The New Facebook Business Page is Here
Published March 8, 2012 | 
As I mentioned in my post last week, Facebook will be rolling out a new template for business pages at the end of this month (March 2012). The new design is meant to simulate a mission control board, with a large viewing screen at the top (for your cover photo), larger post photos and modules set up to keep your information and apps neat and tidy. Here are a few of the changes you can expect to see revealed in the next few weeks:
Cover Photo/Profile Pic – The cover photo will be the larger of the two photos available at the top of your new Facebook real estate business page. Facebook notes that this is not a space for advertising, promoting your business or showcasing coupons. Rather, it is meant to give your visitors an overall impression of what your business is about. So, please refrain from using text-heavy jargon here. You will have the rest of the page to do that, so don’t worry. The smaller photo is where you would want to add your logo or a personal photo of yourself so your visitors can put a face to the name.
Bigger Photos/Videos in Posts – To make them stand out from a regular text post, the pictures and videos now pinned to your status updates are larger previews than before. This makes them much more visible to the eye so visitors are drawn to find out more.
Company Timeline – Add important milestones in your company’s history to your Facebook timeline. Tell your story in short, simple, easily digested bites. The timeline is tucked away on the right hand side of your business page and easy to maneuver through.
Admin Section - All the insights to your Facebook business page are now accessible via your Admin button. The layout is larger and easier to navigate than the old insights section was. This will also be where you can share your page, invite email contacts, potential clients, past clients and friends to visit and like your business page and help build an audience. If you need to make a change to your page’s name, you can access that request here. The custom URL cannot be changed, but the name of the page itself can. This is good news for those agents who have changed companies or simply branched off on their own (which happens a lot).
Bruce Barton, American businessman and author of “The Man Nobody Knows”, once said “When you are through changing, you are through.” Well, if you want to survive in the real estate business, you have to embrace the changes being made. That includes the new Facebook business page being rolled out soon. Don’t be scared, though. If you need a hand to hold, we at Second Self Virtual Assistance are always ready and waiting.
Create Your Own Facebook Welcome Page
Published March 1, 2012 | You only get one chance to make a first impression. This is true with blind dates, meeting your significant other’s parents, real estate listings… The same can also be said about your Facebook business page. When a prospective client goes to your Facebook welcome page, what are they greeted with? Something that looks like a work-in-progress or a real professional standout? You can create your own Facebook welcome page with the free Welcome Page Designer from AppAddictive.
The Welcome Page Designer app gives you four templates to choose from. You can add contact forms, edit videos and create your own content quickly and easily. You can also organize the email addresses you receive from your contact forms into a user-friendly, downloadable spreadsheet to keep track of your visitors. This app is absolutely free, takes seconds to install and will make you look like a professional in no time. Of course, there are limitations to what you can make it look like, since you only have four predesigned templates to choose from. For a more customized look, you will need to contact a web designer or Virtual Assistant, like Second Self Virtual Assistance.
As you may already be aware of, Facebook made its new timeline profile page mandatory as of today. Don’t be scared. Sometimes change is a good thing. In my opinion, the new layout is much more visually appealing and engaging. The jury’s still out on the scrolling sidebar thingy, though. I think I just need a little more time with it. Anyway, what you may not be aware of yet is that, as of March 30, 2012, all Facebook pages are also getting a new design. They are going to follow the same timeline format that profile pages are now utilizing. Don’t wait until March 30th to get your Facebook business page looking sharp. Create your own Facebook Welcome Page now with AppAddictive’s Welcome Page Designer. Of course, if you need help, Second Self Virtual Assistance can create an outstanding, fully customized welcome page for you as well. Just let us know what you need!
What’s All the Interest in Pinterest?
Published February 23, 2012 | 
Remember what it was like when you were younger and you would tear out photos from magazines of your favorite teen heartthrobs to tape on your walls? What girl didn’t swoon over baby-faced Paul McCartney or wish Frankie Avalon was serenading them on the beach instead of Annette? Well, Pinterest has taken that concept and created a virtual pinboard for users to gather all the interesting things they find on the web and share them other individuals online. But, what’s all the interest in Pinterest?
Pinterest is meant to both give and receive inspiration in users’ daily lives by sharing what interests them most. Whether sharing a recipe, looking for home decorating ideas, health and beauty tips, showcasing your listings by location or even highlighting what you love about each city you represent, Pinterest allows you to create any type of board you want, “pin” images to it, share them with others (including a really cool app on Facebook) and look for feedback. Like social media, boards can be shared for even more exposure to a wider audience and lets potential clients learn a little bit about you in the process.
The first step to creating your own virtual pinboard is to ask for an invitation using your email. Once you are invited, you can create your own account, set up a profile (including a picture) and even add it to your Facebook Timeline with the simple click of a button. By the way, if you weren’t aware of it, Facebook is making their Timeline mandatory as of March 1, 2012. Once your account is established, you can start creating any type of board you want.
Unlike real life, your virtual board is not limited by space. Add as many pins as you want. You can even request that some of the people you admire and follow on Pinterest become contributors to your boards to make them even more special. You still ultimately control what gets “pinned” on your board and what doesn’t.
Feature your favorite boards on your blog or website to help develop a following. If you make it interesting, people will want to see what you are up to next. Each pin is linked to the original site it was taken from. If you’re using pins from sites other than your own, always make sure to add a description and give credit where it is due. You want the source to know that your intentions are honorable in sharing the information.
Pinterest is still pretty new to the online community. They are always looking for ways to improve and welcome any feedback you are willing to offer. If you’ve developed an interest in Pinterest, request an invitation now. Once you start, you’ll be hooked!
Free YouTube App for Facebook Fan Pages
Published February 16, 2012 | As you know, I am always on the lookout for ways to make your real estate business stand out from the crowd. Technology is constantly changing, as are the habits of internet users. When I come across something that I think is fantastic, I just have to share it. Especially when it’s FREE! In my quest to bring you the latest and greatest in real estate marketing technology, I have found a free YouTube app for Facebook fan pages.
With the YouTube Gallery app, YouTube videos can be uploaded to your Facebook fan page automatically. All you have to do is install it on your Facebook page, follow the directions for set up, add your Twitter handle and choose which videos you want to be uploaded. It’s as simple as that. You can choose to pull videos from all across YouTube that have specific keywords attached to them, only upload specific videos or add videos from a particular username or channel. So, all those videos you are taking for your clients’ listings can now automatically be uploaded and posted on your Facebook fan page. Like your regular Facebook page, the YouTube Gallery also has privacy settings that will allow you to restrict videos to be seen only by whomever you wish or make them completely public if you want.
It only takes moments to install. However, I have noticed that the app seems to have some issues with Internet Explorer. You can install it on your Facebook page using IE, however, you may run into problems viewing your videos when you are editing your settings. When I looked at my page with Mozilla, it was clear that it had been installed correctly.
The free YouTube app for Facebook fan pages can help you market your videos to the Facebook community in a much more streamlined way. It’s simple, it’s easy and, best of all, it’s FREE!
Create Your Own Real Estate App for That
Published February 9, 2012 | Apps have become all the rage with smart phone users. In fact, app use has virtually exploded over the past few years. Want to stream radio on your smart phone? There’s an app for that. Want to keep up with your Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn accounts while you’re on the go? There’s an app for that. Can’t live without playing Angry Birds while waiting in line for your morning latte? There’s an app for that. There’s even a nap app that you can download to help you achieve the optimum level of power napping. I kid you not! Want to offer current and potential clients the opportunity to view listings in your area online with just the touch of a button? Well, now you can create your very own real estate app for that!
Smarter Agent offers a fully customizable app to brokers and agents. Whether your customer uses iPhone, Android, Blackberry or another smart phone, you can create a real estate app with your own unique brand. With the Smarter Agent app, smart phone users can access your listings as well as all listings located on your MLS. When an interested party wants more information about that particular listing, all calls will go directly to you…even if the listing is not yours. What a great way to increase your clientele!
For a fee, Smarter Agent creates an application downloader that you install on your website. Visitors to your website can then access your app directly from your site. They will also create a custom text code that allows your clients to download the real estate app to their phone, regardless of which kind of smart phone they use.
If you’re interested in finding out how you can create your own real estate “app for that”, visit Smarter Agent now. Bring your real estate business into the modern mobile technological age. Don’t be left behind (they don’t make an app for that)!
Organize and Optimize Your Email
Published February 2, 2012 | 
Let’s face it. You’re a busy person. You’ve got real estate clients to meet up with, homes to show, appointments to attend to and family matters to take care of. Who has time to filter through all the junk emails coming through their inbox every day? Technology is supposed to help make our lives easier. And, in many ways, it does. But it seems that, sometimes, technology can interfere with productivity. To stay focused, you need to organize and optimize your email, eliminating clutter and directing your attention to those things that matter.
Studies show that most people have an almost compulsive need to check and answer every single email that comes in at the moment it comes in. While you may think this shows that you’re on top of things, it actually can be counter-productive. It takes your attention away from the tasks in front of you. Once you return to finish the project you started, your mind can take several seconds to jump back on track. When you factor that in to every time you check your email, you could lose several hours of time over the course of a month. Instead of jumping on your email several times a day, schedule two or three times throughout the day to check and answer emails.
Use your email signature to relay important information, such as your name (obviously), your company’s name, your direct phone number, your website and links to your social media (such as Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook). WiseStamp is an email app generator that creates icons you can integrate right into your email signature. You can link the icons to your social media accounts so that anyone reading your email can access them directly with just one click.
The key to organizing your email is to reduce the amount you receive. I spoke about Unsubscribe.com, a free download that helps you reduce SPAM to your inbox, a few weeks ago. I use it and have already seen a huge reduction in my junk emails. Google Alerts are also a great way to keep track of who’s saying what about your business or name. You can set it to receive alerts once a day, once a week or as they happen. It’s up to you. Otherinbox allows you to set up incoming emails to be directed into specific folders, such as “shopping”, “business”, “clients”, “buyers”, “sellers”, “personal”, etc. That way you can tackle the most important emails now and save the rest for when you have more time.
Finally, use your email filters. Just about every email program offers some kind of filters. It may take a little time in the beginning. But, as you designate which emails are SPAM and which are actual emails you want to receive, the filters are programmed to recognize potential SPAM in future emails. This helps reduce the junk and keep the good stuff coming through.
I’m trying to reduce the clutter in my life so that I can stay focused on the important things: my family, my friends and my clients. Organizing and optimizing my email is one way to get rid of the junk. These free tools can help you as well. Please let me know if you need help organizing your real estate business so you can continue to be productive and prosperous in 2012.
Free Video Channel for Real Estate Listings
Published January 26, 2012 | 
We can all agree that videos make great advertisements. Whether it’s for a property, an event or even showcasing your real estate skills, videos have surpassed still pictures and even slideshows in helping market you and your listings online. YouTube has become the second most used search engine (behind Google and in front of Yahoo! and Bing) on the internet today. Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a place to upload the video of your client’s real estate listing without having it compete with cats playing the piano, stunts gone wrong and startled baby faces? Well, there is. It’s called Property Tube.
Property Tube was created exclusively for private sellers and renters as well as professional real estate agents and offices as a marketing platform for their properties. They give exposure of your clients’ properties to a world-wide audience. All you have to do is take any video you’ve created or had created by a professional and upload it to your free Property Tube account like you would with a YouTube video. In just two easy steps, you can map the location of the property, upload the video, add a catchy headline and provide details of the property in question, including adding a link back to your website or blog right in the description.
Just like YouTube, you can even create your own real estate channel. Keep your data base updated on what’s happening with your office, what’s going on around your neighborhood, new listings that need to be seen to be believed and general real estate news that everyone can use with your own branded real estate channel. This is a great way to engage an audience and keep them asking for more. And all this is absolutely FREE!
If you don’t fancy yourself a cinematographer, don’t fret. Property Tube can help you find a videographer near you to shoot an amazing, professional quality video. However, anyone with a Flip camera and some imagination can put together something truly special on Property Tube.
If a picture is worth a thousand words, a video is just about priceless. And, with Property Tube, your priceless video can be advertised to millions of potential buyers all across the world for FREE! Just think of Property Tube as the YouTube of real estate listings.
Stuffing’s for Turkeys, Not Websites!
Published January 20, 2012 | 
While content is critical to creating an amazing real estate website or blog that internet users will want to visit again and again, there is more work to be had behind the scenes…primarily keywords. Keywords are the specific words or phrases that internet users type into the search field when looking up information. Each search engine uses their own algorithm to determine what websites will provide the best information that the searcher is looking for based on these keywords. When it comes to keywords, though, stuffing’s for turkeys, not websites!
Search engines frown upon the practice of adding thousands of keywords to a website or blog (known as “keyword stuffing”). You can actually be penalized for this. Instead, it is recommended that you find a few key words or phrases that you want to focus on.
When narrowing your choices, think of how you typically search for things online. For example, let’s say you heard about a balloon festival in Sonoma and want to know more about it. You wouldn’t just type in “balloons” or even “balloon festival”, would you? That would give you tons of extra websites ranging from party balloons to the annual Albuquerque Balloon Festival, none of which is what you are actually looking for. You would instead type in something more specific like “Sonoma balloon festival” in your search engine’s search field and hit enter. Then, your search engine would look through all the sites it had in its database to list the best sites for you to visit to find the information you are seeking.
Most people get as specific as they can when typing in the search field. Searchers typically look for a specific thing (person, company, event…in this case, “balloon festival”) and then a specific location (in this case, “Sonoma”). Instead of focusing on a generic term for your site, such as “real estate”, you want to get specific so that you get those people really looking for your services in your particular area. These terms may be searched less, but they increase the likelihood of a cold prospect turning into a hot lead.
There are several tools available to help you create a list of keywords to focus on your real estate site or blog. One of my personal favorites is Soovle.com. Soovle allows you to compare top keyword searches on multiple search engines at one time. You can choose the search engines you want to compare (anywhere from 7 to 15 at one time). All you have to do is start typing in the keywords you would like to use and you will instantly see the most searched words/phrases on each search engine. You don’t even have to finish your word before Soovle begins offering suggestions. This can help you optimize the keywords on your site/blog so you can find your audience and they can find you.
Don’t fall for the “if one is good, more is better” way of thinking. Stuffing’s for turkeys, not websites…or blogs. Keep a few key words or phrases in mind when working on your real estate website or blog and you’ll find yourself at the top of the search engines soon enough. Best of all, potential clients will find their way to you, too.
Customize Your WordPress Site for FREE!
Published January 12, 2012 | Creating an interesting, interactive website used to cost thousands of dollars a year. Even if you went the “do-it-yourself” route, you ran the risk of looking like many other real estate sites out there by using the same old limited freebie themes. However, websites have come a long way, baby. Most real estate professionals are ditching their old expensive websites for a hosted WordPress site. They are much more affordable, offer a wide variety of plugins and widgets to completely customize your site, and, most importantly, they are completely user-friendly. Even computer novices can look like geniuses with WordPress.
Theme Shock is a great program I have found to help my real estate clients create a truly impressive WordPress site. Through Theme Shock, you can download your own free bundle of WordPress themes to use on your hosted site. Each free bundle includes your choice of 99 different WordPress themes (you can use 10 different ones at a time for free), 750 free high quality icons and more. For a fee, you can download the premium Shock Bundle. This includes 102 Premium WordPress themes, icons for Android and iPhone, credit card icons, social media icons, logo templates and so much more. The following are just a few examples of Word Press sites using Theme Shock my clients are currently using:
Don’t delay. Stop spending thousands of dollars on your real estate website. Get Theme Shock now and make a true impression on future clients. Just let me know if you need any help getting started.
SPAM is a Four Letter Word
Published January 6, 2012 | 
The internet has become a way of life for most people. You can go online to do just about anything: shop, socialize, pay your taxes, find real estate clients, look up how long George Jetson’s work week was (or is that just me?), etc. It’s very convenient to have the wealth of knowledge you used to have to go to the library to find now available at your fingertips. The downside of all this convenience, however, is SPAM…the other four letter word that sends shudders up your spine. It can clog up your inbox and take forever to clear up. I’ve found a solution to reduce SPAM as well as managing your own contact list absolutely FREE! Unsubscribe.com.
Unsubscribe.com is offered as a free download that integrates with most email programs, including Outlook, Gmail and Yahoo! Mail. In essence, Unsubscribe.com becomes your SPAM blocker. All you need to do is click the “Unsubscribe” button next to an email you know is unsolicited and you will never receive emails from that source again. As you continue to “unsubscribe”, the program learns what to identify as SPAM so that future SPAM will never make it into your inbox ever again.
Another neat feature of this free program is the Social Monitor. With the simple click of a button, Unsubscribe.com is downloaded as an add-on to your toolbar. Social Monitor helps you find out who is accessing your information on any of your social networking sites, including Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. Remove any connections you may have to applications you don’t use, applications you aren’t sure you can trust and applications you know to be unsafe. When you find unsafe applications, quickly and easily let your friends and followers know about them through Unsubscribe.com so that they can protect themselves as well. With the recent Ramnit worm that infected thousands of Facebook accounts overseas recently, stealing more than 45,000 login credentials from users in the UK and France, you can never be vigilant enough.
Real estate professionals can also use Unsubscribe.com to manage their contacts. When you download the Safe Send program, an extra button will be installed in your email program. With Safe Send, an “unsubscribe” link will automatically be added to the bottom of all of your emails. If someone receives an email from you, all they have to do is click the link and their email will automatically be removed from your contact list so they never receive an email from you again. That way, YOU don’t look like annoying SPAM to your contacts. All you have to do to activate the Safe Send is to click that button rather than your regular “send” button.
Unsubscribe.com has several other features, too. I encourage you to visit their website to see how amazing this program is. In my vocabulary, SPAM is a four letter word. Wash out your inbox’s mouth with Unsubscribe.com today. You’ll be so happy you did!
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