Another Social Media for Business Seminar Reviewed

Another Social Media for Business Seminar Reviewed
Last week I had the pleasure of attending another Social Media for business seminar sponsored by “The Closing Agent.”  Interestingly enough they held this uber high-tech class in the Beardall Center in Orlando.  It was my first time there, but the place smelled old and musty not to mention we had to sit in those funny little desks from grade school.
I could tell you I was there to report my opinion of the content, but to tell you the truth I was really there to spy on them.  The speaker was Amy Jantzer from weedott.  She had a “Presentation Zen” styled power point using bright red graphics against a black background (she gets style points for that.)  For those of you that aren’t familiar with “Presentation Zen” it’s a movement to improve the state of power point by using more pictures and less bullet points.
Her presentation was focussed on 4 main Social Networks
* Active Rain
*LinkedIn
*Facebook
*Twitter
I can see the last three, but I’m still on the fence about Active Rain.  She says Active Rain is indexed by Google, but I think you actually have to pay for that option otherwise your blog is only open to members of the site.  Don’t get me wrong, there’s a pretty big network there, but I’m not sure how the internal network could really lead to significantly more business.
Networks like Facebook and Twitter are going to be the best places to find consumers.  Correct me if I’m wrong, but as a REALTOR don’t you make your money from consumers?  Primarily I think LinkedIn and Active Rain are good B to B platforms, but if you’re in the B to C business the best place to spend your time is the one with the most consumers.
Nothing against Active Rain, but having to pay to make your site public seems like a waste.  You can accomplish the same using a Facebook fan page and it’ll cost you ZERO.  I’m on a budget.  If it was worth it I’d gladly pay it.
I digress.  The next three things she covered was the purpose of Social Media.
The Three main points were
*Branding
*Networking
*Prospecting
Those are valid points, not much I could add to that.
She ended the session with 4 essential tips to succeed in Social Media:
*Set Measurable Goals
*Link Profiles
*Use multimedia
*Listen
The first tip is my favorite, “set goals.”  I’ll expand on that in a later post.
Anyone who’s been following my blog knows how I feel about listening.  Overall I enjoyed Amy’s presentation and will be watching for some of her upcoming events.  I heard rumors of upcoming workshops where you’ll be able to bring you lap top and get hooked up to the interwebs live.  Sounds like fun.

social-media-businessLast week I had the pleasure of attending another Social Media for business seminar sponsored by “The Closing Agent.”  I couldn’t help but laugh when I realized this uber high-tech class was taking place at the Beardall Center in Orlando, Florida.

I’d like to say I was there to learn, but the truth is I was really there to spy on them.  The speaker was Amy Jantzer from weedott.  She had a “Presentation Zen” styled power point using bright red graphics against a black background (she gets style points for that.)  For those of you that aren’t familiar with “Presentation Zen” it’s a movement to improve the state of power point by using more pictures and less bullet points.

Her presentation was focussed on 4 main Social Networks

  1. Active Rain
  2. LinkedIn
  3. Facebook
  4. Twitter

The last three make sense, but I’m still on the fence about Active Rain.  See Active Rain is indexed by Google, but only through their paid option otherwise your blog is only open to members of the site.  Don’t get me wrong, there’s are lots of people there, but I’m not sure how the internal network could really lead to more business.

Networks like Facebook and Twitter are going to be the best places to find consumers.  Correct me if I’m wrong, but as a REALTOR don’t you make your money from consumers?  Primarily I think LinkedIn and Active Rain are good B to B platforms, but if you’re in the B to C business the best place to spend your time is the one with the most consumers.

Nothing against Active Rain, but having to pay to make your site public seems like a waste.  You can accomplish the same using a Facebook fan page and it’ll cost you ZERO.  If  I thought it was worth it, I’d gladly pay.

I digress.  The next three things she covered was the purpose of Social Media.

The Three main points were

  • Branding
  • Networking
  • Prospecting

Those are valid points, not much I could add to that.  She ended the session with 4 essential tips to succeed in Social Media:

  1. Set Measurable Goals
  2. Link Profiles
  3. Use multimedia
  4. Listen

The first tip is my favorite, “set goals.”  I’ll expand on that in a later post.

Anyone who’s been following my blog knows how I feel about listening.  Overall I enjoyed Amy’s presentation and will be watching for some of her upcoming events.  I heard rumors of upcoming workshops where you’ll be able to bring your lap top and get hooked up to the interwebs.  Sounds like fun.

  • Sold a home off ActiveRain- they liked my blog post!

  • Thanks for the write up Jonathan! After hearing a feedback from a few presentations I've done I think I going to replace the Active Rain portion of my presentation to just “blogging” in general and I'll just mention Active Rain as one of the many options.

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  • Sold a home off ActiveRain- they liked my blog post!

  • I use Active Rain specifically because it's not indexed by Google. I syndicate all my blog posts over there to get more eyes on my content. It helps to build my credibility as well as push traffic, so it's not a complete waste. I'm in a different business than most REALTORs, so what works for me may not work for them.

    I think blogging in general is the right direction to go anyways. People should be using a platform like wordpress to get their name out there.

    Looking forward to an invite to your next presentation.

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  • Hi Jonathan, love the new blog design! Very similar design to Twitip.com 🙂 I'm also on the fence a bit on Active Rain. I do have several business to business ventures (the main reason I'm there) but also I had a hard time getting used to setting up my profile there. There's a lot of info there and can be confusing to find things. I have the basics down but it took a while. Love, love Facebook and Twitter!

  • Yep, same reason I use it Naomi. It's like any other network, if you're there half heartedly they will know. When I was testing the platform a bit more I found that commenting and interacting in the community got me twice as many page views.

  • Hi Jonathan, love the new blog design! Very similar design to Twitip.com 🙂 I'm also on the fence a bit on Active Rain. I do have several business to business ventures (the main reason I'm there) but also I had a hard time getting used to setting up my profile there. There's a lot of info there and can be confusing to find things. I have the basics down but it took a while. Love, love Facebook and Twitter!

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  • Yep, same reason I use it Naomi. It's like any other network, if you're there half heartedly they will know. When I was testing the platform a bit more I found that commenting and interacting in the community got me twice as many page views.