Ribeezie: Social Media Business Strategy for Real Estate & Small Business

Listen. Learn. Provide Value. Engage.

I just got back from REBlogworld and Blogworld & New Media Expo 2009 (two events that I'm definitely very passionate about). And I think Amanda Coolong (Chief Correspondent at Techzulu) said it well: 

 "1 word to sum up @Blogworld: EPIC. Major kudos to Rick & co. Amazing speakers, well attended, niche experts. Great @techzulu coverage #bwe09" - via @acoolong

300+ speakers, thousands of attendees (estimated 2,200), lots of learning & collaboration! There's nothing more inspiring than learning direct from the experts and then taking the time to mingle with them face to face. As Darren Rowse said: "Face to face meetings count for a lot!" I agree...

The hardest thing to do after getting back from a conference is gathering your thoughts into one coherent stream and plan of action. So, with this post, I thought I'd offer you my thoughts based on the sessions I attended and the overarching theme of things learned at #REBW09 and #BWE09. 

Listen: 

In just about every session at Blogworld, "Listening" was a big part of implementing social media successfully. Personally, I agree! You can't begin to provide value to an audience if you don't listen for the problems/questions you audience members are having. 

Here, go read Chris Brogan's post on the subject: Grow Bigger Ears in 10 Minutes

Learn:

There's not one "right" way to use social media. We all have different objectives. Different ways of doing things and communicating. Learn what others are doing in their space. And then just do and adjust accordingly. 

Again, read Chris Brogan's post: You're Doing It Wrong

Provide Value:

Again, you can't offer value without listening first to your audience. So listen. Then, offer value by sharing things via your social media that educates and entertains (my buddy @TPEntrepreneur calls it: Edutainment). 

The only challenging thing about social media and tools like Twitter is that it gives people unprecedented access to you which implies certain time constraints. You need to work on managing expectations with folks and customer service needs to be a top priority. If @Zappos did it, you can to (and they sold for close to a billion). 

Lastly, realize that face-to-face (as Darren said), truly accounts for a lot! It truly does. So as much as you engage with people online, do the best that you can to take some of those connections offline. I'm thinking meetups, tweetups, Facebook events and more! 

Engage:

Social media isn't a place for robot behavior. (Disclaimer: I on occasion am guilty of scheduling tweets. You click on the links and read 'em and you even retweet them. So I continue to share them. And yes, I do respond to @ replies). If you're thinking you can get away with using social media to "push-market" your service/product, you have another thing coming. Chris Brogan has a great analogy about that too.

So instead of focusing on the "hard sell" first, focus instead on engagement: meeting new people, responding to emails, tweets, Facebook status updates, sharing photos and more... Engagement is the key to it all!

So there you have it, a simple but effective strategy to leading a successful social media campaign: Listen > Learn > Provide Value > Engage.

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Follow me on twitter for more cool tech & social media tips and connect with me on Facebook. 

Where I'll Be This Month

Wow October came by fast! This month's a big month for a couple of different reasons: it's my birthday (I'm not saying when), and I'm participating in a few big events (it's what I love to do. In fact I think I attended my first big conference when I was 17; it was the ALPFA National Conference).

In any case, this is some of what's coming up... If you're going to be at either of these events, drop a comment with your contact information (Twitter ID, Facebook link, etc). I'd love to meet up!

REBlogworld - October 15th, 2009

I don't have a big speaking role at REBlogworld this year but I'm excited because my company (the Real Estate Tomato) played a big role in re-branding and re-designing the new site. Additionally, myself and a few other folks from the Real Estate Tomato (Jason Benesch) will be representing this year in Las Vegas!

Personally, I think that REBlogworld and Blogworld New Media Expo is a "Must Attend" event and I'm not just saying that because I have a vested interest. I'm saying that because the conference as a whole represents an excellent opportunity to learn from folks that I consider to be thought-leaders in the social media space and it represents and opportunity to network and collaborate with colleagues. The connections you'll make at an event like this are simply put, priceless. 

For a look at the schedule behind REBlogworld this year, visit the site: http://reblogworld.com/reblogworld-2009-program-schedule

CVAR Social Media & Technology Symposium - October 22, 2009

This is a big event for the Citrus Valley Association of REALTORS® and the Young Professional's Network because it's their very first Social Media and Technology Symposium. I'll be leading the Social Media track in room number 1 for the day and a technology track featuring the good folks at Docusign and Winforms taking place in room number 2 (there will also be an IMRMLS and a mobile technology session). 

So far, the association and YPN have done a fine job of driving registration amongst their association members with the existing count at 92+. For more information on this event please contact [email protected] or visit the event website. 

IVAR Social Media Workshop - October 29, 2009

The Inland Valleys Association of REALTORS® participated in their first ever Triple Play Partnership social media event with me last month. The event was a great success with members from three real estate associations in attendance: Inland Valleys Association of REALTORS®, Tri-Counties Association of REALTORS® and the Pacific West Association of REALTORS®. 

This time around, IVAR will be bringing a this one day social media event to it's members from Riverside and San Bernardino counties. For registration info please email [email protected] or call (951) 346-4517. 

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If you're going to be at either of these events, please let me know, I'd love to connect! And for information on upcoming events visit: http://www.ricardobueno.com/speaking or contact me at [email protected]

A Few Reasons You Should Attend the Full 2009 REBlogworld & Blogworld New Media Expo

A few folks have been asking about the upcoming REBlogworld & Blogworld New Media Expo in October. 

• Should I buy just the one-day REBlogworld Conference pass? 
• Does it make sense to stay for the full event even though it's not directed at real estate?
• Can I upgrade my one-day conference pass for a full conference pass?  

Those are just some of the questions coming in so I thought I'd jump in and give you a response... 

7 Reasons to Attend the Full 3-Day Event:

The line-up for this year's REBlogworld & Blogworld New Media Expo is in a word: Awesome! 

You basically have a list of folks whom I consider to be thought-leaders in this space (both inside and outside of real estate; I'm referring to the full conference of course) and who can speak intelligently about the tried and true methods in implementing & executing a successful social media business strategy.

If you're still on the fence about attending the full conference, here are a few reasons it's all worth it:    

• Jason Berman (the dude behind the REBlogworld Conference) is going to moderate an intense discussion with a few of todays top site design competitors: The Real Estate Tomato, Dakno and Virtual Results. Learn some wicked awesome design tricks, plugins and more to take your blog to the next level!     

• Founders Dave Cynkin and Rick Calvert have busted their butts to bring you over 280+ speakers and thought leaders to learn from. You have (3) three days full of individual sessions to choose from for the social media newbie to the advanced user.   

• High profile speakers and thought leaders like Guy Kawasaki, Chris Brogan, Laura Fitton, Jeremiah Owyang, Scott Monty, Wendy Piersall, and Brian Solis will be leading keynote speakers. I'm sure they'll be hanging around the conference to shake a few hands, pose for a few pictures have a few drinks and live it up with the rest of us!

• Pre-Parties and After-Parties at The Bank Nightclub at Bellagio, the Hilton Hotel Poolside and more... No tweeting after 10:00pm and all cameras are to be checked in at the door!  

• The awesome Social Media Manager for Cirque du Soleil @Jessberlin (Jessica Berlin) is giving away some free passes to a few different Cirque du Soleil shows. If you've never been to a Cirque du Soleil show, you're seriously missing out!    

• Jason Falls will give you da BEST bar experience in Las Vegas! (Heh, nothin' but love for ya Jason!). Seriously though, it's one of the biggest networking events of the year! The connections and friendships that you'll develop are invaluable!

• Lastly, it's Vegas baby! Seriously, the conference location doesn't get any better than that. At last year's conference we cruised around town in style. 

Seriously, if you have any questions about the conference (either the REBlogworld portion or the Blogworld portion), ask away! Just drop your question in the comments and we'll get back to you A.S.A.P. Otherwise, head on over there tonight and grab your discounted pass to the full conference!

See you in Vegas! 

P.S. If you're comin', do me a favor and leave a comment with your Twitter ID so I know where to find ya! I'm @Ribeezie

Things To Do Before A Conference

At 6:35 a.m. this morning I'm hopping on an airplane to San Francisco for REBarcamp San Francisco and Inman Real Estate Connect. Like most people I'm a procrastinator and I waited until the last minute to pack. I did however put some thought and consideration into how to make the most of this trip and I think it's something that most people overlook and/or don't give much attention to...

See, someone once told me: 

You need to be strategic about everything that you do (this includes attending conferences).

So with that in mind, here's a checklist of things you can do to make the most out of your next event.  

Things To Do Before A Conference

Research

• Double-check the conference agenda. Point out the sessions that you want to be sure to attend and calendar them in. Get to know the speakers by reading their bio and doing a little background research and if you really wanna impress 'em, come prepared with a question to ask.   

• Use Twitter Search to find people that are talking about the event. In this case of REBarcamp San Francisco and Inman Real Estate Connect, the hashtags are: #rebcsf & #icsf. I'm using this to connect with other twitteratti who'll be attending the event(s). It might be a great way to organize a meet-up right off the cuff (so-to-speak) while we're all in town.   

• Similar to bullet point number one, visit attendees blogs, Twitter streams and Facebook accounts. Use this to do a little background research on them to see what how they're doing and what they might be working on. Having a little background on folks is great for a conversation starter and it also gives you some great inside look if you're looking for opportunities to connect with someone on official business.   

• Make sure you're up to par on the industry gossip. But really, make sure you know what's affecting people in the industry for the conference you'll be attending. This falls right back into the whole "doing a little background research."   

• In addition to speakers, you'll want to do a little background research on the sponsors for an event. Read their bio's, click thru to their websites and read about what they do and what they have to offer. What representatives will be at the event? Do you know them? Can you connect with them ahead of time via Twitter? Are they a potential vendor for you or could they be a client? The goal here is to determine the business value in meeting with them and having something to say once that moment arrives.     

• Double-check your LinkedIn account and cross-reference names for folks who'll be attending the event and who might also be speaking or sponsoring the event as well. Read their bio's full on to get a sense of what they're doing now and what they've done in the past. You might go so far as to drop them (or anyone else in the area) an email ahead of time to let them know that you'll be in town for the conference and you'd like the opportunity to meet up for coffee or a drink. (Lunch doesn't work and here's why: there's lots of people to meet at a conference! Unless it's a business meeting, lunch just takes up too much time. If you're going to make it a lunch, make it a group lunch with an open invitation).   

Content Preparation

• Consider writing a few post-dated blog posts. You'll be busy whilst at the conference but might still want to capitalize on the opportunity to refer people to your blog and show them some good fresh content. In this case, I'll be out all week. I have one post set to publish later in the week and will live blog parts of the conference as well.     

• Save your BEST content for the day of the event. You'll be meeting people, shaking hands and exchanging business cards. People will be visiting your blog the day of the event and maybe even before. So save up for a great first impression and rock it with an awesome blog post!     

• Think about and blog about conversation starters. What kinds of conversations do you want to have with people at this event? Think about that for a second. Then, consider writing a blog post about it. As people visit your blog to do their "background research" on you, you'll give them something to think about so that when you both meet, you'll have something to say. This is also a great way to set the stage for any business opportunities.  

• If you plan on taking photos (and I know I take lots of 'em), double-check your gear and make sure you're set to go. Clear your camera so you have free space to take photos of everything and anything. Oh and did I mention double-checking your gear? I've forgotten my batter and usb transfer cable before and it's NOT cool.   

• Make sure your social networking accounts are all updated. My thought is this, your profiles should be consistent across all of your varying social networks. Update your LinkedIn status, your Facebook status and tweet often. 

• If you're going to live blog the event, make sure that you have everything ready: (laptop, camera, flip-cam, etc.). Are you going to use Ustream? Is the account ready and set to go? How about services like Utterli for on-location interviews? Have that ready to go? 

Other Preparation

• Order new business cards and have a whole bunch of 'em at the ready so if someone asks for your card, you have one to give. They don't have to be all fancied out. I've paid $150 dollars to have some designed and printed and I've also paid $24 to have a whole box of 'em delivered via Vista Print. Either one works. So long as you have a way for people to connect with you (including how to connect with you via the interwebs).  

• Email people to connect with them ahead of time. For example, I've checked my LinkedIn network to see who's in San Francisco. Not everyone in San Francisco is going to be at the actual conference but I'd like the opportunity to meet with them nonetheless. So perhaps a tweetup/meet-up is in order. I'll forward them my agenda and ask them to make some time.   

• Practice your elevator pitch. This is especially the case if you have a business or product to promote. Now, don't be that guy but do practice your delivery so that when you present what you do and how you do it, it's sharp!     

• Practice being confident. To some people, networking comes easy. For others it's difficult. Either way, WE CAN ALL GET BETTER. We just have to practice being confident. Finding our motivating factors, and practicing our delivery (that elevator pitch).   

• If you don't meet everyone at the conference it's not exactly the end of the world. But mind you, it is a unique opportunity to meet with folks that you otherwise won't meet again in a long time as a result of travel and such. So do put forth the effort to connect with folks. This means open invitations to lunches, coffee and drinks as opposed to private invites.    

So there you have it. Some tips/recommendations to making the most out of your next conference. A lot of these things I've done and am doing myself. For now, I'm off to catch that plane to San Francisco for REBarcamp and Inman Real Estate Connect. If you're going to be there, drop me a comment with your Twitter ID; I'd love to meet up!

Oh, and if I've missed something (another great tip), please do share it in the comments below. 

  

And the Golden Ticket Winners Are...

At the beginning of the month I announced a contest to give away a few free passes to the Inman Real Estate Connect Conference. Well, the entries came in and were voted on so here are your Golden Ticket Winners!

[In order of appearance: Ann Marie Clements, Mary Pope-Handy, Kristin Moran Esparza, Jeff Dowler, Calie Waterhouse, Sarah Bandy, Richard Bolen and Jason Blackburn.]

Congratulations guys and gals! See you in San Francisco! Now, if you don't know each other, get introduced and say hello. I look forward to seeing you all there. 

Big Thanks!

A BIG thanks goes out to Inman News and Jeff Bernheisel, Marketing Coordinator for Inman News for making it all happen! He'll be in touch with you all shortly... 

Now a question for you all...

I'll be speaking at Blogger's Connect alongside Craig Donato, CEO of Oodle, on a panel moderated by Jeff Turner titled - Facebook for Fun and Profit: How to Make the World's Biggest Social Network Your New Farm. 

Here's my question(s) to you... As a social media newbie, what questions do you have about utilizing networks like Facebook to market your real estate business? What do you find most challenging? Is it the technology that allows you to keep and stay connected? Do you have questions on engagement strategies? 

What ever your questions are, please leave them in the comments below as they would be helpful towards the panel! And if you plan on coming to San Francisco, please do say hello. 

Win A Free Pass to Real Estate Connect San Francisco 2009!

For over 12 years, Inman News has been delivering one of the largest real estate conferences in the country, the Real Estate Connect Conference in both San Francisco and New York. It's 3 jam-packed days of learning, collaboration, networking and fun! You'll be hit with everything internet marketing & technology to brand development and discussions on the MLS and other Broker break-out sessions. 

Leaders and visionaries in Real Estate, Tech., Lending, Title and the Financial Services sector will all be there. And let's not forget, this year we're hearing from folks like: Alfred Lin, Chairman, COO & CFO of Zappos.com and Jeremy Stoppelman, CEO of Yelp. 

Then, in July 15th's issue of Tomato Radio will be featuring Brad Inman himself! If you don't know Brad Inman, here's an AG Entrepreneurial Spotlight on him... 

Win A Free Pass to Real Estate Connect San Francisco 2009!

So here's the deal, courtesy of Inman News, I'm going to be hosting a bit of a contest here for a chance to win a free pass to Real Estate Connect San Francisco 2009. The contest rules are pretty simple, here's what you have to do:

• Join my Facebook Page Here and leave a comment telling me why you deserve to win a free pass to Inman Connect. (please keep it short; about 50 words or so. Haiku's extra credit).   

Each day, for the next 10 days, I'll be selecting a winner. Yup. That's 10 free passes to give away to Inman Connect. The most creative entries/answers will be selected by me and my posse so your use of multi-media (photo and video) is HIGHLY encouraged!

I'll be closing the contest on Sunday, July 12th so hurry up and get your entries in! 

[Disclaimer: Refunds will not be issued. If you've already purchased your ticket, you are not eligible for this contest. Furthermore, this pass does not include workshops like Blogger's Connect; you'll have to purchase tickets to those separately.]

To Retweet, just copy & paste the following: 

Head on over to Ribeezie.com for a chance to win a Free pass to Inman Connect SF: http://tinyurl.com/kvhs77 

See You There!

If you're going to Inman, it's going to be treat. A few of us from the Real Estate Tomato will be there; I'll be leading a Session at Blogger's Connect as will Jim Cronin. So let me know if you're comin', I'd love to say Hello #IRL (in real life). 

Upcoming Events

Tomorrow kicks off what is going to be a long stretch of upcoming events. Lots of people to meet. Discussions to be had. Photos to be taken. And much, much more...

What I love about events is that it's always an opportunity to meet people face-to-face. We talk with one another and engage with one another online day-in and day-out that when you meet, you don't know whether to shake the person's hand or give them a hug. 

It's always a diverse group of people each with varying insight and everyone is always so open to collaboration and sharing their knowledge with one another. 

If you're going to be at either of the events mentioned below, I'd love to meet you! I might not be wearing the infamous hat, but I should be pretty easy to spot out nonetheless. So give me a shout and say "hey!"

• REBarCamp Orange County: Thursday, June 24th from 9:30 - 5:00pm PST  

• Glendale Women's Council of REALTOR's: Thursday, July 16th 11:30 - 2:00pm PST | Location TBD     

• Southern California Home Stagers Meetup: Friday, July 17th from 10:00am - 1:00pm | Location TBD  

• LA Mastermind: Tuesday, July 21st from 9:00 - 11:00am PST | Location TBD

• REBarCamp San Francisco: Tuesday, August 4th from 9:00 - 5:00pm PST    

• Inman Real Estate Connect Conference: Wednesday, August 5th from 8:30 - 5:00pm PST    

• Tri-Counties Real Estate Conference: Thursday, August 13th from 9:00 - 1:00pm PST | Location: Diamond Bar Center  

• Real Estate Tech Camp: Thursday, August 20th | Details to come...  

I don't have details on some of the events listed above as far as location... If you'd like more information or are interested in attending, drop a comment below or shoot me an email and I'll forward you some more information. Cool? 

See you soon...

Aroma Coffee Meetup & An Invite...

We had the first of what should turn out to be several meetups at Aroma Coffee & Tea last week and let me just tell you, it was awesome! Aroma Coffee is a great cafe run by an amazing staff... 

The atmosphere was great, the food and drinks wonderful, and the company was spectacular! I think we spend a tremendous amount of time talking to each other from behind our computer screens so it was great to finally rally the group together for a IRL (in real life) meetup. 

Photos from the Group:

 

What's Next?

I'm not entirely sure; I'll leave this one up to you. I would love to get together at Aroma Coffee & Tea again for lunch with the group. It's always great to see everyone! But I know that I'd also like to put together something with a little more structure. And that's where LA Mastermind comes in: 

http://www.lamastermind.com

The idea is simple. Each month, Real Estate Professionals can come and share experiences, ask & answer questions, share marketing & business advice and network with one another. We'll feature guest speakers/presenters from an array of backgrounds as we strive to solve some of work's everyday problems (from marketing to sales to technology). 

Whadya think? Are you in? Simply head on over to the site, LA Mastermind, and rsvp via the sign-up form. And if you're game for meeting us for lunch next time, just drop a comment and I'll let you know when we're meeting up at Aroma Coffee & Tea again...  

Heading to WordCamp San Francisco

On Friday, Dustin Luther, Jonathan Dingman and I will be taking a little roadtrip from Los Angeles to San Francisco for WordCamp SF '09. We're driving in courtesy of Ford and the Mariner Hybrid that they were kind enough to offer Dustin for the week. 

I'll be blogging, vlogging and tweeting the drive up (it should be a lot fun!). And then with 704 registered attendees, you know WordCamp itself is going to rock! 

The big day is Saturday followed by Wordpress' 6th Anniversary Party at the Automattic Lounge. Then we have Developer Day (Barcamp style) on Sunday... (I'm really looking forward to developer day since wordpress is what we build our clients' websites on at the Real Estate Tomato; I'm in charge of training, not site design so I'm looking forward to learning a thing or two here.) 

I'll be at both events and then well, let's see where the city takes us!

If you plan on being there, let me know...I'd love to meet ya! Just drop me a comment below or you can always drop me a DM or a Tweet...

See ya there!

A Little Blogging Trivia for You: 

Do you know how the birth of a blog came to be? 

A man named Dave Winer (a software developer and entrepreneur) is credited with the birth of the modern day blog and RSS (really simple syndication). Apparently he was working on a project and organizing published entries in a particular way that he then circled around to expand on later. He then added a syndication feature which of course is known today as RSS. And viola...we have the modern day blog!

Pretty cool eh?

Interested In A Monthly Meetup?

Some of the feedback I've been receiving from REBarCamp Los Angeles is that it might be beneficial to you to host a monthly meetup. Now, I'm not against doing something informal and in fact it's something I've done before. So here's the deal, consider this an open invitation to get together once a month, in an open, casual and fun learning environment for an hour or two at a time. 

Here's what we'll do: 

• We'll meetup at a coffee house once a month (any place that has wifi will work just fine)   

• We'll all bring our own laptop  

• We'll talk about blogging (how to set up a blog, how to market a blog, etc.) and social networking and whatever other cool stuff strikes our fancy 

And like I said, this isn't anything formal by any means, it's more of a discussion group or "mastermind group" if you will. Just a bunch of us getting together once a month, Barcamp style. So if this sounds like your kinda thing and you're game...all you gotta do is fill out the form below: 

Name

Phone

Email

You'll only receive updates from me a week or two before our next meetup (nothing else).