Drew Burks
By Drew Burks
So what’s all the Buzz?
It is safe to say that I am a believer in social media and blogging! To my surprise, many are not and I know this because I hear from countless people daily…
… “I have a website with a blog, a Facebook page, a Twitter account, a LinkedIn account and as of this week I now have Google Buzz but I am not getting any business from them!”
“What am I doing wrong?” they ask.
Before I answer that, let me clear something up for all you non-believers: Social Media is just another tool that you have available AND if you don’t know how to use it effectively you will get very poor results.
Now that we have that out of the way, let me share with you the 5 secrets to attracting motivated clients through social media! They are simpler than you might think. Continue reading »
Nobu Hata
By Nobu Hata
Has anyone else started having the “Google” question pop up during their listing presentations? Not your website, nor your blog, or your Facebook page inquiry – the “can you make our home show up in Google?” question. It may be just that my clients tend to be a little more tech-savvy than your average buyer or seller, but it’s beginning to freak me out.
It didn’t help that I saw a report from my own company saying GoogleBase was the number three Web referrer to my company’s website. (After Facebook, if you’re wondering.) Fortunately, my brokerage has been forthright and progressive thinking enough to start feeding GBase our listings, but how many brokerages haven’t? Do you use these tools to market your listings?
Google Base, Maps, Real Estate (the closest thing to a national MLS), the forthcoming mobile ads and augmented reality features; what freaks me out isn’t that Google is getting into the real estate game — it was inevitable… hello, revenue stream! — it’s the fact that our clients will utilize these tools before many of us will. Check out http://maps.google.com/realestate, in the area immediately surrounding my home, roughly half were the “Big Three” brokerages in my market, the others were FSBOs, knowledgeable sellers using Craigslist (which uploads to GBase) and the like. What’s yours look like? Continue reading »
Travis Broadwater
By Travis Broadwater
If you want to browse the Web on your iPhone or iPod Touch (or the upcoming iPad), the only option is the built-in Safari browser because Apple, until now, won’t approve other browser apps in their iTunes store.
Opera, hoping that Apple will change their policy, has developed a version of the Opera Mini browser for the iPhone and they’ll showing a preview of this iPhone App during the Mobile World Congress that happens in Barcelona next week.
An email from Opera PR says:
“We are thrilled to offer journalists and partners an exclusive preview of Opera Mini for iPhone during the year’s biggest mobile event,” said Jon von Tetzchner, Co-founder, Opera Software.
Safari vs. Opera for iPhone
According to a Reuters article, Opera claims the Opera Mini for iPhone offers up to six-times faster download speeds than Apple’s own browser, and up to 10 times smaller data traffic.
The Opera Mini for iPhone will only be shown to members of the press but Apple will have to approve the app for everyone else to experience Opera on their iPods and iPhones.
That may not happen anytime soon as Opera is yet to submit their Opera Mini iPhone App to the Apple App Store for approval.
Travis Broadwater is with Kennen & Kennen REALTORS® in West Virginia. Visit his Web site: www.TravisBroadwater.com.
Jeremy Williams
By Jeremy Williams
You wouldn’t believe how many times I was asked who I wanted to win the Super Bowl last weekend. My response was the Houston Texans. With a look of confusion, one person said, “Yeah, do you not know that Houston Texans are not in the Super Bowl? In fact, they did not even make it to the playoffs.” I replied with a confident “yes” and went on my way leaving this person either in utter confusion or thinking I am absolutely crazy.
See, I chose to stick to my favorite team even when the Super Bowl spot light was not shining on them. Of course it would have been easy to turn away from my team, but if I went down that path, I would not have been true to myself. Being true to yourself is key in everyday life as a REALTOR®. Knowing what is right and choosing to do what is right will determine your success in this industry.
In our businesses, there are many opportunities to follow paths that go against what you know is true and right, and most of those are usually camouflaged with dollar signs. Continue reading »
Kelly Reark
By Kelly Reark
Do you want a sense of accomplishment? Do you want to be a highly effective person? Are you feeling like there are just not enough hours in the day?
With all the fun ways to waste time every day, it is imperative to learn time management. I used to think that by sitting down once a week to plan my week was a waste of time. Now I know from practice that it is the biggest benefit to my time. Like many of you, I have a smartphone where I keep my schedule and it kindly reminds me of where I need to be when I said I needed to be there.
My smartphone is just the tip of the iceberg. I use it for appointments and commitments. However, I have a full-size day runner that I keep with me at all times. I have yearly, monthly, weekly, and even daily goals. Each month, at the end of the month, I make a list of the projects and goals I have for the coming month. I review my past month and grade myself with imaginary gold stars on all I have accomplished. Anything I did not accomplish becomes a priority for the following month.
Each week on Sunday night, I block out my time and tasks for the week. Solid blocks are set up right away for each of my lives. Your lives may be different than mine, which include my family life, health life, artistic life, spiritual life, work life, social life, and financial life. Some of these lives I only address once a week or less. Some have daily blocks of time committed to them. Whichever the case, I make sure I have time for the things that are important for my life to remain balanced by blocking them in first.
What I find when I block in my time is that I have a lot more time than I thought I did. Continue reading »
Lincoln Crum
By Lincoln Crum
One of the people I admire so much these days is the hip hop star, music executive, and social entrepreneur Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter. Jay-Z has worked tirelessly in building a brand of “him.” The elements that stand out to me is his ability to build a brand around his artistic talents, which equate into business deals and creative allegiances with other brands.
There are “brands” out there today who are centered only around someones popularity or looks. Not Jay-Z. He has a very keen sense when it comes to marketing all things in his world. One of his most admirable talents is his ability to free flow his rap lyrics. It’s a well known fact that he hasn’t written down lyrics since 1996. He’s written, recorded and produced 12 albums, not including collaboration projects, since ’96, all of them performed either live or in a recording studio without anything written down on a piece of paper or teleprompter. This tells me that he thinks, creates and sings from the heart, passion is king with Jay-Z.
I have to believe that Jay-Z uses his “flow” technique in his other business ventures. He sees in his mind what he wants to become, commonly known as Psycho-Cybernetics. Not only does Jay-Z dominate the music arena, he’s developed his own clothing line, recording and production company for music, concerts and musicals… his most recent ventures include our profession, real estate, with the development of a new line of J Hotels.
Knowing this, how can we emulate his flow process of song lyrics in our industry as real estate professionals? Continue reading »
Brian Copeland
By Brian Copeland
Two things are true of mobile phone headsets. One, they conserve your phone’s battery life. Two, you may look and sound like a Spencer Pratt when you use one incorrectly. We have this one guy in my office, who I PRAY is reading this, who paces the office (especially near the front desk) talking extremely loudly around the receptionist. Thank you, sir, for your inspiration for this blog.
Check your quality. The old school, early generation Bluetooth headsets typically sound like you’re in a open wind tunnel in a convertible with a rock band in the background. This can leave your caller in Hearing Issueville with a bad taste in their mouth. 
Additionally, you never know when that person on the other side may have a hearing impairment. The Jawbone is viewed by many as the cream of the crop, with its ability to translate the vibration of your jaw to enhance the words. I personally love my Plantronics Voyager PRO with it’s mouth piece that gets as close as possible to my noise maker.
It is NOT an fashion accessory. Nothing says toolbag than a business card-pushing, headset-wearing REALTOR. The joy is they are built for comfort and light-weight feel. The drawback is that you forget that it is in your ear. The stigma with wearing these in public is that you’re a poser. When you get to a public place, make a concentrated effort to take it out. I always hook mine on my top button of my shirt or around my collar, which hides it well. Continue reading »
Travis Broadwater
By Travis Broadwater
Dear Blog,
I must apologize for my lack of commitment lately. Between prospecting for new clients and trying to keep my closings on track I just haven’t had time to fill you in on my day-to-day activities. I promise I can change, can you forgive me?
Sincerely,
Travis
Now that I have taken care of the apologies, lets get to the point! I often find myself “blogging” great topics in my head, unfortunately I must admit, not even half make it to my laptop and ultimately to the internet where they belong. My problem lies in finding the time to actually sit down and just get to work.
Well this year I have finally decided to make blogging a priority as so many of you already have. In my “planning” I have made a list of three ideal times and places where I might be able to sneak a few paragraphs without effecting my day dramatically and I would like to share them with you. Continue reading »
Heather Soldonia
By Heather Soldonia
In the current real estate market I have heard both brand new practitioners and veteran brokers express that they are resorting to some basic prospecting strategies and among those is… open houses.
When I first began working as a REALTOR® my broker advised me to go to at least 10 open houses “to learn what not to do.”
Indeed, I had some interesting interactions. The most noteworthy was at a brand new condo development. I was asked to complete an information card upon which they posed the question, “What reasons are you looking to buy?” I wrote, “First time homebuyers programs.”
Apparently that wasn’t a response they were interested in because the sales agent immediately informed me that the developer is absolutely not accepting less than 10 percent down, which would exclude the 3.5 percent FHA program. Taken aback by his brazen manner, I took a moment before replying, “This is an affluent area and you would be surprised how many people my age have parents who are happy to supplement down payments so that is not something you need to concern yourself with; that’s simply one of the reasons I am looking to buy.”
Around this time, a couple (appearing to be in their 60s) had also come into the sales office and my sales agent informs the receptionist that she doesn’t need to call a different sales associate to help them, he would be happy to tour them… with me in tow. Continue reading »
Lincoln Crum
By Lincoln Crum
We’ve all heard this statement enough over the past month as we’ve entered a new year and a brand new decade. There’s a ton of talk, within our industry about new trends, technology, updates, Web2.0 and now 3.0. Lots of “new” speak these days.
Being a 20-year veteran of the industry, starting when I was a teenager, I’ve seen a lot of things developed that make us better REALTORS®, especially within the realm of technology. The key is for all of us to use the new technology and tools to enhance our business, serve our clients better and hopefully allow us to make more money.
I have a REALTOR® in our hometown who always has the newest computer, coolest cell phone earpiece, and is always talking about technology and how it has allowed him to achieve higher levels of success. Out of curiosity, I did a little research and learned he barely closed enough deals over the past two years to stay alive. Now, don’t get me wrong, I am knocking him a bit. But if you don’t have those good old fashioned selling skills, there’s a good chance you aren’t going to survive in this business, regardless of how fast your new laptop is. Continue reading »
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