Real Estate Tech Bytes

Social Networking, Stop The Insanity!

mattixc — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 07:02:00 +0000

Are you overwhelmed with all the Social Networking sites. Hopefully you realize the importance of using them. If not, be sure to read my blog post, “Tame the Social Media Beast.” I agree with you there are too many sites to join and keep up with them all. There are several more popular sites that I would recommend (Facebook, Linkedin). Social Networking sites are great for connecting with colleagues, service providers and don’t forget the importance of past clients. They are also very good for keeping your network aware of new listings, posts to your blog, and updates of your success. Here is a great video explaining Social Networking in Plain English.

So the question is how do you maintain all of these Social Networking sites as well as you blogs. There is an easy way. It’s called Ping.fm (You’re not seeing things, it is Ping.fm and NOT Ping.com). Here’s how Ping.fm explains what they do.

Ping.fm was created for the sole purpose of making it as easy as possible to share your posts with the world. Now you don’t have to fumble around the web in order to post anymore, you can just post once, and be done with it.

The idea came about when making some posts to Twitter and Tumblr. The idea of posting the exact same information in two places seemed a bit tedious, so Ping.fm was born.

Now this site is in beta so you’ll need a beta code in order to sign up. You can use this one (“pingscompany“). Now this beta code will eventually expire. If it stops working just go here and you can request your own code. I use this site almost every day. I don’t know how I could maintain so many sites without it. Take a look at it and let me know what you think.

If you enjoyed RealEstateTechBytes, please subscribe to my RSS Feed!

Tame The Social Media Beast

mattixc — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 05:49:58 +0000

Are you in complete overwhelm with all the different sites that people tell you to join? On this post I’m going to focus on Social Networking sites and how to use them, but first you need to know what Social Media means. Social Media is a category of sites that is based on user participation and user-generated content. Social media includes Social Networking sites which according to Wikipedia are online communities of people who share interests and activities, or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others. I’ve also heard it explained as the practice of expanding the number of one’s business and/or social contacts by making connections through individuals.

Social Networking could soon replace most conventional lead generation and prospecting. With so many consumers searching the internet before contacting a Realtor, it is imperative that we find a different way to reach these potential clients. According to an Inman News article, “…Web 2.0 is very much akin to the general store from 100 years ago. People came there to discuss politics, hear the latest gossip, and most importantly, find and maintain personal connection. The way that you participated was simply by being there. …places such as Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn and YouTube serve the same function today as the general store did 100 years ago.” Where do you begin? Which sites do you sign up with and how do you use them to generate leads?

I agree with NikNik, author of “My Tech Opinion” blog who wrote a great post called “Focus Your Social Media Marketing.” NikNik listed six steps for focusing your social media marketing (read more…).

So, how do you use these Social Networking sites to generate leads? You can use these sites to network with fellow Realtors all over the country and world to build a referral base. Have you noticed how many buyers from other countries like Canada have started investing in real estate here in the US? Well, you can find fellow Realtors in other countries by doing a search on sites like LinkedIn and Facebook and connect with them. You can also find them by joining various professional groups on these sites. Let them know that you are the local expert. Ask your past clients you are now connected to to recommend you on sites like LinkedIn. Answer consumer questions on sites like LinkedIn, Trulia Voices and Zillow. Now that you’re connected with all these people you’ll be able to follow what’s going on in their lives and react. For example I had one of my past clients post photos of their new baby. I know knew that they were having a baby and sent them a baby gift. They were so surprised because they didn’t even know that I knew. I told them that I was following the progress of Facebook. You can also post a link to your new listing or new blog posts. Joel Burslem, author of “Future of Real Estate Marketing” blog wrote a great post called “Marketing Real Estate on Facebook” you should check out. These are just some of the ways to use these sites to generate leads.

Just don’t be afraid of it. It’s really not impersonal. You can easily build lasting relationship online by using this type of networking. I will say that face-to-face networking is still a valuable source of lead generation and a way to continue to foster those past relationships, however you can also use Social Networking.

If you have any other creative ideas for marketing yourself or property listings using Social Media, I’d love to hear from you.

If you enjoyed RealEstateTechBytes, please subscribe to my RSS Feed!

Jott: Stop thumbing it and start voicing it

mattixc — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 20:08:16 +0000

As a Realtor you’re always on the go. Whether you’re running to a showing, listing appointment, inspection, etc. Have you ever been in the car and needed to take a note, write down a reminder, schedule an appointment, or end someone an email or text? The problem is in some states it’s illegal to text and drive or even use your phone. More importantly is the danger of trying to write something down or use the tiny little keyboard on your phone to send and email or text message. There have been many times that I have come close to getting into an accident while trying to do these things. Well now there’s Jott. Jott is a free service which allows you to do just about anything using your voice. You can send a text message or email to one or even a group of people at one time. You can even set a reminder using your voice that will send you a text message or email with that reminder at the time you specified. You can also schedule an appointment in your calendar. Here’s how it’s done.

You go to Jott.com and create your free account.
Add all the contacts that you use most frequently. You can add their email and cell phone for text messaging.
Set up Jott Links to add all the services that you use so you can add appointments and even post a blog.
Program the Jott toll free number (866-568-8123) in your phone.
Then when you’re ready, call the number (use a bluetooth headset for safety) and tell Jott what you want to do.
Jott then transcribes your voice into text.

It’s that simple. I have used the service many times and it works well. It even lets you spell out words that you think it may have trouble with. It has saved me many times.

Jott has also just recently added Jott for your Blackberry where you can reply to emails and text messages using Jott so again you don’t have to use the keyboard. You can download the application here. NikNik of MyTechOpinion has written a good post on Jott as well (Take a look).

If you enjoyed RealEstateTechBytes, please subscribe to my RSS Feed!