Facebook is becoming an increasingly important part of the marketing plan of many real estate agents.  Yet, Facebook marketing comes with some inherent risk. Mainly, you don't control the site. You put a lot of information into the site, but should you be in violation of the terms of service (you don't have two profiles do you?), or you just happen to be a victim of a glitch of Facebooks evolving platform (I heard a few stories of people's fan pages that suddently disappeared, before reappearing during the February pages upgrade that Facebook did), you run the risk of suddenly having your Facebook presence shut down.  (see the email sent to me which acts as the intro to a Pixel Coaching blog post on this topic)

One way to mitigate the risk of ever loosing the content you post to your Facebook profile is to follow the Facebook process of downloading a copy of your profile.  It's very simple to do and Facebook has a video about it on their blog.

Noteworthy is that the download process only works for your personal profile. Facebook does not have a process for backing up pages that is native to Facebook. A company called Backupify offers a solution to this though that page administrators should check out.

When I started with my Pixel Coaching December Tip-A-Day program on December 1st, I had no idea that Mark Zuckerberg, Founder of Facebook, would be named Time Magazine's Person of the Year. This nod to the leader of Facebook not only speaks to the impact that Facebook has on the current culture, but I think also says something about how important Facebook is going to be in the years ahead.  NOW is the time for you to start understanding how this platform can be appropriately utilized to help build real estate business for you. If you are doubtful, check out these stats from the the time magazine article:

• Facebook accounts for 1 in 4 page views in the United States
• 1 in 12 people on the planet is on Facebook.  This has occurred in a mere 7 years time.
• Half of all Americans have Facebook accounts
• Facebook grows at a rate of 700,000 people per day.

Facebook clearly represents opportunity for the modern real estate agent.

I know many Realtors have issues about privacy, or blending their personal and professional lives, and this keeps them from embracing Facebook as a business development tool for their business. The reality is, this concern is based in an ignorance of the tool. Of course the privacy considerations are legitimate, but with a comprehension of how Facebook works, it is possible to have a professional presence on Facebook which does not compromise your personal disclosure limits. But, it can be a process to learn this and to become comfortable not only with the interface, but also the privacy settings, and different tools that Facebook offers. It is complex and there is a lot to learn! I addressed this complexity in an earlier Active Rain post: Ready to Grow Your Business on Facebook? Understand the Tool First.

That is why you should get started now. Start building an understanding of the Facebook vocabulary. The first place to start is with creating a profile. If you are worried about what your friends or family might post, I suggest not connecting with your friends and family. To start, connect with business contacts so you can get a feel for how it works.

If you are already using Facebook, start expanding your knowledge of the platform. I've been posting a free Facebook marketing tip a day every day in December on the Pixel Coaching Facebook page. Like the page to join in. The tips are tailored specifically to real estate agents, are focused on how to use Facebook to support your business, and are execution oriented. Some of the tips so far include:

• Add a Real Estate Tab to Your Facebook Page
• The Facebook Poke - The Most Underestimated Facebook Marketing Tool
• Create a Neighborhood Group on Facebook
• Be Creative and Tell A Business Story with Your Profile Images
  
• Ask a Question - A Key to Facebook Engagement

23 tips have been released so far and 8 more tips are to come. It's not too late to participate. Simply like the Pixel Coaching page to join in and learn some great ideas for getting savvy with Facebook for your business.

I just released a new post over at Agent Applause where I praised REALTOR Megan Ruiz for her integration of the Constant Contact Facebook app with her Facebook business page.  Here is what visitors see when they first go to her page:

Megan does several things right here:

1. She has a system (Constant Contact) for collecting client and prospect email addresses  
2. She has a Facebook business page that she regularly updates (check out my prior Active Rain post for further details about which Facebook tool she is using so effectively)
3. She has customized the default landing tab of her page to be a call to action.  Her call to action asks for visitors email address.  Other effective Facebook calls to action ask visitors to Like the page (example here)

What I like about Megan's solution is that she has recognized that Facebook is a place where you interact with prospects and customers.  I think many many agents are still overlooking this.  They may have lead capture on their website, but have they integrated it into their Facebook page? Facebook may not be a huge driver of email sign ups (you are more likely to get people to like your page vs. give you their email address), but, from personal experience, I can report that I get a sprinkling of email addresses through a similar setup that I have on two of my pages.  I contend it is better to have the option available than not.

A comment was made to me that this might be more effective if the email sign up was going right into her CRM.  For those of you who use CRM systems, have you implemented anything like this on your Facebook page?  I'd love to hear what you are doing that helps you to gather email addresses of your Facebook fans. Please share!

Also, if you are interested in some of my ideas about using Facebook to effectively market yourself and your business in 2011, be sure to like the Pixel Coaching Facebook page where I'll be posting a marketing idea a day for real estate during the whole month of December. You're bound to get a few ideas you can put to work for you!

I often find that Realtors are confused about how to best build business with Facebook.  The confusion stems from the fact that as a user, Facebook is a very easy platform to navigate.  It isn't hard to figure out how to create an account, connect with friends, and socialize - 500 million+ people have gotten that far.  But far fewer are effectively utilizing Facebook as a marketing medium.  And, I was stunned when at the annual California of Realtors Expo this year, Executive VP Joel Singer showed a slide that indicated that only 5% of California Realtors were utilizing Facebook as part of their business. What a missed opportunity! 

As you get ready to do your business and marketing plan for 2011, it is a great time to think about how to fold Facebook into your overall marketing strategy.  To do that, you have to first understand the variatey of tools that Facebook offers. Check out this road map I created to illustrate the options (a full description of each tool is articulated in the post this chart first appears in - Facebook Foundations: Facebook's Marketing Tools Explained):

As you can see, there are a lot of options on how to market yourself on Facebook. Of all of these tools, I find agents most commonly confused about the difference between profiles and official pages (aka fan or business pages).  It is an important distinction to understand as the terms of service are different for each Facebook product, and as a result, the strategies for marketing success vary dramatically. 

Facebook Profile:

In general, when you sign up for a Facebook account, you receive a Facebook profile.  Profiles are designed to be personal to you and representative of an individual (not a brand).  It is against the terms of service to have more than one profile.  And, it is against the terms of service to use your profile for commercial gain.  This means, NO listings on your profile wall.  Not only is posting listings on your profile against the terms of service, it is not an effective way to promote or sell property.  Think about it...is anyone at all looking for a house on Facebook?  They are not connected to you on Facebook to receive ads or hear about your listings.  They are connected to you on Facebook because it is YOU.  Your communication on your profile wall should be reflective of that.

Facebook Page:

In contrast, an official page is a Facebook tool that is explicitly to be used for commercial gain.  It is separate from your profile and you are allowed to create one, or many pages.  Official pages are a perfectly legitimate place to post your listings within the Facebook terms of service.  They can also be an effective way to separate your personal life from your professional one, as the connections you make on a Facebook page are separate from those who are your Facebook friends. Strategies for successfully marketing yourself and your business with Facebook pages vary dramatically and you need to have a clear strategy to have success.  Is the focus of your page your community (like the very popular 365 Things to Do in "x" Community pages that I've written about before)?  Is the focus of your page your brand (either your name or your real estate brand name?)  Is the focus of your page a niche market (such as seniors or condo living)?  To be effective, you need to pick a focus and a strategy for your page. You also need to understand how pages interact with those who like your page.  It is very different from how you can interact with friends on your profile.  For a full explanation of the differences between the two, check out this post on Facebook Foundations:  Profiles vs. Pages which includes a details comparison between the two and a chart which summarizes the major differences.

As you can see, Facebook is a complex and rich marketing platform.  There is a myriad of ways to grow your business with this increasingly important tool.  Now is the time to start understanding Facebook as a marketer so you can be putting the power of the worlds largest social network to work for you in 2011.

I've just returned from speaking at RE BlogWorld where I (and Ricardo Bueno) presented on Innovative Real Estate Blogs and Their Secret Plugins.  In the presentation, we highlighted 27 real estate blogs, all built in Wordpress, that serve as great examples for real estate agents as well as mortgage, title, and escrow professionals to model their web presence after.

The websites illustrate the leading real estate themes (I advocate agents go with a premium theme if they want to do it themselves...the investment is well worth it in terms of support forums and ongoing development invested in the theme as Wordpress evolves), the leading listing and IDX plugins, integration of your blog with social media sites, lead capture plugins, and a few additional ideas we just thought were clever.  We also covered several analytics programs (in addition to Google Analytics) that are great for real estate professionals to be aware of.

In addition to the presentation that is embedded below, on my Harmon Enterprises website, I have a post which includes links to all of the websites referenced, as well as links to the developers (if I was able to uncover who they were) that are responsible for the sites.

I wanted to invite you all to RE BarCamp Orange County!  Hard to believe that our event is next week (August 19th, 2010).  If you are a Realtor in Southern California, you won't want to miss it.  We've got a great venue at UC Irvine, an outstanding group of active participants (including some Active Rain regulars such as Jeff Dowler), and a generous group of sponsors who have made it possible for you to attend for free! 

Are you unfamiliar with RE BarCamp?  If so, check out our event website for further details which includes this description of the gathering:

RE BarCamp is often described as an informal gathering of like minded people. Others refer to it as an “un-conference”. In the case of RE BarCamp OC, we will gather to discuss how technology and social media can benefit our real estate business. There is no set agenda or schedule for the day (this makes a lot of RE BarCamp “newbies” uncomfortable…if this is you, see the next paragraph). The sessions get determined the day of by the attendees who show up for the event. This ensures that the conversations at RE BarCamp are around topics that are of interest to the attendees. RE BarCamps have also historically pulled a lot of innovative real estate professionals – the movers and shakers of the space – you know, people who are trying and doing really interesting things. The networking alone makes the day rewarding. In addition, session are sometimes great, even outstanding. Sessions are also sometimes not so great. It’s all up to the attendees and their active participation in the day. We’ve been successful in securing enough sponsorship to make this event free to attend. The culture of RE BarCamp is that it is a vendor pitch free zone and this is expressed to event sponsors prior to accepting their sponsorship commitment. This is a key element in facilitating great discussions amongst attendees who don’t have to sit through hours of sponsor sales pitches in the midst of the days content.

Here are the event specs.  Be sure to RSVP and please help us spread the word.  Look forward to seeing you there!

When:  Thursday, August 19, 2010

Time:  Registration opens at 8:00.  Last session ends at 4:15.  Happy Hour after that.

Where:  UC Irvine Student Center

Cost:  Free

Registration:  You must RSVP here.

Event Website & All The Details You Need to Know:  www.REBarCampOC.com

At the recent Inman Real Estate Connect Conference in San Francisco, Wordpress continued to gain visibility as the modern platform for real estate websites.  A full half day workshop was dedicated to the platform and it's use in the real estate space.  Over at Agent Applause, I'm continually on the look out for great examples of Realtor websites built on the wordpress platform and a recent post highlighted Realtor Amanda McMillian's Chicago Home Partner's Website as a great example.  I've also highlighted the Good Life Team's wordpress website which is the online foundation for Krisstina Wise's brokerage and is part of the package that warranted her group a 2010 Inman Innovator Award. 

It seems fair to say that Wordpress isn't going anywhere as a development platform for real estate.  I advocate it for agents, even if they aren't interested in blogging.  Wordpress allows Realtors to set up sites that look like websites, de-emphasize the blogging portion of the site, and still maintain a customized look and the flexibility of changing content quickly and without reliance on a developer. 

Check out this example from Glen Oaks Escrow - one on my Harmon Enterprises clients.  I project managed the building of their new corporate website, which is built in Wordpress.  Although we pulled in the blog element onto the home page, the majority of the site appears to be a static website, worthy of representing the corporate presence of the company.  Yet because it is built in Wordpress, their is an inherent flexibility in the site that allows for the company to change page content, update employee information, and post new pages as the business grows or chooses to emphasize different areas of expertise. 

Realtors have the same opportunities with Wordpress.  For 32 great examples of Real Estate Wordpress sites, check out this post which gives screenshots and URLs for some great examples for Realtors to model their sites after.  I'll be updating the presentation soon with additional examples.  Stay tuned for an announcement soon.  Do you have a great real estate site, or know of one, that is built on Wordpress?  Let me know - I'd love to see it!

Having been an active Realtor at Surterre Properties in Newport Beach I was familiar with the innovative Best Buys Program that the brokerage initiated several years back.  But, it was the gorgeous design of the email that arrived in my inbox (pictured below) that promted me to craft the lastest post on the program over at Agent Applause.  

In terms of real estate marketing, Surterre Properties produces some of the best I have ever seen. And, although the design of this campaign is noteworthy, it only enhances a program that at it's core is providing information (aka content) that is meaningful to its consumers. I critique the program in detail here at AgentApplause.com.  Check it out for further details on some spectacular visuals, and a brokerage level marketing program that can increase the sales rate of properties. The Best Buys program is a very well executed campagin by Surterre Properties, and one that is definitely worthy of Agent Applause.

Realtor Dale Chumbley started his Facebook Fan Page on February 17th, 2010.  Today is March 4, 2010.  That means in 16 days, Dale has managed to attract 7,060 fans (as of this moment) to his Facebook fan page.  Amazing!  And the growth does not seem to be slowing.  I wrote a post on his strategy this week and at the time, he was just at 6,000 fans.  In the time it took to write the post and get it up (3 days) he had added another 1,000 fans.  Clearly he is doing something right.  I think Dale has perfectly executed many of the elements of social media marketing.  First, he is providing content of value to his audience (it has to start there).  Then, he is not selling himself.  Instead, he is positioning (and branding) himself as a local area expert - a very good thing for a Realtor to be perceived as.  Third, he gives his audience a way to learn more about it if they are interested in what he is providing.  And he puts all this together on a platform that has 400M+ active users.  So smart!  I give a detailed analysis of what I think Dale has done right over here at Agent Applause.  Check it out and let me know what you think of Dale's strategy.

The second I saw Kathy Sperl-Bell's website ActiveAdultsDeaware.com I knew it was a brilliant example of modern agent niche marketing.  The focus of her website is outstanding and speaks so clearly to her consumer.  I critique her site further in my article Realtor Blog Reflects Outstanding Niche Marketing.  What I didn't mention in the post that I think is so relevant, particularly to the Active Rain Realtor crowd, is how effective her site executes on the promise that web 2.0 strategies can help you to attract the type of consumer to you that you WANT to work with.  No doubt about it, her site is attractive to the baby boomer crowd.  The focus of her site is laser sharp.  I think this is important for Realtor bloggers to keep in mind.  Your focus doesn't have to be a lifestyle niche (maybe you are a geographic farmer, for example), but how sharply is your blog focused?  Do you cover a region, a city, or a neighborhood?  What is your best chance of articulating significant expertise?  I'd wager that the answer for most of you is that the smaller your blog focus, the greater the opportunity for you to stand out as an expert...just as Kathy has done with her site.  I've never talked to her, but I'm clear that she knows her stuff, just by looking at her site.  Seems good marketing to me.