Keeping up with social media these days can be a daunting task for a small business owner, especially when YOU are the only one doing it, unlike larger companies who have teams of people handling their social media marketing.

A great new tool call Social Base just launched online to help you keep track of your social media to do list.

You sign in with your Twitter account and Social Base offers tool recommendations and creates a toolkit for you to help you keep your social media organized and up to date.

You can try it for free to create a seamless workflow to support you in your daily to-do list, including suggesting which tasks you should do and how often to do them.

For your office, you can even add other members to the program, so you can all see what needs to be done and if anyone has done it yet. You can also assign tasks as needed to team members to ensure that each task gets completed.

This is a great online tool to help keep you organized and on top of your social media marketing.

Posted in Technology And You, Blogging

Improve your website to make sure it's being found on the internet.

Google is the top web search engine and YouTube is number Two, even before Yahoo or Bing.  The search engines are looking at the data you put in your website.  Your url or domain name should be relevant to what people are searching for.

If someone is looking for a realtor in Littleton, Colorado and they search for "Littleton Colorado real estate sales" and your domain name is "www.IsellLittletonColorado.com," then you would rank high on the Google page.

Six Degrees SEO, an Internet Marketing Consultant, lays out the steps you should take to improve your website and ranking on search engines.

Improvements to Make Sure Your Website is Being Found on the Internet:

• The title of your site is the name you will see at the top of the browser window

Six Degrees gives the example of Smith & Jones Mechanics in Tuscon, Arizona.  If they use Tuscon Mechanic/Smith & Jones Mechanics, as their title, they are going to rank higher in search results.

• The description is what you see on the results page, under the title.  This is the area that describes your services and should be loaded with keywords.  The order of the  keywords, in the description, is most important.  Use words that someone searching for your business would use.
•  Keywords:  Also think in terms of keyword phrases.  These are known as long-tail keywords that are very specific search terms that someone might be looking for: "Littleton Real Estate Top Producer" or "Homes in the Hamlet, Littleton, Colorado".

Google has a tool you can use to evaluate keywords for your site, called AdWords.  Enter words or phrases to see the number of searches globally and locally using specific keywords and how many competitors are using the same words.

SixDegrees has a helpful video about how to use Google AdWords.

• Keep the news fresh and informative.

Post relevant content and helpful hints and post often to keep your content fresh.

• Link content within your own website to other helpful websites. Search engines look for outbound links within your website, which will help you rank higher.   This could be links to professional organizations, the Better Business Bureau or to suppliers that you use.

Make your website work for you and make sure you are being found on the internet.  Look for more tips and all the real estate news at MetroBrokersTV.com.

photo credit: halilgokdal

Posted in Marketing, Blogging

Many real estate agents boast about how many fans and followers they have on their social media sites. While this is a common practice, Inman News columnist, Bernice Ross, argues that what really matters is the quality of the people in your database, not the quantity.

"Take a look at your Facebook friend list, your LinkedIn account and your Twitter account." says Ross, "Of those people, how many of them would you recognize if you were to bump into them on the street?"

If you don't recognize them, are they really going to refer you any business? Ross suggests culling that list of 2,000 people to 200 whom you interact with on a regular basis.

Ross offers these 5 tips to manage your connections:

1.      Streamline your database:  Separate out the people who are the best potential business referral sources.

2.      Create different lists:  Most agents would never want to "unfriend" anyone, so create lists to distinguish between personal and business contacts.

"Once you have identified your business contacts, divide them into three additional lists following the guidelines below." says Ross.

3.      The A-List:  Ross calls these people your "angels".  They know you, like you, and would hire you and send you referrals.  "These are the people who are really worth being involved with on social media." says Ross.

4.      The B-List:  These are casual acquaintances.  These are the people you would like to know better and eventually move to you're a-List.

5.      "Everybody Else"  on the List:  "You can take one of three actions with this list." Says Ross, "You can delete them, ignore them, or attempt to move them to your B-list. It's important to realize that it's easier to move someone from the B-list to the A-list than it is to convert someone from this list."

Failing to keep up with past clients is the best way to lose them. "Instead of doing expensive print marketing, engaging with past and current clients on social media is one of the best ways to keep those relationships strong long after the transaction has closed." reminds Ross.

Build your relationships using social media sites, taking the time to interact and, therefore, strengthen the connection.

"Ultimately, the best way to build your business is to be in regular contact with members of your A-list and B-list who know you, interact with you, and who trust you to represent them when they are ready to list or sell their home." says Ross.

Read the full story at Inman News.

photo credit: Schockwellenreiter

Posted in Technology And You, Marketing, Blogging

Do you have a blog?  Most realtors blog about...well, real estate, but an article in Inman News suggests that you should also blog about what interests you.

Mary Umberger, writes about a Realtor in Arizona who has a beauty blog because beauty is her passion. On her real estate website is a link to her blog, TalkingMakeup.com. Her blog now attracts about 160,000 unique visitors a month." says Umberger.

The blogging Realtor, Marta Walsh, says that her beauty blog has brought real estate clients to her, as well. "In the three months after she joined a brokerage in November, she closed two deals worth $1.4 million." writes Umberger.

"They came directly from that blog," said Walsh, 38. "They read the posts and they told me they liked the videos I made on my site. They said it helped them make the decision (to work with her as a real estate agent)."

A blog takes commitment. No matter what the content, to be successful, the blog must be active and relevant and add variety to your blog.  Walsh decided to start interviewing people in the cosmetics industry.  She landed interviews with Smashbox Cosmetics and even supermodels.

"I decided to start with Iman (a Somali-American supermodel), and I called her PR company one day.

"I thought they were going to slam down the phone on me," Walsh recalled. "I said, 'I'm a makeup blogger and I would like to talk to Iman.' "

The supermodel's publicists said yes, and since then Walsh has notched a long series of celebrity chats, with such glamour-linked names as Heidi Klum, Melania Trump and Kourtney Kardashian; "E! News" anchor Giuliana Rancic; "CSI: Miami" actress Eva LaRue; and "Real Housewives of New York" star Bethenny Frankel.

Walsh also blogs about real estate on her real estate website, both blogs have links to the other. Walsh believes that her two interests work together," "It's all about looking good and people living in beautiful homes," she said.

She encourages agents to blog about what interests them.  Clients want to know who you are. "You go to their site and you don't know who the Realtor is. You see properties, you see lots of busy words, but you don't get a sense of who he is," she said. "I think that can hurt you.

"That's why videos are important. My clients come to the site, click the video and get to know me a bit before they make the phone call."

Read the full article at Inman News.

photo credit: catspyjamasnz

Posted in Marketing, GenX GenY, Blogging

A bit of advanced planning can help ease landlord-tenant issues when it comes to moving out.

"It starts at the time the tenant first visits your rental property as a prospect, and is reinforced at the time of move-in, by explaining your policies and procedures for handling the disposition of the security deposit." says Inman News columnist, Robert Griswold.  "It is the law of most states that your tenants need to return the rental unit in the same or better condition than when they moved in, except for normal wear and tear."

 Let your tenants know up-front that just as they expect you to provide them with a clean and well-maintained unit to move into, they are responsible for keeping it clean during their tenancy and you will keep it maintained as needed.

 Encourage them to contact you with any maintenance issues as soon as they arise, most problems are easier and less expensive to fix when they are small. "This lets your tenant know that you care about the condition of your property," states Griswold, "and that you want the rental unit to be in great condition during their tenancy and upon move-out."

 At move-out time, it is not acceptable for your tenant to leave the rental unit full of trash and unwanted household items; this is why you get a security deposit up-front.  But this should not be considered an opportunity to charge excessive fees.  "I know there are some unethical landlords who actually want their tenants to leave the rental unit in less-than-perfect condition" says Griswold.  "This is one area where, with some advance notice and preparation, you can have a positive impact on your experience as a landlord."

Read more at Inman News.

photo credit: Digital Sextant

Posted in Blogging, Headlines