Feb 26

Proofread Your Real Estate Ads, OR Not …

Proofread_BWSo yesterday I came across a post in my Google Reader from Agent Genius that brought a smile, “Pictureass Setting” Sales pitch strikeouts and MLS fouls”, by Gwen Banta.  Gwen is a real estate professional at Sotheby’s International Realty “on the world famous Sunset Strip” and among other successes, she also blogs for AG, Active Rain, and on her own blog Sherlock of Homes.  In her “Pictureass …” blog post she shares some very humorous “typos” found in real estate ads and property descriptions found in the MLS.  The typos are funny, but Gwen’s comments that follow each one are where the humor of her post hits home.

Wondering if this was just a one-time type of post, I scrolled down and found Continue reading

Feb 10

5 Ways Facebook Lists Can Save You Time

clock_ListsSaveTimeAre you interested in becoming better organized and more effective in using facebook to promote your real estate business?  With the average user having 125 to 150 “friends” (and top agents, way more!), as a real estate professional, if you’re not using Lists, then you’re not only missing an opportunity to use facebook to connect with your most important prospects, but you’re also having to spend more time than needed to really target your message.

So maybe you started on facebook to connect with family and friends, but now you’ve realized that it enables you to connect with prospects, clients, colleagues … well, just about anyone, too.  I’m sure you’ve also noticed that it enables you to get to know more about your connections, and likewise for them to get to know more about you … and we all love to do business with and connect with people we know, like, and trust.

WHY?

So why a post about facebook lists?  Aren’t there a “million” of them?  Continue reading

Feb 08

What I didn’t know about LinkedIn and Profile View

linkedinSo my first foray into the world of social media was on LinkedIn, and while I would occasionally get or send an invitation to connect or reach out to one of my connections to ask a question, I’d have to say that my involvement was limited.  I might even go for a couple of months, and never sign in.

Lately, though, especially when I’m working with my clients and business partners, I’ve been thinking about the phrase “facebook, twitter, and linkedin”, and how I might help my business partners promote their real estate business.

Just the other day, I was listening to a podcast by Real-Tech Guy wherein his guest was Mike Bowler, an “Inman Top 50 Most Influential Online”, talked about how he utilizes the three platforms, but in different ways …  And it hit me … Continue reading

Jan 18

Enhance Your Power to Connect–PingTags with QR Code

PingTagIt’s no doubt that one of the highest and best uses for QR Codes is providing contact information.  Whether it’s on: your business card (front or back), in print (like a brochure, open house flyer, or post card), or on your web site or blog, QR Codes provide a convenient and efficient way to share your contact information.

Now comes PingTabs “… a scannable, clickable, trackable way to connect your business card with LinkedIn.” 

When a user scans your PingTabs generated QR Code they’re taken to a mobilized page (If you using QR Codes, please send the user to a mobilized page) that displays your “Summary” from LinkedIn and an option to connect via LinkedIn.  It also provides links to your email address and phone, so that with a single click you can send an email or make a call, all without needing to key anything, other than the message the body of your email message.

If you haven’t already used your smart phone to check out the QR Code above, … Continue reading

Jan 09

An Opportunity to Listen to Two Experts in Influencing

Roberto_Kevin2

Having great presentation skills … being a master presenter enables you to be more effective at conveying ideas and recommendations and communicating with others.  Knowing how to influence others to take action that’s in their best interest …  now that’s a skill that will make every presenter more effective.

Here’s an opportunity to listen to two of the biggest names in influence teaching, Roberto Monaco and Kevin Hogan … just Google “Influence expert”.

In early October 2010, I had the opportunity to spend three days at a retreat where Roberto was one of the presenters.   This guy ROCKS!  He’s a master trainer, coach, and one of the founders of InfluenceOlogy, Roberto was #1 for sales and revenue for six years, while working for Anthony Robbins.  He’s conducted thousands of presentations on sales, influence and Continue reading

Jan 03

Getting Your Blog, Facebook Page, or Site Visitors To Take Action–List Building

funnelSo, yesterday, I was working on my new WordPress blog and came to the cold realization that I haven’t posted in over one month.  OUCH!  I do apologize …  Now I have good reason … but you don’t want to listen to my excuses, do you?  What I can tell you though, is that I’ve been working on many things; one of which is a new site for this blog.   Through the processes of selecting a service to host my site, selecting and purchasing my first domain name, and launching WordPress, there’s a fair amount of time and labor involved … BUT there’s also huge benefits, which I’ll be sharing soon.  Enough said … so with that, here’s my first post of 2011.

So why do you want people to take action when they visit your blog, facebook page or web site? Continue reading

Nov 30

Box.net’s Mobile App ROCKS!

boxdroid_photoAnother online storage and sharing option is Box.net.  While it doesn’t offer the sync and back-up features like Dropbox does in its free version, it does offer 5GB of storage FREE (sync and more are available for paid accounts).  They’re both great tools to have at your disposal, and they make it incredibly convenient for sharing files.  No longer do you need to carry around a USB, unless for some reason, you’re not going to have connectivity to the net.

What I really like about Box.net, in addition to the FREE 5GB of storage is a killer feature that they’ve added to their mobile app.  Not only can you download, upload, attach to email and view files from your Box.net account on your smartphone, but you can also use a feature that will enable you to take a photo or shoot video and automatically upload it to your Box.net account.

I tested it out on my HTC droid. In fact the photo above was taken using my HTC and automatically uploaded to my Box.net account.  Think about it … Continue reading

Nov 29

Dropbox: Sharing, Syncing, and Automated Back-up

Dropbox
(Here’s a tool that you’ll want to have and I’ve added a special BONUS @ the end)

If you haven’t already done so, get your FREE 2GB Dropbox account and STOP:

  • Emailing file attachments, especially ones to yourself
  • Using sneaker net (using a USB drive to move files between computers)
  • Renaming files for version history (Dropbox can be configured to do it for you automatically)
  • … or BEGIN … backing up your critical files

Want to know more ….

File Sync – in addition to syncing files across your computers, Dropbox enables you to work offline and your changes sync once you reconnect.

File Sharing – share files, photos, and/or folders with those you choose to allow access.

Backup – automatically backup your files with the ability to restore previous versions & 30 days of “undo”.

Web Access – enables access from any computer or mobile device and includes a summary of activity in your Dropbox account.

Security & Privacy – file transmission uses SSL and stored files are encrypted.  Your shared files are only viewable by those you’ve provided with the link.

Mobile – they even have free mobile applications for iPhone & Pad, Android, and Blackberry with my favorite feature being the ability to take photos and videos and sync them to your Dropbox.

So here’s the BONUS!  Just follow this link, http://db.tt/1ouAHEP, and get an extra 250 MB of free space … for a total 2.25 GB.

Nov 16

QRcodes – What type will you choose to use?

How2ReachMe

So I was catching a Tech Savvy Agent webinar yesterday morning and saw that another participant, Todd Schroth (teamschroth), who is definitely a tech savvy agent, sporting a QR Code for his profile pic. 

I fired a note to him telling him I was writing an article about QRcodes ,asking if he’d share how he’s using them. He responded saying, “…email signature, now, and … on all marketing material come the first of the year.”  Thanks, Todd.  After writing back, I realized that I’d written the first in a series of articles about QRcodes and decided to share my response below.

Todd,

Thanks so much for your feedback.  It is amazing how limited QRcode use is in the US, but probably like you, I suspect the growth in their use will escalate.  Heck, most everyone is replacing their older mobile phones with smart phones that have cameras and internet connectivity. 

One of the things that I’ve discovered is that there are basically two types of codes: one that has all the information in the code; and the other that doesn’t; but instead routes the user to a server that holds the data.  Not a big deal, unless the business that hosts the server exits the business or the server goes down.  I’ve read recently where some users are routing the code to a domain name they own, which of course can then be redirected anywhere … Lesson being that before you place the “server type” QRcodes on signs, riders, or printed material,
be sure you’re comfortable with who owns/controls the server.

I’ve come across a couple of players that provide tracking, as in where geographically the code was scanned, but I have a little more digging to do before I can understand the issues.

One item in particular that using QRcodes really brings home is how many sites are not mobile enabled.  Yes, a smartphone let’s the user pinch or expand the screen with their fingers, but it’s not as good a user experience as when it’s mobile enabled. 

There’s a cool tool that Google has that allows you to display any site in mobile format.  The link is http://google.com/gwt/n.  Bookmark the site on your phone.  Whenever you visit a site that’s not enabled, just paste the site’s URL in the form and hit go.  I like the “Hide Images” option, as some sites are best viewed on mobile phones without images … much faster loads.

Thanks again for your feed back.  If you’d like to catch my blog article when it’s posted (I’ll probably do a series … heck I think I just wrote one to you ;D), check out my blog, RE Marketing Exchange and/or you can find my FB Page @ www.facebook.com/REMarketingExchange .

Paul

Nov 15

A Message For Real Estate Agents Who Blog And Don’t Know How To Get Content

RE_blogging_BW
Are you struggling to write articles for your blog?

When you hear statistics like, “98% of agents don’t blog regularly.”, you ask yourself, how is that possible?  You know they want to stay “top of mind”, yet how often have you visited someone’s blog only to see that the last post was three months ago, last year, even two years ago?  If you want to have your subscribers, “lurkers” and clients visiting your blog, you’ll want to keep your blog updated … and it’s easy to do if you’ll follow a time table and post regularly.

“OK, Paul, but, I’ve noticed that you’re not the most regular blogger on RE Marketing Exchange, either.”  Well, that’s true, but I’m working on it … recognizing your short comings is the first step to improvement, yes?

So I want to share with you a system that was shared with me.

One evening last week, I was working on my social media planning and remembered a very informative webinar that Suzanne Roy and Chris Smith from Tech Savvy Agent gave on blogging, Strategic WordPress Real Estate Blogging.  If you’re new to blogging or just want to do a refresher on the ins and outs of setting up and running a successful blog, I’d highly recommend your watching it.

That being said, Suzanne offered a very simple strategy for creating content … writing your blog:

  • Week 1 – Write an article about a particular community or neighborhood that’s in your market area.
  • Week 2 – Write an article about a specific attraction or event in your area.  Hey it could be one that’s upcoming (you could even use your photos from last year’s if it’s an annual event) or one that you recently attended.
  • Week 3 – Write about a business or restaurant in your market. Let the owner know and ask if they’d like to offer a special discount for your readers.
  • Week 4 – Write an article about a particular real estate market statistic in your market area … and keep it positive.  No one wants to read gloom and doom … enough said.

So there you have it.  Could it be any easier … well, yes, in fact it could.

I have an offer for you.  I’ll even go so far as to send you a tip of the week.  It’s already written and all you need to do is put your name on it … or better yet, use it to create a short video to post to your blog and boost your search engine ranking (…they love video).  Interested? 

Here’s how … just enter your email address in the form on the right panel to get free updates from RE Marketing Exchange and post a comment below.  If you follow Suzanne’s suggestion, and take me up on my free offer, you’ll have all the content you’ll need.