A great blog post I recently came across:

Chris Brogan President New Marketing Labs

Chris Brogan one of the best social media experts inspired me to write this article aimed at helping  Realtors and Brokers understand the social media decision tree. In Chris’s article “Social Media Decision Tree” he makes two very important points:

1. “Coming up with a one-size fits all strategy for dragging companies into social media is just goofy.”
2. “It’s not all about the conversation. It’s not a matter of whether you get it or don’t. Like all things, it’s finding what works, building from a foundation, measuring progress, and adapting to new situations.”

Takeaways:

• There is NO one right way to utilize social media networks and tools. There is only what’s right for you
• Experiment and find what works best for you. Experiment by listening first

Realtor-Broker Social Media Decision Tree: Yes or No

Q: Should you or your company blog?

Read More……..

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Proof - we can learn a lot from our elders:

With 50 years of experience in the real estate industry, REALTOR® Emeritus Geary Jones, 81, has plenty of knowledge to share on coping with market downturns. Though he sold his Santa Cruz, Calif., brokerage, Coast Counties Realty, 10 years ago, he still works occasionally as a real estate consultant to buyers and sellers. Here, he recalls some of the rough patches he survived during his long career and offers advice on how to excel when the market doesn’t want to cooperate.  

What was your most difficult period in the real estate business?

I remember 1966 as the worst year. Interest rates jumped from 4.75 percent to 7.5 percent within months. I made $3,000 for the whole year (equal to about $20,000 in 2008, according to MeasuringWorth.com). My wife was ill and not able to work and we were raising three sons. It wasn’t easy. People had just stopped buying. I don’t know if that downturn was as severe as things are today, but it was hard for families.  Read more…….

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Some really good places to sell a house these days aren’t real estate sites at all.

Savvy real estate pros are joining Facebook, Twitter, Craigslist, LinkedIn, MySpace, Plaxo and other social networking sites. They are finding them to be great places to show off a house for sale, invite others to a virtual tour or blog about beautiful homes and neighborhoods.

About 38 percent of calls to Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s International Realty were the result of contacts made on the Internet, says Janet Blanton, vice president of marketing and a founding partner.

Here are five pieces of advice from practitioners from Atlanta Fine Homes who have had success with social networking:

1. Make it interesting. Include things on the website that intrigue potential buyers.

2. Appear open and friendly. Connect with buyers. Getting a sense of who buyers are via the Internet will make helping them find the right property in person much easier.

3. Maximize exposure. If the sellers are posting their home on different Web sites, make sure all the postings complement each other.

4. Hold your fire. Before jumping into a social networking site, make sure you understand the site and its participants.

5. Watch your words. Get someone to edit your post so you don’t say something that is quite different from what you intended to say.

Source: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (02/15/2009)

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As you know I am constantly recruiting just like many of you are constantly looking for new business.  I recently had the opportunity to invite a very talented and very young Broker to spend a day with us at the Weichert campus.  While he liked what he saw, he asked “where’s the sizzle”.  “Everything you do is so basic, so elementary.”  “That’s not the way we do it in our market.”  I was a bit taken back by this and before I said “that’s why Jim Weichert has over 200 offices and you have one”, I took a moment to think back to when I first learned about Weichert almost three years ago.  I remember thinking this Jim Weichert guy has built the largest individually owned real estate company by sticking to what works - the basics.  I had been in the business about 7 years at that time and I remember asking myself why I ever got away from these things.  I really feel there are too many people trying to re-invent the wheel and attempting to find a new way to succeed in this business.  There is no “sizzle” in this business and only two ways to grow your business as an agent - find a new seller or find a new buyer.  Weichert is about outperforming the competition on these basic real estate tasks. 

The agents I see succeeding in todays market have reverted back to the basics.  Why did we ever get away from prospecting?  There are a lot of ways to make a quick buck in this business.  For those of you that want to be in this business for the long haul, I suggest you work the business the “Weichert way” - stick to the basics.

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Plugging the profit holes in your real estate career…. 

If your auto mechanic told you that your car was leaking oil, you’d get it repaired, right? If your purse or pocket had a hole in it and your money was falling out, you’d take care of the problem, post haste. If you learned that you could save hundreds of dollars in credit card interest every month by consolidating your accounts, you’d certainly look into it, yes?

It’s easy to see that problems like these are a waste of your money. They’re leaks in the system. I call them “profit holes.”

As Realtors, we have to be alert to the profit holes in our own business. Sometimes they’re not as obvious as the sound of coins hitting the floor or a spreading oil stain under the car, but they’re even more expensive. In an uncertain market, when your income stream may not be gushing as vigorously as usual, it makes a lot of sense to get busy plugging up the profit holes.

So what are they and how do you find them? There are dozens, but I’d like to focus on a few.

Not looking for business. This is the biggest profit hole in our industry.  Read more….

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