Who’s Tweeting about You?

How can you keep track of the thousands of ‘Tweets’ sent out every second that might be about you, your company or topics of interest?

If you are LinkedIn, now you can get the ‘Company Buzz;. Company Buzz is an application you can install on your LinkedIn page that lets you tap into this river of infomation to find relevant trends and comments that are important to you.

Once you install the application, here’s some of what you can do:

• Customize: At first you are assigned search terms that are taken from your profile. Take a look and then change or add new topics you want to watch for on Twitter®
• Historical Data: See historical charts to track buzz over time
• Trends: This is a feature in Company Buzz that graphs the top words in Twitter comments associated with your topics. Just click on one of your topics to populate the Trends feature

If you’re not already on Twitter®, sign up and contribute.
You can Tweet with me at Twitter  

Of course, you have to be a member of Linkedin to take advantage of Company Buzz.

 Connect with me on LinkedIn   

Keywords are Key

One of the easiest and yet frequently missed opportunities to increase traffic to your website or blog is the proper use of keywords.

For those of you new to the concept, keywords or keyword phrases, are the terms people use to search for information they are looking for on the web.

So if you were looking for an agent in Brentwood, you might ‘Google’ Brentwood Realtor. Of course, you would get 2,910,000 results. Doing a search for ‘Realtor’ would garner over 48 million results. Clearly not a keyword you want use. There’s just too much competition for that term.

So what can you do to find good keywords? There are plenty of tools out there that can help you narrow down the field to bring the results you’re looking for. Try Wordtracker for instance. This is one of the favored services for keyword research. They have both a free and a paid version, so be sure to check it out.

Now compare to Google’s Keyword Tool. A good basic tool for finding search words and phrases. It’s tied directly to Google AdWords so if you plan to do any pay-per-click advertising, it’s a seamless way to go.

There’s also Good Keywords, another free service. I haven’t had very good luck with my search results there, but you might give it a try.

Regardless of what tools you choose, the fact that you take the time to select and use keywords puts you ahead of about 80% of the competition. Do some research, select your terms purposefully, and you will drive the right traffic to your blog or website.

Don’t Believe Eveything You Read in an Email

I don’t know about you, but my Mom is always forwarding these type emails to me. I don’t really mind, she’s in her 80′s and I’m glad she’s able to use email at all. But after getting this one I thought I would educate her a bit on this sort of junk.

Read on, this is what she forwarded to me from one of her long time friends. (I’m sure it was forwarded to her from one of her long time friends too.)

90# on your telephone 

 

I dialed ’0′ and asked the operator who confirmed that this was correct
so please pass it on . . . (l also checked out Snopes.com ..this is true, and also applies to cell phones!) 

PASS ON TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW

I received a telephone call last evening from an individual identifying himself as an AT&T Service Technician (could also be Telus) who was  conducting a test on the telephone lines.   He stated that to complete the test I should touch nine(9), zero(0), the pound sign (#),  and then hang up. Luckily, I was suspicious and refused.

Upon contacting the telephone company, I was informed that by pushing 90#, you give the requesting individual full access to your telephone line, which enables them to place long distance calls billed to your home phone number. 

I was further informed that this scam has been originating from many
local jails/prisons DO NOT press 90# for ANYONE. 

The GTE Security Department requested that I share this information with EVERYONE I KNOW.

After checking with Verizon they also said it was true, so do not dial 90# for anyone !!!!! 

PLEASE HIT THAT FORWARD BUTTON AND PASS THIS ON TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW!

Here’s my response.

Hi Mom,

Don’t believe everything you get in an email. I checked Snopes myself and this is pretty much crap unless you have a PBX.

Also, DO NOT click on live links in an email that has been forwarded to you such as this one. Even though the link in this email says Snopes.com it really is a tracking link (which may or may not forward you to the actual web address shown) (just hover your curser over the link to see the actual address). In most cases they are harmless but sometimes they are Phishing sites. (Google “Phishing” to find out more.) If the email comes directly from a trusted source, then it should be OK.

Here’s what I found on Snopes.com.

From Snopes.com

 

#-9-0 Phone Scam
Claim: Pressing #-9-0 on your telephone will allow scammers to make long-distance calls and charge them to your phone bill.
Status: Partly true.

Origins: Is a scam like the one described in the above examples possible? Technically, yes, but the e-mailed warnings are overblown in that very few phone systems are vulnerable to it any more.
This scam does not affect residential or cell phone customers — it only applies to businesses, hospitals, government agencies, and other organizations that still use telephone private branch exchanges (PBXs) rather than Centrex lines to handle their calls. On certain PBX systems (i.e., ones for which pressing ’9′ is the signal to obtain an outside line, and there are no restrictions placed on outgoing calls), a scammer could gain access to place expensive, long-distance phone calls by tricking an employee into initiating the #-9-0 sequence. Outside of a few other settings where one might have to press ’9′ to obtain an outside line (such as hotels), the likely result of pressing #-9-0 will simply be a fast busy signal.

The moral of the story is, there are plenty of scammers out there trying to take advantage of you. There are plenty more legit folks just trying to provide good information and help you out. But, most people just don’t know what’s real.

So before you forward this type email to all your friends, clients and contacts, check to see if it’s factual. Either way, do your due diligence and see for yourself.

Blogging for Non Writers – 5 Musts for Realtors®

I hear the whine now,

“I can’t write, so how can I blog?”.

I’m here to say that that’s just not true, you can write! In this day of social media, the rules have changed and you can throw that Creative Writing text book right out the window. I can guarantee that what I say is true, because ‘English’ was just about my worst subject.

I always got poor grades in English class, especially on anything I wrote <grin>. Lot’s of red pencil marks! So the reason I say that you surely can write is, I can do it. Not to boast, but I have been published in a number of both online and offline magazines, newsletters, blogs, etc. Which proves my point, if I can write, you can write. Here’s a few tips on how you can do it too.

1. Write like you talk - After all, you are just having a conversation with your reader (prospect/client). You know plenty about Real Estate and if you were in front of a buyer, you would know exactly what to say, just say it on paper (so to speak).
2. Write about what you know -When you first start your blog, stick to the subjects you know well. The writing will come easier and you’ll feel good about what you write. As you improve your skills, you’ll want to expand your scope of work. Guess what? That’s a double win because it will make you a better Realtor!
3. Use Spell Check -Honestly, I’d be lost without it. Especially after pounding the keyboard for a few hours, can’t spell to save my life. I was never what you would call a ‘strong’ speller anyway, so the advent of Spell Check gives me a fighting chance. I highly recommend you use it even if you got ‘A’s in spelling.
4. Imagine your Reader -While you are writing, picture in your mind one person you are speaking to. Don’t think about the (hopefully) thousands of folks flocking to your blog, hanging on your every post. It’s too hard to write for a group. Pick a specific person you know, or make someone up. Have your conversation with them while you write.
5. Practice -The more you write, the better you will get. It’s really that simple. Although I have invested my time and some money in learning how to write, reading about it will not make you a good writer. Writing will. I look back on some of the stuff I wrote back at the beginning, and see how far I’ve come. You will too.

So, that’s it. Just commit to writing once a week at least. It’s really not that hard. You’ll get better and feel more excited about it the more you do. And, when you start to have fans, and are getting prospects and clients from your blog, you will feel amazing!

Managing Those Monstrous MLS Photos

With the awesome convenience of digital cameras, it’s easier than ever to take and upload photos of your listings to the MLS. Sometimes.

A few challenges I have seen Realtors having are too small file size and too large file size. Here are some tips on correcting these challenges.

Since most of us use our digital camera’s both at work and at home, who wants to waste time (or even think about) changing settings on how many mega-pixels we’re shooting at. We want great photos of our family that we can blow up, print and send to Grandma, but we don’t need 5 MP or more for the MLS.

Here’s a simple utility you can download for free that will allow you to reduce the size of a whole folder of your pics at once, making it a snap. Follow this link to Microsoft Power Toys for XP. (If you are running Vista, give it a try and let us know if it works.) Scroll down on the right side of the page until you see

Image Resizer

ImageResizer.exe 521 KB 2 min @ 28.8 Kbps

 Click on the ImageResizer.exe link and this dialog box will open.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Click “Next”, Select “Run”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Follow the prompts to install the utility.

Once Image Resizer is installed just navigate to the folder with the photos you want to re-size, select which photos you want (one or many). Right click and select ‘Resize Pictures’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Right click and choose the appropriate size from the drop-down menu.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Picture resizer will create small (in this case) copies of the selected photos. Now you can easily use these photos for the MLS or email and not wait forever to get the job done.

Occasionally Agents inadvertently use ‘Thumbnails‘ instead of full size or re-sized photos for their MLS images. You’ll know it’s a thumbnail when it looks blurry on the MLS or Realtor.com. If you were emailed or you downloaded really small photos, they just won’t look good when re-sized larger. Make sure you start out with full sized originals.

There you have it, get your pics right, they’ll look great and you’ll save time.

Blog for Bling

With the current popularity of blogging and the promise of continued growth for blogs and other social media, Realtors® should consider this awesome tool for growing their business, with the caveat that they have a strategy and purpose for their blog. In my opinion, this should be the same as for their websites.

Here are the three things I suggest are essential components of your online presence.

1. Establish your expertise in your niche or community. You can’t be all things to all people, but you can be highly effective in winning over a particular target market in your area. Perhaps a certain city or neighborhood, or something like ‘great homes for golf lovers’. Remember that just because you choose a niche does not mean you are limited to only serve those types of clients.
2. Create a relationship with your audience. One of the biggest mistakes you can make is to notcollect the contact information from your target audience. If you don’t get at least their first name and email address the first time they visit your blog or website, you may never see them again. You can’t develop a relationship unless you can contact your visitors again and again. Offer something of value to them in exchange for their contact information, a free report on purchasing REO’s, best golf courses in Brentwood or free membership to your Client Gratitude Program. Alternately, provide an RSS feed to your website or blog.
3. Provide interesting and relevant content regularly. If you plan to make your blog an effective part of your marketing strategy, readers will need a good reason to come back often. Plan to post a least weekly. Tuesday is the best day to post if you can only muster once a week. Also, keep in mind that your prospects and clients are busy too, so give them what they want.

The best way to proceed in starting your blog is to just start. Don’t worry about having everything perfect or spending a ton of money having your blog specially designed and hosted. Sign up for a free account at WordPress or Blogger and start writing. Ask your audience what they want and then provide it. It takes time to build a following, so you can continue to educate yourself on Web 2.0 techniques and strategies as you go. Check back here at RealTechy for information and insight, and share what you know with others.

As the saying goes, “You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great”.

Back Up Your Data, Avoid Disaster

The last thing most Realtors® are thinking about during their busy day is backing up their computer data. That is, until the day you fire up your laptop and, ooops, you get the ‘blue screen of death’ or more commonly some virus that wreaks havoc on the OS (operating system) and you get to spend your day scrambling to recover. I guarantee you, you cannot sell houses if you can’t get to your information.

This will happen to you one day, no one is immune!

Here’s a brief story about my own recent reminder about data loss. One morning recently I started up my desktop computer and wham, I got the lovely notice that my hard drive was going bad and I better ‘contact customer service at Dell’ right away. Good news and bad news here. I keep my data on a separate hard drive, so I was OK there, but I have the tendency to save some documents on the desktop for ease of use. About half of these docs were lost.

Long story short, I spent the next two days trying to recover my lost data and restore the programs (including the OS) on a new drive. It was a hastle! (But at least I know how to do  it.) The moral of the story is, you are never safe from data loss or possible disc disaster. Invest the money in a good external hard drive and make it your religion to back up the entire computer at least weekly, and your data daily. The cost in time and gray hairs is much more, I promise.

If you are on the go too much to fumble with an external hard drive, look into online data backup.

As Nike says, Just Do It!

Steve O’Sullivan