Listing Videos: They’re That Easy

By Robert Freedman, Senior Editor, REALTOR® Magazine

Making informative and even entertaining videos of your listings seems like a complicated undertaking involving a professional camera, lights, editing equipment, and a lot of knowledge of how all that equipment works, but in fact you can be uploading videos tomorrow without too much trouble.

I’ll be talking about this at 1 p.m. today at the NAR Expo booth at the 2009 REALTORS® Conference & Expo in San Diego. Maybe you won’t be posting videos tomorrow when you’re back at the office but you’ll certainly see that it’s pretty easy to do. Read more

The Socially Networked Neighborhood

By Brian Summerfield, Online Editor, REALTOR® Magazine

If you want to become recognized as your neighborhood’s real estate expert, you should create a fan page for it on Facebook, advises Max Pigman, vice president and national speaker at REALTOR.com®. Pigman talked about how to get some marketing traction via social media in a Friday morning session at the 2009 REALTORS® Conference & Expo in San Diego.

He said that real estate pros can “take over” their neighborhoods if they create a fan page, invite residents to join it, and post updates regularly about community events and local real estate and development trends.

“This becomes the perfect place to assert that you’re the real estate expert for your area,” he said. “Every time you send an update, everyone can see it. If you get strategic with this, you can connect with your sphere at an unbelievable level.” Read more

Social Media Best Practices

By Katherine Tarbox, Senior Editor REALTOR® Magazine

Social media should be used to create communities and not to push listings out. You wouldn’t go to church to hand out your listings, and therefore, you shouldn’t do it through your Facebook page.

That was one of the main arguments presented by Ginger Wilcox, GRI, Kelley Koehler, and Mariana Wagner—all experts with the Social Media Marketing Institute—at the Introduction to Social Media session at the 2009 REALTORS® Convention & Expo this morning.

The panel advised real estate pros to think about using social media to connect with people to build relationships that will eventually lead to communities.  Read more

REALTOR®2.0: Getting Started in Social Media

By Todd Carpenter, Social Media Manager, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®

The world of social media, as applied to the world of real estate, is about five years old. Yet we are only now reaching a critical mass of agents who realize this is not a fad. As with mobile phones and e-mail, social networks and blogs are becoming mainstream tools for REALTORS®. If you’re ready to get started, here are three excellent resources to get the ball rolling.

1. Look at this post. Read more

Game Changers: The View From the ‘Summit’

By Brian Summerfield, Online Editor, REALTOR® Magazine

Yesterday morning, a panel of real estate experts that talked about the notion of “game changers” — that is, disruptive ideas that will completely change the way things work in the industry — at the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® 2009 Leadership Summit in Chicago. With NAR CEO Dale Stinton moderating the session, each speaker offered a brief take on what trends might be game changers in real estate.

John Tuccillo, a business and economic consultant and a former chief economist for NAR, kicked off the discussion with advice to “change the game before the game changes you.” Read more

Social Networking Gains Traction in Real Estate Tech Survey

By Erica Christoffer, Contributing Editor, REALTOR® Magazine

More REALTORS® are using social networking for their business than ever before, according to data in a recent report released by the Center for REALTOR® Technology (CRT).

The study, conducted in June, found that 84 percent of 1,189 respondents use some sort of social networking tools, a significant increase from 33 percent in 2008. Twenty-eight percent say they are comfortable with it and another 27 percent are somewhat comfortable.

The most popular Web site was Facebook, with 76 percent saying they use the site, followed by LinkedIn with 58 percent. Other popular sites include Twitter, ActiveRain, RealTown, Flickr and Talk.REALTOR.com.

The vast majority –76 percent of those surveyed — say they are looking to engage with consumers through social media sites. The report also shows that REALTORS® use social networking to connect with other REALTORS®, REALTOR® organizations, real estate vendors, and family and friends. Read more

All Things Tech at Inman Real Estate Connect

By Katherine Tarbox, Senior Editor, REALTOR® Magazine

The mood in the Grand Ballroom of the Palace Hotel in San Francisco, the site of the 2009 Inman News Real Estate Connect (August 5-7) conference, was remarkably upbeat. With this week’s encouraging news about the housing and job markets, the atmosphere was palpably different from just six months ago at RE Connect in New York. At 1,800, attendance was notably up from last year’s conference, and most sessions were standing-room-only.

Presenters seem to concur that signs point to a slow recovery, but recovery or not, the industry still needs to adapt to a different environment. Sherry Chris, president & CEO of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate LLC, argued that the average office space will need to decrease from 124 sq. feet per practitioner to 49 sq. feet and that newer associates will demand more technology. Read more

Authenticity and the Social Web

By Brian Summerfield, Online Editor, REALTOR® Magazine

In the September issue of REALTOR® magazine, we’re bringing you a cover story on the realities of doing business on the “social Web” — i.e., the vast array of sites that allow people to communicate, collaborate, and network online. Our aim for that article is to help you sift through the constantly changing tools, terms, and techniques in social media and uncover some core characteristics of this extraordinary new virtual world.

One of the more significant bits of advice that I came across in my research and writing was the importance of being genuine. To use social media successfully, you have to be yourself. This sounds easy, but there’s always a temptation to project an image of yourself that overstates your abilities or experience, or perhaps alters your demeanor to fit a potential client’s perception of an ideal real estate professional. Read more

How Twitter Raises the Stakes

By Todd Carpenter, Social Media Manager, National Association of REALTORS®

I assume that everything I say on the Internet will be read by my supervisors here at NAR. While my personal Twitter page is exactly that, the blurred lines of social media, and my personal relationship with thousands of REALTORS across the country means that I know EVERYTHING I say there might be scrutinized.

There are times when the things I say lead to complaints addressed to me, or even a superior here at NAR. So, I don’t say anything on Twitter that I might have to apologize for later. That doesn’t mean I won’t offend anyone (I do). But it does mean I can back up my case when a complaint comes along.

Sound like a pressure cooker? Read more

Facebook TMI

By Katherine Tarbox, Senior Editor, REALTOR® Magazine

A friend sent me this article from The Washington Post, which basically outlines how Facebook plans to overhaul its privacy settings. They want to make our information less private and more searchable by Google in order to compete with Twitter and other social networking tools.

Even though I was one of the earlier Facebook users, I’ve been slow to adopt new applications when they launch a new version of the social networking site. In the earliest iterations of Facebook back in 2004, there were no status updates, let alone pictures, or information about my interests and hobbies.

Back in the Mesozoic Age of Facebook history, it was simply a virtual address book. Over time it seemed the Web site wanted more information about me: my hometown, my occupation, who I’m dating, and so forth. I played along, and updated my information when it was only for my close friends. Then more people began to sign up and request my friendship (my parents and co-workers) and I began cautiously updating my page. Read more

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