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Tag : Blogging

Book Review: “Social Media Marketing: Market Your Real Estate & Mortgage Business Using the Power of Social Media”
Posted Mar 15th, 2010 By Mirna Bard in Blogging, Facebook, Social Media, Social Networking, Twitter With | 3 Comments

I just finished reading “Social Media Marketing: Market Your Real Estate & Mortgage Business Using the Power of Social Media” eBook written by my good friend Naomi Trower, real estate broker and social media extraordinaire. I met Naomi in 2009 at the LA Twitter Conference, and we’ve kept in touch through Facebook and Twitter (the power of social networking, right?).

Many realtors and brokers have given up on their business in the past several years because of the new economy; and there are still many who continue to struggle but have not quite given up yet. If are a realtor who has not yet jumped into the sea of online opportunities to market your business, I urge you to do so as soon as possible.

Naomi is a perfect example of a broker who decided she was not going to let a slow economy stand in the way of business growth. For the past two years, Naomi has been integrating Internet marketing and social media tactics as part of her overall marketing strategy. She obtains 15-20 new leads per week by applying the same tactics described in her eBook.

I highly recommend this eBook to realtors and brokers who want a simple way to embrace and leverage social media. Naomi shares free or extremely cost-effective step-by-step tactics for Twitter, Facebook, blogging on WordPress, and Active Rain. I think she did a superb job at explaining all the tactics in an easy-to-follow format.

She even gives a sample of her social media schedule, keywords and phrases you can use to find your target audience as well as some fantastic examples of how to strategically word tweets, status updates, and introductions so it doesn’t seem like selling all the time. I especially liked how she personalized the book by sharing her experience with using social media. This shows me that she really walks the talk. Thank you for an excellent eBook Naomi!

I am not going to give away any of her secrets and tips, you will just have to buy the eBook and see for yourself. Click here to purchase the eBook and learn more about Naomi Trower. And, don’t forget to leave her a review after you read the book! This will be good social media practice for you (wink wink).

BTW, I loved the eBook so much that I will be recommending it and using Naomi as a case study in a keynote presentation I am giving to 300+ real estate professionals at the NAHREP event on March 25!
6 Reasons Why You Need a Business Blog
Posted Mar 8th, 2010 By Mirna Bard in Blogging, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) With | 4 Comments

If you don’t currently have a blog for your business web site, it’s high time you set one up. Even businesses with no writing staff can manage by hiring ghostwriters or inviting guest bloggers. You can also work on posts ahead of time and schedule them to run over time. I schedule a writing day when I feel focused and try to whip out at least 15 – 20 blog write-ups and then schedule them to post over a few weeks (shhhhh, that’s a secret! ).

So, why is a business blog so important? There are several reasons to set up a blog for your business (of course, not limited to these reasons).

1. Company Announcements. A blog gives you the perfect platform to launch your products and services. You can also use it to let your clients know about any changes that have been made to the business, including the hiring of new employees, corporate events, and other news.

2. Google and others love blogs. Since a blog is regularly updated with fresh content, you’ll find that your search engine rankings go up quite quickly. The more often a site is updated, the more the spiders (search engine robots) will check it. You can really build up your visibility and visitors with a blog..

3. Get more links. Often people are reluctant to link to a website, but they will happily share or link to a blog post they like. You’ll get a lot more backlinks by providing regular, useful information in the form of blog posts. And, more backlinks equals higher rankings in the search engines.

4. Build authority. Trust is vital when it comes to sales and many people who shop online are quite wary about new companies that they haven’t bought from before. You can help them decide to purchase from you by showcasing your expertise and offering consistent information on your blog. The regular posts will allow visitors to learn more about you and your knowledge while they decide if they’re going to buy or not.

5. Become more approachable. The truth is that businesses tend to be slightly intimidating to the individual. Through blogging, you can show people that you aren’t just a corporation, but a business made up of real people. Humanizing your brand can do wonders for sales!

6. Give something back. Whether you offer exclusive information on your blog or provide coupon codes to those who read it, you’ll find that by giving something back to those who come visit your blog, you are actually gaining. People will not only trust you and see you as an expert; they will pass your posts on and let others know about your content.

It really is worth having a business blog. Without it, you will be missing out on a lot of interaction with your target audience. Blogging doesn’t have to be difficult, so there’s really no excuse not to do it.

If you do blog, I would love to hear about how it helped your business. Please share in the comments below.
15 Categories of Social Media
Posted Feb 8th, 2010 By Mirna Bard in Social Media With | 45 Comments

The most popular social media question is: “Where do I start with social media if I want to use it for my business?” The very first step is to understand the entire social media landscape before jumping on the bandwagon. This is paramount if you want to succeed with using social media for your business!

The social web consists of many categories and is not just about social networking. I have created the below diagram to help you understand the types of social media categories. The categories you decide to use for your business will depend on your business goals and what you are trying to achieve with social media.

Of course, there is a cross between many of these categories. For example, I placed Twitter under micro-blogging, but it also belongs under social networking; I placed Facebook under social networking but it is also the largest photo-sharing site.

The key to success with social media is to not put your eggs in one basket. Once you have a clear understanding of the social web, the next step is know how to integrate some or all these categories together so you can leverage and maximize your efforts with social media.

Please note, in this diagram I am giving a comprehensive look at the categories of social media. The tools in each category are only an example. There are literally thousands of tools out there that would fall into each category and would not be possible to fit into a single diagram. Please feel free to add tools that you think belong under specific categories in the comment section below.

The logos and images shown are trademarks of each site. Let’s hope the sites don’t mind that I borrowed them!

Social Media Landscape Image

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