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 March 1st. Rabbits!
Happy Friday everyone, I’m going to start off the Friday Five with a cool video that is the latest to go viral. I am the latest convert to the video blogging world but think about how quickly your brand can accelerate with one good video. The guy in this vide has been seen over 2 million times. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=pii4G8FkCA4 When I watched it I kept thinking to myself, gee, I with 2 million people knew who I was. Heck I would be happy if that number were 2 thousand.
You may not have a 100-year-old brand, but you can be consistent in your messaging and in your brand. Don’t be all things to all people. Don’t change your brand messaging every other month with a new font or the next shiny new app. Be consistent in action, in your website, in how you interact with people, in your marketing, and in everything you do. Consistency breeds trust – and as we all know, we do business with those people that we know, like and trust. Check out these 3 lessons in branding from Inman News. http://next.inman.com/2013/02/3-lessons-in-branding-your-real-estate-business-for-longevity
Some agents have been asking me about Pinterest, so here are the goods. Pinterest is a social image-sharing site that is basically like a virtual bulletin board that allows its users to connect and organize images that are of interest to them. Despite its young age, Pinterest has grown to be the third-largest Social Media Site on the planet and the fastest-growing site on the web today. It is growing faster than Twitter or Facebook did in their infancy. According to Mashable, Pinterest drives more traffic to blogs and websites than Google+, YouTube and LinkedIn combined. That statistic alone tells us this site is worth investing some of your time so read this http://www.thenichereport.com/articles/10-tips-to-grow-your-real-estate-business-with-pinterest/
When it comes to Facebook and Twitter, you’re presented with some pretty clear obstacles. How do you encourage more visits to your page? Even if you get visitors, how long will they stay before something else draws them away? Will users who engage with a status update or other piece of content continue to discuss after an initial post? Social networks have an identity problem. Audience motivations and perspectives don’t always align with the expectations of a brand. Thankfully we have another brilliant post from @JeffBullas http://www.jeffbullas.com/2012/05/29/4-reasons-why-brilliant-communities-are-more-valuable-than-your-social-media-strategy/
I love talking about brand, so imagine my excitement when I came across this little infographic. I think it sums up what we are all trying to achieve in 9 easy steps. Creating any sort of brand is a tough job, it takes a lot of work and time. Your brand has to offer something different and something people want, it basically has to be cool. When creating a personal brand the thing is to be cool. People have to like you for something and you have to offer something people want. You have to be interesting. thanks to @ultralinx for this http://theultralinx.com/2012/05/9-basic-steps-create-personal-branding-strategy.html
In case you are wondering about the rabbits. In my family, saying Rabbits on the first day of the month gives you good luck!
Are Some Realtors Using Third-Party Sites To Game The System?
It’s a popular term that you have probably heard before. If there is a way to beat the system, someone will find it. Not surprisingly, it applies to the business of real estate too. At first I was enthusiastic about those third-party sites like Craigslist and Kijiji. Hey, if I have a listing I will promote it on as many sites as I can to get the most exposure. That’s my job. But more and more I see some agents trying to game the system. It’s as if those agents said, ” I can use this un-policed site to make money”. Can you blame a guy (or gal) for trying? Over the last few months, the number of real estate scams I’ve seen on the web makes me shudder. Not to single out one site or another, but I wonder if third-party sites, not under some type of control, are turning our business back into the wild wild west. I can’t imagine the founders of these sites ever intended their sites to be used these ways.
We’ve heard this story a fair bit, but I finally heard it first hand from someone who had been scammed. This person was looking for a rental apartment. She saw an amazing place in her price range and the “owner” said it she could have it. She put down a deposit and went home. A week later she thought it might be a good idea to go check it out again. She phoned and emailed the “owner” but was unable to reach him. Finally she went to the apartment only to find that the current tenants weren’t planning on moving out. As it turns out, they were away the weekend the apartment was shown. Burned!
Equally, if not more distressing is the behavior of Realtors like this one; This agent logged into TREB found a couple of nice condos, used the pictures and descriptions to create a few ads and then post them as their own listings. Potential renters are calling and arranging showings presuming they are working directly with the owner or listing agents. So you might say, big deal. At the end of the day the apartment gets rented. Isn’t that the goal? I suppose you could make that argument but why should someone take advantage of the work I did to get the listing in the first place? I didn’t give that agent permission to advertise my listing. In this case, the scammer agent was working at a resort in Mexico when I contacted her about a rental. She offered to have someone in her office attend the showing. Poaching listings is rampant in our business and this example barely scratches the surface of the type of shenanigans that agents figure out. The DDF or Data Distribution Facility may take care of some of these problems, like the accuracy of the information, but…as one door closes another one is sure to open.
How about the agent who had a listing on MLS at one price and also advertised it on Craigslist at a different price with the proviso the buyer use him to purchase the house? The Craigslist ad also didn’t contain any of the required information that is required under our guidelines. Designation, brokerage, contact information. Do you care? The internet is a big place. I have to believe there are a lot of agents using third-party sites to rightfully promote their listings. That’s great. But what about the scammers and cheats who are playing the system? They know full well that RECO can’t patrol the internet, and most agents aren’t checking to see if people are poaching their listings. And if they do, are those agents going to launch a complaint knowing that it will take 8 months to get to a hearing? Years ago, organized real estate was established to protect the public. Rules and regulations were written to make sure real estate transactions were done fairly. Is that protection gone out the window?
Is the sharing of data, through IDX leveling the playing field or making the system easy to beat? If you are part of IDX your listings are shared on every other agent’s website. Honestly, I’m okay with that BUT I want the public to know that if they are on Joe Smith’s Website the listing they are looking at is actually mine not Joe Smith’s. I want my name at the top, not buried somewhere in the bottom. Oh and while I’m on the subject, why can’t I brand my video tours? Argh, it makes me crazy!
Have you been scammed on a third-party site? Do you have an interesting story about an agent finding a creative way to beat the system? What can we do about it?
