Real Social Results » Social Networking

Are You Trying To Sell A One Room House?

Suzanne Roy — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 15:08:03 +0000

Listen Carefully!

Someone I deeply respect and admire (and quite possibly just as importantly, understands my english dry sense of humor) caused me to experience a paradigm shift today.

He brought to my attention a blog post he wrote earlier this year about Streams. No not the gently flowing kind you find outdoors, but the streams that we all take part in online – streams that at one time were considered simple spokes to the almighty hub.

Image courtesy of www.theconversationprism.com

The problem with the almighty hub scenario is this:

Envision an apple that had just a core. Or, better yet, a house with a single room and no other rooms to make it a home. Where’s the substance in that?

To concentrate solely on gaining a following, a growing sphere, a lead generation via just its hub or core is not only wrong, but foolish.

There are dozens, if not hundreds, of opportunities to procure relationships and leads through the streams – and it is through those streams that make up the true hub of your online presence. To treat these streams as just a means to the core is truly the wrong approach.

Matthew Shadbolt, Director of Interactive Product & Marketing with The Corcoran Group, is a shining example of exactly how your streams should be nurtured. I encourage you to not only follow Matthew but see how he has grown each of his streams into full fledged flowing rivers, each producing their own source of real relationships and, ultimately, real business.

In fact, Matthew has done his job so well with all of his streams, that I do not even know the name of his “hub” or if he even has one.

That’s because his streams ARE his hub.

I am, therefore, inviting you to join me in taking a real hard look at your online presence today. Ask yourself:

“Am I treating my streams like spokes are are each of them an equally important part of my overall hub“?

“Am I taking the time to nurture each of my streams or are they running dry“?

“Am I relying solely on my “hub” to build relationships or am I building out my online presence with each of my streams“?

The way in which we conduct our business(es) today is different than yesterday, just as it will be different tomorrow. Today we need to nurture our streams – Twitter, Facebook profiles, pages, groups, LinkedIN, Youtube, Pinterest, etc., – and not just use them as a means to an end. They are SO much more than that. They are the vines bearing the fruit!*

So how exactly do you nurture streams?

1. Don’t treat them as just a course of action.

2. Be deliberate in all that you do.

3. Make yourself known just as much on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIN, Google+, Pinterest, as you do in your blog.

4. Avoid the “auto-post” wherever possible (if you tweet something on Twitter, don’t use hashtags if you’re going to auto-post to LinkedIN, for example – that’s a HUGE turn off!)

5. Be consistent

6. Be real

This is yet another reason why you should not only follow, but fully and intentionally examine what Matthew Shadbolt, says and does on a daily basis.

Thank you, Matthew, for making me (and hopefully others) look at the entire apple and not just it’s core.

* John 15:5

How To: Use Facebook To Promote Your Business – Exclusive Interview

Suzanne Roy — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 20:17:29 +0000

Today I had the opportunity to sit down with Jonathan Rivera, Founder of The Official Real Estate Referral Group and discuss his success with using Facebook to promote real estate business.

In this exclusive interview, Jonathan discusses with me what prompted him to start the Facebook Page and how it has evolved into the total win-win movement that has taken over the entire Real Estate community within Facebook!

Jonathan has done a tremendous job of taking the Facebook platform and turning it into a catapult of additional business for (not only himself) but for all its Facebook Page fans. He discovered a way to completely ENGAGE his audience to not only “Like” his Page, but return and re-return. If this doesn’t get you motivated to get out there and do something, I don’t know what will!

NOTE: This video is 6 minutes in length, but worth EVERY minute! Grab a coffee and have a seat!

Want to learn more about the Real Estate Referral Group? Head on over to Jonathan’s website (www.RealEstateReferralGroup.com) and follow the steps he provided in the video above. It’ll be WORTH your while!

Interested in getting a custom Facebook Page created with your branding, listings, MLS Search, lead generation and more? Fill in the form below and we’ll be in touch in 24 hours (or less):

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Why Peripheral Not Tunnel Vision is Your Key To Success

Suzanne Roy — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 11:51:13 +0000

Why Peripheral Not Tunnel Vision is Your Key To Success

I just finished reading a great post by my friend, Jimmy Mackin with The MLS App. He truly hit the nail on the head so well that I just had to put the fingers to the keys and write my own take on it.

Image Courtesy of deanspic on Flikr.com

In his blog post, Mackin describes how the new Google + is another “shiny object” placed in clear view of business owners, such as Realtors®, that distract and divert their attention from what we know works and will continue to work if we keep working it.

Now, what I am NOT saying is that Google + doesn’t have the POTENTIAL to be another great source of lead generation and income – what I (and Mackin) are saying is it’s NOT YET. That’s where the peripheral vision philosophy comes into play.

By keeping your eyes open to the things happening around you, you can stay informed and allow things to evolve (or not evolve) while still keeping on the track of success you’ve been on (before Google + came into your line of vision).

What you don’t want to do (but I see happening every day) is to have tunnel vision; by taking your eyes (and more importantly, efforts) off of what you have been working diligently on (for however long) and changing gears to a new “shiny object”, your road to success has now taken a detour and you may not make your way back. In fact, you may go completely off course and wonder in 6 months why your business has come to a screeching halt!

A severe scenario? NO. Not at all. It’s actually reality for many business owners who do not have a definitive plan.

You may say, “But, don’t I want to jump on the bandwagon while the iron is hot?” ”Get in during the initial phase?” No, this isn’t a pyramid scheme – this is social networking!

The moral of the story is, stick to what works, but keep your eyes open to new opportunities that are bound to arise. Jumping ship is not your key to success; Stay onboard with your goals and they WILL be met!

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How To Easily Customize Your Facebook Avatar Image

Suzanne Roy — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 13:38:06 +0000

First things first. What is your Facebook Avatar Image?

This avatar is the image that shows up alongside each of your posts and comments within facebook, kind of like what shows up on the Disqus comment system that thousands of the highest trafficked sites use (outside of Facebook that is).

Tell me, how does this look to you? (Names have been distorted to protect the innocent!)?

Not so hot right?

Here’s a quick and really easy way to fix this so your image is front and centered!

How To Customize Your Facebook Business Page Links

Suzanne Roy — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 14:49:38 +0000

How to Customize your Facebook Business Page Links

As you are all aware by now, earlier this month Facebook put into place their new layout of Facebook Pages (to look a whole lot more like our Facebook Profiles). With this change came the demise of the Tabs at the top of the page to Links on the left hand column (located underneath our Page’s image).

I think it is really important to utilize these links to the maximum, just as we did with the Tabs – we only have so many spots to fill in the links, so let’s make sure that we have the most important ones front and center (well, side…).

Here’s a quick video on how you can customize your Facebook Business Page links by modifying their order and removing those that are not necessary.

The moral of this story is we need to utilize the tools that Facebook graces us with and make the most of them as best we can. The chances that someone is going to click on the “More..” link to see what else you have to offer is slim to none, so it just makes sense to make sure that the top 6 links are the MOST important ones to show up on your Facebook Page.