Mar. 17, 2009 - Are you social? Or Anti-Social? Lessons from the AAR Mid-Winter Conference

 We had a great time this week at the Arizona Assn. of Realtors Winter Conference. In walking the talk…a page was set up for the event and an active Twitter Stream accompanied the 3 day event. For those of you that I am linked to with Facebook…you must have thought I’d gone wild…..I have my Twitter feeds syndicated to my Facebook page which is usually a good thing since I get to post 2 places at once. I found out AFTERWARD how this had completely taken over some people’s status pages. Sorry for that. I also learned there is a way to selectively have it syndicated and I will be using that app next time. I did hear from several people that they liked getting the tips and Twitter feed information. We are all learning from each other what works and what doesn’t! I always appreciate your comments and feedback.

Amy Chorew moderated a very informative panel of experts, Dru Bloomfield, Rob Gibbs, Jay Thompson and Phil Sexton. For the folks there that were not “plugged” in yet, they now know what they need to do and how! NAR is saying less than 5% of Realtors are using Web 2.0 tools like blogging, twitter, etc. to connect. For those who are interested in working with the first time homebuyers, this media is what they are using. Not thinking from a generational standpoint will lose (or gain) you lots of business.

Frances Flynn Thorsen did a great presentation on Risk Management and Social Networking  condensed from her 3 hour CE Class on the topic!

So where are YOU at with your social networking?  What do you need to do to take it to the next level?

The Simple Start to Being Social!!!

1.     The 3 social networking applications you must have are: LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter

2.     How to do it:

·        Choose 1 per week

·         Create a word document with a really complete profile (use the categories from the first one as your template) and then cut and paste for future needs. Be expressive and creative in your descriptions of yourself. Use keywords that define your business and your niches.

·        Upload a picture.

·        Spend no more than 10 minutes a day

3.      Blog: The easiest place to start this is Trulia. Once you upload your profile, they set a blog up for you…so all you need to do is post. Keep it short, simple and valuable alternating market data with information about you and your niche that will entice people to find out more. (A cool way to take this to the next level and totally understand and get in action with a blog is to sign up for the next NoBloggerLeftBehind   Teleconference Series It starts  on Thursday and you can attend the first session at no charge!)

4.     Become a Trulia Pro.  Clicking that link will get you 2 free months and give you an opportunity to tap into their awesome traffic with featured ads on your properties or services.

5.     Connect with me and with others I am connected to:

·        Twitter   http://twitter.com/joeann

·        LinkedIn   

·        Facebook