I often get into discussions with agents who get frustrated with their blog site because they can’t think of anything to say. Actually there’s a lot that you can say and have fun with it as well. I have a video overview that you can see to get a feel for what this seminar is all about:
20 Types of Dynamic Blog Posts
Just follow any of these 20 dynamic blogging post tips and have fun with your blog site.
Quick. Who is the largest bookseller in the world? If you said Amazon, you’re right. But the key point is why. The largest bookseller for decades has been Barnes & Noble (established in 1873). Yet Amazon was only established in 1994 in Jeff Bezos’ garage. Why the huge surge in sales by Amazon? We call it the “Long Tail Theory”, based upon the book of the same name by Chris Anderson.
Wikipedia puts the explanation of the “long tail theory” this way: “The Long Tail or long tail refers to the statistical property that a larger share of population rests within the tail of a probability distribution than observed under a ‘normal’ distribution. This has gained popularity in recent times as a retailing concept describing the niche strategy of selling a large number of unique items in relatively small quantities – usually in addition to selling fewer popular items in large quantities.
In other words, because of store space, Barnes & Noble could only sell the more competitive or popular books. Amazon however realized that by using the Internet as a warehouse, they could pull from the most obscure books, thus giving them more sales.
How does this effect real estate agents and their website rankings? Consider the fact that you live in Denver, and you want to be found by the search engines under “Denver real estate” or “Denver homes”. The odds of this happening today are 23.8 million to 1 or 30 million to 1 respectively. However if you instead focus on the “minor” keyword phrases that are requested, you can much more easily get found on the 1st page of Google. For example “Denver luxury condos” is 1.92 million to 1 and “homes for sale in metropolitan Denver” is only 165 thousand to 1. While these numbers still may seem out of reach, we find with our firm anything within 3 million is easy to catch within a few months.
How many of you have dismissed Facebook because you think that it’s just a time-wasting social swamp? Well, actually, Facebook has some of the most powerful business tools that you can imagine, if you know how to use them correctly. As a real estate speaker and dealing with real estate SEO on a daily basis, I can tell you that I have some powerful secrets to share for how to make your Facebook more “business friendly”.
Take a look at this introduction:
View more about “Building a Facebook Business” at www.webstarget.com/webinars
Even Oprah is doing it.
The discussion, the conversation.
That is my answer when people ask me why they should participate in social networking.
I was home one day a few weeks ago after a minor procedure on my eye, which required an eye patch. So, the only thing I could do was watch TV. I tried reading, working on the computer, it was a NO GO.
After catching up on all of the recorded TV shows that I had missed for the last month, I ended up watching Oprah. It seems that on Fridays, instead of one guest, she hosts an entire panel and they discuss all sorts of topics. They have a real conversation, everyone stating their opinion in a lively discussion.
Kind of like Twitter on TV.
The conversation is important. Since the creation of the digital divide (using the computer to communicate more and more, instead of face-to-face conversation), the fast pace of our busy lives prevents us from seeing as many people in person as we used to, and part of our relationships are taking place online. I recently read that Generation Y (18-32) will never lose touch with anyone in their lives. Think about it baby boomers, haven’t you secretly Googled an old flame to see where they are today? Not a problem with Gen Y, they grew with the conversation online.
When I meet someone in person, first of all they say that I look like my picture, and secondly that they know my voice, because they follow my posts on Facebook, Twitter, or they read my blog. They feel like they know me even though it is our first face-to-face meeting.
So, I encourage you to enter into the conversation. Choose one network, and be consistent. Just remember not to sell while you’re there.
Oprah does it … and, yes, I am recording her show now as well.
It’s 10 o’clock Monday morning – do you know where your company’s reputation is? As sites like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook become intertwined with business uses, real estate companies need to establish guidelines and best practices.
Whether we want to admit it or not, companies are learning that social networking, used properly, can be an effective business tool. We know by experience that having your sales associates involved in the community can enhance your company’s reputation and bring in more business. We are now embracing the concept that our sales associates can blog, tweet, and participate in forums and social sites and also increase business — so long as it’s done right.
But how do you monitor the conversation? You need a social media policy that explicitly lays out what is and isn’t permissible, both on the company’s network and outside of it if sales associates presenting themselves as representatives of the company.
If you do decide to take the “easy” way out and just block social networking sites at the company firewall, remember that what people post from home can still affect your company’s reputation.
How to get started
Consider creating a task force with people in your company who understand policy and procedures and others who are responsibly using social media. Together they can create a company platform. As always, before you can develop a policy, you need to define the company’s overall attitude toward social networking. A well executed social media strategy helps consumers and licensees follow an online dialogue protocol that shows promise of a successful outcome for consumers in real estate transactions. Create a statement that reflects the company’s mission statement and commitment to the consumer.
Social Media Tools To Monitor and Maintain Reputation Management Controls
Educate agents in the correct use of tools to avoid problems and pitfalls and, engage consumers in a fashion that will BUILD and ENHANCE a company’s reputation online. Remember to always reward responsible interaction online. If you can show examples of online fires doused as well as positive examples of building reputation online your sales associates will be better informed. Consider hiring a social media director for your association or your company.
Brokers and agents need to learn how to use tools to MONITOR their online presence.
Google or Yahoo alerts. Set up alerts based on your company’s name, principals’ names, etc. These alerts will send you an email every time one of your search words is found by the search engines.
Twitter Search
StepRep
Yelp
Here are some other reputation management tools to look at. They charge a fee, but will do the time consuming work for you.
Privacy Gurus
http://www.privacygurus.com/firm.php
Quality Service Certified
Incredible Agents
http://www.incredibleagents.com
Real Estate Ratingz