Archive for the ‘Real Estate’ Category

Social Media’s Influence on Industries and Government

Thursday, March 4th, 2010

By the Social Media Dynamics Team

Social media is certainly having an effect on individuals, businesses and schools.  Social media’s reach is now helping and in some cases compromising industries and government.  This is the first in a 5 part series of articles how social media is influencing our lives:

How Social Media is Influencing the Real Estate Industry

We chose real estate because being a REALTOR means accepting the standards and ethics from the industry.  We recently came across the following amendment which now includes technology/internet in their Standard of Practice:

“Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®”

http://www.realtor.org/mempolweb.nsf/pages/printable2010Code

Standard of Practice 15-2
The obligation to refrain from making false or misleading statements about competitors, competitors’ businesses, and competitors’ business practices includes a duty to not knowingly or recklessly publish, repeat, retransmit, or republish false or misleading statements made by others.  This duty applies whether false or misleading statements are repeated in person, in writing, by technological means (e.g. the Internet), or by any other means.  (Adopted 1/07, Amended 1/10)

Standard of Practice 15-3
The obligation to refrain from making false or misleading statements about competitors, competitors’ businesses, and competitors’ business practices includes the duty to publish a clarification about or to remove a statement made by others on electronic media the REALTOR controls once the REALTOR knows the statements is false or misleading. (Adopted 1/10).

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® is holding the REALTORS responsible for what is posted on their electronic media sites.  Our interpretation is as the owner of the blog or Facebook Fan Page you have a duty to monitor and clarify or remove any postings that you know is false or misleading.

Filter your blog posts and check your Facebook Fan pages often.  As evidenced in recent news accounts, the viral effect of social media can get away from folks extremely fast.

More articles on Social Media’s Influence:

How Social Media is Influencing the Court System

How Social Media is Influencing the Jury Selection Process

How Social Media is Influencing Employee Networking

How Social Media is Influencing Local Politics

@social_dynamics

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Posted in Articles, Blogging, Facebook, Industry Specific, LinkedIn, Local business, Real Estate, Social Media and Social Networking, Technology, Websites | No Comments »

House Hunting Reaches New Level iPhone Real Estate Listings

Sunday, January 24th, 2010

By Sharon Hill

Way back in the day: You are out and about in the neighborhood you are interested in moving and looking for real estate signs. Or, you are in a realtor’s office looking through printed books of listings.

Back in the day: You are out and about in the neighborhood you are interested in moving and looking for real estate signs. Or, you are in the realtors office looking through the text only database of homes.

More recently: You are out and about in the neighborhood you are interested in moving and looking for real estate signs.  Or, you are online yourself searching for properties and making a written list (or cut and paste list) of homes you would like to see and email your realtor.

Right now: You are out and about in the neighborhood you are interested in moving AND you have the iPhone app from Realtor.com which knows you are in the neighborhood and immediately provides you active listings with descriptions and pictures.

You can also disallow Use Your Current Location and type in city, state and/or zip to look anywhere you want and plan out your house hunting trip in advance.

Email the listing to your realtor or a friend. You can also post listings to Twitter or Facebook.

This app is amazingly simple to use and will make finding that right house and sharing your excitement with others so much easier.

@social_dynamics

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Posted in Articles, Email, Facebook, Industry Specific, Real Estate, Technology, Twitter, Websites | No Comments »

Why Social Media Works for Local Businesses – Referral Marketing – Part 2 of 6

Wednesday, November 25th, 2009

By Sharon Hill

Referral Marketing is my term for passing along a service or product to a friend, co-worker or company.  Back in the day, this was done by speaking in person or over the phone.  “I have a leak, can you recommend a good plumber?”  Successful realtors are experts at Referral Marketing.

There is much written about viral marketing, what it is, where and when it originated, how it is used for good and not so good purposes.  Bottom line it is a planned campaign.  Referral marketing comes from people wanting to share experiences.  I seriously doubt that any businessperson would dispute the value of a referral regarding the reduction of time to close the business and dollar value of the business (i.e. less negotiation.)

How do social media tools (Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and blogs) achieve the same results as Referral Marketing?  Downside risks (certainly not all inclusive by any means) are included so that you can better understand the risk versus reward ratio.

linkedin-local-business

LinkedIn is all about recommending this person or recommending that company very publicly.  Going on the record and making a statement about services.  Local, regional, national or international does not matter to LinkedIn.  A referral is a referral.  So what does it cost to have a LinkedIn profile $0.00.  That’s right zero dollars.

Downside risk – none.  According to LinkedIn Q & A:

How can I view and manage recommendations I’ve received from other LinkedIn users?
You will have the option to accept and ‘Show this recommendation’, ‘Accept’ and ‘Hide the recommendation’, ‘Request a replacement’ or ‘Archive’.

You are in control – enough said

facebook-local-business

Facebook is a great place to form communities. You can start a “West side business community” or a “Downtown Business Community”.  Promote the area with the coordination of fellow businesses.  Decide on who will be the administrator(s).  Offer specials to customers who come to the area.  Use store signage or handouts to let customers know about the community on Facebook.

Create a Facebook page for your business.  Here you can offer tips and let customers interact.
Downside risk – some.  These pages will need to be monitored.  There are privacy settings that you can use.  The goal is for your page to be public so that it can be found and seen.  People can post comments to the page.  You can remove them. This requires the administrator(s) being proactive.

twitter-local-business

Remember when stores had Sign our guestbook to receive offers and mailings when you checked out?  Your customers can follow you if they know you are on Twitter.  Put up a sign.  Make your Twitter address something memorable (there is a limitation of 15 characters).  Don’t forget to tweet something of value such as a sale.  “Twitter 1 hour sale (12/15/09) today at 1 PM to 2 PM – 20% off!” or “Call in the next hour and receive….”  Limitation 140 characters.

Downside risk:  Carefully proof your tweets.  You would not want to send out a tweet stating your sale is from 1 PM to 2 AM.

blogging-local-business

Writing blogs can be fun, rewarding and tedious. Start by creating a list of subjects and then let circumstances and experiences fill in the rest. Your customers and employees will most likely provide you all the material you need.  Be the local Subject Matter Expert or SME (see our blog:  Local Subject Matter Expert Using Social Media) in your area of expertise.

Downside risk – Very little. You can update or delete a post and control the comments (Approve, Edit, Reply, Spam, Delete) before it ever becomes public. If you blog is copied and pasted into someone else’s blog site (which is considered bad form) changes and updates are not within your control.  Most often, an excerpt (which you write is posted) and then linked back your blog site.

comment-choices-wordpress

comments- wordpress

All of these vehicles become places for your current and potential customers to find you and learn about your business. How it becomes Referral Marketing is simple:

LinkedIn – Person A is connected to Person B and sees Person’s A recommendation for your business.  Since Person B knows Person A they trust their recommendation.

Facebook – With community page and/or a business page, customers can see what is happening in your area and at your location.  They can interact and let others know of the page.  They can easily pass along the fan page address to their friends.

Twitter – No guestbook to maintain, no costly mailings and they choose to follow you.  It does not matter whether you have 5 or 500 followers.  Each one is a customer. You can be retweeted by one of your customers to their followers and so on.

Blogging – I have never met a successful business owner that did not like to share their knowledge.  Blogs have their own search engine keywords known as tags.  Blogs are shared, linked and posted on other blogs.

Final thoughts:

If you truly have limited funds, be a do-it-yourselfer.  If you have some funds, hire an expert in social media marketing.  Ask a ton of questions and use the opportunity to learn so that you can possible take over some the activities yourself.

Take a new and long look at time and costs currently allocated to promote your business and attract new customers. Is it still effective for the money being spent?

Social Media Marketing will probably never be as inexpensive (FREE!) as it is right now.  What are you waiting for?

@social_dynamics

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Posted in Articles, Blogging, Direct Response, Ecommerce, Email, Facebook, Industry Specific, LinkedIn, Local business, Real Estate, Social Media and Social Networking, Twitter, Websites | No Comments »

Why Social Media Works – Part 1 of 6

Tuesday, September 15th, 2009

By Sharon Hill

Over the next week on a daily basis we will be posting a six part series.

Why Social Media Works – Part 1
Why Social Media Works For Local Business – Part 2
Why Social Media Works for Direct Response Marketers – Part 3
Why Social Media Works for Non-Profits – Part 4
Why Social Media Works for Recruiters – Part 5
Why Social Media Works for Communities – Part 6

Social media works because it works differently than media.  Wait a minute isn’t social media media?  As an advertising professional of many years, I would say no in the traditional sense or term.  When reading the definition of media it is to store, transmit, receive or deliver some form of communication.  Technically that description fits.  I can transmit a tweet, deliver it to my followers and receive a tweet from those I follow and store all of it.

So what about networking?  Definitions include an interconnected system of things or people and to communicate with and within a group.

So what makes social media different from traditional media?  Social media truly engages one-by-one. Traditional media (print/television/radio/magazines, etc.)  transmit their message and while it is delivered over the air or on your front porch and  therefore received, the biggest question has always been how many are paying attention?

I do subscribe to the local paper and I read it most everyday.  I only read certain sections or columns (ok the comics too). I don’t engage.  I don’t connect.  I don’t communicate.  This is still a one-sided relationship.  Sure I could write to the paper or go online and post a comment and many do. Newspaper is closer to social media than some of the other traditional media vehicles.

Radio talk shows have been around forever and maybe were the first forum for social networking.  Find a talk show host you like (or extremely dislike), listen and call in to be heard.  Some callers are first timers and others are daily or weekly folks.  Even closer to the concept of social media.

By now, I would assume you understand where I am taking you so we need not discuss television or magazines.

So how does social media work?  It is completely opposite to traditional media.  Traditional media defines targets: Adults 18-49, Households with incomes of certain amounts.  Households with pets.  These messages are then transmitted to these targets.  Social media starts with the target.  They decide to visit your Facebook fan page, they decide to follow you on Twitter, they decide to join certain groups on LinkedIn because they are interested in what you have to say.  They want to connect.  They want to be heard.  They put forth the effort.

Social media encompasses the best of old world one-on-one conversations and referrals with new technology to make it easier and wider spread.  Social media is the handshake that traditional media has been missing.  It is personal and intimate. This is what advertisers and marketers have dreamed about for decades.  We must think differently.  Rather than talk, we need to listen.  Provide the social media platforms for your company and then participate yourself.

That is Why Social Media Works.

@social_dynamics

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Posted in Articles, Blogging, Direct Response, Email, Facebook, Industry Specific, LinkedIn, Local business, Non-profits, Real Estate, Recruitment, Social Media and Social Networking, Technical, Twitter, Video, Websites | No Comments »

Real Estate and Social Media Marketing – Part II

Friday, July 31st, 2009

By Sharon Hill

What is the difference between networking and marketing? Same channels may be used for both such as Twitter, blogging, websites, Facebook and LinkedIn. The difference is in the interaction. Social networking was addressed in an earlier blog Real Estate and Social Networking – Part I

Social media marketing is using social networking outlets to communicate to people your experience, knowledge and success in your professional endeavors. Potential customers can see how many followers and connections you have. They can read real recommendations by real people. If I am a buyer and I use social networking as a way to find people/businesses, how do I find you? If I find you what is being said about you and who is saying it?

Marketing yourself and your business on a one-on-one and face-to-face basis is what you do. Adding the power and influence of social media marketing in a one-on-one and profile to profile basis is a way to increase your business.

What is the difference between social networking and social media marketing? See Real Estate and Social Networking Part I

@social_dynamics

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Posted in Articles, Blogging, Facebook, Industry Specific, LinkedIn, Local business, Real Estate, Social Media and Social Networking, Twitter, Video, Websites | No Comments »

Real Estate and Social Networking – Part I

Friday, July 31st, 2009

By Sharon Hill

If you are a realtor and have not yet embraced social networking what are you missing? I have an opportunity to interact with realtors on a fairly regular basis. So much of their business is through referrals or warm leads. That is social networking. “My realtor was just great, knew the area and made the process easy for a first time home buyer like me.” This written recommendation will be shared with others. “Word of Mouth” is becoming “Word of the Web”

So where do you start? There are no bad choices – just not great execution. Remember the old adage: write about what you know. What do you know? Our suggestion is to focus locally and become an expert.

One of the reasons I hired a particular realtor when selling my house was that she had built up list of people that were already in the market or soon to be in the market to buy a home. This was before the advent of social networking. Now that same realtor can increase the list of potential buyers through connecting, comments from blogs and tweeting to name a few.

I also have an opportunity to interact with buyers and sellers. The number one complaint is about a lack communication with their realtor. With social networking you can be proactive in your communications and keep your customers informed of your progress. You can invite your customers to go to see the status using a variety of choices.

Social networking to build a great network of people with like goals and interests around the subject of real estate.  How great is that?

What is the difference between social networking and social media marketing? See Real Estate and Social Media Marketing – Part II

@social_dynamics

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Getting Started: Planning Your Social Media Strategy

Monday, July 27th, 2009

By Jan Carroza

Think about this process as developing your own Social Sphere of Influence. Take the aerial view of your business today and where you want it to go in the near future and in the long-term. What are your goals?

Not all elements may be appropriate for your business and you need not tackle every facet all at once. Even pros like Mari Smith, a renowned maven in Facebook, suggest that embracing manageable efforts in sequence might be best for many of us. Dani Babb on Fox Business suggested just getting started and that you may make mistakes along the way.

The idea is to do some planning. You may want to outsource your online business management at the beginning when the setup is more labor intensive and while you learn. Gradually you can take it over as you are able to accommodate the requirements of time and resources in your organization. Or you may decide to continue with outside guidance as the Social Sphere expands.  For example, I heard that Comcast has doubled their social media staff from about 7 to 14-15 in the last year. Prepare for success.

Speaking of success, you might like to know about some real results before we get started.  “The world’s most valuable brands. Who’s most engaged?,”  a study prepared by Wetpaint and Altimeter, demonstrated that revenues increased by 18% by using social media (http://www.engagementdb.com).

So let’s get started. Make a list of what you want and need your Social Sphere of Influence to do for you. What does that list look like?

Consumer connection  – Is that:

  • Retention
  • Finding new consumers
  • Education
  • Building relationships
  • Getting feedback from consumers
  • Increasing sales

Other Initiatives

  • Finding, talking to investors
  • Introducing new products, new services

What else do you need to do?

Some of the forms beyond your website that you can put in your Social Sphere might include:

  • Blogs
  • White papers, articles, newsletters
  • Social media: LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and an ever-growing list of large and niche networks

Each choice offers different opportunities. Each offers the possibilities to have different as well as several voices. Formats can be intriguing. Twitter’s short format can be challenging. Each has its own place and may or may not fit with your plan. Any and all can be viral. So a good consumer experience has an excellent chance of being shared.

Take blogs, for instance. Blogs can look like a website with the look and feel, navigation and sections for Services, About, Contact et al. The difference should be the immediacy of news that’s regularly updated from once a month to once a week. This is the Podium point-of-view. Your voice.  Representing your company’s voice.

But the blog can be opened up to receive comments from readers, consumers, and the entire Spheriverse. Now it becomes a two-way superhighway of discussion, feedback and response to that feedback. An ongoing conversation. This has the power to be exponentially expansive and rewarding – for both your business and your consumer.

Articles, white papers, press releases, and newsletters are also a way to put out your voice, your opinions, and your announcements. But your website and all the parts of your Social Sphere will bring conversation back to you. It’s your job to plan the management of receiving and responding to those messages.

The social media each have their own channel of audience to offer. LinkedIn has professionals and folks looking to hire and be hired. There are groups to join to begin conversations. You can seek out and make important connections with people looking for answers.

Consumers are everywhere in all the social spaces. Your approach to each will probably be a little different with each one. Certainly the confinement and environment of the formats and technologies of each will impact the messages that you design.

As time goes on, no doubt the Spheriverse will continue to expand at a rapid pace of cyberspeed. Choices will increase. But the concept of the two-way dialogue remains constant. The challenge is in managing the communications most effectively. Enjoy and grow with the movement.

@social_dynamics

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