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Twitter - Facebook - blogs. When do we have time to work?

Ok, I am really trying to get a handle on all of this. I have 2 teenage kids and texting is all the rage. I keep saying 'just call them and get it over with". I'm still using a 'Razor' cell phone but I'm feeling the pressure of having to get a BB. Working the Mississauga market keeps me busy but I enjoy my down time. Once I get the B.B. and everyone knows I have it, when is my time mine. Do I need to 'ON' all the time? I'll deal with it but here's one I'm not understanding. I signed up for facebook a few years back. Kind of cool and fun (for a while). Now I need to 'Twitter'. Apparently millions of people really want to know what I'm doing right NOW! REALLY? Do you really want to know that I am sitting in my living room in my undies watching the news writing a blog about me in my undies writing a blog watching the news? How is this important?

So I'm reading some Tweets on Twitter. I have no idea WTF they are talking about! My kids explained what WTF means. Some girl Tweets that she is on her way to Square 1. (Mississauga's biggest Mall). Is it impolite to Tweet back - 'who cares'? So I find myself trying to figure it out. What happened to my facebook followers, after all they were here first! So I write something on facebook. Well what about Active rain buddies? Can't leave them out. What about my website blogs, can't neglect that, what about my door knocking routine, my advertising, my Open Houses, my follow ups, my mastermind meetings, my office meetings, agent's visits, virtual tour set ups, internet leads...bla bla bla. I don't have enough time to do anything with my Mississauga clients 'cause I'm too busy Tweeting. What's next? All I know is...if you don't keep up...you're OUT!

Chirp,Chirp,Chirp

Paul Cutajar - Mississauga Real Estate

www.movewithpaul.com

Posted by Paul Cutajar on 10/12/2009 10:53 PM

Comments (78)

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78 Comments on Twitter - Facebook - blogs. When do we have time to work?

OCT

Wait, what do you mean....this isn't work? Hold on, my BB is buzzing, gota go...

People like me want to know you're tweeting in your underwear!

Try getting an I-Phone. Then they expect even more from you because it's so easy to check your email - even reply to AR comments! Yikes!

Hi Paul -

I know what you mean. With fax machines, smart phones and everything, I feel like I'm always "on the clock".

It's a big mess - some of it helpful, much of it a waste of time. Hope you find your niche.

OCT

I think it is fun--- and hope that it will help the biz too! It is true that we end up doing what we like-- alot more than stuff we don't. So--- keep on blogging, facebooking, tweeting--- and be glad you can reach all those people sitting in your undies!! :)

Good one. Welcome to 2009. Hard to imagine how life will change in 2 more yrs.

Paul, That was way too much wardrobe information. So what am I doing up at five a.m.? Just trying to stay ahead of the curve so I can get out there and actually have a live conversation this a.m. I know I gotta do all this stuff. Sleep is highly overrated, anyway.

Paul, You know you love it. Just buy the phone and do the time, LOL.

OCT

You can find tools our there that can make your job of keeping everyone up to date very easily try it out at www.ping.fm

you can link your facebook account, twitter account and many many many other accounts in one place and send out your status to all of them with one click.

That's brilliant Roch. I will definitely look into that. Cheers. Paul

OCT

Paul, just think of the satisfaction of knowing that you are so bleeding edge that your kids will never get away wih anything like we did when we were their age...While I'm sure they would never think to lie in their tweets you can always tweet from your BB that you are in the driveway and getting ready to check on their homework while you are miles away...keep 'em off balance...fight fire with fire...

Paul, I was just thinking the other day - oh that was yesterday - that in a 40 hour work week I think I have about 100 hours of "systems" that need attentionl... blogging, websites, flyers, newsletters, twitter, facebook, ActiveRain, monthly statistics reports, board of realtors luncheons, WCR programs, MLS committee, Education committee, video marketing, etc. Except for the underware part, you dittoed what I was thinking.

Paul:

It is so true. It can be pretty overwhelming. You just have to sort out which things work for you and which do not. It is not easy, but you simply cannot do all of them.

The easy way to handle this is to have all bundled so that when you post on one you post on all the others. There is no way I could take time to post on every site individually!

Amen to that, brother! I feel the same way...but I do appreciate Kathy's comment (#6) that we end up doing what we like a lot more than what we don't like. For me, I love the Rain, have no interest in tweeting and only occasionally face Facebook. Yeah, I know, I know -- I'm missing out on sooooooo many opportunities...but I need to have a life too people! A real, face-to-face life!

Tanya in Montreal

I make the time, I take my video camera with me everywhere. I do it on my phone and I keep a pad of paper with me every where or darn near every where.

Dave

Ya gotta keep up!

BB's have an on/off switch

At least mine has the switch and it actually works!

Great blog Paul. I think Twitter is nothing more than a fad. When there's constant media satire, you know it probably doesn't have staying power. My Space, for kids. Facebook, maybe here to stay. Everything else will be just like your Razor! :)

Paul, You are so right. Just by looking at the times that everyone posts comments reinforces that this is now, more than ever, a 24/7 business.

True, true, and still only 24 hours in 1 day.... oh well ~ Brad

Just say NO. Perhaps that is true for some of the things in our business. I agree that a hard working real estate agent does not have time to do all of those things with diligence. Good blog.

They are all just systems and you have to find the one or ones that work for you. Find that system and reach out to another audience that may have an interest. You can't do it all or keep adding just to add. Lock in and use to your advantage

Hi Paul. I too am in the stone ages of phones.

Shopping for an Iphone/BB so I can get with the program.

Keep doing what is fun, the line of business and social blends.

Good luck and thanks for writing,

Ken

Giggling at this! HAHAHA! Remember that the best technology is what you will use. That still holds true. If you don't want to be anywhere you don't have to. Whatever works.

I don't care about half the Tweets I read either ~ but the good ones are valuable...

I'm on my 3rd BB and you will never go back...even when you drop one in the pool...haha

Seriously, PDA smartphones do make our jobs easier.

Twitter is simply a tool. The whole point of social media is to connect with your clients, colleagues, friends and family in a way that THEY are most comfortable with. It's also to be "found". If you want Gen X and Y buyers you need to be where they are, and they're there. But you use the tool the way it works best for you.

Tweet about life and business, in such a way that the perfect client could find you, be intrigued by you and want to do business with you. If you want to attract clients that care if you're in your underwear then that's what you'd tweet. But if you want to be considered the highest authority on Mississauga real estate and the best realtor to work with there...then you would send out rather different messages accordingly.

The biggest advantage to Twitter is that you can send out messages multiple times a day, and if you did that via email people would drop you faster that a falling safe!

I understand where you are, but I finally bit the bullet and got a BB - only after my buyer's agent husband gave me one to just "use" and see if I liked it.....now I would not be without it, makes my life easier. I do find Actie Rain and LinkedIn beneficial but on Face Book, I just accept friends and I do have a Twitter account, but have no clue what to do with it....I perfer to socialize face to face. Please feel free to stop by and visit if you are even on The Outer Banks of North Carolina!

I'm trying to get my mind around all of this too and I'm not sure when we became so important but the technology is here! New clients expect to find us on the internet... there are a few new websites that will link some of the stuff together so you can just update in one place. One of them is mentioned above "ping"? That's where I'm going next!

Typical useless stuff I used to read:

Sam just reached level X on Mafia Wars

Bobby just received an ugly duckling on his farm

Betty just vacuumed her rug

Who cares? !

I deleted my Facebook acct. and haven't logged on to Twitter in months and couldn't be happier.

I like to write a great answer to a question on Trulia, copy my answer and use it for an AR post, my post goes automatically to Twitter and Facebook. The power of doing four things, when I really only put some time into doing one.

I leave a note on FACEBOOK every day, especially having to do with the BIZ. If I am at an open house I invite people on Facebook to it and usually a few people show up. I TWEET every other day (when I remember). I am only on AR once in a while... we have to cut corners somewhere! :)

Paul, texting is sooo the rage! My father who's obviously a lot older than you says to me all the time..."pick up the phone and talk! I don't understand why you don't talk to people!" Social media marketing or whatever its called is the way of communication these days. They say...if your not doing it...you will lose business. I'm not so sure Twitter will ever bring me business because I think its kind of silly. Facebook I use to keep in touch with my SOI and drop an occasional update about real estate, a new listing, a link to my blog, etc. Texting is something I do everyday. I even have on my show instructions for my listings: courtesy call with my cell # or text me 2 hours before showing.

Your post did give me a chuckle...especially the part that your kids explained to you what "wtf" means! lol

This cracked me up and is exactly how I feel. If you are working all day, how do you have time to go on 10 different websites to post blog's. I also cant stand that people tell you exactly when they are brushing their teeth. Who cares, get a life! I can tell you that if you got to ping.fm, you can link alot of your different websites together and write a blog on there and it will feed to others. It is a great time saver.

Paul, I will say that between texting and email, it's covered the hours that used to be "off the clock" for sleeping perhaps? I came to your blog via Pat Kennedy's Week in Review - enjoyed. Thanks.

I thought WTF meant something bad - now I need to find a teenager and ask them what it means!

I stay busy in the real world selling real estate FIRST and then I blog and tweet as time allows. It's working out fine!

I know it is overwhelming but it is your biz so here what I will say.... Use 1 program to combat facebook and twitter and whatever else you want so it is not additional effort. It is in your hands how much you do or do not use it.

Absolutely buy BB, you will love it. It is not much harder. The advantage is you can read emails and know if you have something that needs your immediate attention and rest can wait. You do not have to constantly respond, you can choose. It is not really going to increase that much in how you use your phone, it is only going to give you better communication. Example, a buyer emailed you and wanted to info on their home search. Well now, maybe it will be hours before you check your email and now that buyer found another agent. Where as with the blackberry, you would have read the email as soon as it came in and responded right away so they did not need to go looking for another agent. Maybe one of your clients had an a need, you would see it and be quicker to respond and that bumps up your level of customer service. As the saying goes.... Just do it!!!

I have an appoitment with my facebook contact this afternoon to look for a house...Facebook is an excellent tool if you know how to use it. It'll save you hundreds of dollars on post cards.

Twitter is another opportunity to clutter and chip away at your free time...

Paul, I'm with you. It's bad enough that everyone can find you 24/7 on either your cell phone or email. I don't have kids at home, but even if I did, I would demand they call and not text. Call me antique, but by the time I get done tending to work, my husband, and having a life that somewhat resembles normal, I rarely have time for all the other high tech stuff. Active Rain is the one site I pay most attention to because it is centered around Real Estate. If you can't take the time to email or phone me direct, I probably don't have time for you.

I do not mind being available for my clients. But social networking takes a lot of time and I have to be selective. Generally I do not socialize on-line anymore. After work I want to get away from the computer.

Hi Paul,

There are a lot of great applications, like Roch mentioned, and Blogs on AR that can assist you on your streamline of events. You can Blog to one place and have it sent to multiple places; as well as your Tweets. Personally, I go on the Social Media Sites about once or twice per day and enter a few messages (usually a link to an interesting article, sharing some information, posting my blog or promoting one of my agent's listings. Like Activerain, it may take a little extra work, but it can be useful because you have a captive audience.

Best of luck,

Mike

It is all a matter and time and habit. I am now reading AR blogs every dayfor 30-60 minutes and going on facebook for about 10 minutes a day. I have yet to start using them properly to promote my business because I have to be ready and make the time.

Hi Paul - The key to social media is to time block and always have a focus. It can be very easy to lose an hour or two browsing on Facebook, but if you go into the site with the aim of updating your status, responding to friend requests, and adding a few photos, you should be finished in 10-15 minutes. And here's probably the most overlooked rule for all of this technology ... It's OK to unplug once in awhile!

Here's the problem Paul. People like yourself get told you "need" to be on Facebook, or you "need" to Tweet, or you "need" to be accessible all the time, you "need" to update your blog, etc. The truth is that you don't "need" to do any of these things.

If your business goals and marketing strategy to meet those goals don't necessistate the use of the above, then you don't need to use them. They are tools (albeit good ones) to do a job and there are other tools. Frankly, you may only use 1 of them, you may use all of them, it depends on what you're using them to accomplish. Most people miss that. They just think that "Being in the space" is what is important and nothing could be more false and a bigger waste of time.

For example, my marketing strategy is built around delivering value through skills development assistance and helping people with their base marketing strategies to ensure they avoid falsehoods about branding and social media usage. I use my blog to talk about these things. I send an email through a marketing system to get the message out to thousands of people. I Tweet about my blog updates on both of my Twitter accounts. My personal account is where I muse about things to get laughs, and my business account is where I update people on changes in the industry and in marketing. Our corporate facebook page shows my blog entries and I use my page to share the updates. I share blog updates via my LinkedIn page and direct people to that to see my recos and background. I peruse blogs and message boards fixing misconceptions and sharing info. All of this to drive traffic to my blog so people learn the value of Ryan and Voyage developing inbound calls of people that want to do business with a guy like me and company like mine that are focused on helping people associated with us meet their business goals.

My strategy has been working, but it's more focused on networking with people and showing people value. I just use these tools to share because my business is nationwide. If your business is local use the old school skills and get out there, shake some hands and make the connections face-to-face and use the social media to help you maintain these relationships and connections along with more face-to-face interaction. Real Estate and Mortgage sales is about having a network of people that know what you do and understand the value of "You" so when it comes time to sell their home, buy a home and need financing they think of you first. I talk about a lot of this stuff on my blog (http://voyagebranch.wordpress.com) and work hard to destroy the foolish notion of the necessity of social media tools. Sadly, most people have forgotten that the networking and "social" part is more important than the technology itself.

yes, It seems that by having twitter and facebook we have to work harder now. We cant just market. We have to post twitts and on facebook also. Favebook has been usful for me to re connect with old friends. I havnt obtained any clients. I have met many people who want to sell me something. I am hoping twitter goes away.

www.rocklinsacramento.com

OMG how funny. Great humor for a Monday morning. You are right though. I just got my BB and don't have a clue how to use it. No one can contact me. oh well.

Heh Paul: I am out here in Burlington (Ontario) basicall wondering the same thing.. How about ? in your "spare " time you sell my listing in Burlington. www.janetmstevens.com it is on there or try: MLS # H3022503.. Janet

I "timeblock" it(networking) into my day and then I'm finished! My off-time is MINE.... but I do answer/return phone calls! The Blackberry is coming soon, so I might be changing my ways! :(

Oh, yeah...WTF....I've been using that one quite a bit lately myself. The ole WTH just hasn't been doing the job.

Hilarious post and oh-so true; I'm trying to juggle it all, too.

Tweet you twirp. Good post with some funny stuff. I have to resist the urge to tweet back to that person going to the mall, because really .... who cares? That's my point too, who cares.

OK.... I quit! I was just saying that with all this technology it should make life easier, but somehow it just gets more complicated! Passwords??? I can't keep track, especially when they make you change to something you have never used. Now next time I won't remember that one!

Forget the twitter, it just seems like something totally unnecesary when i am already overwhelmed!

BRB - LOL

This is a great post...and that you can even put it out there is even better. I have it all, I do it all, and now I am starting to back away from a lot. Back to basics. GEEEZ. I even sleep 8 hours a night. Eat regular meals again. Starting to have a social life too, imagine that?

We all find whatever works for us. I want a life too. So I make time for my life...someimes that is really hard to do. But if i do not give my self some breaks, I am going to end up in a straight jacket, LOL!

FYI, WTF is very handy at times, glad we can all laugh about it!

Thanks for all the honest comments.

FYI, WTF is very handy at times, glad we can all laugh about it!

Thanks for all the honest comments.

You cannot be everything, to everyone, all of the time. I like Roxy's comment above "...now I'm startin to back away from a lot." I feel the same, there is a place and time for all of the technology, but for me it's not 24/7.

WOW! I thought it was just me! I certainly prefer the days of face to face contact. I will still drive across town to "sit down and talk" but having three teenagers at home I feel alot of pressure to keep up with the Tweeters, FBer's, IMer's.... I am trying to limit my electronics to Mon-Sat 9am-9pm...which is still 72 hours a week. However, if you don't pick up your cell 24/7 (including while you are in the shower)...OMG! Everyone panics...like the world is coming to an end!....Great blog! LMAO!

Hi Paul, You definitely need to upgrade from the Razor. I love my smart phone and how it syncs with my Outlook and MLS database. Reading your thoughts really made me smile. I want to share it with my IT office guy and say. "see, I 'm not the only one who is having trouble fitting in all this social tweeting stuff and still trying to do real estate!" So, here's "tweeting" back at you from South Florida!

With all the extra things we all have to do these days the next major scientific breakthrough will be when they come up with a 36 hour day. It still wouldn't be long enough.

I sometimes feel like I am glued to my office chair. I can never say I have nothing to do, there is always something. At 6pm I have to haul myself out of the chair to start dinner. If I am out of that room too early, I even get told "Go To Your Room!"

My kids don't care they have lives of their own now, young adults and all that but my Iphone goes ping all day long with their texts. What I want to know is can I get a hug by text?

So what is WTF? Oh well, Maybe I'll just "google" it. :-)

Free Time...what's that?

I'm a younger guy in this business and all the drifferent networking sites is endless.I say pick a few networks and stick to those. Personally i have facebook, active rain, myspace and linkedin. I really only use facebook and activerain. I keep a presence on the others but i just don't have the time,.If you try to keep up with every new site you will drive yourself nuts. The whole point is to stay intouch with your sphere and get some business.

Hey Paul...delightfully funny post! My big question is 'why are they following me?' How bored are they???? WTF!

Once I figure these out, I, too will look into Roch's suggestion on the www.ping.fm tool...but, then there it is, another tool to learn! Just can't win!

It is a lot and it is over whelming. I have no time for a relationship even though I'm in one. Just grateful he lives in another state.

The www.ping.fm solution sounds promising but what I might put on Facebook for friends I'm not likely to put on LinkedIn for business. Tweets I could see on Facebook. Active Rain is great to learn from. My Blogs are usually statical updates with the occasional humor thrown in or community information. None of it is regularly consistent.

If I volunteered less in the community I might have more time, BUT, I really enjoy the interaction and helping organizations grow.

I just keep telling myself that all of this is part of the journey and not the destination. Joy

Love your sarcastic wit! My humble opinion on the BB. It can HELP you. When I'm out showing property all day, I don't have to worry about checking emails when I'm done because I've kept up and know whether or not something important arrived. HOWEVER - DEFINITELY learn how to turn it off when or just say "No" when it's your time. I'm still working on that :-)

OMG (joke) I was just thinking the same thing. My problem is reading info on the latest re news that gets sent to my inbox all day long. It takes hours just to go through it all and my inbox is still filling up. Too scared I will miss something important to delete them though.

Paul,

People that text, Twitter, Facebook, etc understand you have to show houses, have meetings, volunteer, attend church, and more important spend time with family. That is why the BB and I Phone are so great, when you get back to them everything you missed is in one place.

To be successful in the 21st century we have to use all the tools available plus continue to stand behind sales and marketing ideas that have worked for generations.

My mother was a Realtor when I was a child, she would be on the phone for hours every night. I spend very little time on long conversations and seldom at night. I admit to spending time in the evening on the BB or lap top but it is quick and to the point (same reason for using text)!

For the person that says "pick up the phone and call them" (it is the new "turn down that radio" or "cut your hair" yelling from your parents). I will pick up the phone and call, but many times it is easier and quicker just to text. Going back to my first paragraph, when I am ready it is there in plain text and I can deal with it when I am ready.

My clients embrace the 21st century tools and so do I! BTW WTF is TMI on a blog! LOL

Listen to your kids...they will be buying homes soon...

OCT

There really isn't time for everything... and I keep thinking of new projects on top of what I already have going on.

So, I now discipline myself. Most of the time, anyway. I've almost quit going to Twitter because it isn't as interesting as it used to be (I think) and so much of it is just links to this or that. I don't like to follow links - I have Hughes Net so it takes forever.

As for Active Rain... I could stay here for hours, so now I don't read any blogs until AFTER dinner. Then I can play for a while before I get back to work. (Yep, I like to get back to work after the house gets quiet.)

Can't figure out the purpose of Facebook, but I intend to listen to the tele-seminar about LinkedIn tomorrow night to see if I can learn how to use that.

Ian Watt spoke at RE Barcamp Seattle and said "if you don't have internet presence you're retiring and you didn't even know it!!" Somehow, some way, we have to find the time to Tweet, FaceBook, Blog and so on and so on!!

It's hard to keep up with it all. It is like having many networks at the same time

I feel your pain!

I've been "Tweeting" for awhile now, but really think it's just too much noise. I know there are a lot of people out there who really enjoy it though. I like Facebook, but it too can be a real drain of time. Of course I enjoy keeping up with old friends from High School and College, but there's only so much time in the day. I think it'll be interesting to see where these sites (and new ones) are in 3 years.

OCT

ROFL! Just in case you don't know what that means, just ask your kids! = ) JK of course! Kathy's got the right idea. Time blocking. I have days when I really keep to it. I mean time blocking. And that is the most productive way. But then I get sucked in (like right now) and here I am typing this at 10:13 pm. Ugh! Why am I checking AR and fb and twitter at 10:13 at night?!

OCT

Paul I have a buddy that lives up in Mississauga and he embraces technology just like you, except his 2 year old facebook account still is missing a face :). When you are freezing in January come on down to Phoenix I will have plenty of clamato and beer! We holdFree Hands on workshops on integrating this technollogy into your day, and how to use it effectively http://www.mytitleguypaul.com has the schedule of classes, but we will do one on one with you

See ya in January

Paul Guenther

mytitleguypaul@gmail.com

Welcome to a typical day at the office in the 21st Century.

Funny Blog Paul. Everything is good in moderation. Used correctly, all of these things can bring you LOTS of Clients

OCT

Hey Paul - LOL!! Time management - Take 2 minutes and Tweet about going to your office meetings, Open Houses, an appointment,... Show potential clients just how busy you are. My Tweets get posted to Facebook automatically - so I don't have to rewrite and repeat. What I love about Twitter and Active Rain is learning from fellow Realtors and hearing about this career that I Love so much - isn't always easy. Definitely, I roller coaster ride. So, vent - share - learn,... Once a day or once a week - which ever your comfortable with! ~ Diana ~

OCT

Time blocking and set expectations with your clients. I haven't got it all figured out, but I did figure that out already.

OCT

Paul-

My dad used to tell me "Everything in moderation". I Blog and I Facebook yet I don't spend more than 2-3 hours per week doing it. I text in lieu of a phone call when the person is comfortable with texting. Same with e-mail....which actually saves me alot more time than a phone call and I can use the wee hours or late nights to catch up.

I think we all need to realize that technology is an adjunct to our business and one more tool to use... never in lieu of face-to-face contact.

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