We interrupt your regularly scheduled broadcast to bring you this NEWS story…

Can you believe Facebook killed The Official Real Estate Referral Group? Without warning, without notice on Wednesday July 14th, 2010 the page was shut down.  If you didn’t know about the page, let me give you some quick stats:

• 47,000 + members
• 1,419 referrals provided
• 21 months old

As upset as I was I didn’t realize how this page had impacted the community.  Luckily, Chris Smith from Tech Savvy Agent recognized this as a big story and did an interview with me to let our community know what happened.

Check out the interview below:  (if you don’t see the video player, Click HERE to watch it.)
 

 
What happened next?

By the next morning there were hundreds of Facebook shares and Tweets spreading the word.

The community had rallied behind us (THANKS!)

Facebook reinstated the page and allowed me to change the vanity URL from Facebook.com/SocialREALTORs to Facebook.com/RealEstateReferralGroup.

Lessons Learned

Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.  If I only relied on Facebook for my business I would have been dead (more on that in a minute.)

When you add value to your network, they will add value to you.  If it wasn’t for my network we would have never gotten the page back.

  Most importantly:  Before buying a domain or naming a page, do your research so you can avoid these types of hassles.

What can you do to protect yourself?

Don’t rely on just one network.  If you have influence on Facebook, move over to other networks (like You Tube & Twitter) to see if some of your community members are there.

Interact with your community wherever they are so if you lose one network, you’ve still got the others.

  Build REAL Relationships: The number are meaningless if you don’t make a real connection, luckily, I had real relationships with some people in my community who helped me spread the word when things went wrong.

Social Media is just a tool to help us meet more people and actually connect.  

Facebook is great, but sometimes we forget that even “our pages” really belong to Facebook.

The idea is to leverage the interactions and connections to move people off the page and onto your list where YOU HAVE CONTROL.

Ready to take control of your marketing?

Then you need to start building your email list right now.

The next step is to download the
“List Building Report”

Where you’ll learn a 4 step strategy guaranteed to have people opting in to your email list and ready to hear what you have to say.

So what are you waiting for, start building your ‘insurance policy’ against the uncertainty of social media now by downloading the report.

 Click Here to download the “List Building Report”

Guest post by Chris Brogan

You are probably reasonably good at your job. I know this without knowing you, because you’re reading articles and blog posts that might offer you insight into how to up your game, how to improve your results, and this means that you’re already better than all those people who know what they know. Because of this, I want to offer you some thoughts from someone outside of your game.

You know how to be you in person. Translating that into your digital self is the next step. I don’t mean this in any weird video game way, or maybe I do, but let’s talk about that.

First, accept that everyone is connected

Doug liked Mitch Joel’s book, Six Pixels of Separation. He knew you could take advantage of it. Jonathan and Doug also read my book, Trust Agents, with Julien Smith. We talk about that, too, about how you’re nothing without your network. But now that we accept this, let’s realize that how we conduct ourselves online is every bit a reflection of how we are perceived, and that most people don’t have the first inkling of who you are offline, so they won’t realize your motivations, your nuances, and the like, without a bit of work.

Your digital self has to be human first

You can’t lead with a pitch. You can’t lead with a pounce. Instead, you have to take that step you know so well from the real world: get to know your prospective client. How do you get to know them? First, listen. What do I mean? If you Google the phrase, “grow bigger ears,” I’ve set out the steps for how to build a free listening station.

Listening is at the heart of all things that are worth a damn in the social web

It’s a way to find new prospects. It’s a way to help other people out long before they become prospects. It’s a way to keep your community warm. For instance if you spent 25% of your online time here’s what I’d do: search via Google BlogSearch and find out when people are blogging about starting a new job in that company in your town that’s hiring. If you scan Twitter Search, you’ll hear the chatter of someone scouting out a new neighborhood. It takes a little bit of tweaking, but finding out what people want is the best way in the world to help them. Think about it: you’re not pushing people to check out your listings or even visit your site. You’re listening to their needs and gently/politely responding. Piece of sweet cake.

You could do well to spend about 50% of your time on line connecting

And when I say this, I mean comment on local area blogs, spend time talking with folks on Twitter. Answer questions in LinkedIn that pertain to your locale or your special niche. Use these social web tools to connect and build relationships before you need them. Then, you’re top of mind when people are thinking about making a move. Connecting with people about themselves, on their turf, and not always about you is the “hamburger helper” of social media. It stretches out relationships and makes them more filling.

Finally, spend about 25% of your time on line publishing

By this, I mean consider posting blog posts, photos from Flickr, YouTube videos, and whatever else you think might help people achieve their goals (theirs, not yours). Make sure folks know how to work with you. Make a page about it. Make all your contact information visible. On your blog, make sure your “about” page has a photo of you: not that weird “Glamour Shots” photo they use on your signs and newspaper listings. Take a nice new candid photo. Not used to this? Get used to it. People want to see who they’re doing business with, and even more so on the web. You’re old? Who cares? You’re fat or toothless? No worries. Work with what you’ve got, but do it.

You might not have a decent blog. You might not have the first clue what to do next. You have a few options: look for a REBarCamp in your area. Put up a simple ad in Craigslist requesting help getting a blog set up. Work inside your network to figure out who can help. They don’t often cost much (unless you get all tricky with your design). Why? Because this can be a home base. It’s not always your selling space. But it’s always the place where people will get a better sense of who you are. That’s why you read Jonathan, right? Same thing.
By thinking of all this as an extension of who you are in the day to day, you’ll get closer to the mood and mindset required to do business with people via the social web. We’re not there to be sold to, but we do love when people help us buy. See the difference? To me, that’s the whole opportunity in a nutshell.

What do you think? What other advice would YOU add to this? How can you pitch in and extend the learning process of others in your space so that they can catch up to you?

–

Chris Brogan is the New York Times bestselling author of Social Media 101, available at bookstores everywhere. He is president of New Marketing Labs, LLC, and writes daily at Chrisbrogan.com

After an interesting day at the Stompernet conference Doug and I got together to chat about some of the things we heard throughout the day, in particular two things from the Social Media presentation.  The first  minute is our general chit chat, but after that we hit you with the Two things You Need to know about Social Media.

Watch this video now to learn what they are.

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I don’t blame you for wondering whether or not you can really sell a house using Social Media.

If you were to rewind the clock 100 years I bet people back then were thinking, can you really sell a house using a Newspaper?  The answer to both questions is yes, but today one is more effective than the other.

Case Study: Using Social Media to Sell a house

It’s easy to dismiss the power of New Media marketing in the Real Estate business, mostly because it’s so new.  We don’t have enough social proof that it really works.  That’s the reason I’m writing this post today, I found a case study that’ll knock your socks off.

My friend Tim Moore wrote about how he used Social Media to sell his house in just 50 hours.  I ran across his post this weekend and was amazed with his results.  I highly recommend you read his Case Study: How I Sold My Home in 50 hours.

Takeaways from the Case Study

Tim’s success was largely due to the fact that he already had a well developed network.  He also did all the work to make it easy for people to get and share information about his house.

I don’t want you to run out and start streaming your listings down your social profiles, instead I want you to think about HOW you can build up a highly responsive network without all the usual sales B.S.  Selling online is totally different than selling offline, you have to learn how to create buzz & generate interest.

If you’re just starting out you should focus on building a high quality network by sharing good useful info (that’s what Tim does.) Then and only then can you garner enough attention when the time is right.

The reason I shared this is to show you that it’s possible to use Social Media to sell houses.  This doesn’t happen over night though, you have to be committed to using the platforms to build real connections.  If you’re not sure how to do it, I recommend you get help.  Either get some training, or hire a consultant to shortcut the time it takes to build a powerful social network.

A Bonus for You

I’m pretty sure this all sounds interesting to you, buy you probably want some more.  Good news, I’ll be interviewing Mr. Tim Moore on Real-TechGuy Radio.  We’re going to dig in and get some REAL tips on how you can use social media to improve your Real Estate business.  You can listen to the interview by clicking the big blue button below.

With all this HYPE about how great social media is, are you still wondering how it can help your real estate business?  Wouldn’t it be great to have some clear instructions on how these social networks fit together to help you find more buyers and sellers?

The Social Media Blue Print was created to teach you how to use the Social Networks and online marketing to turn internet traffic into qualified real estate leads to help you close more deals.

At the end of the day I think we can agree that we both want to close more deals, right?

To tell you the truth, I’d need WAY more room than I have on this blog to show you the Social Media Blueprint, so you’ll need to give me your name an email address so I can deliver the Social Media Blueprint right to your inbox.

How do I get my copy of the Social Media Blueprint?

I figured if you’ve read down this far you’re interested in knowing how to get your copy of the Blueprint.  So here’s how it works, you give me your name and email address and I’ll give you directions to the secret location where I’ve stored the first part of the Social Media Blueprint for Real Estate.

To get the first part of the Blueprint all you have to do is enter your name and email address in the form below.

Would you like to avoid looking like an a$$hole online?  Then you’d better read this post.

A portrait of a Real Estate Spammer

Yesterday I posted a a link to the “What’s the Point” article which wrapped up the New Media for REALTORs campaign.  I figured the topic would get some discussion since we’ve been talking more about SEO lately and how to be found on Google.  So here’s how it all went down…

Comment Spam:  This is defined by making comments that are completely irrelevant to the current discussion, especially when they are self promotional.

Clearly you can see that this persons comment was completely off the mark, so as a good group moderator I asked him how his post was relevant and he replied:

At first I would have guessed that he didn’t know English, but judging by his reply he really does.  Can anyone tell me how this comment is relevant?  If so leave a comment below and enlighten me.

OK, moving on.  Later on that day I found some more interesting stuff from our little friend which brings me to another kind of SPAMMY Real Estate marketing.  ”The Overpost”

Our friend really out did himself this time.  Not only did he post under eight different topics in two different countries, but he also managed to be off topic in every one.  That’s true Real Estate Marketing Spamsmanship.

Being the gentleman that I am, I gave him a chance to explain his logic.

He declined to respond and just deleted these posts from his wall.  That means he was quite aware of what he was doing and decided it was easier to just forget about it.

Examples of BAD Real Estate Marketing

Now I thought I’d open this up for discussion.  What are some examples of really bad real estate marketing that you’ve seen online?  Share them along with your thoughts in the comments section below.

]]> http://real-techguy.com/2010/01/28/perfect-example-of-what-not-to-do-in-your-real-estate-marketing/feed/ 28 http://real-techguy.com/2010/01/24/connecting-the-dots/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=connecting-the-dots http://real-techguy.com/2010/01/24/connecting-the-dots/#comments Sun, 24 Jan 2010 13:46:36 +0000 Jonathan Rivera http://www.real-techguy.com/?p=2368

I’ve been thinking about how Social Media and Real Estate come together.  All too often we get caught up in the little stuff (Facebook & Twitter) and we forget to think about what’s really important.

Why?

Do you remember WHY you started using these tools in the first place?

Over the next few posts I’m going to start connecting the dots on why I started using Social Media and how I’ve used what I learned to bring you here.  You see, the internet is all about people finding what they’re looking for with just a click of their mouse.

Your job as a marketer is to make sure they click on you.

In my next post I’m going to show you how I took over a keyword phrase which got me to the front page of Google in not just the number One spot, but 8 of the 10 spots on the page.

Alright Gang, in an effort to keep the Virtual Real Estate BarCamp at the front of your mind I was able to snag an interview with the Big Daddy of the whole event, Jim Cronin.

Jim is one of the driving forces behind the VREBC. The vision he has for his company, the Real-Estate Tomato is what pushed him to create this smorgasbord of virtual real estate training. In this interview Jim and I discus the evolution of REALTOR websites, the rise of Social Media, and what you can expect to gain from attending the Virtual Real Estate BarCamp.

Register for the Virtual Real Estate BarCamp

You’re going to kick yourself in the butt if you don’t register for this event.  Some things you need to know are:

• The fun starts at 9 am PST on January 4th, 2009
• Check out the event calendar to choose your classes
• It will cost you ZERO to attend
• You can learn from the comfort of your own computer

If you liked this episode then why don’t you stop by iTunes and RATE the show? It would mean a lot to me

To Rate the show Click Here.

Tune In Live

]]> http://real-techguy.com/2010/01/02/virtual-real-estate-barcamp-interview-with-jim-cronin-the-big-daddy/feed/ 7 barcamp,Real Estate,virtual Alright Gang, in an effort to keep the Virtual Real Estate BarCamp at the front of your mind I was able to snag an interview with the Big Daddy of the whole event, Jim Cronin. - Jim is one of the driving forces behind the VREBC. Alright Gang, in an effort to keep the Virtual Real Estate BarCamp at the front of your mind I was able to snag an interview with the Big Daddy of the whole event, Jim Cronin. Jim is one of the driving forces behind the VREBC. The vision he has for his company, the Real-Estate Tomato is what pushed him to create this smorgasbord of virtual real estate training. In this interview Jim and I discus the evolution of REALTOR websites, the rise of Social Media, and what you can expect to gain from attending the Virtual Real Estate BarCamp. Register for the Virtual Real Estate BarCamp You're going to kick yourself in the butt if you don't register for this event.  Some things you need to know are: The fun starts at 9 am PST on January 4th, 2009 Check out the event calendar to choose your classes It will cost you ZERO to attend You can learn from the comfort of your own computer If you liked this episode then why don't you stop by iTunes and RATE the show? It would mean a lot to me ;) To Rate the show Click Here. Tune In Live [Jonathan Rivera] The Real-TechGuy yes http://real-techguy.com/2009/12/31/psssst-did-you-hear-about-the-virtual-real-estate-barcamp/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=psssst-did-you-hear-about-the-virtual-real-estate-barcamp http://real-techguy.com/2009/12/31/psssst-did-you-hear-about-the-virtual-real-estate-barcamp/#comments Thu, 31 Dec 2009 19:30:50 +0000 Jonathan Rivera http://www.real-techguy.com/?p=2014

Hey Gang,
I wanted to give you the heads up on an interview I just did with Steve Rosenbaum from Social Media Do’s and Dont’s.  Steve is going to be one of the speakers at the event on Monday December 4th.  You can view all the planned session and speakers HERE.

What is the Virtual Real Estate BarCamp?

Just in case you haven’t heard about the Real Estate BarCamp, let me tell you a little more.

• It’s a one Day Online Event
• There are 28 Speakers
• Event topics will include using Social Media to generate more business
• There is NO CHARGE to attend the event

As if you need even more reasons to sign up for this event, here’s a list of 40 clear reasons why you need to register for Real Estate BarCamp.

Sneak preview of the #VREBC

I know that you have  a bit of time between now and the VREBC on Monday, so why not use some of that time to get primed and ready for all the action?   Steve and I decided to give you a sneak preview of the hottest speakers coming to the Virtual Real Estate BarCamp.

All you have to do is visit SteveRosenbaum.com to access the 17 preview calls that Steve has recorded.

]]> http://real-techguy.com/2009/12/31/psssst-did-you-hear-about-the-virtual-real-estate-barcamp/feed/ 11 http://real-techguy.com/2009/12/18/you-asked-for-it-you-got-it-virtual-real-estate-barcamp-2/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=you-asked-for-it-you-got-it-virtual-real-estate-barcamp-2 http://real-techguy.com/2009/12/18/you-asked-for-it-you-got-it-virtual-real-estate-barcamp-2/#comments Fri, 18 Dec 2009 11:56:00 +0000 Jonathan Rivera http://www.real-techguy.com/?p=1807

Last month I told you about the Virtual Real Estate BarCamp.  The good news for those of you who missed it is that they’re already planning the next one.  Before I give you the details of when the event will take place I want to tell you a little bit about what makes this different than any other Social Media Training event you will attend.

What’s so special about Virtual Real Estate BarCamp?

1. The event is all Virtual:  If you have an internet connection you’re already there.
2. The entire event is geared towards helping you use new media to improve your real estate business.
3. There are 28 presenters speaking on a variety of topics throughout the day.
4. Planning the event is interactive:  you get to vote on the topics.

When is the next Real Estate BarCamp?

The good news is you won’t have to wait too long for the next RE BarCamp.  It’s just a few weeks away so you’d better mark your calendar for this one.

Date: Monday January 4th, 2010

Time: 9 am- 4 pm PDT

That’s 7 hours of Virtual Real Estate training on 28 different topics at NO COST to you.  This is an amazing chance to get the knowledge you need to make new media a real part of your business in 2010.  

PS- I’ll be one of the presenters at this event.  If you want to learn more about Advanced Facebook Marketing for Real Estate, you won’t want to miss my session.

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