Melissa Krchnak
By Melissa Krchnak
Have you tweeted about your new listing? Did you take a picture and +1 it on Google Plus? Are your friends liking it on Facebook? Is your tour going viral thanks to YouTube?
Sounds silly and yet I’m serious. Have you Googled your listing yet? I bet the person who wants to buy it has. They’ve map searched it, checked its walkability and researched the school district. Have you?
See, you can make a big impact by thinking local. Real local. Whatever that new home owner would want to know about the home — from the cable provider to the nearest dog park — you should be giving it to them. They want to know what you know… and some of what you don’t. So, go through your current listings and start blogging (and all other forms of social media) about that which you’d want to know. Important stuff, like where’s the nearest Pinkberry?
Melissa Krchnak is the assistant team leader for Keller Williams Realty in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. Connect with her at kwrancho.com.
Melissa Krchnak
By Melissa Krchnak
I’m often asked by REALTORS® how they can increase their online presence. What’s the best blogging platform? Which social media site will yield more ROI? Should I beef up my e-mail signature? What should I put on my Facebook page? How many Craigslist ads should I post a day and when? The answer is simple: Stop getting in your own way and do whatever it is that you want to do — and make it something you will actually stick to once you’ve time-blocked for it.
But here’s my take on these common questions listed above for boosting online presence.
- For me, the best blogging platform is WordPress: it’s easy to use, navigate and edit (i.e. A+ in my book).
- Instant messaging on Facebook and the search function on Twitter are tied for my favorite ways to build relationships with social media. Pinterest or LinkedIn might be better for you, but these two methods work most ideally for me.
- My e-mail signature is simple and it’s always been that way: I have two lines of info and a third row of 10 small social media/online icons that link to my online presence, which is courtesy of WiseStamp.
- For me, I don’t have a Facebook business page. Continue reading »
Laura Rubinchuk Schwartz
By Laura Rubinchuk Schwartz
It seems there’s a new hyped technology in real estate every week. Old favorites include Facebook, Craigslist, Twitter, Blogging, YouTube, and LinkedIn. But what about those sites that were so popular so fast and now we never hear about them anymore? Remember Posterous, Postlets, and now Pinterest? Real estate agents tend to kill technology quickly.
With so much to do every day to keep your business going, the biggest of which is lead generation, do you really have time to learn every new platform that suddenly emerges? Probably not. Should you? Probably not. As an agent who built my business on technology, I have a few suggestions for those of you who feel like you’re drowning in new technology and don’t know where to start, or where to find the time:
1. Figure out what works with your schedule: You can’t be the master of all trades, but you can master just a few. Some things take more of a commitment to make it work, ex. Twitter and Facebook are daily commitments for most. Other platforms may just an as-needed thing, like Postlets for advertising listings or Craigslist (if you don’t use Craigslist for lead generation).
2. Don’t waste time learning every new technology. I haven’t spent a single minute on Pinterest. I see Facebook friends posting wedding ideas or baby shower themes on there — don’t kill this by inundating useless real estate information on it. Don’t force a round peg in a square hole just because someone told you to.
3. Learn something so you’re comfortable with it, then use it as part of your lead generation. Continue reading »
Stefanie Hahn
By Stefanie Hahn
No more blogging excuses! Tumblr is a simple, easy-to-use platform that is perfect for everyone, from blogging beginners to multimedia aficionados. “One click to posting happiness,” is what I like to call it. This tutorial will walk you through the ins and outs of posting on Tumblr with a dashboard overview to get you started. Don’t forget to visit www.tumblr.com.
Stefanie Hahn is the education director for Coldwell Banker Hearthside, REALTORS® in Malvern, Pa. Visit her Web site: www.StefanieHahn.com.
Dave Robison
By Dave Robison
Ever had that friend that whenever your phone rang, you looked at the caller ID and cringed? You simply subconsciously wanted to call them your friend because at one time they were, but for some reason they crossed the line into a category that none of us dare say to their face that they are now apart of. It’s the “What are they selling now?” category. Many REALTORS® are in that category, especially during the downturn as they have jumped to selling their clients other products, cell phones, or even pyramid schemes.
For me, I hated getting calls from that friend. For that reason I built my company so that I didn’t have to beg for business. I could focus on being a friend instead of a beggar.
How am I getting referrals without asking for referrals? I’m having fun and growing a tribe.
First: Facebook has stats on fan pages and I can see how effective I’m being. I can tell if my tribe is growing and can gauge interaction with people. If likes are growing and interaction and comments are growing my referrals will grow as well. Secret weapon to getting referrals without asking is my fan page
Second: The blogging of house listings and market conditions are dead. Blogging is all about interacting. We started a theme called “Dig it or Ditch it” where we post a picture of a room inside a house. Comments soared. Add a contest where people ‘”share the post” on their profile and our likes grew too. We now are reaching our friends’ friends. On one of these posts we received 19 new fans who were friends with our friends. We didn’t have to call our friends and beg them for business and we gained access to 19 of their friends without throwing a house warming party or sending out postcards. We just posted a pic of a room in a house. Continue reading »
Brooke Wolford
By Brooke Wolford
If you are reading this post and are still active in real estate, congratulations! You have survived a year of many challenges. You can pat yourself on the back remember how hard your worked. Feel a sense of accomplishment and embrace every challenge that was put in front of you.
We faced many challenges. We had good times and bad times. From all of it, I hoped you’ve learned something!
Now, let’s look ahead. Here are some things you should be doing in 2011:
Send out quarterly/yearly market updates to your clients. Market updates allow you to share accurate information based on factual data within your local area. I do this in an e-mail to my clients. Thank goodness for 10K Marketing’s “The Thing.” It’s one of my favorite tools to use to share local real estate information with clients.
If you read an article or hear a news story, share and comment on it. Post on Facebook, Twitter, or your blog. Use your expertise to expand or argue the story. It’s also a great way to combat negative media attention.
Share your own success stories. I came across a blog that had pictures of their clients in front of their new home they just closed on. I thought it was a pretty neat idea. Continue reading »
Jessica Hickok
By Jessica Hickok
Nothing is more frustrating than when you can’t find the inspiration to update your social media statuses or knock out that blog post. I have spent many nights staring at a blank computer screen trying to search deep within myself to write something engaging for my blog readers. That’s because I’m a REALTOR®, not a writer.
But everyone says that blogging is so important for your real estate career and that it’s “so easy to do.” While I do agree with the first part of that, I believe the second part I can only partially agree with.
However, I do have some tips for finding that blogging inspiration you need:
1.) Scan your RSS feed reader headlines as if they are questions. Write your post as a response to the article you just read. This also creates great link juice for that original article you read.
2.) Flip open a magazine and scan the table of contents. Take a magazine headline and replace it with your own. For example: a magazine article reads “Computer Help 911”. Change it to “Short Sale Help 911.” Use it to write about how you are working a short sale transaction and share the tips you use to save a dying deal. Continue reading »
Jeremy Williams
By Jeremy Williams
In a series I am teaching on social media to a group of agents at the Keller Williams Realty NE office in Kingwood, Texas, I have emphasized that social media should just be one of many components in an agents tool kit for lead generation. With all the new social media sites online, it can be overwhelming and it is easy to slip into the mindset of “I must be on all social media sites.” Are you experiencing these feelings? Are you spending more time on social media sites than with people? Have you become an addict?
Here is a 12 step program for REALTORS® to remedy your situation:
1. We admit we are powerless over Facebook, Twitter, Linked, WordPress and YouTube – that our lives have become unmanageable after staying up until 2 in the morning to monitor status updates.
2. Came to believe a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity, including lead generating using more archaic methods such as dialing a phone number or shaking a real, “not virtual,” hand.
3. Made a decision to turn off our computers thus stop sharing our personal photos of us in bathing suits at the lake and return to sharing our experiences in person. Continue reading »
Brian Copeland
By Brian Copeland
I’m consistently reminded by my peers “you’re online too much,” “you can’t possibly get any work done,” or “you must not have a life to do what all you do.” Every time, my blood boils inside, and I find myself breathing harder to calm down and smile kindly. My response is then, “Yeah, I manage,” then I simply shut up.
What most of my fellow-market-REALTORS® don’t know is that while they are paying $0.25 to $0.45 for postage, spending hours of time fishing in an abyss of non-measurables and spending hours chasing potential, I’m sitting back every day with free leads coming through my door with no money spent and minimal hours worked. Why? I know how to capture my bloggable moments.
Posterous, iPhones, and quick boot laptops have made our efficiency soar in the recent years. I can work any time in those gaps in my days. What are the bloggable moments you are missing or not even noticing in your own business?
Being chauffeured. I’m writing this entry while riding in a shuttle from a Canadian airport. While not all of us travel a lot, if you’re stomach can handle it, you’ve likely got a 30 minute ride when you arrive somewhere on business. Turn that idle time into productivity.
Waiting on healthcare. Doctors, pharmacies, and health providers are notorious for being behind schedule. If you simply plan ahead to bring a keyboard device, you can turn that inconvenience into a victory. You don’t Internet connection there? Big deal. Open a Word (or like product) document and start typing. The joy of the cut and copy lives forever. Continue reading »
Jonathan Osman
By Jonathan Osman
I’m awestruck at those who have totally disregarded blogging and other forms of social media as a medium for generating business for themselves. For me, it’s thanks to social media that I’m still in the real estate business today.
Rewind four years ago: I hatched a great plan to move from Annapolis Md. to Charlotte N.C. OK, it wasn’t much of a plan. During a long holiday road trip I decided to sell to sell our house, asked my wife to find a new job, and to move to Charlotte — all in eight hours (Yes I’m impulsive). Four months later, mission accomplished.
In Annapolis, I had built my real estate business around helping friends and family. In Charlotte, I only knew other real estate agents and they didn’t need my help. To say I fell complete flat on my face in my first eight months in the Queen City is an understatement. The market was shifting, sales were slowing, and I was going broke faster than Gary Coleman. Add to that, I had entered a market totally new to me and I was desperately trying to build business in a new city. It was at that point I started blogging about real estate. A couple months later, buyers and sellers were seeking me out to help them.
Fast-forward to today: I have a small real estate group built from the business I continue to generate through blogging. In 2009, my group closed 28 transactions with clients who found us through our social media efforts. Almost all of them admitted that they knew of other agents but that the blog authenticated us as the real estate experts.
So I guess you can say I’m an unabashed social media cheerleader, and rightly so. After all, if it can save my real estate career, imagine what it can do for you.
Jonathan Osman is a broker and team leader of the Charlotte House Hunter Group with Keller Williams Realty in Charlotte, N.C. Connect with Jonathan via Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter or his Web site CharlotteHouseHunter.com.
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