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

A Few Reasons to Like Posterous

It all started with a couple of tweets about Posterous. Jim Marks said: 

To which I retweeted and responded: 

And Loren Nason responded with: 

You following along so far? Good! Basically, Loren Nason was asking what's so great about posterous? So I thought I'd put together a short screencast and then invite your opinion below... 

I like posterous because it makes it ridiculously easy to create and share multi-media content! It's a one stop syndication source in that you create content, email it to posterous, and it then cross-posts that content to multiple sources if you're so inclined to do so. Now you don't have to cross-post it, you can send it to single sources as well (it's all up to you). 

I like it because you never know what's going to serve as a conversation starter within the members of your social media network. So I use posterous to create and share multi-media content with network. Often times, as in the example above, that creates a discussion. And in the end, isn't that what social media is all about? Creating discussion amongst members of a group... 

What Do You Think? 

How or why do you like Posterous? How are you using it to create and share new content? 

Drop a link to your posterous account in the comments below so that we can connect with you and tell us how you're using posterous to share content with your audience. 

Mine is: http://www.ribeezie.posterous.com

I'm using it to ask questions about how you're using social media in your daily business and I'm using it to share moments and thoughts in my life as I travel to and from conferences. 

Link Your Facebook Page to Twitter: the twitter exporter tool

This evening Facebook launched a pretty unique feature for Facebook Page owners. It's called: The Twitter Exporter Tool. 

The idea is pretty simple. As you post updates to your Facebook Page, the tool allows you to then syndicate that content to Twitter without ever leaving Facebook. 

What's the Point? 

I like the idea for it's simplicity. I like tools that make it easier to do things. But, from a content-sharing perspective, I've always used different platforms to communicate differently (does that makes sense?). 

I'll give the app a test-drive and see what I think. If anything, it might be a great way to drive traffic back to you Facebook Page which seems to me has always been a challenge for most people. 

What do you think? 

Animoto Property Slideshows

Mike Long is a client here at the Real Estate Tomato; he authors MikeLongRealty.com. Anyway, during our training session today we were talking about property slideshows. Animoto came into the conversation and BAM! Look what Mike put together...

Matt Dollinger at TheYouFactor.com put these together:

Whadya think?

At the Inman Real Estate Connect Conference in San Francisco, somebody made the comment that Animoto doesn't do a very good job of putting together clean, easy to watch property slideshows. 

I disagree. 

I happen to be of the opinion that this property slideshow is pretty awesome (of course this was just a test-run) and just think of the "Wow Factor" when prospective clients see this as part of your marketing strategy. The thing to remember is that the slideshow plays with the tempo of the music so a lighter tune will definitely render the photos much better at final cut. 

But anyway, what do you think? How does this slideshow look? 

5 Ways to Connect Offline (or #IRL)

@JustinLevy is the General Manager of New Marketing Labs (a new media marketing agency). He blogs at JustinRLevy.com. Anyway, earlier today he tweeted the following: 

...to which I responded: 

I'm a big fan of scheduling meetups! Why? Because I think that there's nothing more empowering than when you turn online connections into offline connections. You forge powerful friendships, build trusted relationships, and the rest just kinda takes care of itself (good business works this way). 

With that said, here are... 

5 Ways to Schedule #IRL (in real life) Meetups: 

• Facebook Events: this is my personal favorite way to schedule a meetup and connect in real life! Back in July, Mashable wrote a post titled: Facebook Simplifies Event Planning. It's so true and so incredibly easy to: 1.) schedule an event, 2.) invite your network to participate. I host a casual monthly luncheon using Facebook Events to invite folks. We usually get 20 or so fresh faces in attendance. It's nothing large, but we're well connected and happy to refer business amongst members of the group.      

• Twtvite: this is my second favorite online event managing tool. Do you know why? Because of it's simplicity! You simply schedule your tentative event and tweet out the announcement. Twitterville takes care of the rest. People vote on whether they'll be attending by hitting one of three options: 1.) Attending, 2.) Maybe, or 3.) Not attending. That's it. Nothing more is needed. You have your RSVP list and social media takes care of most of the work. I think my gal @LaniAR from Austin is a big fan of this tool...   

• EventBrite: If you're looking to schedule a more formal event for your business, organization, etc., then EventBrite is your ticket! Why? Because the EventBrite team makes it super easy to Publish, Promote and Sell tickets to your event (Note: not everyone sells their tickets but they use EventBrite to cap registration for events). The next time you want to publish an event, try these guys out, you'll be happy you did!  

• Meetup.com: looking for a local Meetup Group with whom you might share a common interest? Head on over to meetup.com, you're bound to find something there! The image to the right is a screenshot from the Meetup.com homepage. There are currently 196 meetups taking place "Right Now!" 539 meetups coming up and 289 meetups taking place within the next hour! So basically, if you're looking to connect with people locally with whom you might share a common interest, meetup.com is the place to be. With respect to scheduling events, that's easy too but I believe you have to pay a monthly fee (personally, I use Meetup.com to look for and attend events rather than host my own).   

• LinkedIn Events: Back in November of 2008, LinkedIn had a big announcement, they launched LinkedIn Events! Now if you know me, you know that LinkedIn is one of my favorite social networks. I turn to LinkedIn Events when I'm looking for places where my professional network might be connected so that we can meetup and connect as well. I use LinkedIn events to see what my professional world is up to and where we might find a common place to connect. Why? Opportunity. 

So there you have it, a couple of ways to connect with folks #IRL (in real life). A way to turn online connections into offline connections. Are you using any of these online tools to connect with people offline? How are you using them? Are you using any other tools that I might have missed here? If so, drop me a note in the comments below...   
  

[Video] Beginning Analytics: Interpreting & Acting On Your Data

Analytics is one of those things that you need to come to understand in your social media marketing. Too often however, people obsess over the numbers without really understanding what they mean. The below referenced video is an excellent beginners inside look as to what to look for in your analytics. In our next post, I'll refer to a list of free & paid analytics tools that you can utilize in your marketing. 

For now, enjoy the video and if you have any questions, please leave 'em in the comments below!

17 Web 2.0 Tools, Tips & Tricks

At REBarcamp San Francisco, Joseph G. Ferrara (author of the Sellsius Real Estate Blog), Larry Yatkowsky and I led a session titled: Web 2.0 Tools, Tips & Tricks. We basically sat down for an hour and tossed out a bunch of technologies, explained their relevance and why we like 'em. Here's a quick recap of that session along with some of the technologies that we discussed. 

17 Web 2.0 Tools, Tips & Tricks:   

Creating & Distributing Photo Content

• Animoto: in short, Animoto creates these wickedly awesome video/slideshows. Morgan Brown used it to create the REBarcamp Los Angeles recap slideshow (check it out). It's really simple to use and like I said, it takes slideshows to a whole new level. According to the Animoto guys at the Inman Conference, the video plays to the temp of the music, so a slower beat would render photos a lot better for say a property listing? Just an idea...    

• Slide: This is a very simple way to create slideshows (one of the simplest ways in my opinion). Laurie Manny does a phenomenal job of injecting slideshows into her property listing posts.   

• Flickr: This is the one that I use most often. I've made it a happen to snap photos (mostly at events) and upload them onto flickr immediately; it's become my routine. I create a photo slideshow and email the content out with my LinkedIn invitations. But if you ask me, Animoto rocks the slideshows much better!   

• Picnik: Picnik is a photo editing tool and a very cool one! I tried it for the first time just the other day and I have to report that it's incredibly easy to use. It's free and you don't have to download any software which is why I like it. But if you want to do some more advanced stuff with it, you'll have to subscribe to the premium version.     

• Gimp: here's another great, free photo editing software. Now, I've downloaded Gimp but just haven't gotten around to using it. It doesn't cost you anything so it's worth a shot if you're not using anything else.     

• Twitpic: This is a no-brainer. If you're on Twitter, you already have a twitpic account. You just log-in using your same username and password and click on the "Settings" tab. At that point you'll be given an unique email address to email photos to from your phone. This is a great way to inject some multi-media (breathe some life) into your twitter-stream!      

Video Content  

• Apture: This one is pretty cool too. It's a plugin that allows you to add videos and images from varying sources to your blog posts. It adds a whole multimedia element without ever requiring your readers to leave the site.     

• TubeMogul: This one is a one-stop video syndication source. You basically upload your video once and it broadcasts it to multiple platforms while providing you with analytics. Now, I don't know too many real estate agents who are doing a lot with video (except for Sarah Bandy of course), but I can definitely see where this could be very resourceful!      

• TwitVid.com: Like Twitpic, you have a twitvid account if you have a twitter account (same username and password). I use Twitvid to record impromptu video interviews with folks at conferences. It's nothing long by any means. I keep it to about 1.5 - 2 minutes (anything longer than that and it just doesn't work in my humble opinion). Then, Twitvid cross-posts my video to Facebook and Twitter. Viola! 

Audio Content/Podcasts

• Utterli: I used Utterli to record this audio interview with Christian Sterner, Co-Founder of Wellcomemat. You know what the cool thing was? I recorded it straight from my phone and utterli did the rest. No mics, no recorders, no uploading & downloading. I simply dialed the free phone number provided to me by utterli and the fine folks at Utterli took care of the rest!  

• TalkShoe: I use TalkShoe to record my radio interviews. The last two were with Mark Eckenrode of HomeStomper.com and with Teresa Boardman of the StPaulRealEstateBlog.com. Dustin Luther uses TalkShoe to host RE:RnD. It's simple and it's free. You simply register an account, create your next show and you're given a dial-in number for your audience including a live-chat the second your call goes live. 

• BlogTalkRadio: Now here's one I haven't used before but ya know who has? Jim Cronin uses it to host TomatoRadio! He's had some awesome guests on that show and hasn't run into any issues yet. Blogtalkradio gives you a dial-in number and a live-chat function accompanies it so your audience can listen in and participate in the discussion.   

• FreeConferenceCall.com: if all else fails, you can always revert to FreeConferenceCall.com. This service has never failed me. It's a quick and easy way to set up a conference call for either a meetup or a larger group. If you're using for a podcast, you'll just have to find a way to grab and host the audio yourself. But if it's a meeting you're looking to set up, this is your ticket. 

Lightning Round (Other Cools Apps)

• Google Voice: I just recently got my invitation to Google Voice and you know what one feature I really like about it? The ability to transcribe voice to text and send it to me in one easy to read email. Sometimes it messes up but all in all, it works and that's awesome! For me, this one feature alone leads to greater productivity. 

• Card.ly: The idea behind card.ly is pretty simple: it creates a sort of profile hub for who you are, what you do and where you can be found around the web. Here's what my card.ly profile looks like. Personally, I really dig the concept but the site could be better. In fact, it's why I created www.ricardobueno.com. But again, for a free service, it certainly does work out well. 

• Su.pr:  I pronounce it "Su-prah". You know, as in supra-key! (Hehe...). But really, out of all of the url shorteners our there, I think I really love su.pr the most. You might disagree with me but it's: 1.) Free (yes I know it's still in beta), 2.) ridiculously easy to use once you add the bookmark-let to your toolbar, 3.) gives you awesome stats with the potential for more traffic from Stumbleupon. 

• Posterous: You might call this "social media on steroids!" Seriously, posterous makes it ridiculously simple to create content while on the road (video, audio, photo, written, etc.) and it uploads that content to multiple sites. It cross-posts that content where-ever you want it to go (your blog, Facebook, Twitter, etc.). All you have to do is create your media and email [email protected] (once you verify your email & phone accounts of course) and viola! you're done. Seriously, if you haven't tried it, check it out...   

If you've tried any of these tools, what do you think of 'em? Are there any others that I might have left out? Please share your thoughts in the comments below. There's lots of other cool stuff out there, I'm sure we've barely scratched the surface here... 

If you liked this post, give it a stumble:  

===============

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

Embeddable Facebook Pages: the Facebook Fan Box!

The Facebook Fan Box is a pretty cool feature! What it does is it allows Facebook Page admins the ability to embed their latest page activity straight onto their website or blog. To access the feature, simply look below your profile photo on your Facebook Page and you'll see a link that read: "Add Fan Box to your site" 

Get with the clicky. Copy and paste the code onto your site, and presto! You now have a Fan Box that looks something like this: 

Ricardo Bueno on Facebook

As you can see, the box will display all of your latest page updates as well as render photos of your "fans" right below. The other neat feature is that folks can become subscribe to your page straight from the Fan Box; all they gotta do is click on the link at the top (no need to open a new tab or window). 

Creative Uses: 

• I can see Events like Inman Real Estate Connect and RETechSouth embedding this on their event sites as a way to connect site visitors to their respective communities on Facebook.   

• Local Real Estate Companies, Realtors and community blogs like Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate®, The Corcoran Group, Heather Elias, and Rain City Guide can do the same. 

Why? 

Because Facebook ranks as the top U.S. social network based on time spent on site which means the more subscribers (I think that's a better word than "fans") you have, the more number of people whose home-page status stream you have access to. Think: top-of-mind marketing. 

So what do you think? Do you see some creative uses for the Facebook Fan Box? 

===============

If you liked this post, give it a Stumble: 

  -OR- ReTweet Here

Follow me on twitter for more cool tech & social media tips.  

Adding Custom Tabs To Your Facebook Page [Video Tutorial]

So everyone hit the vanity url landrush and is jumping to create Facebook Pages! Requests look something like this: 

"XXXXX became a fan of xxxxx on Facebook and suggested you become a fan too." 

While some Pages look really great, others are short of spectacular. I think that if you really want to Rock Out your page, then you really need to take advantage of the fact that you can customize the lay-out by adding custom tabs and applications. For those of you that don't know how to do that, here's a quick video tutorial that walks you through the process of adding custom tabs to your Facebook Page...

The application that you want to and need to install is called the Static FBML Application. You can find it here: http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=4949752878

If you have any questions, drop them in the comments below or post 'em on my wall (I'll answer them right away)... 

Twitter to Launch Verified Accounts!

Remember the whole debacle with Tony La Russa and Twitter wherein the Cardinal's Manager sued Twitter? Well that suit was settled but it's not to say that it didn't seem to have sent a message... 

Twitter Launches Verified Accounts (in Beta):

Twitter will experiment with the idea of verified accounts beginning first with a small set of individuals: public officials, public agencies, famous artists, professional athletes, etc. Those accounts that have been verified will receive a "special seal" to indicate such. This measure is being taken as a way to reduce incidents like that between Tony La Russa and Twitter. 

If you think about it, almost every other network we sign up for has (to some extent) a verification process. So, what do you think, is this a good move on Twitter's part? Now I'm no public official or famous artist, but I jump at the opportunity to claim my username (my brand) at every opportunity I get... 

Send Videos to Twitter with TwitVid

This application is called Twitvideo. If you've ever used Twitpic before, TwitVid is just as easy to use. You upload videos in much the same way and as long as you have a Twitter account, your username and password is the same. 

There are currently two ways to upload a video: 

1. You can upload a video straight from your computer, or
2. You can email a video to Twitvid via your mobile phone 

Of course it'd be great if you could upload a video straight from your webcam but don't worry, the team at Twitvid is working on that feature so it should be rolling out soon...  

Here's a sample vid I uploaded using Twitvid: 

Now I have a MacBook Pro so I recorded this video clip using iMovie HD and I then uploaded that file to Twitvid. It was really quite simple...

I don't see myself using this to send extensive clips (I'll probably keep mine between 30 seconds to 1 minute). Whilst I think up some potential uses for something like this, how do you see yourself using Twitvid (if at all)?