Archive for Real Estate Social Media Marketing
Forget the Social Media Hype
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Wow! How can I say that you should forget the social media hype? Everyone knows that if you aren’t marketing on social media sites, you’ll never be successful. Right?
I must disagree. Sacrilegious, I know.
Imagine yourself watching people at a party, or a charity event – anywhere people gather in a social situation. Would you see everyone acting the same? I don’t think so. You’d notice very distinct personalities being displayed by various people. Pay attention, now, there will be a test later.
- In one corner, you notice a person expounding on some profound topic. This person is surrounded by two or three other people who are desperately trying to catch someone’s eye so that they have an excuse to abandon their lecturer.
- Over there, you notice two people who have just met, gaily exchanging life stories.
- In another corner, you see a person telling their life story to someone who is slowly backing away, saying they need to refresh their drink.
- In another area, you see a person surrounded by a large group of people, and they are all holding their sides with laughter upon hearing the stories the person in the middle of the group is telling.
- And, then, there are a couple people standing along the wall, absorbing it all. They’re enjoying themselves, but they only speak when spoken to, and don’t spend much time with any one person or group.
Now, here’s your test question: Will all of the people described above be successful at social media marketing?
And, the answer is. . . a resounding NO!
Should all of them undertake an aggressive social media marketing campaign anyway? No. What would be the point?
There are many people who are extremely successful in sales, but they would never be confused with social butterflies. For those people, they know where their talents lie and they stay with what works.
So, how do I feel about social media? It used to be that everyone had to have a website because the public expected it. Now, I believe everyone has to have a presence on the social media sites because the public expects it.
But that doesn’t mean that everyone should devote a big chunk of time trying to develop leads on those sites. For some people, it’s enough to have a presence and use other tools to market their business.
If you’re in that category, don’t feel bad. Don’t listen to all the gurus who tell you social media marketing is a necessity. Don’t waste a bunch of time doing something that you know you don’t understand, don’t enjoy and won’t stick with.
My advice. . . make sure you have a presence on the social sites, then do what you do best to make a living.
Google+ Has Me Running in Circles
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Google+ is the future of social networking. I hear that from lots of different people. And, maybe they’re right. After all, Google hit the 25 million user mark within a month of launching. It took Facebook three years. And as you’d expect, since it was riding on the moving social media train, Twitter took 30 months.
But, are Google’s products outside the search engine world really the best thing that has hit the earth lately? The problem I have with Google is that they are so remote and don’t seem to much care about people who are trying to use their products, but need a little help.
Now, I realize that if all 25 million Google+ users sent a support email on the same day, Google would be overwhelmed. Of course, they don’t have to worry about that because there is no email support. Not for Google+, not for Google Apps, and, well you get the idea.
But, you argue, there are lots of Google help forums. Well, yes, there are. But, have you ever tried to get an answer on one of those Google forums? Have you ever cruised through the questions to see how many have any answer at all? For most of the forums I’ve seen, the number of answered posts is pitifully low. And, many of the posts with answers are just other frustrated user having the same problem and begging for a fix.
My Latest Google Issue
My Google+ profile isn’t active. Hasn’t been for weeks if not months. Why? Because Google says they are reviewing it and it should take a few days. Ha!
Here’s what happened. I got an invite to Google+ fairly early in the beta cycle. And, in good Google fashion, there wasn’t any way to get much insight as to how to use the site. I thought that I’d set up a profile for the business, like a Facebook fan page. Well, that was the wrong thing to do!
Later, I learned that it was against Google guidelines to use the profile for a company. . . . that capability would be coming later. So, I went to look at the profile, and sure enough, there was a notice that the profile was under review. But, evidently, no one is reviewing it. I immediately read the guidelines (which I only found because they put a link to them in the error message) and made the profile compliant.
(Interestingly enough, if you search for Google+ Guidelines, you get a lot of results, none of which are the Google+ Guidelines.)
Well, more than a few days has passed. A while back, I found some form that was sorta intended to ask for a review, but nothing has happened.
Today, I found another Google forum – I could swear I looked at a different one a while back, but never mind – and posted a thread asking for help on getting the profile reinstated.
So, again, Google has taken way too much of my time for something that should be so simple. Ever do a search for Google+ Documentation? Know what you get? A lot of results leading to information on the API. Great.
I can’t conquer the stupid profile, and they want me to turn into a developer overnight. Silly people. Anyone have a GOOD experience with some Google tool?? I’d love to hear it!!
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What have you done with videos lately? Do you know you need to get more involved with providing videos, but you just haven’t found an approach that you will stick with? I’m trying to help!
A big problem for a lot of folks is the idea of filming themselves. To film yourself, you need:
- a video camera
- a good location for filming (quiet with a good-looking background)
- a script or at least an outline so you sound like you know what you’re doing
- to look good so you look like you know what you’re doing
The camera isn’t a big problem. I’ve heard lots of great feedback about the Flip camera; it seems to do videos quite easily. It’s the other three things that slow people down.
If you have a problem with numbers 2-4 above, relax. There are a variety of ways you can make videos without putting yourself on the web.
Create Videos without Putting Yourself on the Web
Recently, I wrote a blog post about Screenr.com, a website where you can create real estate videos using your computer as the “star”.
This post discusses Animoto.com, a website where you can easily create videos from photos and videos you already own. It’s easy to do and the result looks professional, at least to my eye. There’s an example of an Animoto video shown below.
This solution isn’t free, but it’s not overly expensive, either. There is a free version that you can use, but it has a severe limit on the length of the video: 30 seconds. I used that version to make the 30 second video below. I wouldn’t suggest that the video below is a good informational or marketing tool, but it went together quickly and it gives you the idea.
The next level, as of this writing, gives you the ability to make full length videos and costs $30/year. If you want more capability, such as having your videos unbranded, the cost is $249/year.
There are a number of ways you can use Animoto to interact with your social media sites. You can export the video to You Tube. You can post it on your Facebook wall, share it on MySpace, Twitter, Digg, Delicious, Posterous, and the list goes on for quite a while.
Don’t be hesitant to make the most of videos for your business, there are tools out there that make it easy to create real estate videos!
Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.
Finish This Sentence: Google +1 Is…..
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I don’t have an answer to that question. I could say it’s interesting, because that’s the adjective I often use to indicate indifference without being offensive. For me, I think the jury is still out on a few issues.
Is Google +1 a Social Network?
That’s the issue I’m really wondering about. I wonder if Google can outdo Facebook. I wonder if people will add Google +1 to the top social network list. Right now, my list includes Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter.
Or, will people decide that three major networks is enough, and the networking side of +1 will fade away. I must admit, that would be my choice. I’m not a big social media maven, and I don’t really want to maintain another site.
Besides that, and I hope Google isn’t lurking around here somewhere, I am beginning to feel like Google is Big Brother. In order to use the +1, you must have a Google profile, and you must be logged into Google, too.
Between Google knowing everything I search for, controlling the ads I see to correspond to my interests, controlling the search results I get based on geography and so on…. I feel like I’ve been Googlized. And, I’m not sure I like it.
When you sign up for a Profile, they make your age required so they can customize your online experience consistent with your age! How can they presume to know me so well just based on my age?? It’s silly.
What about 11-year-old Jackie Evancho? Would they customize her experience to normal 11 year old interests? They’d be missing the mark if they didn’t include opera! And, just because I’m uh.. over 40 doesn’t mean I don’t still enjoy dancing around the living room to a Foreigner song!
There are three things that can happen to +1. Google could give up on the networking portion of it if it doesn’t take off. But, if it does get popular, whether it makes people move from Facebook, or just manage +1 as another network, I will be very impressed. Either of those outcomes would go a long way toward establishing/reinforcing Google dominance.
Is Google +1 An SEO Tool?
One thing I don’t doubt is that the +1 will have an impact on SEO. Google can very easily consider it another “vote” for a site, just like an incoming link. Of course, the Google party line avoids answering that question. They only say that “+1 helps people discover relevant content”, but don’t address the question of whether there will be an impact on search results.
Given that I think the SEO is real, I suggest that everyone get on the band wagon. You’ll notice that there is a +1 on this blog. I’d be ever so appreciative if you’d click the +1 button on any blog posts that you like.
I’m using a WordPress plugin called WordPress Google +1 Button – Advanced Plugin, Includes Redirection. Quite a name, huh? It installed very easily, has some good options and works without a hitch so far.
Of course, if you want to put the +1 button on other websites, you’re looking at a do-it-yourself project. Here’s what to do:
- Create A Google Profile (of course!)
- Install the code provided in Google’s instructions
From that Google link, you will get code with options for the size of the button. And, if you click on the “Advanced Options” link, you can control whether the number of +1s shows.
If you poke around long enough, you’ll also come across information about whether to identify the URL to be +1d or not. I’m not the world’s best coder, but the conclusion I came to is that most of us should let the code figure out the URL. Google says:
- “Google will use the URL of the page as found in the DOM. This can sometimes cause incorrect behavior as the URL in the address bar can contain session IDs or other parameters which are not part of the canonical URL.”
If you need more information, you’ll need to find someone who knows whether your site URLs contain session IDs and so forth.
In summary, the +1 button requires 2 pieces of code. One should be placed in the head section of your website, or it can be placed near the </body> tag. The other piece of code goes where you want the button to appear.
For example, if you have a Point2 Agent website, you’d put the first part of the code in the Footer on the TEMPLATE page. You’d put the second part where you want the button to appear. If you put it somewhere on the TEMPLATE page, it will appear on every page. Based on my test, that works fine. Be aware that Point2 websites are regular HTML pages, so I haven’t seen a problem letting the URL be identified by the code.
I started this post as commentary, but guess I got a bit carried away. Hope the additional information about implementing the +1 is helpful!
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This guest post was written by Jess Wagner of Military Homes,
where you can list or search military home listings.
All too often real estate professionals think of self-promotion as the seedy underbelly of industry blogging.
That misconception alone can steer people away from investing time and resources into a blog that provides quality content and an opportunity for customer interaction and connection. The reality is that self-promotion is a crucial step to sustained success.
And it doesn’t have to be a four-letter word.
Instead of fake smiles and overbearing arrogance, there are simple ways to promote your blog and your knowledge without coming across as a self-important egomaniac.
Most people don’t like talking about themselves — and they’re usually even more apprehensive when it comes to discussing what they do well. Granted, there’s a slightly different mindset when your livelihood depends on selling yourself.
But understated, effective self-promotion still requires an appropriate balance. Tilt too much toward arrogance and you’ll turn people away. Refrain from showcasing your strengths and achievements and risk missing a chance to underscore your credibility to prospective customers.
There’s also an ultimate recognition that you’re only as good as your last post, your last referral or your last closing.
Here are five methods for self-promoting
and boosting your credibility without selling your soul.
