|
|
 Patrick Lieuw  Tuesday, May 25th, 2010  “Going on a Panama cruise next week – finally taking a vacation!” Have you, your spouse, or your child ever posted anything like this on Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare on your phone, your website or another social media website? Did you stop to think about how vulnerable this information makes you? You may think that only your close friends and family will access this information, but you can’t be sure that this is true. What if a stranger, an acquaintance, your teenager’s classmate or a distant friend-of-a-friend reads it and decides your house is an easy target for a robbery?
Think about what else you may post on these websites: pictures of you dancing the funky chicken at your cousin’s wedding, or pictures of your latest (Not-Safe-For-Work) Halloween costume. Has your son or daughter ever posted anything like this or maybe much worse? It may seem funny at the time, but keep in mind – your boss several years from now may be able to easily see this information with a simple search of your name. In fact, a recent Microsoft commissioned survey found that as many as 70 percent of hiring managers have rejected candidates based on information found online.
In all of these examples, easy access to information posted on the Internet can have serious consequences. Have you run an online search of your name recently? You may be surprised with the amount of information out there. One can easily find a person’s full name, phone number, birth date, address and pictures with a few clicks of the mouse. For instance, www.intelius.com is one site that searches utility, change of address, property and business records and other publicly available information to find people. You might have to pay a little more money to access more details of a person, but it is still a relatively easy process for someone to obtain information on you.
Continue reading: The Pitfalls of Social Media
Erin Attardi Monday, June 15th, 2009
When I speak to most REALTORS® and Affiliates about participating in a Young Professionals Council event, most tell me, “Oh, I am too old to attend.” Not true!
While the Young Professionals Council Steering Committee members must be in their 20s and 30s, there really is something for everyone at all of our events – and we do not check your ID at the door. All SAR Members are welcome to attend any of our events. We learn a lot, network with other professionals, and we have FUN, too. Our monthly forums are educational in nature and past topics have included Going Green, Marketing Tools, Social Networking, Today’s Loan Programs and more.
Continue reading: Young Professionals Council – For the Young AND Young at Heart!
Peyman Aleagha Wednesday, June 10th, 2009
Google Latitude is a new Google Map service that is proving to be quite popular with Internet enabled cell phone users. Once installed on your phone, you can import your contacts and friends, and invite them to share locations with you. In other words, you can let your selected contacts see where you are on Google Maps. Yes, right down to your picture icon on a street map location. If your contacts accept reciprocal sharing, they can see your location and you can see theirs.
It may sound like the ultimate in fun, but not very useful. However, people are finding it easier to get together for short meetings or a cup of coffee when they find that they happen to be close to each other in their daily travels. Parents are keeping up with their children, and vice versa. Companies can track their sales or mobile service personnel, and you can keep up with your friends anywhere in the world. Let’s talk about some of the features and also privacy concerns.
Continue reading: Google Latitude – How Might It Work for Real Estate?
Peyman Aleagha Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009
The real estate marketing gurus who are sold on blogging have been pushing the benefits for a couple of years now. And, many real estate professionals are blogging as a stand-alone Web presence, or as an adjunct to a regular website. But, what if you don’t want to blog, or you are blogging but want to try yet another way to communicate with prospects who you may not yet know?
The new catch word is “micro-blogging.” Some would tell us that it is necessary now for lead generation, or that you must be doing it soon. I’m not in that group, but there is certainly promise in this short and sweet approach to inform past clients and prospects of real estate related events in your area. Basically, micro-blogging in real estate would be releasing “breaking news” type alerts of happenings in the area, especially as they relate to real estate.
Continue reading: Micro-blogging – Using Twitter for Market News Alerts
Chris Ly Wednesday, May 20th, 2009
SAR is dedicated to providing educational classes for its members. Understanding that our Members have busy schedules, but need to keep updated on the newest real estate trends, our Lunch & Learn series is dedicated to offering the hottest topics, at a convienent time, and providing lunch; all at a low cost!
Lunch & [...]
Daniel Allen Tuesday, April 21st, 2009
Yesterday we received a call from a reporter with CBS Channel 13, looking to do a story on real estate agents who uses Twitter, Facebook and other new media to help sell real estate. He ended up interviewing both Rob McQuade and Erin Attardi and they were featured on CBS Nightly News.
People having trouble selling homes are using social networking sites like Twitter to get the word out about houses. Andrew Luria reports…
You can view the segment here: http://cbs13.com/video/?id=52343%40kovr.dayport.com
Continue reading: Real Estate Agents Turn to Twitter
Paula Swayne Tuesday, April 7th, 2009
A new day and new look for the Sacramento Association of Realtors is here! The new website is phenomenal. The creation of social networking for the membership displays SAR’s willingness to blaze new trails. It is my hope that what Carl Carlson has done for SAR’s store, this website will do for the formidable [...]
Peyman Aleagha Monday, March 30th, 2009
It’s interesting how many real estate professionals haven’t made the leap to social and business networking on the Web, especially considering how ingrained the old styles of networking are in their business plans. They join local civic groups, go to meetings, sponsor events and groups, and more. The goal being to not only help their community, but to meet people to build that “sphere of influence” that leads ultimately to future business.
How many hands can they shake? How many meetings can they attend? What’s the cost to sponsor groups, and what’s the membership they impact? These are all questions that illustrate the limiting nature of personal involvement at the local level. Once you realize that Internet social and business networking is exactly the same, but leveraged dramatically, you can get really excited about it. After all, can someone in Oregon see what you’re doing in Florida? They can on Facebook or LinkedIn.
Continue reading: Social Media and Business Networking for Website Traffic
Peyman Aleagha Monday, March 9th, 2009
The ultimate success of your business will probably be tied closely to your success on the Internet. Your website or blog is your storefront in a very big world. It’s easy to get a dry cleaning customer if they pass your store every day on their way home from work. It’s a lot harder to capture a real estate lead from an armchair buyer or seller clicking around the World Wide Web.
Just entering the key phrase “real estate” into a Google search yields a whopping 589 Million results! In your area, county, or town, there are thousands of web search results related to real estate. They’re not going to drive by, so how do you stand out and get found? We all know that we need to continually work on SEO, and many pay to advertise with pay-per-click marketing. Those are fundamental and effective things we must do. But, what else can we do that’s cost effective and will bring us more site visitors?
Continue reading: SEO and PPC for Traffic – But There’s More
Peyman Aleagha Monday, February 23rd, 2009
Actually, we’re not just talking about “social networks,” but business networking as well. The Internet has made dramatic changes in the way the world shops, locates information, and in how they communicate with each other. Of course, email is the elephant in the room. But, as we become ever more mobile and in a hurry, networking will become a many-faceted activity.
So, what do we mean by online or social networking? It’s all about sending messages to one another in real time, and getting back responses quickly. But, it’s also about introductions. We introduce our contacts to others, and they can introduce us to their network. It becomes an ever-growing circle, encompassing more people who in some way keep up with what we are doing or saying.
Continue reading: Social Networking and The New Real Estate Sphere of Influence
|
Register | Login
|
Recent Comments