Posting your blog on Activerain may seem fruitless to some, but it can make you appear to be really tech-savvy without much effort.
How you ask? Well, what makes you look technologically more advanced than your fellow REALTORS®? Is it that you have a really cool website with lots of bells and whistles? Maybe it is that you are a prolific blogger. Is your blog on your website? Are your blogs on Facebook? Do you Tweet? Are you photographing your area and putting that out on a photo website? Do you Skype with your clients out of the area? Do you use a virtual tour? Does your virtual tour automatically post to YouTube?
You can accomplish all of this with the built-in resources on Activerain and a few other easy steps.
First, all of it is pretty easy, and if you follow the step-by-step methods listed below, you can do it too.
On Facebook you can go to your accounts page at the bottom of the page, you can click on YouTube under ‘Other Apps.' Also, I use Tour Factory for my virtual tours. So, I have also checked TourFactory Agent's Featured Listings. This brings these features to everyone of my ‘friends' on Facebook. You can also add the Realtor.com app to display your listings.
To add your Activerain blog to Facebook go to your home page and click ‘Notes' on the left. Click ‘+ Write a Note' at the top of the page. Press ‘My Notes' on the left side of the page. Below that a ‘Subscribe' column will appear. Click ‘Edit Import Settings' and you can paste or type your RSS feed from Activerain. Mine is http://activerain.com/blogs/gpltlc/rss. Your blog will look something like this: http://activerain.com/blogs/blogname/rss. Once it is in place, every time you blog, your article/pictures/listing will automatically be updated. You don't have to do a thing!
This is not only good for use on Facebook. You can also use your blog on your website. There are many RSS Feed Readers. Here is one that is easy and customizable to place on your website: http://www.blastcasta.com/add-news-to-your-website.aspx. BlastCasta can also be used with Twitter. Once you fill out the form, the HTML code is automatically generated, and your webmaster can place it in your website, or you can do it yourself with any web authoring software. Once it is in place, every time you blog, your article/pictures/listing will automatically be updated. You don't have to do a thing!
Do You Tweet
Twitter is a way for people to find out more about a place using mobile technology. Almost any smart phone can have a Twitter app, and while it has been the domain of younger buyers, it has become more universal in use. In a resort area like ours, it is one way that potential buyers can find you. Since I am constantly posting pictures and articles about our area, young professionals realize that I am in touch with what is going on in my area. In fact, I made a $750,000 waterfront sale in October by my web presence and Tweeting.
To automatically post your blog on Twitter, log in to Activerain and click on ‘Settings' on the left side of your home page. About halfway down you can put in your Twitter name and password and from here on all of your blogs will be posted on Twitter. Once it is in place, every time you blog, your article/pictures/listing will automatically be updated. You don't have to do a thing!
You have to set up a Twitter account, but it is just another way to get your name out there. Best of all, it is free, and it makes you look like you are as up-to-date as a techno wiz. Currently, I have 49 people following me on Twitter.
Good Photography that also shows up in Google Image Searches
So, you have the best camera and you still are hiring professional photographers to shoot your listings.
Here are just a few hints:
•1. Get the widest angle camera lens you can afford. Wider angles allow you to take a picture of the whole room rather than just parts. I use the Kodak z980. It takes 12 megapixel pictures and can film in 1080p, plus its lens goes from a very wide 26 mm to 624 mm (35 mm equiv.) using a f/2.8-5.0 SCHNEIDER-KREUZNACH VARIOGON Lens. All for under $400.00. When I bought it, no other camera had as wide an angle with high-def video built in.
•2. Take pictures of everything. Then post the best on Activerain. The strength of Activerain means that if you label each pic, when searches are done on Google Images your pictures will appear high up in the search, with links back to your Activerain page. People often click on to the website to see where the picture comes from, and that leads back to you. When buyers are considering an area, this is one way they check out the lay of the land, and it might net you a client.
•3. Putting the pictures on Flickr or some other photo sharing website will not have the same outcome. They simply can't find your info as easily.
•4. Use any photo software to resize the pictures down to 800 pixels wide before you post them on Activerain. This saves lots of upload time, and you insure that the pictures are done to your standards.
•5. If you resize the pictures, photoshop them by using at least the automatic features to clean up the contrast, brightness, color, and sharpness.
•6. Finally, put your pictures on a photo sharing website like Flickr. You will find that people can get in touch with you this way too.
Skype with your Clients
If you are not using Skype, you are in the dark ages. Skype (pronounced /ˈskaɪp/) is a software application that allows users to make voice calls over the Internet. Calls to other users within the Skype service are free, while calls to both traditional landline telephones and mobile phones can be made for a fee using a debit-based user account system. Skype has also become popular for its additional features which include instant messaging, file transfer, and video conferencing. The network is operated by Skype Limited, which has its headquarters in Luxembourg and is partly owned by eBay.
The best feature of Skype is that it allows you to speak with your client face-to-face. While many if not most of your clients will be in the area, many are also moving to your area from someplace else. Where our market is located, in a rural, resort region, virtually all move here from some other place.
The second best thing about Skype is that the video conferencing feature is free! All your clients have to do is download the program. Here is link for that download: http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/get-skype/on-your-computer/windows/
You can place an automatic link for clients to click right through to you on your website. I have an example on my site at www.SandpointID.net
In my this blog I talk about a listing that I did just last night using Skype and how to put it on your website, plus how it can work for you, even on your smart phone.
Use Virtual Tours to your best Advantage
We use Tour Factory, and it is an awesome site. It automatically posts your listings on many websites and in all kinds of places. Many virtual tour websites do this. They allow you to make flyers, and other great features. The one that Tour Factory offers that is very cool, though lower quality than we now aspire to, is posting automatically to YouTube.
In these technological times, if your listings are not on YouTube, you are in the past. To be sure, we often create better videos, and then have more than one vid on YouTube. Still, it is very nice that the program can automatically create a slick video out of your existing still pictures, then post them on what has become the most viewed site on the web.
Use Craigslist to post your listings
Once, I had my assistant post our listings on Craigslist. We had to individually upload the pictures, and create the posting lingo. Then we would post them in different cities. While Craigslist will not allow multiple city postings, you can delete one and put it in another city. It was moderately time-consuming. Tour Factory automatically posts to our local Craigslist with a much nicer presentation than we used to post.
What is even better is that you can show your clients that you have done all of these things to get their homes sold. It shows you are doing everything possible to better represent them.
While it may sound simple when explained, going through the process was a journey. We had our weekly training and meeting at Tomlinson Sandpoint Sotheby's International Realty this morning. Educating ourselves is paramount to best serve our clients, ourselves, and our community. I offer this info because I am working on the next level to become a better agent.
I hope these tips have helped you to realize that it is not as difficult as you might have thought to be up-to-date in delivering your listings to the public, and being a tech-savvy REALTOR®.
Gary Lirette, featured in Where To Retire magazine and host of the Tuesday noon local radio shows: North Idaho Business as well as North Idaho Arts.
E-mail Gary or call 208-610-1384
Read Gary's Blogs
Tomlinson Sandpoint Sotheby's International Realty
200 Main Street
Sandpoint, Idaho
208-255-3474
www.SandpointID.net - To learn all about Sandpoint and North Idaho
www.RealtySandpoint.com - For Sandpoint Realty
www.SkiSchweitzer.net - To visit Schweitzer Mountain's Community Web
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