big mouth consulting

Using Twitter to Promote Your Real Estate Market

March 3, 2010

Twitter is one of those tools that took me a while to embrace.  I signed up and just watched for quite some time trying to figure out what to say.  I did not really want to go with the whole stream of consciousness thing thinking no one is really interested in what I am doing every moment of the day or what my every thought is… even I don’t find myself that interesting!

After a while, I jumped in and for me it became more about tips, things that came across my computer that I thought were worth sharing and the occasional plug for my new consulting company.  This past Sunday, a whole new Twitter World opened up for me.

Janie Coffey herded together a small group of Miami Real Estate agents that are all  active on Twitter and Sunday night we all hopped on and started Tweeting about the Miami Real estate market in 140 words or less.  The hour flew by with tons of stats, market indicators and a very sophisticated discussion about the Miami market and many of its’ most popular neighborhoods.

I was also impressed with the caliber of the agents participating.  Long gone is the notion of not sharing for fear you will tip a competitor – these pros stand out as true professionals who understand knowledge is better shared than stored.

A Real Estate TweetChat is a great way to work Social Media into your real estate business.  Here are the simple steps to get it going:

  1. Check out the twitterati in your area. Look for real estate agents that are active and knowledgeable in your market. Make sure you include a mortgage professional since many of the questions will be about financing.  You can expand the group to include attorneys, short sale experts, title professionals,accountants (it is tax season), etc.
  2. Send out your invite with time and hashtag already in place.  We used #MiamiRealeChat.  You might want to include some suggested questions, just to get the conversation flowing.  Market stats, short sales, foreclosures and predictions are all good topics.
  3. Select one person to be the moderator.  The moderator will pose questions to the group, welcome participants and keep the overall conversation on target.
  4. Promote the event. Set up an account at TweetChat and promote that hashtag using facebook, twitter, your blog or website.  TweetChat will also log the postings so that there is a transcript to publish and promote after that is full of the information that was shared live.
  5. Keep it going.  Your audience will build over time.  Make your Real Estate chats at the same time in regular intervals and the word will get out.
  6. Most of all – keep it fun and informative.

If you are interested in seeing how this works, join us this Sunday evening at 9 PM EST by following #MiamiRealeChat jump in and ask a question.  We would love to have you.

Thanks to our participants last week…  @CoconutGrove,tkheatley, janiec, BrokerMaggie, AshtonColeman, adriansalgado, raulestrada.

Posted in Big Mouth For Agents, Big Mouth Tech Tips — Leave a Comment

Social Media Made A Liar Out of Me

March 1, 2010

Just when I am feeling like I have this whole Social Media thing in hand, something happens that makes me come up short.

My son is one of the many recent college graduates who has come back to the nest while trying to find a job.  Not that I mind having him home, he has stepped up to do all of my IT work, including this website.

Occasionally, I do feel like I need to be motherly and give him a little push.  I typically do this by imparting some  pearls of wisdom.  So when I told him “to get a job you need to apply for one” stating what I thought was a very obvious truth…No job will come looking for you.

Imagine my surprise when he told me last week that someone found him on Linked In and called to interview him.  He starts work this week.

Social media works, I am a believer.  If you build it, the business will come.

Posted in Big Mouth Tech Tips, Monday Muse — Leave a Comment

Why Facebook Matters in Your Business

February 8, 2010

Facebook turned six years old this week.  As it happens, Facebook also crossed over the 400 million user mark this past week.  What is even more impressive is that 100 million of those users joined in the last six months.  Just for comparison, less than 100 million were expected to watch the Super Bowl this past weekend.  The numbers of users alone on Facebook make a worthy of your marketing attention.

I joined Facebook  about 2 years ago and have really enjoyed catching up with old friends and keeping tabs on the family photos and the local events.  But if you are only using Facebook to maintain your personal relationships, you are missing a huge part of the fun.  Yes, that’s right, your business marketing can be fun.

I recently launched this consulting business.  Like any new business I began by getting a logo, ordering cards and starting a website.  Almost as an aside, I started a Facebook fan page just to get the word out to friends, family and colleagues about my new business venture.  Here is what I have gleaned so far:

  1. Facebook is far and away the #1 referrer to my website – contributing on average about 75% of the traffic to the site.
  2. People are more likely to comment on the link to a post on the Facebook page than on the site.
  3. Like Twitter, you can do a bit of microblogging. I love being able to contribute links that I find interesting on a  daily basis without having to write a full blog post.
  4. The new custom pages make it look pretty.  Yes, like it or not many of us are visual and the typical Facebook page is a little bit of a plain jane.  The fact that you can customize your Facebook page to make the landing page look like YOU want it to look is a huge plus.  And right now, it is an awesome way to show you are an early adapter.
  5. The pages are spidered by google.  Within a few hours I had a google alert for my page.  My FB page comes up number 2 when you google Big Mouth Consulting.

Here are some great examples of Facebook Pages for Realtors

Riley Smith pulls his three local blogs together in his Miami’s Top Neighborhood Page

Kevin Tomlinson adds the Search MLS tab to add functionality to his  Miami Beach page

One Sotheby’s showcases their website and links about Luxury Properties and Miami Happenings

Realtor Ann Allen shows off her website and highlights the property search.

Here are some tips on maintaining your page

  1. Don’t just post your listings.  If you are not a blogger, add some local events, links or things of interest
  2. Do spend the money to make a custom landing page.  For more information – check out Real Estate Fan Pages
  3. Spend some time to suggest the page to the friends you already have.  This is a good place to spend some ad budget dollars to build a local following.  Get your page up and running with some good content and then set a daily budget and watch your fan base grow.
  4. Please don’t post status updates about your wonderfulness.  If you want to talk about getting a new listing – talk about the listing.  Close a sale?  Post the sale info and make it about the property, the new owners or anything except how YOU sold it in 3 days.
  5. Take the time to replace the name of the page.  Go to www. facebook.com/username and click on Set a username for your pages.
  6. Have fun with it. In these times that so much of what is happening is hard – lighten it up a little.  Every real estate agent I have ever met has a big personality.  Let it come through on your page.

Some great reference links

Facebook bigger than Yahoo?

Facebook Turns Six

How to Set Up a Facebook Page

And this one should be in your Listing Presentation

Check Facebook

Please send me a request to be a fan!

Posted in Big Mouth Tech Tips — 5 Comments

The Manager is IN

February 4, 2010

This weekend my husband and I went to one of our favorite late breakfast places. We became regulars of this particular restaurant because a few years ago we happened to notice the manager of the place. Not because he always came over to the table but because we just know when he is there.

You are immediately ushered to a clean table. The servers are efficent and polite. The food is hot and served so fast that you would think you are in a fast food place. The order is always right. The place hums with the vibe that only comes from a well cared for establishment. We have watched the manager make sure his place runs like it should. He is everywhere quietly and unobtrusively making sure things are as they should be. You can tell he is there from the moment you walk in. Sadly, you can also tell when he is not.

Real Estate offices are no different. The best offices have the best managers. So many times the mistake is made to save money and scrimp on the manager. Make no mistake, in a real estate organization good management is the key to success.

When someone walks into your office do they know that the manager is there? They should.

Posted in Big Mouth For Brokers — 2 Comments

Realtors Property Resource (RPR) – A first look

February 1, 2010

If you have not heard about RPR – don’t worry.  For whatever reason this big NAR initiative has been slow to gather momentum. Regardless, it is sure to be the next big thing for real estate.

Let’s start with a definition from the official blog…

The RPR™ will provide unmatched access to a single-source national compilation of tax and assessment data; property data; neighborhood, school, demographic and psychographic information; and maps, trends and reports. It will be exclusive to members of NAR, and members of subscribing MLS/CIE’s who are participants of the RPR.

Here are a few videos and links to bring you up to date.

First – the Inman Connect Video

RPR Demo Video – 30 minutes and worth it!

RPR You Tube Channel

A first look from Agent Genius

Google search for more articles

Somehow the word on the street is that this is the beginning of a National MLS – it’s not. I’m impressed – are you?

Posted in Big Mouth Tech Tips — Leave a Comment

Foursquare- Does it Have a Place in Real Estate?

January 22, 2010

I was at Inman Connect last week and one of the most talked about presentations was the FourSquare presentation.  In case you haven’t stumbled upon FourSquare here is how they define themselves

“foursquare is a cross between a friend-finder, a social city-guide and a game

that rewards you for doing interesting things. We aim to build things to not only help you keep up with the places your friends go, but that encourage you to discover new places and challenge you to explore your neighborhood in new ways.”

I have noticed more and more foursquare activity on my facebook feed, and there has certainly been quite a bit of controversy.  Janie Coffee wrote a great post that inspired quite a bit of commentary.

It is clear that foursquare can provide some relevant feedback if you are a location owner and want to follow who is or has been checking in and who is frequently your organization.  Mashable.com contributed a compelling post about why foursquare is more than just the lastest fad.

But what about real estate?  Here are just a few thoughts on some uses for foursquare.

  1. Listing agents can add their listings to foursquare as a tracking and feedback mechanism.  Imagine that every showing was accompanied by the showing agent “checking in” and using the tip as feedback.  Listing agents and homeowners alike can check and see who is showing the property and how often they are coming back.
  2. Take that same thought and imagine the prospecting tool you have if you are interested in pursuing expired listings.
  3. Use foursquare to track attendance at office tours, caravans or meetings.
  4. A fun contest idea to get a specialty tour of featured homes.
  5. Build neighborhood or condo check in and compete for “mayorship”.  I can see where being Mayor of a particular neighborhood could be of real value on a listing presentation.

I am sure there are many more ways that foursquare can work for real estate.  There is a developer API out there and that section alone can open up all kinds of real estate uses.

There are iPhone and BlackBerry applications ready for you to download.  Go ahead and sign up, enter your listings, put it in your comments.  Let’s see what happens.  Looks like foursquare might just be another social media application that has found a home in real estate.

Posted in Big Mouth Tech Tips — 5 Comments

Monday Muse – Do you Need Change?

January 11, 2010

This is something that has happened to everyone at least once, it happened to me twice this weekend alone.  I was eating out and left cash with the bill and the server stops (interrupting a conversation) to ask “Do you need change?” Well, this is just one of those questions that I think has no purpose.

Let’s say that the answer is yes, you do want change… like the customer left  a $100 bill for a $13 tab.  The customer can only be annoyed thinking  that the server is asking for a huge tip.  Why would anyone want to annoy the tipper just before the tip is left?

There is no  inconvenience to the customer if the server returns the change, thereby leaving the customer to decide in their own timeframe when and how the change will be divided.

Other than habit, the only reason anyone would ask this question is to save themselves a few steps… in other words… they might as well have a sign on that says just plain lazy.

It’s the little things at the very end of a deal that can sour the entire experience.  Your company’s reputation is no different than that  local restaurant.  Make sure you attract the agents (or are the agents) that know better than to ask for the change.  You never know, maybe that big tip is waiting.  Stop asking for it and earn it instead.

Happy Monday!

Posted in Monday Muse — Leave a Comment

The BPO Debate – Should BPO’s be Commissionable?

January 7, 2010

As foreclosures and short sales become a larger and more significant portion of a real estate agent’s inventory, the BPO or Broker’s Price Opinion has become a common task for many real estate agents.

A BPO is a valuation of a property in which and agent can receive compensation for providing a professionally prepared opinion of value.  A typical foreclosed property will have had 8-10 BPO’s prepared by various real estate agents over the course of the proceedings.  Lenders will pay anywhere from $50 to $200 each BPO  to the real estate agent (or company) for completing the BPO.

It has been my experience that even in states where the broker or company must be paid (like in Florida) that the broker or company will pass through the entire payment directly to the agent… in other words, the BPO is non-commisionable.  Since the amount for each BPO is relatively small and many agents today are living on the income that the BPO’s generate, the practice of passing through the commission seems to be a generous position.

Yesterday, I heard that a particular company was switching their practice on BPO’s and other fee for service items so that the company will charge their portion.  In other words, in a $100 BPO payment that is non-commissionable the agent would receive $100.  In the commission scenario, if the agent is on a 70% spit, the agent would now receive $70.  That is a 30% pay cut.

For the company, expenses are up and revenue is not – this seems like a logical item to consider.  For the agent – less is less and I can see where it can be a substantial reduction in income for someone that is basically surviving on the BPO income.

And so here is yet another example of the real struggle in real estate companies today… how can the company remain profitable without losing quality agents? The answer is critical to operational survival.  Please comment…

Posted in Big Mouth For Agents, Big Mouth For Brokers — Leave a Comment

Developing Your Strategic Advantage

January 5, 2010

It seems appropriate to launch this site by talking about a simple philosophy that has served me well and  in my humble opinion should be the foundation for every business… Find what you are good at and do it.

Everyone is good at something.  It should be the goal of every organization to make room to have each person do what they do best. It should be the goal of every real estate agent that sits on a listing appointment to be prepared to discuss what it is that distinguishes themselves and their company from the competition.  Every Broker that runs a real estate company should be discovering and then enlightening their agents on  the company’s strategic advantage.

So, instead of making New Year’s resolutions that you will not keep, answer this simple question instead… What do you do that is better than your competition? Once answered, many of your goals will be easily achieved.

Hopefully, reading the posts here at BMC will help you answer that question.

Happy New Year!  May 2010 be the year you find yourself.

Posted in Big Mouth For Agents, Big Mouth For Brokers — Leave a Comment

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