Just Released – Social Media Guide for Real Estate
I am happy to announce that my new book is here! The Social Media Guide For Real Estate will feel good in your hands and make you look smart sitting on your bookshelf. Your colleagues will be envious and say, “Wow, what I would give to be on the cutting edge…” You can check out the details below or order here.
So here’s the deal, I want to give a lot of these away!
In fact, I will give out one copy every day for the rest of this month. Want to win one? All you need to do is:
Send out a tweet. Just copy and paste the following: Hey @mikelyon I want a free copy of your new book Social Media Guide for Real Estate http://bit.ly/smguide4re
and/or
Head over to Facebook and share this blog post on your profile or page. You need to let me know by tagging me here or my page here. Don’t know how to tag, no big deal – just post on my wall that you shared it, or on the DoYouConvert page.
(you can post until you win or your friends get annoyed)
Of course, if you don’t want to go through all that trouble and wait around to win – you could always just pick up a copy now.
Thanks to everyone who helped get this book out and I look forward to your feedback!
Why You Need This Book
Are you looking for answers in this brave new Web 2.0 world? The opportunities to connect with potential buyers abound, but navigating these uncharted waters have left many real estate professionals with a bad case of “analysis paralysis”. The Social Media Guide for Real Estate will help you establish a clear strategy for your business that will produce a steady stream of qualified clients while helping to position you as the undisputed expert in your field.
In This Book You Will Learn:
- What “social media” is and how it works for the Real Estate business
- What social networking sites will work best for your business model
- Ideas for producing high quality content that gets attention
- Useful tools to help you efficiently manage all these sources (and not waste valuable time)
- The proper etiquette for utilizing the social networking sites, like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn
- How to create a strategy to avoid overload
- And much, much more…
What industry leaders are saying
“Mike has a unique blend of real estate common sense and social media savvy. As our social media coach, he provides timely and effective strategies to help our agents grow their business. His powerful impact has moved Facebook into the top 10 referring sites for ReeceAndNichols.com”
Jerry Reece, CEO, Reece and Nichols
"When it comes to understanding how social media can be used to grow a real estate business, Mike Lyon is the expert. His no-nonsense approach is not only practical, it is very doable. This guide is THE GUIDE to understanding the ‘Why’ and the ‘How’ to make it happen."
Bryan Sheppard, CEO, Coldwell Banker Select
BuilderRadio Podcast – New Tools to Communicate with Your Prospects and Buyers
Filed under: Best Practices, Interviews, Online Marketing Experts, Online Trends, Resources & Tools
Be sure to stop over and check out the new podcast of an interview I did with my friends at www.builderradio.com
New Tools to Communicate with Your Prospects and Buyers.
Click Here to Listen Now >>
In this interview, we discuss the following strategies for upgrading your sales tools:
1. Lose the ‘Dumb Phone’
A smart phone, such as the iPhone, is like a Swiss Army Knife for communication. It’s always with you, so it’s easy to use to shoot a quick video of a customer or a home, or shoot pictures of a home, and then send them via email. Don’t forget your apps that keep you connected to all the social media outlets. You’ve got to have that ability in your phone to keep in touch and communicate in new ways.
2. Video
Video is the second most powerful form of communication; after face-to-face communication, there’s nothing better than video. Video can share expressions and emotions that you can’t share in an email or even over the phone where you lose that visual communication. Even though it’s still one-way, your buyers can see your excitement, energy and enthusiasm. So it’s very powerful.
3. Video Email
Video can be used to communicate with customers directly. There’s a great tool that I use called Eyejot.com. Video email gives you an opportunity to communicate more and better than your competitors. And the more you communicate, the better your chances are of making the sale. And by the way, a basic Eyejot.com account is free, so it doesn’t cost you anything to communicate on a much better level!
4. Social Networking
Social media is like word of mouth marketing on steroids. The first thing about social media is that it’s very broad; there are so many sites out there. The second thing people tell me is that they don’t have the time to engage in all the different social avenues. When you’re using social media, try to be efficient with it. Use your smart phone in your down time or in the evenings to make quick connections and have valuable conversations, and you’ll see the opportunities present themselves by using these new tools to better connect with Realtors, past customers and future buyers.
Video Interview – Building a House and a Blog at the Same Time
Building a home is an experience, not a transaction. Alaina Money, Sales Manager at Garman Homes, has taken this reality to the masses with her blog, buildlikeagirl.biz. Having sold many homes, Alaina decided she needed to get the perspective of her buyers. Convinced it would make her a better sales manager, she went into the trenches with the construction crew and got an insider’s view into the process—and has been blogging about it.
Recently I had the chance to visit with Alaina —aka “A Money”—and Jim Garman via Skype about the experiences.
Alaina Money Interview
Jim Garman Interview
Lively, witty, fun, and informative, Alaina uses the blogging medium to give the outside world an inside look, not just at the home-building process, but of the people of Garman Homes. “Our best asset is our people and we want people to get to know us better. Then they know we’ll do the right thing,” Alaina told me. “The blog brings people into the experience—the good, the bad, and the ugly.”
Jim Garman, owner of Garman Homes, supports Alaina’s transparency because her openness is building trust. He says, “The generation that is going to be buying homes the next 10 years is all about transparency. They want to see the people behind the company. Alaina makes people feel like they are part of the adventure so they’re okay with a mistake here and there. Alaina has blogged about a few tough issues. At a larger company that blog might have been censored.”
In addition to transparency, Alaina infuses passion into her posts, which currently number 40, and counting. Jim says Alaina’s engaging blog “is not about selling homes. Being memorable is the most important thing. Marketing is about being memorable, which means taking a few risks.”
A few key points that Alaina feels are important to having a successful blog is to
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1) Write in the style that you enjoy reading;
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2) Make your blog honest and don’t be afraid to put it all out there; and
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3) Pick a reliable partner who will provide productive feedback.
Using blogging and social media as a building block to making a good impression is an important aspect of marketing in our Web 2.0 world. A blog can be used for many years and implemented in marketing campaigns for unlimited use. A blog itself is free, but you have to invest your time and your passion. Build on a story that people want to follow. Your blog can be your blueprint to success!
20 Steps to Building Your Online Brand
Whoever said this was easy was lying!
Are you finding yourself discouraged with your attempt at building your online brand? Some have become frustrated and abandoned ship altogether even worse some have left their blogs looking like a digital ghost town. I hope you did not buy into those touting that this would be “easy”. Nothing that has value is ever easy. Yes, it is easy to sign up for a Facebook account, create a Twitter account and shoot a YouTube video. Yes, it is easier than ever before to reach a target audience. But creating quality content and building influence requires something else entirely…passion and dedication. Just to make sure you are covering all the bases, here are 19 20 steps to ensure you make it past the 3 month “flake out” mark that has been claiming many victims.
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1. Determine what your unique areas of expertise and passion are.
2. Create a clear vision. Develop a concise positioning statement. (I.E. Your one stop for Austin Real Estate News)
3. Go buy a domain name that people can remember.
4. Make a list and write down at least 52 weeks of blog ideas.
5. Pick the medium that makes sense for you: articles, video, audio or a combination.
6. Set up your blog (I highly recommend WordPress) and install a great theme or work with a web designer to set it up for you (money well spent).
7. Add the appropriate plugins to help you manage you new blog.
8. Make sure that people can easily share your content: Facebook Like feature, tweetmeme feature and other share features.
9. Create a Facebook fan page and polish up your Facebook personal profile.
10. Create your LinkedIn profile and add all the relevant info.
11. Set up your YouTube account.
12. Start posting all your new content.
13. Connect all of your sources together and distribute your message.
14. Generate awareness by reading and commenting on other similar blogs. Be sure to encourage comments and respond on your own blog.
15. Create your Twitter account, spend time finding those in your target market, industry or area of passion.
16. Join as many active Facebook fan pages and groups relating to your blog topic as possible.
17. Make sure you advertise your blog/site on all relevant materials – especially your email signature.
18. Request guest posts and comments from other professionals in your industry.
19. Don’t forget to create and cultivate a robust email database using MailChimp or Constant Contact
UPDATE: 20. Great tip from Natassia Bezdeka. Tie it all together with a management program (Hootsuite/Tweetdeck/etc), bit.ly, and Google Analytics to find out what’s getting you the most bang
19 20 items may seem like a lot of work, because it is. Many people have mistakenly thought that building a personal brand online is easy with all of these new tools at our fingertips. What we have seen happen is now that EVERYONE is online, it is critical to develop solid content and spend the time building a community that will listen to you.
So if you are serious, print this out, post it by your desk and execute…every single day.
These are my thoughts, what do you think is missing from the list?
PCBC 2010 – Social Media Workshop for Sales and Marketing
Join me at PCBC for a hands-on session with some of the best and the brightest in the industry. Learn how you can turn social media into your own personal sales and marketing masterpiece.
Winning in a Web 2.0 World: A Social Media Workshop for Sales and Marketing >>
Date: June 8, 2010
Time: 10 AM- 4:30 PM
Description: The Rules of the Web are ever changing. In this full day session myself along with other industry leaders will help you get ahead on the game, know what the rules are, adhere to the process and make the most of the social media available to you.
Learning Outcomes:
Speakers:
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Mike Lyon, President, Mike Lyon Group, Inc |
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Jim Adams, CEO, NewHomesDirectory.com |
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Sarah Yaussi, Executive Editor, Hanley Wood - Big Builder |
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Jeff Click, President, Jeff Click Homes |
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Allison Buffom, Online Marketing Manager, SummerHill Homes |
