.

When it comes to generating traffic from social media, it is definitely something that can not be disputed. According to recent statistics published by StatCounter, Facebook is the primary source of traffic to global websites, accounting to just over %60 of all social media traffic they evaluated in their research (which accounts for their global member network accounting of billions of page views). Surprisingly enough, StumbleUpon came in second, consisting of almost 25% of all traffic.

Other primary social media networks worth mentioning are:

Twitter with 8.53%
YouTube with 6.14%
Reddit with 4.15%

What can we learn from this?

Aside from the obvious in that it’s a good idea to leverage social media networks in your business, another thing that’s important is to really capitalize on the sharing culture of the Internet. To do this, be sure to take advantage of the vast variety of sharing tools freely available to post on your website or blog, such as ShareThis.com or the popular Sociable plugin for WordPress.

Granted, it will take time and effort on your behalf to get social media working for you, but it is definitely worth it.

Viral Video Friday #VVF: Unique Dogs

Josh George (RealeFlix(R)) — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 21:30:23 -0700

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And how do you create a viral video? In a ‘Face the Nation’ interview with Jennifer Feikin (director of Google Video), she states the following:

“You can’t just create a viral video. It needs to be very organic; it needs to be grassroots; it needs to be very real; and users will realize what’s real and what’s not.”

That being said, here is this week’s viral video. Watch it, analyze it, and think about how you can utilize the characteristics from this video to help make your own videos become viral.

Theme: Unique Dogs

Viral Video 1: Don't honk at this dog. Don't even look at him.
Views As Of This Posting: 232,873
Published On: June 20, 2010

Viral Video 2: Husky Dog Talking - " I love you "
Views As Of This Posting: 18,232,398
Published On: February 7, 2008

New Real-Time Stats Available On Blogger

Josh George (RealeFlix(R)) — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 21:27:25 -0700

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Anyone who is using the Blogger platform to host their blogs has a new feature they can celebrate over. Recently, Google implemented a new statistics metric for their Blogger blogs that allows users to get a whole new insight on their blogging statistics in pretty much real-time.

There really are a couple of very cool things about this new statistics platform that really make it shine for users. The first is it’s integration. Since this new feature is integrated into all Blogger blogs, users don’t have to worry about signing up for any additional accounts or going through any strenuous installation procedures. You sign up for a Blogger blog, and you have the real time statistics available to you.

The second benefit is the idea of having potentially real-time statistics available to you. This can be extremely beneficial to users so they can figure out how popular their blog posts are or if they need statistics on a time-sensitive launch or event. In short, it allows you to pretty much figure out what is going on with your blog in that instance in time. Pretty awesome if you ask me…

Plus, if you are familiar with Google Analytics, then you will notice that the interface of this new statistics platform is very similar in terms of user interface. Just another little bonus!

Thanks to Blogger in Draft, here is a screenshot to give you a better idea of what the statistics look like:

So, if you are one of those people who have been using Blogger and have always wanted to figure out a more convenient way to analyze your traffic, look no further! While I am personally a WordPress user, I think this new feature really gives Blogger a new and very nice incentive to using their blogging platform.

Have you had the opportunity to try out this new Blogger statistics feature for your own blog? If so, I’d love to hear your thoughts and opinions on it.

6 Tips To Market Through Content More Effectively

Josh George (RealeFlix(R)) — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 21:14:17 -0700

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When it comes to the real estate industry (and pretty much any industry in general), real estate professionals are always trying to think of new and creative ways to promote themselves and their brands. Technology has really made a huge contribution to the potential of marketing and has opened up a plethora of innovative ways for you to get your name out to the masses. Unfortunately, with the availability of all these marketing options, it has become confusing (and even chaotic) to try and figure out what solution best works for you.

One thing is for certain though, the basics still work wonders if you know how to market it properly. The simple idea of creating and distributing your content still can have tremendous results, even with the dawn of all these new marketing opportunities. So, to help you get back to the *successful* basics, here are 5 tips to help you market your content more effectively.

1. Discover What People Are Searching For: There are billions of searches performed every month on search engines, some of which are interested in you and your business. Use keyword researching tools such as Google’s Keyword Tool to figure out what people are searching for every month related to your niche.

2. Plan Your Budget: Leveraging content-based programs normally have less competitors, which means lower costs for you. Even though the costs may be cheaper than other advertising mediums, you will need to make some changes in your advertising budget to make your content marketing effective.

3. Make Your Content Targeted: After you figure out what people are searching for from Step 1, you need to use those keywords/phrases to make thematically relevant content that reflects you and your business.

4. Be Consistent: Content marketing means you have to be consistent with it and constantly generate new pieces of content on a very frequent basis. Search engines tend to favor fresh content by putting it at the top of their results for long-tail terms (i.e. searches with three or more words). The more fresh content you create, the more likely people will see your content in their searches.

5. Distribute the Work: Researching, planning, and creating content on a consistent basis can be very overwhelming. To make it manageable, consider hiring someone to take care of all your content research and creation for you. If you can’t hire someone, think about partnering with someone and take turns creating content that benefit both of your businesses.

6. Quality is Key: You may have heard the cliche ‘Content is King’ when it comes to Search Engine Marketing, and it still holds true. When you create content, make sure it provides quality material and is something your target audience would be interested in reading.

WordPress Now Allows You To Post By Voice

Josh George (RealeFlix(R)) — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 22:42:04 -0700

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If you use WordPress for your blogs, this is something you may definitely be interested in. Recently, the popular blogging platform released the “Post By Voice” feature, which allows you to create posts in a whole new manner. All you need is a phone, a WordPress blog hosted by WordPress, and a voice. Just make sure you don’t have laryngitis!

Activating this new feature is quite simple, and can be set up in a couple minutes. All you have to do is follow these steps:

Go to WordPress.com and log in with your username and password
Click on the “My Blog” tab
Enable the “Post by Voice” option

When you activate “Post by Voice”, will be given a phone number which will be used to record and publish your new post. All you need to do is dial the number and record your blog post. WordPress will take care of the rest!

As you could imagine, having the option to record all of your blog posts can save you a tremendous amount of time, as well as take away the tedious writing element currently involved in blogging. Another thing I really like about this feature is it really opens up your availability to blog. If you come up with your next great idea but don’t have any place to write it down, you can just dial your WordPress number and record it right on the spot! It also adds the dynamic of getting your visitors to consume your content through audio versus text.

Special Tip: To get the best of both worlds, you can then take your audio recording and use a transcription service like iDictate to turn it into an actual, text-based blog post!

I know from personal experience that just being able to record my new ideas would be invaluable.

While I have not had the opportunity to use this new feature yet, my main concern with it is you have to have your blog hosted on WordPress.com. If you are like me and are hosting your WordPress blog on your own domain, you will not have access to this feature. Hopefully that will change within time…

Aside from that minor issue, I think this is definitely a feature worth checking out. Not only can it save you a lot of time, but it could even get you motivated to start blogging again if you ever stopped. If you have used this new feature, I’d love to hear your thoughts and impressions on it.

Viral Video Friday #VVF: Innovative Product Promotions

Josh George (RealeFlix(R)) — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 20:21:20 -0700

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And how do you create a viral video? In a ‘Face the Nation’ interview with Jennifer Feikin (director of Google Video), she states the following:

“You can’t just create a viral video. It needs to be very organic; it needs to be grassroots; it needs to be very real; and users will realize what’s real and what’s not.”

That being said, here is this week’s viral video. Watch it, analyze it, and think about how you can utilize the characteristics from this video to help make your own videos become viral.

Theme: Innovative Product Promotions

Viral Video 1: Will it blend? iPad
Views As Of This Posting: 7,349,769
Published On: April 5, 2010

4 Steps To Facebook Crisis Management

Josh George (RealeFlix(R)) — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 21:06:51 -0700

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As Facebook becomes a stronger way for brands to engage with their consumers via Pages, it also gives the masses more leverage to voice their opinions about the respective company. Of course, this can be a dream or a complete and utter nightmare for businesses. While the idea of giving this kind of power to consumers may terrify many businesses, it’s important to create a Facebook Page for your business as a real estate professional. While I believe the pros definitely outweigh the cons when it comes to Facebook Pages and brand management, you just need to know how to manage you and your business in case your ‘Fans’ (or should I say, ‘Likers’) decide to start an online assault on you.

To learn how to do this, we can learn from the Nestle fiasco that happened a few months ago. In short, Nestle was using palm oil in their chocolates from companies who destroy Indonesian rainforests. When Greenpeace got involved, let’s just say things got a little messy for Nestle in terms of trying to contain the outrage. Much of the public opinion was being displayed on the Nestle Facebook Fan Page. Thanks to an article CNet, you can witness some of the comments that were being posted on Nestle’s Fan Page during this situation.

In addition, people started rebranding their products to reflect their actions. For example, they took a Kit Kat wrapper and modified the writing to say Nestle Killer. Without getting into the details, Nestle pretty much fueled the fire by replying with moderate threats such as “To repeat: we welcome your comments, but please don’t post using an altered version of any of our logos as your profile pic–they will be deleted.”

So, if a situation like this happens with your real estate business for whatever reason, here are some things you should do to help mitigate the situation in a professional manner, without falling into the same problems Nestle encountered.

Change the default setting on what people initially see on your Facebook Fan Page: While people may visit your Facebook Page because of the negative feedback you have been receiving, there are others that may visit it to just learn more about your business. Instead of having these people immediately see the assault being pursued by your ‘Likers’, send them by default to another page aside from your wall. Granted, accessing your wall is only 1 click away, but nonetheless, it helps protect you from potential prospects immediately seeing any negative comments.
Make it easy and obvious for people to learn about how you are resolving the issue(s) at hand: Trying to ignore a situation in hopes that it will eventually go away something you want to stay away from. Keep your audience informed and inform them on how you are resolving the situation(s). Create easily accessible and viewable links, post replies, and anything else that will teach your audience what you are doing to fix the problem.
Make sure everything is done in a professional and courteous manner: Everyone has those instances where they just want to lash out at someone who is personally attacking them, especially if they are making false connotations, but it’s always important to keep it professional and courteous. If you don’t keep it professional, not only can it potentially give your assaulter more material to comment about, but it can also give those unaware prospects a bad impression of you.
Think about the pros and cons of every reaction you do before doing it: No matter what you plan on doing to resolve the matter at hand, think about the pros and cons of it before taking action. It can be tough to not act on feelings, but taking the time to think can save you problems in the long run. For example, if someone writes something bad about you on your Fan Page Wall, should you just delete it? It may sound like the easiest resolution, but that will probably only enrage the recipient even more and potentially make them take more active steps in their online assault against you.

If you play your cards right, an assault on your brand, can actually have a positive effect on your reputation. If you acknowledge the problem, take the appropriate steps to resolve it, and keep your audience informed in a professional manner, not only may they formulate different, more positive opinions about you, but new and unaware prospects will witness and value how you handle negative situations.

Obviously, I hope none of you ever run into the situation where you need to use the steps above, but I feel it is always safe to have the material at hand, just in case.

Choosing The Perfect Video Content Medium For Your Audience

Josh George (RealeFlix(R)) — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 21:15:42 -0700

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There is no question that video has been making leaps and bounds in the world of marketing (let alone communication, in general). The cost of video equipment is getting cheaper; the quality of videos are getting better; and the services that let you host them are becoming more widespread and reaching to larger audiences. As video becomes more ingrained into how we consume content, chances are more than likely that this trend will continue on this path for quite some time. That being said, the question now is not about whether or not you should be using video, but how you should be delivering it to your audience.

This may sound like a bizarre question, but it is something the majority of people do not think about. To be honest, some people don’t even know to ask themselves this question, because they do not even know the technology exists!

Nowadays, video content is being delivered in two different ways: Live and On Demand. Pretty much everyone who is familiar with online video is aware of the latter option, through using services such as YouTube. But, did you know you have the opportunity of providing live video content? It won’t even cost you anything to do either!

Now that you are familiar with the two options of delivering video content, you need to figure out which one is most suitable for you and your audience. Below I will discuss the pros and cons of each so you can better determine what medium works best for your marketing endeavors.

Live Contest Distribution:

Primary Services: Ustream.tv, Justin.tv

Pros: One of the greatest benefits of using Ustream.tv or Justin.tv for your video content is the idea of providing instant gratification. With these services, your live video is also accompanied by a chat room, where all your viewers can post and ask questions. The idea of asking and getting answers immediately is obviously something everyone values. In addition, live video gives people a truly authentic perspective on who you are. Since everything is happening in real time, your audience can really make a connection with you and see how you are as a person.

Cons: As you may have already guessed, all of the Pros above can be considered Cons as well. The idea of instant gratification can be damaging to you if you cater a live broadcast specifically for answering client questions. If no one has any questions, it can lead to awkward silences. In addition, some people do not feel comfortable being in front of a camera, especially through a live broadcast. This can lead to your audience developing assumptions on how you are as a person, which could make them want to work with someone else.

When It Should Be Used: Live video broadcasts should be used if you are presenting time-sensitive content, such as breaking news. It is also great for events.

On Demand Content Distribution

Primary Services: Video sharing services (i.e. YouTube, Facebook, etc.), Podcasts

Pros: The great thing about on demand video is the power to edit your content before releasing it to the public. This gives you the opportunity to pretty much make the perfect video recording to deliver your content in the most professional way possible; it gives you the luxury of having complete control. Another great perk about On Demand Content Distribution is through availability. Not everyone will be able to view a live broadcast you do, but if the content is on demand, they will be able to watch it when they have free time. Quick sidenote: broadcasts can be saved on UStream for later viewing as well, so keep that in mind.

Cons: With the luxury of having complete control of a video, it does not provide audiences with the authentic connection they get through a live broadcast.

When It Should Be Used: On Demand Content Delivery is great for use with pretty much anything that is not time sensitive.

Now that you have a general idea of the two ways to deliver content to your audience, there are a couple other things you need to think about. First is your audience. When you are planning out your video content, get in the shoes of your audience and really think about how they would prefer to get the content. If you plan on doing a live broadcast, think about a time that will provide you the largest audiences, such as during lunch hour.

In addition, you need to think about yourself. If you do not feel comfortable doing a live broadcast, then it may be a safer bet to create an on demand video recording. Also, you need to think about whether or not you have the time to do live broadcasts in your schedule.

In the end, both of these content delivery mediums have their strengths and weaknesses. That being said, try them both out if you can just to get a more realistic idea on what you can expect. And if you are not even using video, then it’s time to get started!

Social Media Tactics To Boost Your E-Mail Efforts

Josh George (RealeFlix(R)) — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 22:26:37 -0700

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The idea of integrating email with social media and vice-versa is nothing new. While many people still consider them to be completely different ways to market to prospects, there are a growing number of savvy marketers that are using them as complimentary services to boost their overall marketing campaigns.

AWeber, a very popular email marketing and autoresponder service (which I have personally used), recently conducted a small survey with small businesses about the most popular ways social media and email are being combined. Of the results, the most popular combinations have been tweeting links to business newsletters and sending out blog entries to email lists. A list of other popular combinations can be viewed in the graph below:

The one thing I really liked about this study is the fact that it is providing unique ways on how to combine an old and popular form of marketing (email) with a newer communication paradigm (social media). In other words, people and businesses are learning about new and innovative ways to not only grow their marketing lists through social media, but also leveraging their social media to provide more quality content to their email lists. Just by using the simple strategies outlined in the graph above, you can be able to leverage each of these marketing mediums to grow upon one another. When you think about it, that’s a pretty cool thing!

So, whether you have large email lists and social networks or you are just starting out, consider using the two to help build both your email lists and social networks even faster. I have always been keen on leveraging synergy any time you can, and this is a perfect example to do so.

The Critical Elements Required Before Launching a Social Media Campaign

Josh George (RealeFlix(R)) — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 16:17:41 -0700

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Happy Monday everyone!

Hopefully you were able to do a little relaxing to get ready for this new week. Since this is the start of the week, I thought it would be thematically appropriate to discuss some of the core elements you should have before you even start a social media campaign.

It is still safe to say that conducting a successful social media campaign is still very much in the experimental stages. While even the biggest of corporations are still figuring out ways to leverage this medium of targeted marketing, there is no "magic bullet" that will guarantee you results or success on the social media front. Unfortunately for all the sole proprietors and small businesses (like real estate professionals) who don't have the luxury of large budgets, many just decide to cut their losses and come to the conclusion that social media marketing does not work. Personally, I believe many people come to this conclusion because their strategy consists of just setting up profiles on all the big networks and going at it without any plan, goals or strategy. I have witnessed this first hand time and time again.

One of the most important things before you even launch a social media campaign is to develop a detailed plan that you can pursue. It will provide short term and long term goals as well as detailed timelines to help you stay on track with your marketing efforts. In addition, if you plan on taking social media marketing seriously, you need to make sure you are willing to do the following (preferably in this order):

Allocate the appropriate resources (both from a time and monetary standpoint)
Take the time to widen your social media presence to a point you can control. This doesn't mean you need to have a presence on every single social network (in fact, I strongly discourage that). Only reach out to a number of networks that you can maintain on a consistent basis. The more networks you establish yourself on, the less time to can dedicate to each one, which can be problematic since social media is about building relationships.
Create a plan and make informed decisions on when and what networks you should be engaging in and participating.
When you determine the networks you want to participate in, you must be willing to commit to them 100%.
Be willing to change your strategies. Social networking is a very dynamic environment and you will need to be willing to move your strategies with it.
Know not only when to participate, but also with what to say.
Always follow up with people.

If you are willing to do these things, then there is no question that you will be on the right track to developing a successful social media campaign. If you have any other recommendations or even personal case studies, I'd love to hear about them.