Balancing Your Social Capital, One Interaction at a Time!

By NikNik · June 29, 2009 · 6 Comments 

Have you’ve embraced social media as a means of marketing your real estate business, but have experienced little in terms of “pay off”? If your answer to this is “yes”….then I ask you to consider the way in which you’ve implemented your social media marketing strategies.

Let’ start with the basic understanding of what social media marketing allots us.  Creating profiles on Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, and the like offers you a unique connecting experience, otherwise referred to as “ambient awareness”. This is not a new term. In fact, social scientists have been talking about this online phenomenon steadily since 2006. Ambient awareness is the feeling we infer and relate to from what is being shared by those connected to us via online networks. Read full story

30 Blog Post Ideas To Keep Your Content On A Roll

By NikNik · June 26, 2009 · 13 Comments 

Recently, my friend Rob Hahn posted a great article entitled “Design vs. Content: Design Wins!‘. And I wholeheartedly agree with him! How many times have you left a blog due to eye strain from small print or out of pure confusion from all the flashing ads and shiny objects strewn about! There’s no denying that design plays a major role in Website attraction! Read full story

Cyberhomes’ Market Forecast Contest Launches Tomorrow!

By NikNik · June 21, 2009 · Leave a Comment 

If you thought watching the “Know Your Market - Game Show Video” (see below) was fun and you want to get in on some of that action, well, YOU CAN! Cyberhomes officially launches their Market Forecast Contest tomorrow giving you a chance to chime in with the correct answer…and win!

Here’s how you can play!

1.) Visit Twitter.com and follow @Cyberhomes, if you’re not already.

2.) Starting tomorrow (Monday, June 22nd) @Cyberhomes will tweet a question at 9am PST and again at 1pm PST every day this week (6/22-6/26).

3.) The first person to tweet the correct answer as a public reply to @Cyberhomes will win a free Market Forecast full report for an address of their choosing.

4.) Winners will be contacted directly in real-time by @Cyberhomes. Daily questions with correct answers, as well as the winners (twitter usernames) will be posted on the Cyberhomes Blog.

A total of 10 questions will be tweeted throughout the week (at 9am PST & 1pm PST each day- Mon-Fri), providing 10 opportunities to win! Only one prize per person will be given, 2 winners per day!

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Real Estate Marketing: Carving Your Niche

By NikNik · June 17, 2009 · 10 Comments 

Targeting your marketing efforts is easier said than done. A lot of agents are finding themselves in scramble mode right now. Just trying to get “it” done. For many, that “it” is just maintaining the basics like client interactions and daily administrative tasks.  But if you’re not prospecting then what happens when the “keeping up” with your current business ends, and you’re left without new listings or buyers? Ummm, I think you know the answer to that!

If hiring an assistant or marketing coordinator is not in the cards for you right now, you need to find a way to organize your marketing efforts and concentrate on sharing your expertise with the right network. One simple way to elevate your expertise above the competition is by obtaining a designation or specializing in certain types of real estate transactions. Do you have several green builders in your area, as well as knowledge of sustainable home features?  You may want to consider becoming an EcoBroker, a special designation for environmentally concerned real estate professionals.

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Get Smart with Any Mobile Phone

By NikNik · June 15, 2009 · 1 Comment 

If you own an iPhone then you’re probably appreciative of the thousands of apps to choose from that can assist you with your daily work tasks. However, if you own a Blackberry or other mobile device you may be frustrated with the fact that many of the real estate specific apps are NOT available to you, or have limited functionality.

ENTER: Smarter Agent, a real estate marketing company that has solved the fragmentation of mobile with a listing search application that is now available on virtually every cell phone.

Smarter Agent works with all major wireless carriers and mobile devices. It uses GPS to locate a user’s location and find real estate listings in their area. Search results include: price, square footage, estimated mortgage, taxes, features, interactive map, beds/baths, pictures. Consumers can also search by address, community name, city or zip code.

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10 Social Media Lifeskills for Real Estate Professionals

By NikNik · June 8, 2009 · 15 Comments 

If you have kids, then you probably know that most schools teach character education along with the ABC’s and 123’s. And when I was teaching elementary school, there were 10 lifeskills in particular that I focused on with my class each year: integrity, active listening, effort, respect, caring, responsibility, cooperation, trustworthiness, courage, diligence.

These lifeskills set the stage for better communication between teacher and student, student and student, and even child and parent. The lifeskills provided me with the opportunity to help my students interact more positively, engage in cooperative learning, and problem solve when disagreements arose.

With the advent of new marketing techniques (namely social media strategies), it seems rather apparent that we should infuse the lifeskills we learned back in the day (when we began learning to better communicate and cooperate) within our current business goals and strategies. So I’ve taken character education full circle here by suggesting the following: “10 Social Media Lifeskills for Real Estate Professionals”.
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Where is Your Real Estate Market Going? Cyberhomes Market Forecast Can Help!

By NikNik · June 1, 2009 · 4 Comments 

How well can you predict what’s going to happen in your real estate market? Being a real estate professional, you probably get asked this very question almost daily. And your expertise and experience assist you greatly in answering with authority and credibility. But what if you had access to over 40 million loans, in conjunction with 100 million property, ownership, and sales records nationwide? Well, then you would be Cyberhomes Market Forecast!

You don’t really require all that data to forecast where your local market is going. But now you do have access to the crucial data that affects and shapes where your real estate market is headed.

Cyberhomes Real Estate Market Forecast, the first report that gives you a comprehensive tool to help predict future real estate trends in a local market by analyzing key information - including credit information, loan repayment data, delinquencies and foreclosures.

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Why TweetLister, When You Can Just Twitter

By NikNik · May 21, 2009 · 24 Comments 

What is TweetLister?

TweetLister is a new Twitter tool specifically created for real estate agents. Signing up for the free service allows you to post, schedule and manage real estate listings on Twitter. Track clicks received on your listings, as well as collect and download contacts you get through those listings (available via an Excel Report).

While I see the benefit of scheduling resourceful tweets to share with your network (aka “drip tweets”) throughout the day, I don’t recognize the benefit of ONLY twittering your listings. As a real estate professional on Twitter, your goal should be to become your network’s trusted advisor. This means you should be sharing what makes you a great source of related information. Yes, listing information is important to your local network (for those planning to transact now or in the near future). But what about the vast majority who are not transacting. Surely you want to maintain your connections and provide resourceful and local information so that when those in the majority are ready to transact, they call you!

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Twitter Rolls Out “Saved Searches” to the Twitmasses!

By NikNik · May 4, 2009 · Leave a Comment 

Twitter has been integrating Search.Twitter (formerly Summize) for some time now. I first noticed the search tool and “Saved Searches” features about a month ago. However, it seemed like Twitter was taking it’s time rolling this new search tool out to all it’s users.  You may have already observed the trending topics and search bar that have taken up residency on your Twitter Profile. But now you can search a topic or specific keywords, and then add each search to your sidebar as a “Saved Search”.

Other applications like Tweetdeck and Tweetie have integrated various search and sorting tools already, but now you can search and monitor directly from your Twitter Web Profile. And the experience seems to be fast and easy thus far!

If you are currently monitoring specific keywords (i.e. your business name, your name, expertise, local interests, etc) with alerting services like Twilert and Tweetbeep, then you’ll quickly identify the benefit of this new Twitter feature! If not, this is the perfect introductory tool to keep you in the “know” when it comes to what Tweeps & Twits are saying about you and your business. Read full story

MyMarketWare Unleashes Even More Market Power!

By NikNik · April 27, 2009 · 2 Comments 

We don’t do much in the way of self promotion here on MTO. But we do think you should be aware of an extremely affordable marketing tool that has our stamp of approval. MyMarketWare is product offering from Effektive Solutions. It’s a single property Website solution that offers a myriad of features that can assist you in attaining maximum online exposure for your listings. And at only $39 a pop ($32 with coupon code: mtoagent), MarketSites are an obvious choice to increase your online listing visibility, impress your sellers, and market real estate more effectively! We are happy to announce a significant upgrade, bringing you even more market power for the same low price!

New features include:

(1) MarketSites to go! Download any single property Website created by MyMarketWare for offline use.  Showcase your online listings during a listing presentation or copy any of your MarketSites to a CD for a thoughtful closing gift.

(2) Enhanced sign riders made from corrugated plastic provide increased durability for all type of weather conditions.  Sign riders cost $22 with reduced shipping time at no extra cost!

(3) FREE SMS texting service! I’m not naming names….but some SPS solutions will charge you as much as $25 per listing per month for this service.  But MyMarketWare will provide you with unlimited SMS texting service free to go hand and hand with each and every sign rider! Incoming leads are circulated in real time to the listing agent’s mobile phone as well as via the “Activity Center”. Read full story

Get Your Own Real Estate iPhone App….for FREE!

By NikNik · April 15, 2009 · 11 Comments 

MobileAppLoader is a new service providing businesses with customized apps for the iPhone.  You can take advantage of the fact that it’s still in Beta, and make your own real estate iPhone app for free! The “Real Esate - Real Easy” iphone app provides quick contact buttons (call, Web, email), the ability to search your listings, a neighborhood  locater, property feedback, and a loan calculator.

To get started, visit MobileAppLoader and sign up for free. Once you activate your account, you’ll notice that “Real Estate- Real Easy” is a featured application on the homepage. Choose “get started” and you’ll be prompted to submit your icon, images, description, application name and contact information. Once you’ve submitted all the required content, your app will be created and submitted to the iTunes App Store within a few hours. However, the approval process via iTunes takes anywhere from 7-10 days. Read full story

Tesla Model S: An Eco-Friendly Ride for Real Estate Professionals

By NikNik · April 9, 2009 · 7 Comments 

If you are a real estate professional who is patient and concerned about your environmental footprint….I have the car for you! Well, I don’t, but Tesla sure does. On March 26th, Tesla officially unveiled the new Model S. And last night I had the opportunity to get up close and personal with it at a private showing in Menlo Park.

Here’s what I love about the new Tesla Model S: Read full story

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