I’ve talked to several Real Estate Agents who are using Roost to create a Real Estate Tab on their Facebook Business Page – and as a free service it’s certainly great, but they don’t know about the other tools they offer!

Have you noticed more of your “friends” are posting quotes, and pictures of quotes on your Facebook Wall?  That could be a result of a survey Roost did:

For its second quarterly report, Roost analyzed 10,000 Facebook and Twitter posts by small businesses in 50 industries. While status updates made an impact on Facebook, the study found that photos were 50 percent more effective at gaining likes and comments from fans. Quotes and questions were also effective, with quotes gaining 22 percent more interaction and questions spurring twice the number of comments than an average post.

Set Up CampaignsI see so many Real Estate friends with Business Pages and Twitter accounts that are not being used effectively.   They are ONLY posting Listings, or links to their blog posts, and they are not getting any interaction or conversation.

ROOST offers a FREE Tool that can change all of that! When you set up Campaigns in Roost, you can schedule your messages AND it will help you create the right MIX of messages to send out during the Campaign!  You choose:

• How long you want the campaign to run for (like 7 days, 5 days, 14 days, 21 days)
• What TIMES of day you want to post (defaults from 10am to 4:30pm)
• If you want to post messages on the Weekend.

The Roost guide told me that I should have 7 posts over a 9 day period.  Then it breaks it down, and says that I should have only 2 posts that are links.  The links can go to MY blog content, to a Video, or to other news related to Real Estate (because I told Roost that’s what I was interested in)

It also suggests uploading photos (you could include cartoons about Real Estate), Questions, Quotes and Status Updates.  It tells you how many of each to create… and let’s you know when you have the optimum number.

Then it schedules them out for you, at logical times, when the most people are likely to be online to view your updates!  Their philosophy about this is simple to understand:

“You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.”

Old School Marketing Concepts Using New Technology Tools

For years agents have relied on their referral partners to help grow their sphere of influence.  You’ve done newsletters with a “featured” article from your mortgage lender, or a postcard that you sent with your Home Stager.  Many agents I know are involved in BNI groups, and work their Sphere of Influence on a regular, scheduled determined basis.

The newest Roost online tool makes these efforts easier and more streamlined!  They allow you to create a consistent, targeted message, with your keywords sprinkled in, creating a message that is Fresh and Interesting!

Roost also gives you the opportunity to post information from another page or another person in your CIRCLE.  The Circle is a way to create a connection with local business, and create synergy with your referral partners.  Imagine posting updates from your Insurance agent and your home inspector on your Facebook Business page, and having the ability to post information about your listings, a market report about a neighborhood, or a series of pictures about the local baseball team you sponsor on their Business Page walls!  I personally think this feature is BRILLIANT!

Are there other programs out there that allow you to schedule your status updates, Tweets and other messages out?  Certainly, but if you need help understanding WHAT to post, how often to post and need those “training wheels” this is one of the best tools I’ve seen!  Have you tried Roost?  I’d love to know how Circles is working for you!

Last year I wrote that:

At LEAST 80% of all  Large Real Estate Offices in the Country have a BIC that doesn’t understand Twitter or SEO or Blogging or Klout!  Unfortunately, I don’t think that’s changed much.

The truth is, there are easily 30 or 50 places Free Places for you to have your Real Estate profile, but in my estimation, if you are in the Initial Phase of creating an online presence, there are 10 TOP places your Real Estate Profile should be showing up, in addition to your personal website and your company website.

The Big 10 For Real Estate

Zillow – You can ask Questions and get Recommendations

Trulia – Gives you a FREE place to BLOG!  You can get Recommendations

Homes.com – Allows you to sign up to Answer Questions

Activerain – You don’t HAVE to get a paid account, although I think it’s worth every penny

Facebook – You can have more than one Business Page

Google + – Goolge offers you a Google Profile, a Goolge+ Profile, a Google+ Business Page, a Goolge Places Page

YouTube – You can have your own Channel set up and Profile completed

LinkedIn – You can connect to other business owners in your area

Yelp Business – Remember this is where Siri is pulling information from

Realtor.com – Even a BIC who thinks Zillow is a bad idea should know that your profile on Realtor.com should be complete!

And now there’s an additional place to have your profile…  Social Bios! 

Social Bios was recently purchased by MOVE.COM, sound familiar?  That’s right, Realtor.com is going to use SocialBios to link your Realtor.com profile with all of your Social Profiles.

Think of your SocialBios page as the ultimate “about me” page that brings together all of your social network profile information in one place. If you already have your own website, your SocialBios page can be linked to appear whenever someone clicks to know more about you. Your website visitor never leaves your site and the power of your social networks (common interests, friends in common, etc) becomes the ultimate tool to convert visitors into business referrals.

Here’s a link so that you want to sign up for the Beta Version for Realtor.com.  Remember that you can build links on here two different ways!  You can include links to your Google+ Personal and Business Page (for instance) and you can hyperlink from your profile!

If you have questions about your creating leads from your real estate blog, or how to get your Listing seen by more eyeballs – call Josh Harley, Fathom Realty, 214-228-0301.  I”d love to help you, and learn more about what’s working in your market! Are you on Facebook and Twitter?  Let’s Connect!

Using Your Profile To Create Links To Real Estate Content

When you complete your Trulia Profile (for instance) you have the ability to add links to your “other” profiles, your website, your blog… but that doesn’t mean you have to use the www.YourDomain.com URL in each case!  Why not create a link to “Search for Plano Tx” Homes and take them to a search page instead of the first page to your site?

Bottom line?  Don’t make every link you create go back to the first page of your website!  This works for Linkedin (which gives you more than one link), Zillow, Homes.com, Facebook… most of the places you have your profile give you the ability to link to more than one place!

More Link Building Ideas

As you are completing the profile, if the platform accepts HTML (like Zillow and Activerain) you should take the time to create hyperlinks from the text to the content on your site you want people to see. For instance, if you say that you love working with First Time Home Buyers, hyper link that text back to a spot on your site where you talk about how you work with first time homebuyers!   Do you have information on your site that would help someone who is faced with a Short Sale?  Link to that information from your profile!  All of this really helps with your Google Juice and SEO Efforts!

See my Zillow profile?  This is just one way that you can create multiple links back to content on your site!

Your profile really tells the story of what you should be writing about over time.  If you say, “I work with homebuyers relocating to Raleigh, Cary, Apex and Morrisville” – then you should be creating pages about those areas, and going back to your profile, and creating hyper- links.  Remember – your profile needs to be interesting and “relatable”… don’t just “stuff it” with keywords!

There are at least 10 places that you should have your profile from a Real Estate perspective, and at least 5 platforms where you want to be sharing information on at least a “drip” level.  What I’m saying is that you don’t need to update 15 places a day or week – you would put your profile on Trulia (for instance) and sign up for questions about Real Estate in your area.  Once a month, or so, when a consumer asks a question you can answer quickly – do that.  If it’s a question you get asked on a regular basis (like “How’s the Market?”) consider taking your answer and writing a blog post about it!  This is part of the Time Budget for 2012.

I love helping agents who are trying to improve their search, and generate Internet Leads!  I’d love to help you and learn more about what’s working in your market! Are you on Facebook and Twitter?  Let’s Connect!

]]> http://www.fathomcafe.com/link-building-with-your-real-estate-profile/feed/ 0 http://www.fathomcafe.com/social-media-plan-for-real-estate-the-budget/ http://www.fathomcafe.com/social-media-plan-for-real-estate-the-budget/#comments Sat, 04 Feb 2012 18:03:23 +0000 Josh Harley http://www.fathomcafe.com/?p=1483 Creating an effective internet market plan for Real Estate in 2012 requires that you re-examine your budget.  

Most budgets only include revenue and expense dollars – meaning “I have $500 a month I can spend on my business.  When I break that down, it means I can spend about $290 on my website.”   After they come up with a number, many of the agents and brokerage firms that I’m familiar with take that dollar amount, and work to get the best website they can afford for $290.

This is not necessarily the most effective way to build a Social Media – Web Marketing plan for Real Estate in 2012.  These days, you need to incorporate a TIME budget.

Central to creating an online presence that generates Real Estate Leads is having Content that attracts consumers.  That content needs to be original – and that takes time.  Can you go online and get someone in another country to write pages for you really cheap?  Sure!  But will they “sound” like something you created, and thus generate the leads you need?  I doubt it.

That’s not to say that you can’t use a service to create content for your site on a regular basis, you can – but most of that content is very, very generic.  What I’m talking about right now is creating the “core” pages that you need about your area and your focus market.  There’s a difference in how many people are going to actually search for information titled “Do You Need A Home Inspector in California” and “5 Things To Know About Rancho Carrillo, Calrsbad, A Master Planned Community.”  Right?

How Much Time – Where Do You Begin

Most Agents should be spending at least 1 to 2 hours a day generating leads.  If you really don’t have an Internet Presence, you might want to schedule out 2 days a week, so that you are giving your prospecting time focused attention (because that’s what you are doing when you are working to build leads – it’s the new Prospecting!) .

I talk to folks all the time who have “trouble” figuring out what to write… but once they get started, they have trouble stopping!  Because of that – again, when you are in the BEGINNING PHASE of creating content and building your presence, I suggest that you set aside a few LARGE blocks of time.

Focused Time means you are not checking email every 2 minutes.  You are not checking Voicemail every 2 minutes.  Make sure you are somewhere that makes it EASY for you to concentrate and get your “work” creating content done.  So, literally, to begin with – you may need to spend 10 to 12 hours a week on Social Media Marketing.

If you are a brokerage firm, or a large team who is going to hire a part time person to create content and do updates for you – this is still a pretty good number to work with.

WHAT Do I Spend Time DOING When I’m “Starting Out?”

In Phase One of creating an online presence, you will want to divide your time equally between two activities.  First, you want to create content that addresses the 9 or 10 basic questions you answer on a constant basis.  These questions and topics will differ per agent, because some of you concentrate on Short Sales, some of you only work with buyers, some of you are working REO property for banks and some folks are talking to Investors or First Time Homebuyers.  No matter what your target or niche, creating content will be the first thing you need to do. (If you have questions about which keyword phrases to use, this article might be helpful)

So 50% of your time, initially, will be spent writing content – the other 50% of the time will be spent completing your profiles on the “Big 10″ Real Estate Sites agents should be on (like Zillow, Trulia, Facebook and your Google + Profile).  When you are creating and updating your presence on these sites, remember that where you can use HTML, you can link information in your profile back to specific pages of content.  So “I love working with Military Families Relocating to San Antonio” could easily be linked to a page that shows what your “Military Relocation for Military Families Discount” looks like.

When your profiles are complete you will want to spend the additional time on some combination of the “Big 5″ – building followers, subscribers… an audience.   Your Social Footprint will help drive traffic to your website as you share information with those who are interested in it, and who are willing to help you promote it!

I love helping agents who are trying to improve their search, and generate Internet Leads!  I’d love to help you and learn more about what’s working in your market! Are you on Facebook and Twitter?  Let’s Connect!

As a Real Estate Agent, it’s interesting that we need to be able to understand MULTIPLE languages!

Now, more than ever, an important part of being a Real Estate Agent is knowing what is working in regards to online marketing.  As you are researching Social Marketing and Real Estate Marketing in 2012, you will read the term API.  Understanding what that is, will make understanding the tools easier.

API stands for Application Programming Interface.  There are multiple In non-Geeky terms it means that an API is an agreement between two entities stating: “If you give me this instruction, I will perform this action, or return this information – the same way everytime.” 

Let’s think about it this way – if you have a Smart Phone you might want to use a GPS signal to figure out where you are.  If you phone doesn’t have GPS it’s the system, when you ask for your position, it will reply “I don’t have a GPS Response.”  That’s the standard answer. If the phone does have a GPS, it will give  you the answer in a consistent manner. You won’t have scenarios where one phone says “The corner of 4th and Walter” and another says “4213 Walter St”.

Again – WHY Does a Real Estate Agent Care?

If you are finally ready to update your site, and you want school information (for instance) to update ITSELF, you need to know where to get the data from, and how to put that “dynamic” data on your site.  Typically, you will do this either with a WIDGET (a box that has all of the API information formatted for you) or with a design application you and your developer agree on. 

Just like with figuring out what questions you want someone to answer for a Search on your site, and what you want your IDX to feed back to them, you get to make some decisions.  So again, the API is a list of commands as well as the format of those commands that one program can send to another.

Some of the FREE Real Estate API / “Data Feeds” Available

• Yelp Review Search API – You can retrieve local business information and reviews using a neighborhood or lat/long value as an input. It’s also possible to narrow the results by category of business. (here’s a really good example of how that’s being used on a Real Estate Website – see bottom of page.  The pictures from Flickr on this page are in a Widget Box PlugIn for WordPress)

Neighborhood and City Home Values:

• Zillow Local Real Estate APIs – You can retrieve local home value trend charts with the GetRegionChart API and a wealth of other city and neighborhood home value data from the GetDemographics API.
• AltosCharts – Local market price charts.
• Trulia offers Get City City Stats – which lets’ you get the statistics on the City from their Database

Neighborhood Geographies:

• Trulia offers Get Neighborhoods in City which again shows the neighborhoods based upon the Trulia database
• Zillow Neighborhood Boundaries – 150 cities covering 7,000 neighborhoods available via a Creative Commons license.
• Yelp Neighborhood API – Input a lat/long value and get a neighborhood in return.
• Zillow GetRegionChildren API – Input a city and state, and receive a list of neighborhoods and their center points in return.

School Information:

• Education.com Schoolfinder API – Most people include this information in the form of a widget, but you can customize the output via the API
• NCES Common Core of Data – Data about all public elementary and secondary schools, all local education agencies, and all state education agencies throughout the United States — descriptive information on schools and school districts; data on students and staff; and fiscal data.

One word of caution… before you provide your developers with APIs for Neighborhood or City data (for instance), take a few minutes and be sure that the information is feeding correctly for your City to that source.  It would be a shame to assume that Palm Desert, CA showed all condo sales the same way Ft. Worth, Tx does – because each MLS shows data a little differently.  Again, word to the wise, before you spend the developer’s time (and your money) check to be sure the information for your City is accurate from that source.

GET CREATIVE!  We all want to provide the information that Consumers are looking for – and we want to do that in a way that is UNIQUE.  APIs give you that opportunity!  As you research this a little bit more, you will find that MANY of these items are used in “Mashed Up” formats – meaning you can take the Neighborhood Boundary Information and “Mash That Up” with Google Maps.  Remember though (this is important) you MUST MUST MUST give credit to the “source” of the information.  So if you are using a Trulia or Google Tool, it will need to say that on each page that the information is on.

If you have an example of what you’ve done with your site that is unique, leave it in the comments!  We’re always impressed with what Real Estate Agents are doing to generate internet leads!

So I delayed.

Then, a few days ago, a friend had Pinterest on their new Facebook Timeline Page.  Being the new year, this was their “Dream Board” and I was intrigued.  I’m a visual learner, and I think this tool is PERFECT for those of us that are!  What is it?  Pinterest is a Bookmarking Site that is really gaining in popularity!

It’s a Social bookmarketing site where users can “pin up” pictures and snippets of interest from all around the web. Users create pin boards in different categories and share with all their friends who then can repin your pin ups to further spread the fun. Pin board categories can be anything from Humor, Weddings, Photography, Art, Gadgets or anything else the user desires.

But I wondered – besides creating “Vision Boards” that helped us see the Life that we Dream of… how else could they be used for Real Estate?  Do you have listings that have great front porches?

Creating a board that others could contribute to about Front Porches in Plano Texas might be the perfect way to get to know your neighbors and start a conversation.  What about looking for, and contributing to boards about new kitchens, new Master Baths in Plano?  Those would also be great people to connect to.  I just had a 3 day conversation with someone about their board, and what sorts of things might be cool on it.

Once you’ve uploaded images and your comments about the image to the Board – you can embed that image into your blog post!  This gives you another way to connect with the people who are creating visually interesting boards in your area!

They have Scrap Clubs – I would not be surprised to see Pinterest Clubs in many cities in the coming weeks!  This is a really need tool – and one that has MANY possibilities for those of us in Real Estate!

I love helping agents who are trying to improve their search, and generate Internet Leads!  I’d love to help you and learn more about what’s working in your market! Are you on Facebook and Twitter?  Let’s Connect!

The Skinny on Google Plus Business Pages

Google Plus Business Pages work pretty much under the same principals that Facebook does.  From an SEO, and who is currently really USING it – G+ is completely different than Facebook.  You can add an app to your phone, and update from there – but frankly, most of the people on G+ are the uber Geeks.  So what if your friends are not on G+ yet?  Well, my suggestion is that you follow the Google Pages (there are dozens) so that you get the latest updates.  Follow news agencies… and follow us!

Seriously – WHY are you putting information on Google+???  Because it’s going to help your SEO – at least in the short term while Google inspects what everyone on there is doing.

You must first have a PERSONAL Google + Profile . Login to your G+ personal profile (top left of the screen it says +Joshua).  Once there, look in the bottom right corner, and you will see “Create a Business Page”  click that.

Note that you can have MULTIPLE Google + Business Pages just like Facebook.  So if you want to have a page for your “local” area, you could (Although I haven’t seen any).  You could also have one for your Sorority, or your Real Estate Team.  As you create the page, you will need to tell Google right off the bat if this is a non-profit, a location, a business or organization. ( There’s no real “Category” for Real Estate. )

Another little “issue” I think Real Estate Companies will have – the logo needs to be square.  You can create a square in Paint, fill in a back ground color, and add your rectangular logo on top of it (like this).  It doesn’t matter what you decide to do, just know that you are going to need to square it up!

Once you have your profile complete, and you are ready to add folks to your circles, remember that you can “add” other business pages, but you must wait for a “person” to add you to a circle first.  (Kinda’ like Facebook – you can’t comment on a “personal” profile page, but you CAN comment as a Business Page on another Business Page’s information / stream).  Also, when you are completing “website links” in your profile… don’t just link people to the front page of the site.  If you are trying to be found under “Ranch Homes in Plano” then put a link to a search you’ve already saved for ranch homes in Plano!  If you are a Short Sales Specialist, then link to a splash page you create to capture people interested in Short Sale information.

Google is almost obnoxious about reminding you that you are posting information “As” your business page.  Once you are “The Page”  Click the little “Flower” in the top right hand corner.  You will find G+ Settings… once there on the Left side of the page, under your logo, you will see MANAGERS.  This is where you can add someone else as an Administrator to the Page!  Of course, they will need to have a G+ Profile set up for themselves, but this is a VERY handy Feature!

There!  You’ve done it!  You have ONE MORE PLACE to be sharing your Unique, Interesting and Relevant Content on Google!  If you need more help working on your Keyword List, or you have questions about creating Great Blog Content, let me know!  I love helping agents who are trying to improve their search, and generate Internet Leads!  I’d love to help you and learn more about what’s working in your market! Are you on Facebook and Twitter?  Let’s Connect!

Bad News:  Google has yet to release it’s API for Google Plus.

I’ll bet a ton of people are saying, “Okay, Josh, that’s nice… What’s that mean?”  Well, it means that other programs like Hootsuite, and Seesmic, and “Apps” like Realtor.com for your phone don’t have an easy way to integrate it into their schematic.

There are pretty easy ways to post information simultaneously FROM Google+ to Twitter (for instance) but you can’t really post from Twitter TO Google+.  The short way to explain this might be to say that there’s no easy way to syndicate what you are saying on G+ to all of the other “platforms” simultaneously (and we all know that Real Estate Agents LOVE to save time and syndicate information one time, as opposed to having to resend it to tons of places). 

Another consideration – if you decide to use a service to post from Google+ to Twitter, test it out.  I’ve tried a couple of these, and they were hit and miss when it came to picking up the LINK I was trying to send.  “This is pretty interesting” makes no sense at all without a link!

Most of the ways to deliver the information require that you first burn an RSS Feed.  You can burn a feed at Atom or Feedburner for your Google+ here.  Once you have that feed, I think this video shows a really great example of how to use the feed in Hootsuite.  Basically, you login to Hootsuite, click on the left hand bar where it says “Settings” (looks like the Google “flower”) and then click on RSS Feed and this box will pop up:

Again though – this is kinda’ tricky to do, and I’m only suggesting that you try it if you are really committed to trying G+ – but just don’t see how you have the TIME!  Most of my efforts to make this work have been hit or miss, and I’m going to wait for the G+ API to come out.

While I was researching the multi-syndication opportunities for Google Plus though, I came across SGPlus!  Has anyone tried this??  It’s a browser extension that helps you post to all networks from one place!  Might be interesting!

There’s no doubt that Google Plus Business pages are making a difference for folks who are using them.  Google IS the Giant in the room for 2012 – and they are rolling out tons of new things to work with! If you need more help working on your Keyword List, or you have questions about creating Great Blog Content, let me know!  I love helping agents who are trying to improve their search, and generate Internet Leads!  I’d love to help you and learn more about what’s working in your market! Are you on Facebook and Twitter?  Let’s Connect!

“Well,” said the Grandfather, “I’ll do one too.  In 30 days we’ll see who has gotten the most hits on their video, and the loser buys dinner!”

The agent is mid 30′s – the Seller is past his mid 60′s.  This is not a Fluke.  Grandparents, and those from “The Greatest Generation” are being helped with all kinds of programs aimed at getting them more familiar with new techie gadgets.  One program, which runs Nationwide from Dec 1 to Dec 30 pairs teenagers and “grandparents” in their communities for one on one teaching. The Grandparents Gone Wired site claims that:

Kids can visit the site to register. They then fill out a checklist with areas of expertise (such as email set up, Facebook, Skype). They are then asked to reach out to a senior citizen that could benefit from those skills and mentor them on how to get connected. Reporting on that progress will make them eligible to win the prizes.

In Many Parts Of the Country – Seniors Have The Money

There are new shows on TV about “My House Your Money” (or something similar) where the kids are buying a house with the parents money.   This phenomenon is not likely to change!

If you are potentially working with “Seniors” you need to first remember that they will likely spend as much, if not more time, online learning as much as they can about an area, a house, financing options, closing costs – and yes, YOU as they can prior to ever meeting you!  This is also a group of people who likes to print information off – Women out number men on Facebook 2 to 1 – so if you are targeting those over 55+ remember to add some PDF’s to your information that are fairly easy to print off and hand to someone else (in large print).

If you have a fairly easy time connecting with this age group, why not volunteer to teach classes?  I’ve suggested that instead of a car wash to raise money, the kids at church could do a series of classes like the Grandparents Gone Wired.

When you are advertising these classes, or creating blog content for them, I would stay away from referring to folks as “Seniors.”  No one wants to be reminded how old they are.  “Active 55+” is the best reference point you can make.

But because there’s so much more to read, people are picky about what they read. Seniors especially. People will read amazing amounts of material if it’s interesting and personally relevant.

I would not ASSUME that a Grandparent does not text, or watch Videos.  There are plenty of Grandparents that have Droids, at a Neighborhood party last night one pulled his out and began showing me pictures of the fish he’d caught!  I’d ASK – just like you would any other potential client, “What’s the best way for us to stay in touch an exchange information?”

This niche should be treated just like any other excellent referral group (Teachers Come to Mind).   Seniors are looking to be sure that you are who you say you are, and you’ll do what you say you’ll do.  Because of that, being able to read Recommendations from REAL PEOPLE is very important.

Think these guys aren’t Hip?  Have you looked at the AARP site lately?  The current headlines include, SmartPhone Apps for Aging in Place, Your Facebook Wall is About to Change, Is Google+ For You?  Just like you would target blog content to Investors, or First Time Home Buyers – targeting the 55+ Niche Market is probably a great addition to your 2012 plan!

PICNIK

Picnik is a free tool now owned by Google.  Just open up the site, upload your picture, and you can change the exposure, add text comments, add a little more color to the grass… miracles happen!  Unlike Flickr, this is not a “cloud storage” system… It’s more like a Free PhotoShop (that’s not as complicated as GIMP).  Another helpful tool included with Picnik?  It can resize photos in a SNAP!  Need a profile picture for Twitter that’s way smaller than you have?  Upload to Picnik and set the exact size!  The Premium Service for the year is less than $30, and very much worth it!

Check this out:

If I was a seller, and this was the picture the agent put on the Internet, I’d be FURIOUS!  This looks like one of those shot from the car deals!

But, you put the picture in Picnik, and hit ROTATE, you will see a bar that says “Straighten.”  Move the bar, and a graph appears on the picture, moving it to the “straightened” position!

Fortunately, Google has tons of other Free Real Estate Tools available for us to use in 2012! If you have some great examples of cool things with Google Maps, or YouTube, or G+ pages, share them! We’d love to see how other people are using these tools!