skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Facebook - Part 3
Dealing with Friend Requests
Generally, it makes the most sense to only accept friend requests from people you know in some form or another. After all, anyone who becomes your friend has access to whatever information you share with your friends. This is why it makes the most sense for you to also create a Fan Page for your business. That way, if someone you do not know “friend-requests” you and is a potential lead, you will be able to direct them to your fan page. Don’t worry, you can still communicate directly with him or her from a fan page.
Managing Your News Feed
Once you start developing a network of friends on your personal profile, you’ll begin to receive lots of notifications on your news feed. Thankfully, Facebook allows you to control who and what you see in your news feed.
If you’re sick of hearing about people’s farms, trips, quizzes, questions, or any other silly app that is cluttering up your news feed, hover over any post within your news feed and click the “Hide” button. From here, you will have the option to hide users themselves or the app that is spamming your news feed on their behalf. Don’t be shy about hiding annoying friends from showing up in your news feed, they won’t know you have hidden them, and you will remain friends with them. Utilize “Hide” to make your news feed more manageable and useful.
Joining Groups and Becoming a Fan of Pages
Not only can you be a resource for potential buyers through Facebook, but Facebook can be a fantastic resource for you! Search around for groups and fan pages that have like-minded people talking about your interests. You’ll be surprised at how many there are and how much you can learn from them.
Introduce yourself and start participating in the conversation.
Vanity URL for your Profile and Fan Page
Recently, Facebook has allowed users to create vanity URL’s for their personal profiles and fan pages. Simply put, a vanity URL lets you create a custom URL that will take users to your profile or fan page. For example, you can have the vanity URL http://www.facebook.com/mycompany. Vanity URL’s provide a memorable link that makes sharing much easier. Claim your vanity URL at http://www.facebook.com/username/.
Facebook - Part 2
Privacy Settings
One of the most important things to consider when using a social network like Facebook is your privacy, especially for your personal profile. If you are accepting friend requests from people you do not know, or have some of your privacy settings set incorrectly, you may disclose personal information that you had no intention of sharing. To help address this, Facebook allows you to control almost everything that friends and others can see about you.
To access Facebook’s privacy settings, click on “Account” on the top right corner of Facebook. From there, you should see a link to “Privacy Settings.” Make sure that you take the time to go through these settings when you first create a personal profile.
A few tips on privacy:
• If someone is harassing you on Facebook, you have the ability to block that person from interacting with you. This is a quick and easy way to prevent someone from contacting you through Facebook.
• Quite a few of Facebook’s default privacy settings allow for more public visibility than you may be comfortable with. For example, anyone on Facebook is allowed to view your profile picture photo album by default. This is why it is so important to carefully review each section within “Privacy Settings” after you create a personal profile.
• Facebook allows search engines like Google to access and display publicly available information within their search results. This may be good for your public visibility, or it may be publicly disclosing more information than you are comfortable with. To see what may potentially be displayed, click on the “Preview” to see what the public can see.
• Applications that you install (i.e. games, quizzes, tools) all have their own privacy settings. Go through each application’s privacy settings after you install it to make sure everything checks out.
• There are definitely other settings that relate to privacy that may not be in the “Privacy Settings” link. Check out the “Account Settings” and “Application Settings” as well, after you create a profile or install a new app.
Facebook - Part 1
Wikipedia says: Facebook is a social networking website that is operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. Users can join networks organized by city, workplace, school, and region. People can also add friends and send them messages, and update their personal profiles to notify friends about themselves.
Facebook is the social network where you will have the opportunity to connect with anyone from old classmates, friends, family, other real estate agents, and even potential clients. If you were wondering about how popular Facebook is, consider this: Facebook just overtook Yahoo! as the second most visited website in the United States, with 133.62 million unique visitors. Facebook’s interface is constantly evolving, but there are numerous aspects of Facebook you’ll want to know about.
Individual Profiles vs. Fan Pages
It makes the most sense to create an individual profile for yourself and a fan page for your business. A fan page is the place for you to promote your new listings, products, and other information. Fan pages are the place where users expect this type of ‘push’ content.
A few more tips on fan pages:
• Fan pages - share pictures, video, blog posts, and any other type of multimedia content that may be of interest to your fans.
• Invite past and present clients, friends, family, and co-workers to join your fan page. The more fans, the greater chance natural conversation will occur on your fan page.
• Ask questions to engage with your fans, i.e. “What are the most important things to consider when buying shares?”
• Check out other fan pages and build on their success. Nearly every brand has a Facebook fan page. Take a moment to scope them out and see what they are doing right. For a start, check out the Custom Facebook Page Gallery. Please take into consideration the fact that these fan pages likely cost each brand a lot of money, so don’t worry as much about the aesthetics of each page. Instead, focus on how each brand may or may not be successfully engaging with their fans.
• Update your fan page regularly! If you are going to neglect something on Facebook, make it your personal profile. It is inexcusable to create a fan page and then ignore it.
• Make your fan page an information resource. Post and link to useful content that will help your fan base with their real estate needs. Becoming a reliable resource
is the best way to build your fan base naturally.
Creating and managing a fan page is a considerable undertaking, but if done correctly, can be quite beneficial for your business. For more tips and guidance, check out the Facebook specific links at the end of this post.
More information:
All Facebook - www.allfacebook.com
Inside Facebook - www.insidefacebook.com
Facebook Help Center - www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/help/?ref=pf
Still not convinced that blogging and other forms of social media can boost business?
If you’re not blogging, you’re missing some prime opportunities to capture new leads, market listings and make a lasting impression on your clients. The more you blog and repeatedly use the same phrases, the more hits your site will get through search engines like Google.
Blogs needn’t be longer than 300 words and you should use some photos, videos and plenty of links to relevant Web sites and material.
With millions and millions of users on social networks such as Twitter, Facebook,
LinkedIn and YouTube – along with the reach ActiveRain provides through search engine optimization – your name will be in front of potential clients if you’re an active blogger.
1. MORE VISIBILITY.
Garner exposure for yourself by writing insightful, concise articles that will ultimately lead more buyers and sellers to you online.
2. MORE CREDIBILITY.
Position yourself as an expert in real estate or in a certain geographical location by targeting your market.
3. MORE MARKETING.
Successfully market your listings.
4. MORE TRAFFIC.
Increase Internet traffic to your Web site by creating links back to subjects or people in your blogs.
5. MORE REFERRALS.
Generate referrals from clients and other real estate agents.
The world of real estate prospecting has morphed into Facebook friend requests, tweets, chirps and fan pages. Instead of asking for your phone number to talk about your services, clients might instead request you as a LinkedIn connection or message you on Facebook to get updates on a transaction.
Facebook is one of the largest social networking sites out there – and real estate agents shouldn't ignore that fact. But you have to make your impact on social network meaningful and relevant to your target audience; you can't post a bunch of listings and expect business to rain down on you like manna from heaven.
Here are some tips to stand apart from the crowd on Facebook:
After you sign up
1. Target your audience (past/current clients, other agents, niche businesses)
2. Pay attention to what people are posting about
3. Attract friends, followers, connections and subscribers
4. Interact and engage with your friends and/or fans
Maximize your exposure
There are three types of accounts on Facebook: personal profiles, groups and business/fan pages. Also, you can place ads to targeted audiences in certain geographic areas for little cost.
Personal pages – Messages are limited to 20 recipients at a time with a personal page. There are strict rules about posting business information on a personal page.
Groups – Groups are set up for more personal interaction and are more directly connected to the people who administer them. Groups can be public or prviate.
Business/Fan pages – This is the ideal way to attract a public following. Here are some business page options:
* Geographic area page.
Create a page for your county or a specific neighborhood that is solely about that area and has no mention of your business. You'll get fans instantly and people won't feel pressured by seeing your business information on the page. Get people to interact on the page by holding photo contests, asking questions that elicit participation ("What's the best pizza place in town?" or "Where's the best hiking trail in our county?") and offering prizes, such as gift cards, dinner for two, etc. Get local businesses to participate; they'll be more than happy with the free exposure. To spread the word about your business, download a tab called FBML, which allows HTML on the page, such as a framed-in IDX search.
* Agent referral page.
Add items of value, network with other agents at events posted on Facebook and share referrals.
* REO business page.
Market your distressed property business and expertise to asset-management companies.
* Office or team page.
Promote your office or team members, services and more with this page.
*Builder/condo page.
Reach out to builders, condo associations and other groups who have a vested interest in these niches. Promote your expertise in condos, new construction and niche services.
Shoot great video
It doesn’t take a video pro to shoot great video. Just a little pre-planning, and these simple tips will get you and your offer noticed.
It pays to plan…
Even the pros have some kind of game plan when they start shooting. Whether it’s a full script, or just a rough sketch of what you want to say, and what you want to accomplish, you’ll get it done more quickly, and with less headaches.
Simple video tips
Watch the light: Whether you’re inside or outside, don’t shoot into the light. Instead, keep the sun behind you when you’re outside, and when you’re inside, avoid pointing the camera at the windows. The same thing goes if you’re doing an interview with someone, or appearing on camera yourself. The subject faces the light source. The camera shouldn’t.
Whole ‘lotta shaking: Keep the camera as steady as possible. Too much movement can make the viewer seasick. Slow and controlled movement is best. Use atripod when possible, or, balance the camera on a solid object, like a countertop.
Did you hear that? If you’re going to narrate the listing video while you’re shooting, or if you or someone else is talking on camera, beware of extraneous noise. For the best audio, use an external microphone or stay close to the camera.
What the heck do I say (or do?)
• Introduce yourself on camera
Set up your tripod, stand in front of the camera, and tell the viewer who you are, and where you are… including the city. You never know who might be watching, it could be someone outof state. If you don’t have a tripod, enlist some help, whether it’s another agent, or a family member.
• How long?
Two to three minutes is ideal, whether it’s a listing, profile or community video. You want to give them information, but not include everything, because you want them to contact youfor the rest. Think of it like a news headline.
• Don’t forget your contact information.
Give your name at the beginning of the video, and your name and phone number at the end of the video. One of the most effective ways to do that is to make a simple sign using Word on your computer, and hold it up to the camera.
