January 20th, 2010
Twitter for real estate, yes or no?
So it is always interesting when I’m out in the real estate offices as of late and I start to talk about twitter. I will get one of two looks. One will be that of curiousness and wanting to know more, and the other will be a look of skepticism. If you had to guess which one I get more of, which would it be? Well I’ll tell you skepticism wins hands down every time. Many agents today still do not believe that the idea of a 140 character text being of any value in their day to day business. I’m hear to say that isn’t true.
Everyday on Twitter there are people having real honest conversations and accessing resources and information that is Real Estate related.
To get a good idea of Twitter in Real Estate try watching this video.
I recently read a great article about 9 ways to get more out of Twitter and I strongly suggest you take a look at this article from a great blog called. Social Media Examiner. You really do need to just open you mind and understand that the opportunities are limitless if you just try something. You will be amazed what it can do for your business.
Thanks for taking the time.
January 12th, 2010
Don’t be a real estate Dinosaur, 5 ideas for 2010!
So it is 2010 which means it is time to analyze your business and make sure you are relevant with technology in the eyes of your customers. I have broken this down to 5 items.
1. Do you understand the power of social media? Are you engaged in the world of Facebook, and Twitter? If you aren’t then watch this video.
2. Phones... Take your phone out of your pocket or purse, look at it. If it can’t browse the web, send text, take a picture, sync with mail, be used as a GPS, and open attachments then you need a new phone. Here are my recommendation. Blackberry, Droid, or Iphone. Think about this for a second. I’m a buyer and I walk into your open house with my I-phone and you are armed with a base line phone that can only make a call or text, if that is the case then who has more info in the room at that point? “The person in the room with the most information wins.”
3. Laptops…. Desktop computers are a thing of the past. In real estate today you need to live in a mobile environment. Laptop computers with a wireless air card is your best bet.
4. Professional Photography. Why do agents still take their own pictures of their listings? Your job is to display this home in its best light so that it looks great to potential buyers. Your a real estate professional not a professional photographer. It would be like your heart surgeon saying “hey we are going to save you some money today. I happen to have my own anesthesia machine so I’ll just do the surgery and anesthesia today sound good?” NO! Hire a professional. Read this article.
5. Listing Syndication. Are you able to articulate what listing Syndication means? Do you know where your listings are syndicated to? Do you understand the value of syndication. If you aren’t then I suggest finding out if your company supports syndication and if so they should have some information available for you to use to better educate your sellers. This tool alone can help you get that new listing.
PS: here is an extra that I decided to throw in at the last min. Get a Flip camera. This thing is awesome.
It is that simple.
Thanks for taking the time.
January 11th, 2010
Do you have a tribe?
Ok if your not a Seth Godin fan then you should be. You can subscribe to his blog @ http://sethgodin.typepad.com/. This video that he did has some really great points that I think are very relevant to the Real Estate Industry.
He makes a great point about not trying to please everyone with your product or services. Just make sure what you do is the very best for the niche that your are trying to serve (your tribe). His example of Apple vs Nokia is a great one. Apple said hey lets make a phone that is very expensive and isn’t for everyone and does some very specific things well, and look what happened. Then Nokia said he lets make an average phone that is either free or very inexpensive and see what we get.
This concept holds true for you business. Don’t try to be the best price on the block or the best bargain. Create a services that is the best and make it invitation only. You will be amazed at the response you will get compared to being the bargain average services.
Thanks for taking the time.
December 15th, 2009
What drives your social media efforts?
When you look at the bigger picture of Social Media you need to have an engine that drives content to each Social Media site. In most cases with the successful agents today that content is being driven from a blog based website. Here are some key elements for this blog based website.
- Make sure the content you are writing about is something you are passionate about.
- Even though this is a blog make sure it has a good real estate based search tool. (I use Networkhome for my blog)
- Make sure the blog is your own domain name not the domain given from the blog platform ex. www.michaeldfanning.com instead of mfanning.wordpress.com
- Add a Become a Fan on Facebook widget to your blog page. This is done by using the Networkedblog tool in facebook.
- Facebook professional pages
- Linkedin in
- Twitter.
November 19th, 2009
Social Media a Fad I don’t think so.
So if you haven’t seen any of the Did you know videos or any of the Social Media Revolution videos you are not opening your mind to just what is going on around us today. I can’t tell you how many times I’m out in the field and here people say things like “Wow why would you waste so much time on facebook?” or “I sale Real Estate I don’t have time to mess around with stuff like that.”
I would ask you to take a look at some of the videos I have posted in this article and understand that the customer today is moving into the Social Media world much faster then the companies that sell them products and services. We still haven’t nailed down how to get in the space successfully. There are many good ideas out there but it all starts with education and an understanding of just how big this revolution is. Hopefully some of these videos will help you to better understand what is happening.
November 6th, 2009
Embrace change and succeed in business.
In the world of Real Estate, especially today we are in a state of flux. The economy has taken a big toll on our business, relationship building and marketing are going digital, and the banking industry is causing real estate deals to fall out of escrow on a daily basis. All that said it really boils down to change. In any business you have to always be open minded to new ways of doing business and thinking out of the box.
Many real estate professionals today suffer from trying the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Never befor have we seen such change in a short period of time. So as you look at your business think about these three thing that were said best by Don Price
1. Embrace change and the challenge that goes along with it. Develop the confidence in yourself to survive whatever comes your way. Try new and unexplored ways of marketing to grow your business.
2. Increase your flexibility. Take a serious inventory of your rigid routines and thinking patterns. Then make some deliberate changes in the way you think and operate. Having difficulty in forcing the changes? Look in the mirror; remind yourself that the price of being inflexible results in stifled growth, and being left behind.
3. Stop being content with the same predictable activities every day. Most new ventures, marketing ideas and activities carry an unfamiliar ring and a fear of failure, but these negative emotions are usually short lived.
Not my words but good words to think about as we approach the end of 09 and look to 2010. I would challenge you to think outside the box with your business. Remember that the Real Estate business is a relationship business and always will be. How are you creating stronger relationships with your customers? Are you adding value, are your listening, and are you engaging them on a frequent basis. Are you providing them with something they aren’t getting elsewhere? Think about transparency and being a real person and not a sales person. Also if you have some good ideas on this topic I would love to get your feedback.
Thanks for taking the time.
October 21st, 2009
Not my general topic but inportant.
Hi Neighbors,
I don’t normally campaign or solicit letters, but the new school boundary proposed by the Seattle School District impacts us all. As you are likely aware, the North East cluster has a real issue with over-crowding in elementary, middle and high school. There has been much time and consideration spent addressing the issue and the proposed new plan involves resetting boundaries (map). We personally support this goal. However, the new boundaries do not promote diversity, safety or walk ability –three of the six criteria considered for the plan. Why should you care? The new boundaries could impact you –even if you don’t have a child attending public schools!
We are asking for you to consider the following, and if compelled, send mail by October 30th asking the Seattle School board to REJECT the proposed boundaries.
Our family strongly supports the over-arching goals laid out by the Seattle Superintendent. However there are several issues we believe need addressing before the School Board should elect this proposal. The current plan includes the reopening of Sand Point Elementary school (the little elementary school tucked behind Pagaliacci pizza on Sand Point Way). The school board insists that equality, safety and walk ability were three of the six criteria for school assignment. However the proposed boundaries for Sand Point Elementary would suggest otherwise:
1. Safety –all children in Hawthorne Hills will be assigned to Sandpoint Elementary, requiring children as young as five to cross Sand Point Way –a four lane, 40 mph road. Children from Windermere will NOT be a part of the Sand Point school population. Even though this community is on the east side of Sand Point Way, lowering potential hazards for kids walking to school. In fact, the Laurelhurst elementary boundaries remained untouched in this proposal.
2. Diversity — Sand Point Elementary will draw a majority of its students from the UW student apartments near Magnuson Park & low income/transitional housing. It is projected that approx. 33% of the school will be on the free lunch program, (for comparison, View Ridge, Laurelhurst & Bryant have less than 10% on free lunch). Many are projecting lower parent involvement and incremental funds for Sand Point compared to the other schools in the area. This puts Sand Point at a disadvantage
3. Walk ability/access –Asking families on the west side of Sand Point Way to cross a major thorough fare means walking will be unlikely. Making matters worse, there is little infrastructure to allow for parents to drive and drop off children. The district is asking for the city to update roads to allow better access. This means additional dollars spent on new roads, etc.
If equality, safety and walk ability don’t pique your interest, consider that Sand Point as a reference school will potentially lower home resale values in Hawthorne Hills as it makes our area less than ideal to families looking to purchase homes associated with a strong school. Even though you aren’t directly impacted by the changes, you may see an indirect effect in the way of property value.
We encourage you to take a moment and review the proposed changes. There is ample information available on the following web sites:
· Keep Our Kids Together (site committed to grandfathering siblings during the transition phase)
· Seattle School Board “Excellence for all” Plan
If you agree this plan needs more consideration, PLEASE TAKE ACTION by October 30th. Email each of the board members and ask them to:
1. Reject the current boundaries. Ask them to consider pulling Sand Point Elementary population from Windermere and other neighborhoods to the South East of Sand Point Elementary
2. Consider grandfathering siblings during the five-year transition. The Seattle School Board should consider the needs of current families as well as future families. Early sample data shows that grandfathering siblings to the older child’s elementary school will have little impact on enrollment over the next five years.
October 16th, 2009
The word MARKETING does not exist in SOCIAL NETWORKING!
Ok, this is more of a rant; I’ll admit it.
I just read a great article courtesy of a Facebook post by Rich Jacobsen.
“How to Take Your Social Networking to the next level”
The article was about social networking and had five really great points that we can all benefit from. No where in the article did it say take your listings and post them to your friend’s list and advertise. This really drives me crazy that agents continue to do this. Ask yourself this question: If every time you were invited to a cocktail party you showed up with an A-board, a card table and flyers for all your listings, how many times do you think your friends would invite you back to their party? You know the answer.
We know you are in real estate, and we know that you have homes listed. If we want to see your listings we will go to a real estate website and look at them. Stop putting them on Facebook. There is one exception; if you happen to bring on a great listing that is unique or has something about it that people would find interesting then point that out, but don’t just take your craigslist link or your flyer page and paste it to your wall. Please read the article I referenced above, be engaging, get connected with your network and stop selling.
Thanks for taking the time.
October 7th, 2009
Do you Bing? I do!
Ok so I have to say that I use to be a hard core Google user but lately I find myself going to Bing a lot more. Why you ask? I love the ability to do a visual search. It puts data into these image categories and then it allows you to click on one of the image boxes to start your search. Very creative and a new fresh look at how we search. Remember all you Google people keep you minds open for fresh new ideas Bing is giving Google a run for their money.
October 7th, 2009
Marketing Creativity
So I have to say that Google is pretty creative in that the page they use really doesn’t have anything on it except for the word Google. It is what they do with that word that makes them so creative. I’m curious just how many people go to google just to see what they will do each week with the word google. The one today was great check it out.
