Positive Real Estate Professionals adds Google Buzz to it’s list of tools. What does this mean for our members and readers? Well, for the members, it is just one more social outlet that their articles can be shared on. As well, it will create another link on the world wide web, so ultimately, it will provide more Google Juice. For our readers, it will provide an easy and quick way to add things to their Google reader or share them with their friends in their Gmail account. This might be one of the easiest share tools that I have seen in some time. Below is a short video that will help to explain Google Buzz.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yi50KlsCBio[/youtube]

It is the desire of PREP and their admins to stay on top of the social media world. The only way for us to do that is to keep up with the social media marketing tools that these social media networks are putting out there. Ultimately, our job is to provide not only our members, but our readers as well with avenues to share articles on our site with their family, friends, and followers. In other words, their sphere of influence (SOI). We will continue to march forward to bring the best of social media marketing to our members and readers alike.

Positive Real Estate Professionals (PREP) can help you achieve the recognition you and your business deserve through our highly versatile and search engine optimized member websites, lead capture, and visitor friendly layout. If you are a professional who works in the real estate industry or one of the related fields that service the needs of the real estate industry then this real estate network can be just what you need to take your business to the next level. If you have questions or would like to join CLICK HERE.

A few days ago I had a member  of our real estate network, Positive Real Estate Professionals, ask me “What can Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn do for my blog”? I decided the best way to answer this is by writing an article so that anyone else that has this same question lurking can get the answers. Without further adieu, let’s dive into this article.

I guess the first thing that one has to understand is Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn and what they are designed to do. For those of you that are unfamiliar with the term “microblogging”, this is the best way to identify each of these networks. Microblogging is very different from blogging in that the posts are much shorter. In most cases, your posts are limited in the characters that you can use. For Twitter and LinkedIn, it is 140 characters. This includes spaces and punctuation. For , it is 420 and the same rule applies for spaces and punctuations. The biggest difference between microblogging and blogging is the fact that most microbloggers use “status” messages like ” I am brushing my teeth” or “I am heading to a closing”. While these are fine, they do nothing for your blog.

Having a blogsite that is integrated with Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or even FriendFeed, it is easy to have a notification go out to the systems automatically that states that a new post has been created on your blogsite. In doing this, you can actually alert readers to this fact quickly and automatically. Ultimately, this will drive more readers to your site. A integration simply sends a message to the twitter account supplied and allows for it to state that “What can Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn do for my blog” has just been published on PREP, for example. With Facebook, the best integration to use is an application called NetworkedBlogs. It allows for a short excerpt to automatically post to your profile and/or fan page. With , there is an integration to have your blog feed set up.

In closing, the answer to the question is that these networks can drive more readers to your blogsite. Ultimately, this is what we are all after.

Positive Real Estate Professionals (PREP) can help you achieve the recognition you and your business deserve through our highly versatile and search engine optimized member websites, lead capture, and visitor friendly layout. If you are a professional who works in the real estate industry or one of the related fields that service the needs of the real estate industry then this real estate network can be just what you need to take your business to the next level. If you have questions or would like to join CLICK HERE.

This is part three in the Marketing Your Business Online series of posts. In this installment we will look at the sometimes controversial world of social media marketing (SMM). Social Media is the medium through which social media marketing is conducted. Do these terms seem foreign to you? I would venture to guess that most people who are reading this post are actually participating in some social media already.

Some of the most commonly used and generally most social of the social medias are , , and .These are used for both personal and business. Some people maintain separate accounts on these social media networks to keep the two separated. Be warned, if you do take on the task of maintaining separate accounts on these social media networks you are in for a lot more work. Facebook offers a great way to resolve the dilemma of separating your business life from your personal life through their FREE business pages.

Using Twitter and Facebook Business Pages as Marketing Tools

is more specifically a professional network. It is a great place to network with other professionals in your industry and other industries. On this type of network there is generally less game playing, idle chatter, and other social diversions that seem to populate MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter.

Are you treating LinkedIn like a red headed stepchild?

Another type of social media is characterized by less extensive profiles than those mentioned above. , , and among many others are social media networks that are are centered around the sharing of web pages with their friends who have common interests. These webpages also get indexed in a system whereby the general community has the opportunity to view them. A distinct feature of these social media networks is that members can help to promote or bury particular web pages. This allows for things like Digg’s front page where the most popular articles appear. Stumble Upon and Reddit both have something similar to Digg’s front page. These ‘front page’ type setups are important because they can bring thousands of visitors to a particular article. One thing to keep in mind is that you don’t actually have to make it to the ‘front page’ to attract thousands of visitors to a post using these social media tools. Another important aspect of these types of social medias is the ability to integrate a system specific toolbar with your browser. This type of toolbar allows for quick and easy participation in these social medias.

Social Media – Do You Digg?

And finally there are the social media bookmarking sites like , , , , , and . These social medias generally allow for varying levels of personal profiles. They are useful is because they allow you to bookmark sites you like in either a public or private forum. These bookmarks can then be shared with your friends in an effort to drive traffic.

Social Bookmarking – Today’s Rolodex

All four of these are types of social media. They are all characterized by some level of social interaction, personal profile, circles of friends, and the ability to be able to share what you feel is important on the internet. With that said most users of these networks use them to discover interesting posts on the internet while building friends. It must always be remembered that these are social networks first and foremost.

These social networks are the wellspring of social media marketing. Social media marketing is exactly what you would guess; the use of various social media to market something. This is also where the controversy comes into play. Many users of social media, especially the ‘purists’ feel that social media is being destroyed or loosing its true social value because of this type of marketing. Some people view any type of social media marketing as spam and those who engage in it as spammers. Let me say that the term spam is liberally applied (and mis-applied) to a wide range of individuals. In fact labeling someone as a spammer, or some site as a spam site can be like the kiss of death. Most of the social networks have systems in place to try to identify obvious spammers and remove/ban them from the network.

So what is the difference between social media marketing and spamming? The answer to this is quite subjective and depends on your particular perspective. From my point of view a spammer is someone who bombards you with unwanted advertisements for products. In the past I have received catalog pages and offers for Acai berry products and almost every other product imaginable. Generally these shared web pages or obvious advertising blog posts are quite blatant in their attempt to get you to buy whatever they happen to be selling. They usually offer little in the way of new or innovative information on whatever they are pushing. These are all red flags to me that indicate spam.

On the other hand social media marketing done in a professional manner often presents information in a non-sales pitch way. If you are pitching something you will eventually be classified as a spammer and may be banned from a particular social network. Non-spammy marketing posts often provide a wealth of information. The purpose of these informative posts is generally to raise the interest of readers and get visitors to a particular website. Once at a particular website then the building of a relationship can occur, if it hasn’t already. Remember people are much more likely to become a client or referral source if they feel they know you. In reality we all have our own definition of what constitutes spam; and spam is not social media marketing.

Below are some excellent articles from PREP’s archives that discuss various aspects of social media and social media marketing.

Do you need to use Social Media outlets?

Putting the Cart Before the Horse

Embracing Technology

Is Your Web Presence Staged Forward?

Positive Real Estate Professionals (PREP) can help you achieve the recognition you and your business deserve through our highly versatile and search engine optimized member websites, lead capture, and visitor friendly layout. If you are a professional who works in the real estate industry or one of the related fields that service the needs of the real estate industry then this real estate network can be just what you need to take your business to the next level. If you have questions or would like to join CLICK HERE.

The people that know me or that have followed me over the last year and 8 months know the answer to this question when it pertains to me. I am a firm believer in being socially active, whether it is in person or electronically. The bottom line to being socially active is that in the long run, it makes you more visible to the community, but personally and professionally. Over the time span mentioned above, I have written several articles about this very topic . They range from discovering The mystery of gaining and sustaining blog traffic to asking if you Are you a social butterfly?. Ultimately, they are both things that you have to consider if you are going to be in the electronic phase of being socially active. The biggest though is when I thought to ask the question Internet Presence; What is yours?. It is this question that has spawned this post.

Social networking has become the backbone to networking as a professional and personally. Sites like digg, reddit, stumble upon, mixx, and many more like it have blossomed into places where people can gather and share sites and articles with each other that they find interesting. Websites like twitter, facebook , and myspace are places where you can go be the social butterfly that I mentioned before. These are just a few that I use to stay socially active. However, it does not stop here.

One of the biggest places that people fail when it comes to being socially active is commenting. Too many times I have seen people go about their blogging lives never commenting on other peoples sites much less responding to the comments on their own. This is what we call a social snafu. It is one of the biggest cardinal sins in the social networking world. When you do not take the time to respond to people that comment on your own post, you are basically telling them that their comment means nothing to you. This is worst than not commenting on other peoples articles. However, I consider both of these to be equally dangerous for a professional.

The reason that it is equally dangerous is that we are in the business to engage our consumers. If we are not out engaging these potential consumers daily, someone else is. The only way to do this is by commenting regularly. The question is simply put “Are in social active”?

So many times I see people talking about the Social Media and how well it does for them. I read where they consider themselves a social butterfly in the scope of social media. Then, after reading deeper, I see that they really have only scraped the surface of social media and all it can do for you.

The first thing that you must understand about social media is what it means. Social media is primarily Internet and mobile based tools that allow people to share and discuss information across the world. It allows for someone to share articles or information that they find interesting with their group of friends. Where it becomes beneficial is when those friends share it with their friends and then it is repeated time after time again. This is the main benefit of social media.

Can one get referrals from social media? As with any platform, if it is worked correctly, you can get almost anything that you want. Where most people go wrong in social media is they talk at people and not to people. They attempt to control instead of allowing the consumers to personally get involved. Once you give the consumer a reason to get involved, then you are half way home. In fact, you have to resist the urge to sell. If you can do that, then you should be open to experimenting. Keeping the same old dull routine will make you boring.

I think one of the biggest things that people get wrong is social media marketing. Some consider this to be when you advertise on a social media network. That is so wrong that it is not even in the ballpark. People also think that it is about spamming their own stuff all over the Internet and get people to do the same because of friendship without confirming that the material is accurate. Social Media Marketing (SMM) is when there is collaboration between a group of people. It is the ability to participate with other people in sharing information that is useful and interesting. Ultimately, it is interacting and engaging with the consumer and adding value to them.

When you ultimately dissect social media marketing, you will find the idea that listening to the potential customers; people will understand what the consumer wants and values the most. This is the core that makes up social media marketing. For you to be able to gain a holistic view of your consumers, you must utilize social media marketing. This will help in understanding what your customer wants, their preferences, behaviors, and web ability. The last thing that you want to do is assume that your consumer has the computer skills that you do.

The last thing that I will tell you is that you need to have a social media marketing strategy. It is as important as anything else is. As I always say, either you are making a plan or planning to fail. It is your choice. I get asked a lot of times if you can just belong to one network. I answer it just like this. When you advertise, do you pour all your resources into one outlet or do you spread it around? So many times I see people that get caught up in one fad. That in itself can be detrimental to all that you are trying to accomplish. You do not have to spread yourself too thin, but at the same time, you should be able to manage several types of networking social medias.

In closing, social media and social media marketing can be your friend. I perosnally use it very extensively for all of my businesses as well as networking with friends, families, coworkers, and potential clients. I can be found on many of these sites and have listed a few of them below if you would like to follow me. Do not be afraid to jump in with both feet. The water is fine and as their are some sharks in these waters, you should be fine if you have a plan in tow with you.

Though the following post is not technically a real estate industry related post as the information it contains can be translated to many industries I felt that it was important enough to warrant inclusion on this site. Most people in the real estate industry are self-employed. What this means is that most of us are responsible for the outlay of our own advertising dollars. This fact means that the effective use of our resources, including resources that are technically free must be of paramount importance. The following article deals with the use of social media as an effective marketing tool.

Via Danny Thornton:

So many times I see people talking about the Social Media and how well it does for them. I read where they consider themselves a social butterfly in the scope of social media. Then, after reading deeper, I see that they really have only scraped the surface of social media and all it can do for you.

The first thing that you must understand about social media is what it means. Social media is primarily Internet and mobile based tools that allow people to share and discuss information across the world. It allows for someone to share articles or information that they find interesting with their group of friends. Where it becomes beneficial is when those friends share it with their friends and then it is repeated time after time again. This is the main benefit of social media.

Can one get referrals from social media? As with any platform, if it is worked correctly, you can get almost anything that you want. Where most people go wrong in social media is they talk at people and not to people. They attempt to control instead of allowing the consumers to personally get involved. Once you give the consumer a reason to get involved, then you are half way home. In fact, you have to resist the urge to sell. If you can do that, then you should be open to experimenting. Keeping the same old dull routine will make you boring.

I think one of the biggest things that people get wrong is social media marketing. Some consider this to be when you advertise on a social media network. That is so wrong that it is not even in the ballpark. People also think that it is about spamming their own stuff all over the Internet and get people to do the same because of friendship without confirming that the material is accurate. Social Media Marketing (SMM) is when there is collaboration between a group of people. It is the ability to participate with other people in sharing information that is useful and interesting. Ultimately, it is interacting and engaging with the consumer and adding value to them.

When you ultimately dissect social media marketing, you will find the idea that listening to the potential customers; people will understand what the consumer wants and values the most. This is the core that makes up social media marketing. For you to be able to gain a holistic view of your consumers, you must utilize social media marketing. This will help in understanding what your customer wants, their preferences, behaviors, and web ability. The last thing that you want to do is assume that your consumer has the computer skills that you do.

The last thing that I will tell you is that you need to have a social media marketing strategy. It is as important as anything else is. As I always say, either you are making a plan or planning to fail. It is your choice. I get asked a lot of times if you can just belong to one network. I answer it just like this. When you advertise, do you pour all your resources into one outlet or do you spread it around? So many times I see people that get caught up in one fad. That in itself can be detrimental to all that you are trying to accomplish. You do not have to spread yourself too thin, but at the same time, you should be able to manage several types of networking social medias.

In closing, social media and social media marketing can be your friend. I perosnally use it very extensively for all of my businesses as well as networking with friends, families, coworkers, and potential clients. I can be found on many of these sites and have listed a few of them below if you would like to follow me. Do not be afraid to jump in with both feet. The water is fine and as their are some sharks in these waters, you should be fine if you have a plan in tow with you.

Follow me on: , , , , , , ,