Myrtle Beach Real Estate

Join Us This Thursday For Agents Helping Haiti, a Telethon to help families devastated by the recent earthquake in Haiti.  This 6 hour telethon will feature 30 minute segments with some of the most well known people in the real estate industry.  Come listen as they share some of their tools and secrets they use in their daily and support this cause. 

12 Top Real Estate Experts 12 BIG Ideas

12:00PM Kendra Todd- Shares of her trip to Haiti & REALTOR® Experience

12:30 PM Jeremy Blanton- How to Write a $10,000 Blog Post

1:00 PM Laurie Moore- How to Keep Your Foot Out of Your Mouth and In the Door

1:30 PM Frances Flynn Thorsen- Risk vs. Reward REALTOR® Foreclosure Pitfalls

2:00 PM Jason Crouch- The Importance of Building an Online Following

2:30 PM Ken Golde- Distressed Agents: Settling Your Own Debt

3:00 PM Jim Cronin- Social Media.  The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

3:30 PM Special Guest

4:00 PM Joeann Fossland- 6 Figure Referral Business Using Strategic Partners

4:30 PM Special Guest

5:00 PM Patti Kouri- 100% Intention- 100% of Your Results

5:30 PM Jay Kinder- 65 Million in Sales... How to List 500 Homes a Year

If you haven't heard by now, we are in 2010, (twenty-ten, two thousand ten, or my favorite, oh-ten) and as this new decade begins I see this year becoming more of a shift in the way consumers gain the information they need as well as how other consumers share their experiences with others.  I read an article the other day about consumer review based site Yelp being offered 500 million from Google to be purchased.  Yelp, however, turned down the offer from Google.

This being said, I really feel that as this year carries forward you will see more companies adopting the principles of consumer based reviews and question/answer sections on their sites.  The other day, I heard of a company called Formspring which allows you to easily add a Q&A to any site that you use.  This is a free service that takes virtually no time to set up, but could be very beneficial to your business.  Why?  Well, it is rather simple:

1.  Gives consumers an easy place to ask you questions about your business or your area.

2.  Gives you the ability to share your knowledge in a non publication type of arena with consumers.

3.  Allows consumers to find answers to other questions they may have without needing to fill out a form & feel as if someone will begin spamming them for business.  They can simply look through past questions & answers and possibly find what they need.

I said all this to get to the point of my post which was to tell everyone about what I have been up to these days. In addition to recently starting my own Social Media Consulting business with Jason Crouch called 210 Consulting, I also recently started a new job as a community manager for a company called SmartHippo.  SmartHippo is a site designed to allow the consumers a place to come and ask questions of lending professionals and receive free top quality answers directly from lenders.

Another awesome feature that SmartHippo offers is a platform for consumers to write reviews of the lender they used to benefit other consumers.  This should help to raise the bar of customer service provided by lenders as well as give other consumers a place to come and read unbiased opinions of a lender before making the largest decision of their life. A customer can read whether the rate quoted online was the same they received, the loan closed on time, the lender was prompt in returning calls, etc.  SmartHippo's main focus is to empower the consumer with as much knowledge as possible before getting a mortgage through these lender reviews. 

The last thing that SmartHippo allows which I think will be very beneficial to real estate agents is the ability to refer your customers to a site where the buyer can compare ALL the rates available in their area.  Unlike other sites that offer similar things, they will not be selling the leads to the highest bidder.  This means that buyers can see all the rates available in their area and make their own decision based on the reviews of the lender, the Q&A responses of the lender as well as the rate offered by them.

As a real estate agent, I see this being a great new tool to offer to your buyers to assist them make an informed decision on a mortgage as well as keep you from having to "recommend a lender" which we all hate to do for the liability associated with it.  You are no longer needing to make up lists of available lenders to share with a buyer or anything.  We all know how awkward that moment is when the buyer asks you "Which lender would you recommend?" You simply give the buyer a website and allow them to get all the information they need. 

So what are my duties with this new position?  Well, as the community manager, I have a few different roles.  The first is to help build our community through various different social media platforms.  (YouTube Channel, Facebook, Twitter, Blog, etc.)  My other main task right now is to create and manage our community blog that will consist of some of the top bloggers in the lending industry.  This includes writers like Ken Cook, Eleanor Thorne, & John Cannata.  The community blog known as "The Herd" will provide valuable content to buyers who are in the process of purchasing a home. I hope over the next few months to add several other top notch bloggers into the community.

I am really excited to join up with this SmartHippo and am really looking forward to what the future holds.  So, if you are unfamiliar with SmartHippo, please take a few minutes to check out their site here.  I think this can be a great tool for your customers to "Join the Herd, Save Money" as their slogan states.  Also, check back on my blog over the next few weeks as I will keep you updated about some really exciting features & updates of what is happening at SmartHippo!

Visit SmartHippo Now!

One of the questions I ask people every time I begin a conversation with them about social media is Why did you sign up for these networks?  9 out of 10 times the response I receive is: To make money of course!  But, unfortunately with the ever changing amount of networks and new networks being birthed almost weekly it seems, many become overwhelmed almost instantly.  Then comes along the friend requests from your fellow colleagues who asked you to join and you find your resting place. 

Once this happens, many begin to lose their focus and reason that they originally joined this network in the beginning and it turns into a cocktail party and fun for you.  Now that you have found that comfortable place, you begin socializing with your friends & associates and completely lose focus of the original reason you joined. 

If your remember, I wrote two weeks ago about The Importance of Listening with Purpose To Your Consumers and how listening to what consumers are saying on social networks like Twitter and Facebook can lead to increases in business.  I mentioned how each network has certain applications available to assist you in tracking what consumers are saying about their needs of your services or goods.  The two that I talked about in that post were TweetGrid and Facebook Search.

I decided that today I would share a few other must have tools that I have found to be beneficial in Cashing In On Your Social Media Investment. Of course, a solid blog is before any of these items, as that is your foundation to any social media marketing strategy.

1.  Google Alerts-  I have Google alerts at the top of my list for a reason.  In case you aren't familiar with what it is, let me first explain.  Google alerts is a notifying program produced by Google.  You can set up an alert to be notified of any keyword/search term you wish.  For me, one of the terms I use is my name.  Why?  I want to know every time Google is picking up my name.  It first lets me know if someone has either re-blogged a post of mine, mentioned something good or bad about me, and allows me to know what is being said about me.  I have this alert set to notify me immediately.  The other day when Jason Crouch wrote about our first webinar, How to Chug Google Juice & Get 15 Years of Fame, I received an alert in less than 8 minutes.  In fact, it came so quick, that I received that before Jason's email stating that he had included my name in the post! 

Some other ways you could use this is to set up some alerts for the keywords you are trying to dominate in the search engines.  That way, you will know when your posts are being indexed for those keywords, and also know what your competition is saying on the same type of terms.  Google Alerts are a must have for any business you do.

2.  A Solid Twitter Application  There are plenty of different platforms available here.  I am not going to say one is better than another, but I will say that you need to be running some sort of program other than just the web version.  The reason for this, is that applications like Tweetdeck, Seesmic, & Hootsuite are some of the most popular ones and they allow you to filter your lists into different categories.  For example, I have an entire column just for closest friends, another for local people, and several others.  With these, you can set up different columns for your target audiences and for those who can supply you with great valuable content to enhancing your business or with content to relay onto your clients.

3.  A Mobile Photo Blog  Normally when I start talking about this one, I begin to lose people.  I actually have two mobile photo blogs.  Both bring me a ton of traffic as well as some really great connections & Google juice.  One photoblog, currently has 490 email subscribers to it.  My other photo blog which is hosted on posterous, is currently averaging around 800-1000 views per photo.  This is HUGE!  One of the beautiful parts of a photo blog like this is that it takes virtually zero effort to post to.  Once you have things set up properly, you simply shoot the picture with your mobile phone and email it to a specific email address with the subject line being your photo title.  The rest is automatically handled as your photos will automatically be re-sized & formatted to fit well on your post. 

Speaking of mobile phones, that leads me to my next point.

4.  A Powerhouse Mobile Phone If you are seriously considering taking your social media strategy to the next level, a good smart-phone is essential.  I am not going to get into what is the best to use, in the past I have used an Android platform phone, an iPhone, and several Blackberries.  Currently, I am back on a Blackberry.  All of them though are going to be more than sufficient and offer the same basic features, phone, camera, web, email, and the main social networks applications.  The key is to pick what you like.  For me, touch screens are hard to use, especially while trying to concentrate on other things.  I am a button type of guy, so I like the blackberry more for that simple reason.

Once you have a good phone, it will allow you to begin to participate on the social networks when you have the time waiting at a vacant home for a client, or when standing in line at the Walmart to check out.  Also, the ability to connect with consumers quickly & efficiently is priceless. I had someone once tell me that most consumers want to be responded to in less than 2 hours or they will move on to someone else. Having that ability to respond quickly and painlessly, even if it is just a response of: "I am out with clients, let me call you later this afternoon" can do wonders for your business.

5.  A Video Camera  While this does not seem like a big deal, this one can be so crucial to a social media strategy.  Did you know that YouTube is the second most searched site in the world?  One of my favorite choices is a simple handy Flipcam.  It doesn't have to be a hi-tech machine or anything.  These are fairly affordable at under $200.00 and by far are the easiest video cameras to use.  Simply shoot the video, flip out the build in USB and connect to your computer.  To give you an idea of how popular video is, I have 25 videos uploaded to YouTube that have received a combined 71,000 views!

These are just 5 of the tools I use on a regular basis to cash in on my social media investment.  Implementing these tools into your social media plan will definitely help you to achieve your ultimate goal and turn these networks into income producers for your business.  If you want to learn more about how to use these tools & many others, feel free to register for our next webinar which will be on Monday February 1st at 1PM Eastern 10 AM Pacific time.  To register, click here.

As many of you have already heard, Jason Crouch and I recently teamed up to start a new venture called 210 Consulting.  I am really excited to team up with Jason as social media advisors to share our knowledge with people from around the world.  In case you missed our big announcement, we are holding our very first webinar this Monday, January 18th at 1PM EST.  Our first webinar is called "How to Chug Google Juice & Get 15 Years of Fame"  In this webinar, we will be sharing how to use a blog to:

* How to write posts on your blog to increase your inquiries (and sales)
* How to get Google and other search engines to pay attention to your blog
* Dominating Google for your desired keywords
* What a longtail keyword is, and how it can send you oodles of potential business
* How to garner more subscribers and a loyal audience for your blog

If you are interested in attending, you can register here.  The cost is only $50.00 for this 2 hour webinar.  You will also have access to a recorded version of the webinar as well as a copy of the slide presentation.  Also, if you are unable to attend, we hope to be able to have the webinar available in a recorded form soon. 

The reason though for this post is NOT to talk so much about the upcoming webinar or to talk about our new Social Media Advisors company.  Instead, I wanted to take a minute to share the new logo for our business!  So, without further ado I am proud to share with everyone our brand new logo!

A HUGE thanks to my friend Dave Bartz who designed our new logo!  I think it turned out great!  Let us know what you think of our new logo, and we look forward to seeing you all on Monday!

I just finished listening to a wonderful session at #VREBC by my good friend Jeff Turner in which he spoke about "The Lost Art of Listening." I wanted to share with you my takeaway from his session.

The one thing that I got out of Jeff's presentation was that while many want to use social media platforms for their business, they do not really know how. Many have progressed past the point of understanding that social media is more than just broadcasting. However after understanding that principle, many get distracted by the social aspect and miss the purpose that they originally joined a network.  People who are in business and join a social network do so for two reasons:

1. To build relationships with potential consumers and build a strong following that will not only use their services, but also refer others.
2. To connect with consumers who may not already be aware of the business and increase their revenue by reaching new clients.

In order to achieve these two things, you must be listening to what consumers needs are.  However, many businesses get lost in the listening stage.  Many who start on these networks immediately find all their friends, family, coworkers, & others in the same industry.  When this happens, a level of distraction takes place as the media platforms take on more of the social aspects and less of the media/marketing purposes.  Once this takes place, many throw in the towel on the social media platforms & immediately say they do not work.  When in essence, that isn't the case, the real thing that happened was that the you the business have lost focus and are no longer using the network for what you originally signed up for.

So, how do you stay focused on your original vision for which you joined a network?  Simple, Listen with purpose to your consumers.  There is always at least one consumer who is looking to spend money in your industry and needs your services/products.

Each and every social network platform has some sort of way of tracking what the users are saying, asking and needing. Our job as a business is learning how to use these tracking devices effectively and listening intently to what consumers are needing. Use things like tweetgrid, facebook search and many other programs to find your prime consumers by listening with intent to what consumers are saying about keyword terms that are applicable to your business.

Here is a sample tweetgrid that someone who is a real estate agent in Myrtle Beach might set up:

There are 9 different categories of terms that someone who is looking to either buy, sell, or rent a place in Myrtle Beach that I can track simultaneously and connect with that consumer.  Some of these terms include: "Myrtle Beach" and "oceanfront", "need more space" or "for sale" and "Myrtle Beach".  These are all common phrases that someone who needs to either buy or sell a home would use when speaking on twitter.  I am now listening with intent to what others are saying that could be possible consumers and connecting with possible business opportunities and not just friends in the same industry.

Once you master the ability to listen with purpose to consumers, your whole outlook on social media sites will change dramatically and you also start seeing an increase in your return on investment into your social media strategy.

So in closing, if you are not listening intently on the social media platforms, you may want to focus on the reason you are there & begin listening to what your consumers are saying.

Today was a rather exciting day as I heard about Ustream releasing a new Mobile iPhone App for the iPhone & the Droid.  So what is this new Ustream Mobile app, & what is mobile streaming?  Well, Mobile streaming is the ability to do a live video feed straight from your mobile phone.  This is huge & exciting new technology for us in the real estate industry. What this new Ustream Mobile App does, is allows you to transform your basic iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, or Droid smart phone into a live video streaming machine.

The app works really easy & with just a few simple clicks of a button, you are now able to share live video feeds with the world.  Since the Ustream Mobile App is created by the makers of Ustream.tv, it also allows you to use their other great features.  Which means you can create video & instantly feed it to your Facebook Page, Twitter Account & also to YouTube.  The best part of all, is that the Ustream Mobile App, is totally free!

Here are my top features of the Ustream Mobile app:

• Uploads straight from phone to YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, & Ustream
• Integrates the Ustream chat right onto phone while doing live streams.
• Allows video to now be recorded on iPhone 3G without needing to "jailbreak" phone.
• Save videos to be uploaded later when you are not in a 3G or wifi area.
• Ustream Mobile app is free!

So how could the Ustream Mobile App be used to enhance your Real Estate Business?  Here are a few ways you might find this type of program useful:

• Showing property to buyers who are not in town.  You can use your phone to show the property, answer their questions & also show them first hand what the property looks like.  So, if the buyer wants to know what color the cabinets are, you can walk into the kitchen & show them the cabinets in a live stream.
• Updating a Seller on the Condition of their Property.  Especially as we go into the winter season, there are times where you have an emergency with a home that you need to share with the seller immediately to make a decision.  I remember one time we had a home where we had a very cold day & a pipe inside the wall had broken.  I wish I had something like this to show the seller quickly so we could make a quick decision & save their first floor.  Unfortunately, this type of software was not available then, and the first floor ended up needing to be completely redone.
• Share Special events with Friends & Family.  How many times do you wish you had the ability to share a special moment in video format with friends & family on your Facebook Page?  The Ustream Mobile App allows you to do such a thing really easily. 
  

There are tons of other great ways that you could use the Ustream Mobile App.  So what do the videos look like from the Ustream Mobile App on an iPhone 3G?  Here is a short video I did as a test to see how it worked.  While the video quality isn't the highest possible, it is fairly decent & the audio is very good.  Take a moment & watch:

Download the Ustream Mobile App for iPhone

Technology is constantly changing the way businesses act and conduct business daily.  How willing are you to adapt to the changes as they come along and incorporate them into your business plan?  If you are not, you may want to re-think before your all your business has been captured by your competitors.

This is a movie review of Transformers 2, but since I didn't care for the movie that much, it turned more into a lesson on how to embrace change for your business. In fact, if you want, you can skip right to around 1:24.

I reference Blockbuster Video and how they have not been able to embrace change as fast as competitors like Redbox which are not slowly putting them out of business. You need to embrace change in your business and integrate social media into your plan if you have not yet. If you refuse to embrace change, you will end up just like Blockbuster in a few years....an empty building with a for lease sign in front of it. Please take a few moments to watch:

The Moral of the story?   Technology is constantly changing the way we handle our day to day businesses.  Be alert to these changes and be willing to embrace/implement them into your business plan. Even if you feel you do not like it, or feel it is a waste of time, you need to at least test out the new technology to see if it will help or hinder your business before you form an opinion on them.  Assuming they won't work because of something you hear from somewhere else could be fatal to your business.  Plus, we all knows what can happen if we just assume....

As a staff member here at ActiveRain, I probably read anywhere from 100-200 posts a day.  Well, not really read the entire post, but I look through at least that many daily.  One of the things that baffles me daily are the titles of posts.  Have you ever seen some posts with titles like these?

• Just Listed 3BR/3BA home for $199,900
• Hurry, 8,000 Tax Credit Expires soon!
• Home Sales Increasing, Buy Today!
• Now is a Great Time to Buy!
• Great Custom All Brick Home
  

I could continue on but I think by now you get the idea.  If you notice, all of these types of titles are nothing more than a cheesy tag line used in advertising.  Unfortunately, your blog is not meant to be used as an advertisement.  The point to writing your blogs is to share with consumers information that they want to know. 

I have covered this topic in my webinars the past few weeks for our new members that have not yet become a Rainmaker.  Many people over look the importance behind the title of your post and do not place a lot of thought on it.  The title is one of the most powerful parts of your blog posts for search engine optimization or SEO.  If you are using generic sales ad statements in your title then you are missing the ability to use your keywords & help your post to rank well in the search engines.  Also, I am not exactly sure how many people search for things in Google by phrases like: Just listed 3BR/2BA home on Cul-de-sac, Now is a great time to buy.  Why?  Well see what happens when you type in Now is a great time to buy.  When I just did that, the results brought back 307 million results.  Or, if you search for the term Just listed 3BR/2BA $199,000.  This brings back homes for sale in California, Philadelphia, and who knows where else.

So, instead of these very general sales ad titles, how should you be titling your posts?  Well, it is actually rather simple.  You want to be more specific on the title of your post.  Also, be sure to include your longtail keywords.  For example, if I was going to write about a new listing, the title should be something more along these lines:

Home for Sale in The Farm at Carolina Forest in Myrtle Beach, SC~ 123 ABC St. Myrtle Beach, SC 29579

The example above is targeted on my Keywords.  My keyword is the community, The Farm at Carolina Fores in Myrtle Beach, SC.  Also, by including the address in the title, it allows consumers who drive by the property and write down the address of the property to find my blog post.  If neither of those pieces of information is included it makes it very difficult for consumers to find the blog post.

In the example Home Sales Increasing, Buy Today, the title should be changed to something resembling this:

Sold Homes in The Gates Austin, TX increases by 12%. An Austin Texas Real Estate Market Report

This title once again Targets on the longtail keyword which is Sold Homes in The Gates Austin, TX.  Also, we have used other keywords that someone might use when doing a real estate search by saying Austin Texas Real Estate Market Report.  

These are just two basic examples of how to attract more readers to your posts just by making some simple changes to the title of your posts.  Use this tip and watch how your posts will begin to receive more traffic and better results in the search Engines.

Last week I wrote about the exciting new one on one training program that ActiveRain is offering for those who want to become a Rainmaker.  Well the response has been so great that I have been very busy with those sessions.  But, many have asked if I can do this as a live webinar so they can see things live as I point them out.

With that being said, I am proud to announce that I will now be offering Live Webinars each week for those that are new to blogging and have not yet become a Rainmaker.  These webinars will be on Monday & Wednesday every week. In the beginning there will be 3 sessions per week. Monday will host 2 webinars, one at 1PM EST and another at 6PM EST.  Wednesday's session will be at 1PM EST.  Each webinar is limited to only 25 seats, so the make sure you register immediately.  The sessions will last aprroximately 60-90 minutes in length.  Unfortunately, if you are already a Rainmaker, this class isn't for you.  But, there is a great training session that Steven is offering for those that are currently a Rainmaker.  Check out his full schedule here.

What will be covered in the Webinar?

How to Optimize Your ActiveRain Profile.
How to Insert Photos into your Blog
How to Insert Hyperlinks.
Setting up Your Outside Blog.
How to write effective blog posts for consumers & search engines.
How to use your blog to connect with your community.
Topics to write about on your blog.
Question & Answer

How Much?!? How Much?!?

This is the greatest part, these webinars are only going to be $5.00 per person! But wait, theres more!  The $5.00 that you spend to join these webinars is not going to go to waste.  Not only will you receive a top notch training session on how to write blogs effectively to show up in the top of search engines which is worth much more than $5.00 in itself, you will also be given one full month to try out our Rainmaker Membership.  That includes your posts being indexed by search engines, the ability to send those posts to Localism and also posted to your personal Outside Blog.  As a final bonus, you will receive 1,000 bonus points for attending the webinar.

Why do I want to be a Rainmaker?

There are plenty of reasons why everyone should want to be a Rainmaker.  I am going to share just a few.  First, becoming a Rainmaker means that your posts will have the ability to harness the power of our 160,000+ members and the massive amount of search engine dominance that ActiveRain possesses.   Over 75% of ActiveRain's 2 million visitors per month come directly from the search engines.   Also, Rainmaker accounts consistently outrank members personal websites in searches.  Our Rainmakers posts average 500 views per post.  Others are receiving much more traffic (25,000 views!).

How do I sign up?

Well signing up is rather simple.  Simply fill out the form below with your contact information and I will send you an email confirming your session and also how to register.

If you were wondering why you would want to be a Rainmaker, here are 6 reasons why everyone should be a Rainmaker. Also, here are some awesome results from a member who took my webinar: Take Rainmaker Webinar today, the #1 spot on Google 10 hours Later!

Today I am excited to announce some exciting news for our new members on ActiveRain.  I was recently asked by Jon and Bob to assist on our newer members in optimizing their blog so that it will show up in the top of search engines results as well as train them on how all the various features of ActiveRain work.

Introducing One on One Blog Training

Starting today, new members can schedule a one on one blog training session with me.  One of the biggest fears that new members face is writing that first initial blog post.  Many are afraid that what they write will not be good enough or that they will mess things up by writing a bad post.  Beginners end up scaring themselves from ever actually writing that first initial post and end up never realizing the benefits of ActiveRain. Trust me when I say, I can relate.  I was so nervous when I started here and my first few posts were terrible.  (If you don't believe me, read my second post on ActiveRain, it was the worst I have ever written!) But, as I continued on, things changed and the success stories started to pile up for me just like many of our other members.

Overcoming The Fear to Blog

That is where I come in.  As a member of the network for over a year and a half and also the author of over 500 posts, I have learned how to write effective blogs. The past 6 months have been spent writing step by step tutorials on how all of the different features of ActiveRain work and how to use them to enhance your blog.  You can see those posts on my outside blog. During that time, I have learned first hand the many  features of The ActiveRain Network.

What Will I Learn in Our One to One Training Session?

During your One on One Training session we will cover:

How to Optimize Your ActiveRain Profile.
How to Insert Photos into your Blog
How to Insert Hyperlinks.
Setting up Your Outside Blog.
How to write effective blog posts for consumers & search engines.
How to use your blog to connect with your community.
Topics to write about on your blog.

Each session will last anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour.  If you are a new member that has not started your blogging career because you have not been sure where to start, this course is for you!  Or, if you have been blogging for a while as a free member, this is an excellent opportunity to try out all the great features of ActiveRain as well as get some excellent training on how to maximize your blogging efforts.

Because ActiveRain feels so strongly in the power of the network, they are offering a special promotional rate for non-rainmakers to sign up as a rainmaker for the first month for only $5.00.  In addition to that $5.00, you will also receive the training session from me.

******ATTENTION RAINMAKERS*****

I Just Talked to Steven about the Webinars he is hosting for our members that are already Rainmakers and this is what he said the classes cover:

"Each class will cover seo blogging to dominate google search results, setting up the outside blogs,and how to write a blog including adding links,pictures,making a picture a link, embedding maps, widgets, and video's, AR syndication, RSS, blog settings and blog customization, hit router, referral network, as well as any questions they may have!"

So for all of you current rainmakers, check out the Calendar for upcoming classes & Register NOW!

If you are currently not a Rainmaker, simply fill out this form below and I will contact you directly to schedule your session.