Online Real Estate Technology

I’ve mentioned a number of times on this blog the number of women who are now using social media sites including blogs, to not only research business and products, but who are directly influenced by what they read or research on these networks. The influence of social media on the female internet user is often underestimated by business.

In the US, new research from SheSpeaks highlights that social media networks have become a must for women this year and social network penetration climbed from 58% of internet users in 2008 to 86% in 2009.

When asked about brand related activity on social sites, 80% of female users said they had become a fan of a product or brand directly from a social network. In addition, 72% had learned about a new product or brand, or joined a group around one. To me, one very interesting trend stood out, women were less likely to participate on Twitter with product or brand related activities.

Another interesting point is with actual purchasing of products or services, with one-half of female Internet users buying a product because of a social network. Purchases based on social networking sites and blogs both increased dramatically over 2008.

Users seemed more receptive to social network advertising than they were in 2008, with 9% saying that they always look at ads and often click through, compared with just 2% last year. Thirty percent look sometimes, versus 13% in 2008, and fewer users felt annoyed by ads or actively ignored them.

The ROI for business with a social media strategy that is well set up and planned is well worth the effort and the work put in, and with that in mind, I’ve been really inspired by this research, so much so that I’m prepared to help you get your blogging efforts set up and running for the month of January, I’m going to set up 10 free wordpress installs. No sales efforts, no push, all you have to do is drop me a comment on this post and tell me why you need/want a blog and how having a blog might benefit your business.

To Qualify:

In order to qualify all you need to do is buy one of my hosting packages for a period of 12 months, they are really inexpensive and won’t cost you an arm and a leg. Let me know if you’d like additional information on this.

This is what I’ll include -

• I’ll install and configure WordPress for you. The self hosted version.
• I’ll upload and activate a theme of your choice for you so that your blog looks a million dollars.
• I’ll set up and install add-on software (otherwise known as “plug-ins”) to give your blog a bit of a boost. Things like Disqus commenting, Akismet Spam protection, Tweetmeme, etc.

This is what is not included:

• I won’t move content over from another blog. I’m setting up a brand spanking new blog for you in this case.
• You won’t get personal one-on-one blog coaching. I’m not saying that I wouldn’t sit down with you for some one-on-one coaching if you needed it. It’s not included in this Basic Install. If you’re interested in coaching, then please head over to  Mike Andrew Consulting
• You won’t get tech support. I’m happy to answer any questions that you might have if time permits.
• You’ll need to buy or already have your own domain name as the blog will need this. I’ll help you work out the best domain name for you but you will need to have it ready.

So there you have it, as I mentioned I’ll be happy to do about 10 of these installs so to qualify all you need to do is get writing and leave me a comment, if you already have a blog then please  send the link or recommend this to someone who doesn’t have a blog yet.

Hello everyone, I hope your Christmas and new year celebrations were enjoyable and you had time to spend with your family and friends, I know I did and I’m now paying for it with an ever expanding waist line, however some exercise and sensible eating and I should be back to my pre-christmas weight.

I’m now back on deck and will be updating this blog as well as my others, so I look forward to hopefully providing you with some good quality content, tips and technology thru out 2010.

Ok, if you been putting off starting a blog or using social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, it’s time now to think again and very seriously. With the launch yesterday of Google real time search, it opens up a world of opportunity for bloggers and social media users to get their efforts at the top of the search rankings, Google now pulls information as it happens from sources such as friendfeed, Twitter and Facebook as well as blog posts and news feeds.

This is essentially Googles answer to Twitters and Facebooks search engines which provide up to the minute updates on trending topics, and it was a natural extension for it to be applied to search engines, after all they are trying to give you the best response to your search query.

Real time search will enable information to be delivered as it happens, by clicking on “Latest results” or selecting “Latest” from the search options menu to view a full page of live tweets, blogs, news and other web content scrolling right on Google.

You can also filter your results to see only “Updates” from micro-blogs like Twitter, FriendFeed, Jaiku and others.

Latest results and the new search options are also designed for iPhone and Android devices when you need them on the go, be it a quick glance at changing information like ski conditions or opening night chatter about a new movie — right when you’re in line to buy tickets.

So there you have it, create your blog and start writing, and by creating good quality content on your blog or social media network, you might just end up in the number one spot on Google.

It’s the freshness factor that is also important when it comes to getting your information ranked high on Google and now with real time search, you can get fresh up to date information on trending or newsworthy stories as they happen.

If you’d  like to start a blog and don’t know where to start, visit Blogging for Business Packages and get started today.

That post headline is sure to get some interest given the ongoing saga between Rupert Murdock and Google, in my previous post we looked at Rupert’s threat to stop Google getting access to news and information from News Ltd sites.

Well hot on the heals of that story comes another twist with Microsoft and News in discussions to remove content from Google, given that Google is the main driver of traffic to these News Ltd sites, what would be the impact of any decision from Rupert to stop Google indexing content, and with other newspaper and media companies considering joining Rupert and News Ltd in this action it’s going to be a very interesting story to watch unfold.

Here’s the story from Mashable:

Newspapers and traditional media have seen their world and their business models crumble before their very eyes. Newspaper revenues have plummeted by nearly 30% in the last year alone, while newspaper circulation numbers are in the toilet. The web is destroying outdated business models and replacing them with more efficient ones.

These newspaper and media companies aren’t just letting themselves get destroyed, though. Some have gone web-only, some are embracing social media, and then some are blaming Google.

When we first heard that Rupert Murdoch intended to remove News Corp websites from Google, we weren’t impressed. We didn’t understand his plan, but we did believe that it wouldn’t work.

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Then This Google Thing Got Out of Hand

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That was, until we learned that Microsoft and News Corp are in discussions to remove content from Google and that most recently, other newspapers and media companies are considering joining Murdoch’s insanity.

Let’s think about this: in a few months, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Post, and most of the 56 daily newspapers of MediaNews Group could be de-indexed from Google and Google News(and in News Corp’s case, displayed prominently on Bing).

Experian Hitwise explored yesterday what would happen if this plan comes to fruition. As the following graph demonstrates, Google alone accounts for 20+ percent of newspaper traffic:

Some of that traffic would remain intact (we really doubt Murdoch would remove the homepage of the Wall Street Journal from Google, thus searches for the WSJ in general would remain unaffected), but overall it’d be a devastating traffic blow. Google is still the main method of information discovery online, and that trend will only grow as more kids turn to Google instead of the $0.75 daily.

In short: Rupert’s plan will gut his company and doesn’t set News Corp up for the future.

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Rupert, We Understand Your Dilemma

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Let’s give News Corp some leeway and a little credit though: they know that the old business models are dying and that they have to do something. Even back in August, we stated that good journalism isn’t cheap and that we have to find a better way to compensate media organizations for their work. Here is what we said about his plan to put his websites behind a paywall, with key points bolded:

“Murdoch has essentially declared that the free-for-all in online news has ended. Specifically, he states that good journalism isn’t cheap (that’s true) and that, while the web has made distribution cheap, it has not made it free. He also hopes to gain more revenue from major celebrity scoops from his tabloid papers (i.e. the Sun). His bet is that people will indeed pay for news content.:

The next paragraph explains our arguments, though:

“We’re not so sure. While we don’t disagree with the need to find additional revenue streams for newspapers and quality journalism, we think there are plenty of alternative news resources to turn to. Murdoch must see something encouraging at the WSJ, because he wouldn’t be going with this plan if he didn’t think they could replicate that model without losing significant readership.”

Sorry Rupert, but newspapers aren’t going to increase anytime soon and up-and-coming blogs and media companies aren’t going away. Maybe we were wrong about you seeing something in the WSJ model. Maybe you just don’t understand how media has been fundamentally altered by the web.

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This Isn’t the Future of Media, Murdoch

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We’ve had enough. Murdoch’s plan to de-index from Google is getting out of control, and it threatens to speed up the destruction of all traditional media. If other newspapers decide to join this insanity, here’s what will happen: more efficient organizations will step in to fill the gaps. There is no shortage of lean and socially savvy media organizations built in the last five years.

The future of media isn’t in The Wall Street Journal, no matter how much value it provides society. No, the future is in the web, fast-paced blogs, and social media. The future is in companies that realize that news a day old is, well, a day old. The future is in information discovery, not in hiding content.

We know your empire is not doing so well, Murdoch, but that doesn’t excuse you from taking your company down a path that will take you into oblivion. No Microsoft deal will fix the inherent problems with the newspaper business model.

What News Corp should be doing instead: Finding more efficient means of distribution, leveraging its revenue-generating assets, exploring new methods of payments, and encouraging innovation. We’re not psychics or high-profile consultants, but we know which models are winning and which ones are not.

In short, Murdoch, take your ball and go home. Your plan can only hurt News Corp.

Writer Ben Parr

Hi everyone, I’ve decided to have a clean out of this blog, it’s been around now for over 12 months and I felt it was time to clean it up and give it a make over. Whilst I’ve kept the same theme, I’ve deleted a few of the widgets and cleaned up the sidebar, so hope fully you won’t notice too much disruption to the blog. I’m hoping all the links will stay in place, but if you notice a broken link, please let me know by leaving me a comment.

The content is still all here and I’ll be adding some new stuff shortly.

Ciao for now

Today whilst visiting a real estate office we got talking about social media strategies and why as a real estate office they should be working towards implementing a social media strategy, not just to farm new pastures, but also to help them in the optimisation of their web site. During the conversation we got on the subject of blogging, and why creating a blog would help their Internet marketing efforts.

Well I have to admit that over the last few weeks I’ve neglected this blog a bit as I explore new areas and work on my web site, so with a little bit of a guilty feeling, I’ve motivated myself to write this article, and you can probably guess what it is about, making sure you create and maintain a disciplined approach to blogging.

In my research I come across a lot of blog writers who after a period of time, and it’s often around the 12 month scenario, tend to get a little bit of writers block and lose interest in maintaining their blog, which is what happened to myself, and in a number of cases the blog gets abandoned altogether.

The Internet is full of abandoned blogs, left in the wilderness by writers who lose interest.

It’s not easy maintaining a blog on a regular basis, you also have to work hard at maintaining your audience and coming up with new content that appeals to your readers.

So today I’ve written a list of things that I will do to assist me in writing articles for my blogs and I’ve listed them below for you, if you are just starting as a blogger I hope they help set you on a disciplined approach and most of all don’t give up.

1. Set aside 1 hour each day to research for new articles – doesn’t matter what time of day it is, just DO IT! – Talking to other people also stimulates ideas for posts. Mornings I find are much better, I can sit in my pajamas and coffee and read.

2.Write when you get urge - A lot of times I’ll come up with an article idea and leave it till later, in most cases later never comes.

3. Create a list of topics and categories – Then write first about what you like or are passionate about. That way you’ll enjoy writing about your favourite topic.

4. Revisit your old articles - Some of these older stories can be updated and rewritten. As some of these topics are changing almost daily, providing updates on these old stories can generate new ideas.

5. Read other Blogs & Bloggers - This will help to create ideas as well, it gets the creative juices flowing and helps with topics and trends.

6. Subscribe to RSS Feeds - Make sure you get updates delivered right to your computer, and use some of these articles on your own blog. They help break up the style of writing and provide different opinions on topics. But remember, always credit the author of the article.

6. Commitment - Now here is the magic word, once you start you really need to be committed to your blog, so create that list.

That is what I intend to action from today, I put it up on my office wall so that every morning the first thing i see will be the list.

I hope that if you are just starting out, this little list will help keep your blog on track and if you have any additions to the list please share them with me.

I’ve had a number of people ask me about my podcast series over the past few weeks and where they can download them from, so I’ve included in this post the URL link to download the entire series of 25 podcasts. These are designed as a series for you and you can download and keep them as a reference source on technology and marketing tips.

I’ll continue to update the series on a regular basis so to make sure you get each new episode, subscribe to the RSS feed at www.mikeandrew.podomatic.com, grab the feed from my blog or get them via ITunes by searching podcasts and entering Mike Andrew Real Estate Podcasts.

Let me know if you have any problems with downloading the series.

After facing my second redundancy in as many years, I had an interesting debate the other day with some business colleagues. The debate centred on how much information is shared via blogs like this one and other social media sites for free, and what my colleagues essentially were saying is “Why would anyone pay you, when you give all the information away for free” and in reflection, I’d have to say that a number of people who I dealt with in the past, who were regular callers, have certainly dropped off since I started on my own, thinking  I might start charging them for the information and assistance.

When I started this blog almost 12 months ago it was just a bit of fun and also a tool to build my profile , as well as provide the people in the industry that I was working in with a resource and information bank that they could use to improve their Internet marketing campaigns. Looking back over the past 12 months on this social media journey, I think I achieved quite a lot, I’ve got this blog operating, which as far as reader numbers would indicate, does very well every month, and I’ve had a lot of support and great feedback from you the readers over that 12 months. I’ve got my podcast series, which is very popular with listeners all over the world and my Twitter profile is building each day as more and more followers join me on the journey, so all in all, would I have achieved all of that without social media? the answer is no I would not have.

This debate I’m sure, is one that is going on every day in business all over the world, how much do we share and what’s our return on investment with social media. In fact, I’ve had this come up time and time again when I’ve been presenting social media strategies to companies and I beleive the main reason it comes up is because the sharing and giving of information or advice is coupled with companies charging for this expertise and the thought of suddenly providing this information for free is very challenging. This leads to another challenge for companies and one that really impacts the culture of the company, social media is all about sharing and if you have people in your organisation who don’t want to share, your social media strategy will not succeed, and that comes back to my opening statement, how much do you give away for free?

 I’ve always based the information provided on this blog on issues that affect small business,how to improve Internet marketing campaigns, giving new technology advice and looking at issues such as SEO and SEM, & how important it is for SME’s to be aware of why they need an active search engine strategy. If that information helps make you aware of what you need to do to improve your marketing efforts then I’ve achieved my goal, if you decide to use me to help you in that effort then that’s even better.  

With the real estate industry, the Internet has changed the way consumers get information, 10 years ago when I was a working real estate agent, my buyers and sellers would come off the cards in the office window, I would then get the chance to interact and engage my buyers face to face, well how many times today do you get the chance to influence these buyers at that first point of research? not very often I would think, research tells us that 9 out 10 buyers start the process on the net and they start looking for information and properties in the areas or suburbs they are interested in.

How then do you make sure you are the agent they want to deal with along this process?, you need to have as many communication channels available to you assisting you in delivering information to the property buyer or seller along the journey, and that is not just having a web site, but a multi media strategy running alongside your traditional marketing activities. 

The benefits of my social media efforts over the last 12 months have helped me move into new directions and opened up a lot of doors for me that were previously closed, it’s improved my knowledge of technology and marketing and I’ve become a syndicated author. In my experience, you’ll get out of a social strategy, what you put in.

Why would I not keep doing what I’ve been doing, and as long as you the readers of this blog find it helpful and of benefit to you & your business then in my mind, that’s my return on investment.

   

As the first of my blog workshops is due to kick off in two weeks time, I thought I’d take a look at the impact that blogs have on the on line consumer. Sometimes as a writer, I often think about who will be reading this blog and whether the information I provide is of interest or help to the readers, and I think about who is reading and researching blogs like mine on the web.

New research available indicates that blogs are a very valuable source of information, and blogs are particularly popular with women according to research from the US. Blogs sit along side social media in popularity with 53% of the female online population who regularly participate in social media.

In terms of demographics, social media attracts a large number of Gen X&Y’s at 15.4%, with baby boomers not far behind at 13.3%. Blogs are also a powerful tool for companies to utilise to communicate with female on line users, women are more likely than men to make a purchase decision as the result of a recommendation or other customers experience reported about on a blog. In fact the figure is very high, with 85% of females surveyed said they had made a purchase decision from a blog post or the blog had had an impact on their purchase.

The other trend that stands out is the way social media usage is affecting traditional media, when asked the question about other media usage, 57% of the females responded they were reading less newspapers, 47% said they were reading less magazines and 36% said they were listening less to radio. This is higher than the general population decline in usage of traditional media in the US.

So the message for companies out there that have not yet embraced blogs as a corporate communication tool or blogging as a tool to engage and interact with the on line consumer, in particular the female market, is very clear.

Start a blog, communicate and engage the on line consumer and just as important, if you have a business, start to monitor what blogs and blog writers are saying about you and your business or brand, it could be costing you a lot in lost business, lost business that today you probably don’t know you’ve lost.

It’s now official, Facebook added it’s 200 millionth user last Wednesday,and if Facebook were a country it would now be the fifth largest country after China, India, the US and Indonesia. The US still leads the way with the most numbers of users, with western Europe having the highest concentration of users and Australia now claiming approx 4,600,000 users to Facebook per month. I’ve included the US figures in a chart below for you, which gives you the age demographic breakdowns and as you can see, again it’s not a Gen X & Y site, so as a business you need to start to utilise the networking available to you via Facebook.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

News also today that the other 3 year old flavour of the month Twitter, is growing in popularity with older consumers. In fact, according to Comscore, the majority of Twitter users are over 35, so in effect, younger users are not driving the success that Twitter is having world wide. The number of Twitter users worldwide in February had grown to 10 million, up 700%, from a year ago,while in the US the number hit 4 million, a growth of 1000% over last year. Those aged 35 – 44 spend 20 minutes on Twitter on each visit, but one surprising statistic that stands out, is that the 55 – 64 year olds spend an average of 9 minutes on Twitter, the longest of any demographic using the site. Over the past 12 months both Myspace and Facebook have experienced growth in the older age groups, but it’s Twitters popularity that is being driven totally by the older users.

To me this is a clear example of the increasing comfort level that older users have with social media sites and the fact that they are embracing these technologies means that business should embrace these sites today, and no longer have a “ban this site“ policy. What it means to you as a business, is that your customers are embracing this type of communication faster than you are,so if you want to stay relevant to them as a business, you need to move with them. 

The more traditional forms of marketing are being left behind, so as a business, you need to use social media from a non traditional approach. One side effect of a social media strategy, is the impact is has on a companies culture, after all, social media is built on sharing.

I’ve seen so many businesses try to attract consumers via social media sites using product as a incentive, and I’ve seen that approach fail time and time again. You need to use the medium where it’s strength is and that is in networking, providing information and interacting and sharing with your customers. 

You need to enter the conversation and create the handshake.

If you don’t know where to start with this strategy, then contact me via this blog and I’ll be very happy to help you on your way.