Important Features of Google+

• Circles are groups of friends you organize by topic: Friends, Family, College Buddies, Roommates, etc.
• Hangouts are virtual rooms where you can video chat with people in your circles
• Huddles is group messaging for people within your Circles.
• Sparks is like Google Reader, except it brings content to you automatically based on your interests. Each topic gets its own “Spark” page and provide links to related articles, videos, photos, etc.
• When editing your profile, you have the option to show your profile info only to certain circles if you like, giving you complete control over what info people see
• Add the Facebook Add-In to have your Facebook stream within Google+ – go to crossrider.com/install/519-google-facebook to get it
• Get your own vanity url for Google+ – go to gplus.to

With Mailchimp, you can…

• Build your email list by offering a free report or video to encourage people to sign up, and deliver a follow-up sequence of emails
• Send regular email newsletter to stay in touch with your list
• Automatically broadcast new blog posts to your list. This encourages traffic to your blog, makes it easy to send valuable free information to your list, and helps readers get to know, like and trust you
• Create multiple sub-lists to send different information or follow-up to different groups of people
• Share your email newsletter with your social network, increasing your reach

Using the Stupeflix Video Maker, you can…

• Pair a series of property photos, stock buyer photos, and property info together with music from YouTube’s  Music Library for a professional-looking Open House video
• Easily add text captions (things like property info, property address, your name & phone number,  client testimonial text, etc.)
• Automatically embed Google Maps into your video, making it easy for prospects to find the property (and without you knowing any code!)
• Get rid of your excuse that you don’t know how to create videos, or don’t have the right software

Ways Realtors® can use EventBrite

• Host Buyer or Seller Informational workshops, and promote them using EventBrite’s social networking tools
• Use EventBrite to manage the sale of tickets and the tracking of attendees to a paid event or fundraiser you are hosting or coordinating
• If you work with a lot of first-time buyers or buyers that are relocating, use EventBrite to set up a “neighborhood social” type event to encourage neighbors to get to know each other
• Let EventBrite manage attendees for office training or workshops, rather than trying to track back-and-forth emails
• Connect with your online network by hosting an offline event, and promote through social media
• Invite past and current clients to a Client Appreciation Event

Most Realtors® have understood the social aspect of their business long before social media gained popularity. However, I’ve seen a lot of agents struggle with translating the in-person networking that was such a standard in the industry into an effective social media marketing plan.

There’s a great post on how one company, Resmark Systems, is integrating their email, blog and social media into a very effective marketing campaign, complete with a personal touch. You can read the full post at
The 3 Amigos: Email, Blogging, Social Sharing

Their strategy could be fairly easily applied to real estate – buying a home is a highly personal and important event, much like a long-awaited family vacation. The key to social media success is not to try and sell people directly on your services. But many business owners don’t understand how friendly conversations on sites like Facebook and Twitter will translate into business or sales. The key is to find a way to engage with your past and potential clients by giving them an “experience”!

While Resmark Systems is using a software system that might be overwhelming for the average Realtor® to implement for themselves, think about ways that you could create an experience for past clients on your social media sites. You could create a Facebook Fan Page dedicated to new home owners in your city, and encourage them announce their move there, share photos, etc. Or start a signature photo series where you take a special photo of them in their new home, upload it to Flickr and Facebook, create a custom email announcement to send to them, and encourage them to share with family and friends there.

The key here is not to create a ton of new to-do’s for yourself, but to really think through your unique angle for clients, and then implement a few applications or tools in social media and your email database to implement them easily.

What special experience could you offer clients, that they would be proud to share with friends and family?

First off, they have a very nice custom Twitter background, which shows off both their gorgeous, exotic location, as well as shows people enjoying them. That’s just good basic marketing.

But they go beyond that by regularly tweeting great tips and content for travelers, showcasing visitor photos from their Fan Page, and responding to tweets from upcoming and past visitors. It’s a great combination of content, marketing, and personal interaction.

So take a look and see if it gives you any ideas – especially if you market in an affluent or popular travel destination area!

You may not realize that not only can your smartphone be a lifesaver for your business while you’re on the go, you can also use it to market to potential clients that also live on their mobile phone.

Here are four great reasons to go mobile, and a couple tools to help you get started:

Reason 1: There’s a huge untapped market!

There are 4 TIMES as many mobile phone users as internet users, and 33% of phones use high speed data services. And with over 7 billion iPhone apps downloaded, your potential customers are already out there looking for info on their phones. Many experts estimate that very shortly, more people will access the internet through their phone than on their desktop computer.

Reason 2: Your competition isn’t doing it…yet!

Your competition is still trying to figure out their website and social media. They’re not on mobile, yet. But with the growth of mobile marketing just around the corner (see stats above!), you can bet that mobile marketing will likely be their next step too. By establishing your mobile marketing campaign now, you stand out from the crowd, and brand yourself as the tech savvy agent that gives their clients the info they want, in the format they want it in.

Reason 3: Better quality traffic to your site or listings

Mobile traffic has a 6 TIMES HIGHER purchase intent than online traffic. While you may not be selling a product they can purchase online, if they’re out and pass a property they’re interested in, by offering mobile listing info you’re catching them right when they’re most interested. You simply can’t do that with a business card or even your website.

Reason 4: If you create your own mobile app, you stay with them on their phone.

Creating a mobile app sounds hard, but there are services out there now that can help make it quicker and easier to design and launch your own iPhone (or Blackberry or Android) app.  And by creating something they want to keep with them, you stay top of mind – your app will stay installed on their phone where they’ll see it regularly, thereby reminding them of you and helping with branding as well.

A few different tools you can use to get started with a mobile campaign quickly are below. Each does something different, and you may decide that you just want to start with one to dip your toe in.

To create a mobile friendly version of your site, you can use Mofuse or MobilePress for Wordpress sites.

To create your very own mobile real estate app, try SmarterAgent, Mippin, or  MobileAppLoader.

To create your own mobile SMS (text) campaign, check out EZTexting.

What is it? Foursquare is a geo-social online and mobile application where members check-in when they go places about town.  Once checked-in, they can see who else has been there, who goes there most often or possibly get discounts and coupons.

In their words:

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.

So, how can I use it?

• Showcase your knowledge of your local area and find & connect with local people that are active in social media
• Discover new local attractions, share your favorite locations with friends, and have the resources at your fingertips to be your clients’ local expert.

Here are some ideas for integrating Foursquare into your business:

• If Foursquare is new to your area, create a video tutorial on how to use it, and blog about it to help create the momentum in your community as geo-social sites grow.
• Twitter and Foursquare play very well together (Foursquare can push check-in into to Twitter at the users request) so try setting up a search in Twitter for Foursquare check-ins in your community and then follow them and/or comment on Twitter immediately (while they are still there) with a tip or suggestion for that location “Saw you checked in at The Pizza Shack – have you had their Hawaiian? Love it!”
• Offer a coupon code or special gift for your location – either to everyone, or as an incentive to a reach certain number of check-ins (like a rewards program)

It’s up to you to decide if this kind of real-time, local presence is right for your business, but if you’re already active on social media (and have a smart phone to use for checking in), local is the direction that online marketing is heading and you may want to stake your turf before someone else does.

Interested in reading more? Here are some other great resources for Foursquare:

Mashable – 5 Ways Foursquare is changing the world

AgentGenius – Top 10 Ideas List

With the right applications, a real estate agent in the field can be just as productive as one in the office. You have the ability to network and communicate with clients, fax documents, look up listings, find local area resources, calculate mortgage payments, and even shoot video!

If you have an iPhone, their app store is currently the biggest out there, and offers lots of apps to make doing business on the go easier and more convenient, so check out this list. These are just a small group of what’s available, but this list alone could probably save you hours of time versus running back and forth to your office!

Realtor.com – Search over 4 million homes with this app from REALTOR.com. Find property details, pricing, photos, open house information and more on homes for sale.

Home Buying Power – Determine how much house your client can afford by plugging in desired payment or income percentage, down payment, loan term and interest rate information to calculate buying power.

Dictionary of Real Estate Terms – Convenient and user-friendly reference tool for real estate professionals and consumers on the go.

Mortgage Calculator – Helpful tool for making quick calculations such as monthly rates, loan options and adjustments for down payments, insurance and taxes.

Zillow – Get access to the popular search site that many real estate clients are using.

Yelp – Search for places to eat, drink, shop, relax. Become an expert of your neighborhood.

Walk Score – Calculates the “walkability” of any location and shows you a map of nearby amenities; helps clients find walkable neighborhoods.

LoopNet – Get access to commercial listings around the country.

Documents To Go – Create, view and edit Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint files from your smartphone.

Mobile Phax – Use the camera on your iPhone to take a photo of a letter-sized document and then send as a PDF to any email address.

Vlingo – Send a text message, call a friend, search the Web or update your Facebook or Twitter status using voice commands.

Qik Live– Shoot and share live video from your phone and send to a client.

Smarter Agent – Search homes for sale or recent sold, and apartments for rent.

Expensify – Import expenses and receipts and submit paperless expense reports from your phone.

Foursquare - Foursquare on your phone gives you & your friends new ways of exploring your city.

There are also lots of apps for Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and instant messaging – giving you lots of ways to quickly and easily connect and network with your clients.

Credits: Originally published by Stephanie Sievers, Illinois Realtor Magazine

There are great examples for other types of local businesses, but what really caught my eye is a tool Nathan mentioned called TwitHawk. Maybe I’ll do a more in-depth post on using it later (after I play with it for a while), but check out the full post. Twit Hawk looks like it has a lot of potential for you to find local people discussing

• how tired they are of their apartment
• considering looking for a home
• recent job transfer/new job in your area
• needing more space
• etc.

Now remember, you are not going to see positive results if you jump in and try to sell them on using you as a Realtor®. At best, they’ll ignore you, and at worst they might block you, or even tell their friends. BUT, if you have some tips for them (maybe in the form of a blog post, free ebook, etc.), it would be acceptable to say something like “Hi @twitterperson, I have a blog post at www.myblogposthere.com with some good info for first-time homebuyers – feel free to check it out.” Low pressure contact like this is acceptable, or you could even just give them a warm welcome to the area, or recommend a listing you just listed that sounds perfect (but make sure it really does!).

So check out the post, see what you think of TwitHawk, and I’d love to hear how it helps your biz!