Brian Copeland
By Brian Copeland
I recently attended a conference. I had six straight days of travel and one tiny bag to take me on the multiple city flights; so, I had no room for anything extra. At the end of each day, I found myself swimming in “SeatSPAM.” It wasn’t in my e-mail box, my Facebook inbox, or even my Twitter DM area. It was all over my chair, on the limited table space I had and EVEN sitting on my Mac keyboard after a bathroom break.
SeatSPAM is the tiny paper rulers, tons of cards, note pads and standard sheet fliers that are littered throughout almost every conference we all attend.
I know we have a comments section on this blog, so I really need your help. I simply do NOT understand. Here’s the picture. Every single table after the conference sat full of the SeatSPAM at the end of the day, the floor space below the tables were littered and the trash can audit revealed the death of an entire forest in rural America. Now, to make it even more confusing, every conference attendee’s information was clearly on the website, the social media sites, and even in a Google group.
Why do we feel so compelled to litter each other with our “crap?” I understand business cards, and I need to do better about carrying them. Shame on me!
When I arrived in New York City for Inman this week, I “came out” to a few friends about my disgust and lack of understand of this practice, and they agreed. It’s intriguing that as I audit the SeatSPAM, the average age of the culprits have an average age of roughly 48 to 60. At Inman, where the average age is easily in the mid-thirties, the only SeatSPAM you get is from the sponsoring vendor or conference owner. At max, I only received three pieces at Inman. Hmm?
YPNs obviously tend to stray from this practice, but if you are following anyone who participates in this practice, consider the actions you can complete to green-up your real-life conference networking experience.
1. Have your contact card complete on your Smartphone, including your photo with your city Photoshopped across the bottom.
2. Encourage the conference coordinator/speakers to create downloadable PDFs with all attendees info, as permitted.
3. Download the iPhone App “ForgetMeNot” to help you remember who you met, when and where.
4. Create moo mini business cards made from recycled paper with a personalized photo from Flickr of your city as your one hand-out. http://bit.ly/3ADeh5
5. Start a Twitter hastag for your event and spread the word to use them. Keep the discussion flowing.
6. Get on “foursquare” and network before, during and after while having some digital fun.
7. Get a MiFi, name your connection the equivalent to “@NashvilleBrian’s Free Connection.” When people open their phones and laptops, they’ll see you have connection available, free for them and grab a marketing opportunity.
You can follow Brian on Twitter: @NashvilleBrian
Brian Copeland is a REALTOR® in Nashville, Tenn. You can check out his websites at nashvilleandbeyond.com and brian-copeland.com.
Brian Copeland
By Brian Copeland
Since 99 percent of you will click on the following websites anyway, I’m not going to flatter myself with long narratives on these seven start-ups to watch for real estate applications in 2010. The following list was created from an Inman Connect NYC panel:
Pegshot.com: Allows you to share your location plus video and photos of exactly what’s going on. From the mind of the brilliant WellcomeMat guys.
Ipromote.com: For $5 a day, you can create a ton of classified online ads to promote everywhere.
Nabewise.com: Connects people with neighborhoods via attributes.
CloudCMA.com: Mixes glorious cloud computing with the CMA process, obviously by the name.
KWKLY.com: Text messaging for real estate…simplified.
Deedstreet.com: Twitteresque for real estate…pretty much.
Klout.com: Measures your social media influence. Amazing application: They are working with a Las Vegas hotel group. When you check-in, they get your Twitter name. Then, the hotel group checks your “klout” and treats your influence accordingly with things like free Cirque tickets.
Replace audience response hardware with Poll Everywhere
For more from Inman, follow Brian on Twitter: @NashvilleBrian
Brian Copeland is a REALTOR® in Nashville, Tenn. You can check out his websites at nashvilleandbeyond.com and brian-copeland.com.
Lincoln Crum
By Lincoln Crum
I recently closed a transaction that I had listed for 10 months. There were all kinds of difficulties with the transaction but we worked through them, one by one. My seller was out of state and was really good to work with, but towards the end was growing impatient. To say the least… as was I.
Once we got a month away from closing we ran into more challenges and I was afraid the deal would be dead more than once. Both my seller and I agreed to be relentless in our pursuit to get to the closing table. We spent quite a bit of time on the phone trying to make sure we were always on the same page. At the height of our frustration about three weeks before the closing, I was talking to the seller on the phone and we both hit our breaking point with the transaction. We took a brief pause, both realized that we were “over-analyzing” the situation and stopped thinking too much. Needless to say, the transaction became a lot more smooth after that realization.
I believe that we can “over-think” our real estate business sometimes. We’ve probably all been guilty of worrying about things that won’t happen. I’m a student from the school of thought that if you worry about something enough you may just make it come true. So, I practice the art every single day in my business of not driving myself crazy about things that are out of my control.
This specific transaction took longer than it should to get to the closing table because of market circumstance way beyond anyone’s control. My patience was tested more than once, but I didn’t let up. I made sure I was always positive in my approach with the seller and other agents involved. I take great pride in setting the tone from the beginning.
It all paid off for me last night when I opened an envelope from my seller. Inside the card was the sweetest note coupled with a $50 gift card to Outback. I don’t know how my seller knew that Outback is my favorite restaurant, let alone a bottle of Greg Norman Merlot and the Rockhampton Ribeye, but she did. Her note and the gift card meant as much to me as the commission, it’s nice to be appreciated.
Remember that we as agents have the opportunity along with the challenge of always setting the tone. If you approach every transaction with a good solid foundation of positivity, I’m convinced that you’ll lead the way and gain tons of respect from others in the real estate community, along with your own clients. You’ll be glad you did.
Lincoln Crum is REALTOR®, auctioneer, and entrepreneur based out of the Louisville, Ky. area. Lincoln can be found at www.ReachLincoln.com.
Brian Copeland
By Brian Copeland
From Inman’s Real Estate Connect NYC‘s morning session on Internet marketing, Gothamist.com blogger-owner Jake Dobkin shares the following:
Steps to Success:
Step 1: Produce Good Content
Step 2: Tell The Right People
Step 3: Measure Results
Step 4: Repeat
Jake reports that the real estate industry usually drops the ball at step three. He says if your blog is not seeing ROI or results STOP immediately and do something else. Sometimes, there is brilliance in knowing when to stop hitting your head against the wall.
For more from Inman, follow Brian on Twitter @NashvilleBrian
Brian Copeland is a REALTOR® in Nashville, Tenn. You can check out his websites at nashvilleandbeyond.com and brian-copeland.com.
By Katherine Tarbox, Senior Editor, REALTOR® Magazine
In 1999, former REALTOR® Magazine Senior Editor Robert Sharoff gave birth to the idea of showcasing talented real estate pros under the age of 30. Thousands of applications and hundreds of profiles later, the 30 Under 30 program is thriving.
The 2010 edition will mark the 10th anniversary for this feature. REALTOR® Magazine has been accepting applications for this program, and will until Jan. 31. Don’t miss your chance!
For the big anniversary, we’ve created a new application with more questions (though each answer needs to be under 750 characters). In the meantime, if you have any questions about the process, please feel free to write me at ktarbox@realtors.org.
Every year, the editors pore over hundreds of applications to select 30 people who showcase something extraordinary in real estate. That’s the secret to being named a 30 Under 30. Over the course of the year, I field several calls in which I explain this is not strictly a numbers game. While closing $10 million in sales is a remarkable professional achievement, it doesn’t guarantee a slot in the feature.
In fact, last year the editors were greatly impressed by NP Dodge’s operations director Robert Wiebusch, who produced just under $1 million. However, he also cut more than $500,000 in annual spending for his brokerage and increased Internet traffic to 1.5 million views each month.
Past honorees have included Kendra Todd, who went on to win season three of Donald Trump’s “The Apprentice” and now hosts “My House is Worth What?” on HGTV. She recently joined the Keller Williams Realty Greater Seattle market center and heads up their luxury-home division. Shannon Williams King, ABR®, GRI, founder/broker of TriBella Realty in Austin, now serves on the NAR’s Strategic Planning Committee and is advisory board chair of REALTOR® Magazine’s Young Professionals Network. Active Rain founder Jonathan Washburn established a virtual network of almost 160,000 real estate professionals.
Readers should take a look at last year’s profiles to understand what the 30 Under 30 program is about: talented young professionals who bring passion, dedication, innovation, and hard work to the field of real estate.
Over the years, several people have asked why we only bring attention to practitioners under 30 years of age in this feature. The answer is that this specific program is designed to recognize the future faces of NAR and initiate a dialogue with our younger members. We also ask our applicants to talk about mentors who’ve guided them in their careers.
Even if you don’t want to apply this year, you also should consider joining our Young Professionals Network (YPN), which grew out of the 30 Under 30 program. The group is quickly growing and membership is free!
Nobu Hata
By Nobu Hata
I was just getting used to the concept of sharing my Facebook status with folks other than my family and friends when Twitter came along a couple years back.
Then came 2009; the year of the citizen journalist; the year near-instantaneous sharing of events, pictures, and Web-links with your friends/family/clients/anyone in general became the new norm. It was the year Twitter went from being a “thing” to a verb, akin to Facebooking and Googling. It was the year Twitter broke into mainstream use, and it’s not looking back.
On deck for 2010? With the recent proclamation of Foursquare.com as the “Next Big Thing,” the broadening use of social media outlets as an initial consumer search tool, the recent additions of Twitter “tweets” and Facebook “status updates” in Google/Bing search returns and the expectation of the new-consumers’ need for immediate communiques, it’s clear: the time is now for the use of real-time, hyper-localized use of social media as a business tool.
Essentially, what you did/saw/read today isn’t as relevant anymore as what you ARE and WILL BE doing/seeing/perusing right now, and it’s that concept that will rule in 2010. Foursquare (for example) linked to Twitter and Facebook helps you share just that. So, how else will we need to address this new mind-set shift?
Empower yourself. Get to know how the newbies Foursquare and Gowalla – upstarts that are driving this new real-time/hyper localized mentality — work. Learn how they integrate with your Twitter and Facebook profiles on both your laptop and mobile phone, it’s literally as simple as starting an account. It’s the power of these updates that will rule this new social media landscape.
Real-time relevant content. Content is still king, and relevancy of that content goes hand in hand with it. Become the “Mayor,” a la Foursquare, of your open house and link it to Facebook status updates. Rave about a new listing you previewed on Twitter and Gowalla and link it to your Facebook Fan Page. Become a neighborhood specialist by touting the newest restaurant or shop by “checking in” and giving a shoutout while there — better yet, partner with that business and raise the presence of both yours and theirs online. Add a Twitter feed (perhaps one comprised strictly of new listings once active, complete with hashtags?) to your website and link it all together for SEO happiness. The development of these tools opens a world of opportunity to reach our to friends, fans, and peers in real-time.
Don’t panic. Many of the SM rules still apply: know your audience/demographic, determine the all-important type of message and frequency of broadcasting that will apply to them, then follow through. Treat it like an old-fashioned marketing campaign — seriously! — and don’t over-complicate it.
Be mindful of the noise you’re making. Unless your friends, fans, clients, and prospects like hearing about your real estate biz 24/7, (chances are, they won’t) don’t over-do it. While, there’s no better CRM tool than social-media, listening, interacting, and watching for behavior change is going to be the best way to use these tools. If not, we better start watching for the “Death Knell of SM as a Business Tool” as the next big thing in 2011.
Nobu Hata is a sales associate for Edina Realty in Minneapolis, and a founding member of the Minneapolis YPN group, the YoPros. Visit his Web site at www.nobuhata.com.
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