The Science of Facebook Marketing

Twitter is a key advertising feature for Houston REALTORS

The world communicates on a level playing field with Twitter. REALTORS with the Houston Association of REALTORS benefit from their state-of-the-art technology using automatic posting of listings.  If you are a REALTOR and you don’t have a Twitter account, it’s time to start using Twitter to bring the world closer to your listings and real estate updates.

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Facebook brings in 2% ROI for Real Estate Agents

I went to a Women\’s Council of REALTORS® luncheon in Houston’s Galleria area today and had the pleasure of listening to Dr. Ted C. Jones, Senior Vice President-Chief Economist for Stewart Title Guaranty Company.  His presentation was so enlightening. As usual, he did an amazing job at showing the real estate community how fortunate they are to be Texas REALTORS®.

For me, being a Technology Coach, what stood out was his report on Facebook as they relates to real estate.

I have to say that I agree with Dr. Jones’ statement that Facebook bring in 2% on Real Estate Agents’ business usage. This does not mean, however, that Facebook, or other types of social media cannot have a significant role in the real estate industry. What it does mean is that:

1. Realtors need to understand the difference between Facebook Fanpages (business pages) and Facebook Profile pages.
2. Realtors need to have a business plan as to how they are going to use social media for their real estate business.
3. Realtors need to define Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter as totally different social media platforms and to use them accordingly.
4. Realtors need to measure the effectiveness of their social media marketing campaigns.
5. Realtors need to learn how to manage their accounts and the options provided for privacy.

There is a future for social media in real estate. Future home owners, investors, renters and sellers are using social media for an average of an hour per day if they are on a computer – and if they are on Twitter, they are using their smart phones consistently to find information about literally every subject.

Facebook Business Pages (Fanpages) can be viewed by anyone – anyone that can get on the internet, with no Facebook account. Facebook business pages are websites with search engine optimization opportunities.

If you would like to know the pulse of the world on any subject, go to http://search.twitter.com and type in what you would like to know about. (Tell me, what does the site look like?” Freaky, isn’t it? Use a  Hashtag (the pound sign: #) before a key word to search on that particular subject so as to narrow down on results. These are not old results – these are the most recent Twitter users shouting out their thoughts! Try #realestate as a search. Now try #houston #realestate as a search. You will see that the second search provides less and more focused search results.

Social media is not the answer to real estate business success. It’s a part of your marketing campaign…because some buyers and sellers use it exclusively to communicate. It levels the playing field for the world!

By the way, you must check out Dr. Jones\’ Videos and subscribe to his blog for great real estate and business-related updates!

 

What are QR Codes?

QR Codes are awesome for providing readers that use Internet enabled smart phones (iPhone, Android, Blackberry)  with access to video, websites and anything on the Internet. They can be placed on flyers, books, magazines, business cards, labels – anything that can take solid print. I’ve found when checking details on items in places like Best Buy, I have to position myself in a way that hides glare so that the QR reader on my Android  is able to accurately connect with the QR Code.

QR means simply, quick response. Just like a bar code, it’s 2 dimensional and unique for any online address that is used. There are many free online accounts that provide ‘QR Readers’ and ‘QR Creators’. I use www.scanlife.com ‘s free version for up to three QR codes. Microsoft uses Tag, a unique format that requires that particular reader.

Simply search for QR Code on your Smartphone and choose one! If you choose to use the Microsoft Tag, readers of that code will have to use their software.

The codes are easy to create and can be copied in different formats.

You don’t have to create QR Codes to utilize them. If you download the app on your smartphone, you can use it without having a personal account for creating QR Codes.

To get a good understanding of how to create QR Codes, let’s try this short exercise:

Use Google’s QR code creator for any website that you want:

1. Go to www.goo.gl  (yes, that’s a website address)
2. Type in a website address in the field. If you can’t think of one, use one of mine, www.houstontrainer.com
3. Select the Shorten button to truncate the site (sometimes, websites are so long, they are hard to remember and give to others so there are sites like this one (www.tinyurl.com and www.bit.ly and others….) that truncate site addresses.
4. You will see the site listed under “Long URL”. To the right of the site address, there is a “Details” link. Click on that and you will see the results of your action…plus the QR Code on the top right!!!

QR Codes can be saved as images and used on flyers, websites, business cards, etc. Anyone seeing  the QR Code will know to access the software on their phone to access the site linked to that QR Code. This creates instant access to information quickly.

How can QR Codes help you in your business?

Questions? Send an email to me and I’ll get back with you.

Social Networking Platforms Brings The World Closer Together

The last 2 years have shown a remarkable growth in the use of social networking during political events, domestic upheavals and international news. The immediacy of delivery with cell phones in particular creates a fluid response for everyone, whether they are directly or indirectly connected to social networking platforms.

Television news networks now depend on social networking platforms, specifically Twitter for at-the-moment updates on literally every type of breaking news.

The use of social media and networking using Twitter and Facebook is considered a prime resource to connect people in today’s world. Online activism and social media brings people together with like minded interests.

Events can be organized with new members  in the  thousands by the hour simply by creating a Facebook Fan Page.  Making a comment on a Twitter account (tweeting)  that relates to a key issue using a key word with a hashtag and a maximum of 180 charachters for searching purposes creates a steady flow of followers.

The power of the Internet provides everyone an equal platform to share information; coordinating for activism, information resource and verification.

Because of Twitter’s flexibility, simplicity and easy accessibility, I firmly believe that it has become the key communication platform in today’s diverse world.

The human body: Bonnie Bassler on how bacteria “talk”

Using Email Contacts to Build your Facebook Page

Facebook as added a great way for you to promote your Fanpage (Business Page) with your contacts. Now you can add your contacts from virtually any email program into Facebook.  Take a look at this video that I created: