Friday 5 for May 10th
Happy Friday everyone. On this wet day, the best thing you could do is find a nice place to hide and do a little quality reading. Hope you enjoy this week’s Friday Five!
This year, it’s all about video. As the mini-video-taking Vine app recently hit the top of the charts for free apps in the U.S., everyone seems to record their own videos and post them online.Why? Because people are watching it!Andy Warhol once said: “I don’t read, I just look at pictures”. That’s what we all do today. This is a great one from @coskills http://communicateskills.com/2013/05/08/video-social-media-strategies/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+CoSkills+%28Communicate+%5Byour%5D+Skills%29
There is nothing like the feeling of standing out from all of your competitors and generating more business than ever before. Due to how most buyers base their buying decision on pricing, it can be easy to get into a pricing war with your competitors. But that is no fun and you end up compromising your profit margin. It’s time to develop a unique selling proposition via @steamfeedcom http://www.steamfeed.com/how-to-create-a-killer-unique-selling-proposition/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+steamfeedcom+%28SteamFeed%29
Twitter is often seen as one of Cinderella’s ugly sisters when it is compared to the multimedia beauty and the wealth of numbers that the 800 million plus engaged users that the Facebook social network offers. But if you take the time to get to understand Twitter with its quaint 140 character limit and its charming simplicity, it can be a very powerful tool to distribute information and ideas in real-time to enhance your marketing and promotion efforts.Thanks @jeffbullas http://www.jeffbullas.com/2012/02/03/the-explosive-power-of-the-retweet-revealed-by-twitter/
Brand storytelling isn’t a new concept, but with the explosive growth of social media and content marketing, the opportunities to tell stories as part of direct and indirect brand marketing initiatives have become a strategic priority. The following are five secrets that brand storytellers understand and use to intrigue, engage, and connect emotionally with consumers. http://www.forbes.com/sites/work-in-progress/2013/02/05/5-secrets-to-using-storytelling-for-brand-marketing-success/
The way we communicate on a daily basis has changed radically over the last ten years. In our ever-changing world of communication, social media is what’s in vogue. Everywhere you turn you can’t escape it whether it is Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, Linkedin or one of the many others that are cropping up daily. Social media is a way of keeping in touch with the world around us. With new forms of communication, come new rules of the game, especially for real estate agents. http://sem-group.net/search-engine-optimization-blog/social-media/5-ways-real-estate-agents-fail-at-social-media/
The Friday Five for April 24th
No question, the business of Real Estate is changing at the speed of light and I sometimes wonder if by the time I’ve researched an idea or platform, something better has come out. Am I just playing a giant game of “catch up”? Over the last 5 years there has been an explosion of articles and posts written about social media, blogging and technology developments. Let’s face it, it would be next to impossible to wade through all the content. So, each week, in my little corner of the world, I offer up the articles that I find interesting and put them together in the Friday Five. I hope it helps you be better at whatever it is you do!
I stumbled across this one through my LinkedIn news feed and, while it is not tech or social media specific, there are many take aways that could be applied to our business of Real Estate. Check out the eleven concepts on becoming a better leader. They are especially relevant if you substitute the word leader for Realtor…or manager… or baker….well you get the picture. This one is from Dave Kerpen author of Likeable Business. http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20130128162711-15077789-11-simple-concepts-to-become-a-better-leader?trk=mp-details-rc
It’s much easier to market your business when customers readily associate a face with your brand. Many companies, from Apple to Zappos, have drawn success from their leaders’ knack for capturing the public’s attention and inspiring new schools of thought in their field. Today, business owners have an array of options for getting in front of potential customers. The Web and social media have opened up new avenues to share expertise and reach people of influence. This is a great article on building personal brand from @inc http://www.inc.com/guides/2010/05/build-your-personal-brand.html
If you thought Pinterest was for looking at pretty pictures this infographic should change your views dramatically. Put side by side, which platform is better….Pinterest or Facebook? While Facebook gets more traffic, Pinterest beats out Facebook in the other major metrics. Lesson? It might be time to think outside the Facebook box. Thanks to @RWW for this http://readwrite.com/2013/04/17/social-networking-for-marketers-pinterest-crushes-facebook-infographic
Love this one from @jeffbullas. Some might call me a Twitter Jedi, others might say I’m just annoying and plugging up their feed, but what ever I’m doing, it seems to be working. My blog is hitting numbers like never before. Twitter may not be the answer to your lead generation prayers but it certainly can’t hurt if it is used right. I love this quote…The principles of a coherent marketing strategy should not be discarded because social media mania has turned your brain to mush. Twitter in the right hands with the right plan and approach is a very sharp marketing tool. Works for me.
http://www.jeffbullas.com/2011/06/27/how-to-create-a-twitter-marketing-strategy-that-rocks
I liked this one from @B2Community on LinkedIn invitations. Over the last year I have received at least a hundred invites to connect on LinkedIn. The problem is (and I’m guilty of it too) is that they use the generic greeting message. You know the one…. I’d like to add you to my professional network. Boring. From now on, I’m going to reach out to people with a personal message or link. I will let you know how it goes. http://www.business2community.com/linkedin/your-biggest-linkedin-mistake-can-be-easily-fixed-0466848?goback=.gde_3754448_member_233121144
Have a great weekend everyone!
The Friday Five for April 12th
Crummy weather can’t stop me. I love putting the Friday Five together. Why? because all the information you could ever need to be a fantastic agent is out there. Don’t pay someone to tell you how to do Facebook ads or be an expert blogger. You have to find your own way of doing it. My passions are marketing, branding, blogging and social media. As such I do a fair bit of homework on those subjects and share it with agents across the country. The important thing to remember is that everything we do on-line only works if you have the abilities to show your stuff OFF LINE. Social Media is a fabulous tool that every agent should utilize but don’t do it all. Pick the ones that work FOR YOU! I am a Twitter fanatic, probably due to my short attention span. I suck at Four Square. I’m ok at Facebook, but I am the biggest fan of Tumblr (I have two accounts). To each his own. Go with what you know. Without further ado, here are this week’s Friday Five!
Word-of-mouth contagion has always been at the heart of smart marketing campaigns so when it comes to marketing to the social savvy consumer, consider these fine points via @Smedio http://smedio.com/2012/10/01/marketing-to-the-social-savvy-consumer
We have been pushing the implementation of doing real estate on iPads for a long time. With reason. Going paperless will help to change your business, and build your brand. Don’t believe me? Check out this post from @katieLance on why she is so passionate about docusign. https://www.docusign.com/blog/docusign-spotlight-3-reasons-why-i-am-passionate-about-paperless
Doesn’t it make you sick when you google someone and their picture shows up next to the text? This happens because Google has implemented an Authorship Markup tool that allows writers to identify themselves to the search engine by linking their online works to their Google+ profiles. This allows for a blog, article, or website to stand out from the crowded search results with a picture of the writer inserted next to its description. Ok so the downside, if you want to call it that, is that you must have a Google+ account. Small price to pay. Good article and step by step directions from @inmannext. I did it and will let you know how it goes. http://next.inman.com/2013/04/google-authorship-get-your-picture-in-search-results-and-drive-more-traffic
Here is another one from @KatieLance on the sociability of Real Estate. Long gone are the days of real estate marketing limited to bus stop benches and newspaper pull-outs. Real estate is fully online, and going social. I especially like number 3. Don’t forget that Real Estate is LOCAL. http://blog.hootsuite.com/social-media-tips-real-estate
There is corporate brand and then there is your personal brand. Can they work together. My favorite blogger Anna Rydne from @Coskills has a great post on the subject. Watch the short video by William Arruda a personal branding guru. Short and to the point. http://communicateskills.com/2012/08/20/brand-building-activity/
Happy reading everyone. Oh, and see how my name is high lighted here? thats because of the whole Google authorship business. Hey if you need to reach me….just google me.
mark mclean
