Meet Jim Marks, the SEO & Social Media expert that has not only coached Tom Ferry, but also numerous other real estate agents. Jim has an unparalleled track record of success and understands which Social Media efforts will expand your network and generate business. He has come up with 5 easy steps that you can take today to create real business from your online marketing efforts. For more information click here to check the YouReach Media Website.

In the following video, Jim Marks (”fearless leader of YouReach Media online Mobile Social Media Training and established Internet anthropologist”) talks about a 24-week social media training program for real estate agents

The Real Estate Tomato has built a powerful reputation as a company dedicated to helping their clients maintain a successful online marketing strategy through blogging and social media. Starting today, they are taking that reputation to a new level. After successfully organizing three virtual REBarcamps their new service, the Tomato University, offers Realtors relevant and effective technology training from the best in the business.

The inaugural classes are “A Guide To Superior Hyper-Local Blogging” and “Using Craigslist To Generate Quality Leads“. Over the next several days there are education sessions about SEO, HTML, Facebook pages and photography advice, all providing significant value to today’s real estate agents.

Registration is free and grants you access to the Tomato University social network, allowing you to connect with other University members, register for classes and receive updates on schedules, community info and updates.

I’ve long been a fan of Matthew Ferrara, if you don’t know Matthew you should; his advice is refreshingly honest. We’ll be detailing his latest product offering, BrainChain, on this blog over the next few weeks. In the interim I hope you enjoy his summary of the NAR Market Report on Buyers.

I love Frances Flynn Thorsen. There, I said it! The love affair, one she is completely ignorant to (until now of course) started a few years ago at an Inman conference in New York City.

It was January 2008 and Frances was on a panel discussing “Blogging: A Fresh Take on Client Prospecting”. There were several questions from the floor and one was something like ‘which blog post generated the most traffic?’ To everyones shock and amusement Frances spoke about her post “Plus Size Blogger’s Boobs Invite Terror Threat Mishap“. Someone followed up with ‘Is there a post you want to write but haven’t yet?’ I can’t put Frances’ response here but it was even more shocking and absolutely hilarious; I fell in love immediately! If you are ever lucky enough to meet her I’m sure she’ll happily explain

And so to my point. You can benefit from the world as Frances sees it right here, right now. During the recent Virtual RE Barcamp she ran two very important sessions about managing social media risk. With so much bad advice in the dark world of “social media” (queue scary music…) it’s refreshing to listen to some good old fashioned common sense. Here is the first session, enjoy:

TweetDeck Tutorial for REALTORS® from Matthew Rathbun on Vimeo.

Have you ever emailed a link to someone and then wondered if they clicked on it? bit.ly is a free solution that not only allows you to track click-throughs but also helps shorten those very long Website addresses or URL’s (Uniform Resource Locator).

While the shortening of a Website address isn’t as valuable it is as important. Let’s look at an example.

The problem with sending long Website addresses is that they aren’t always displayed correctly. Some email programs only make part of the text ‘clickable’, this normally happens in plain text emails if the Website address covers two lines, for example:

In this sample email the portion of the link on the second line (circled in red) is not considered part of the entire Website address. Anyone clicking on this link will see a “Page not found” error message.

Bit.ly solves this issue by converting long Website URL’s into much shorter equivalents. To create the new version of a link simply go to the homepage of bit.ly and paste the long URL into the field on the home page:

Click the ‘Shorten’ button and you will then see a short version of the URL. You can then cut and paste the URL into any email. The following example is a real life (and long) URL/Website address from this blog:

http://www.powersiteblog.com/2009/07/21/agencylogic-on-20-web-sites-that-make-real-estate-agents-money-list

The bit.ly version of the same link is:

http://bit.ly/12gLBw

Bit.ly also provides a mechanism for you to share shortened links directly from their Website but the best part of the service is the click-through history. It details not only the number of times a link has been clicked but also when, how the link was found (in an email for example) and some basic geographic data. Bookmarking this great (and free) utility is the easiest way to use this fantastic service. I hope this is useful!

I’m finally back after a ten day, three state, five conference trip and will be sharing lots of amazing feedback over the next several weeks. In order the events were the StarPower Annual Conference, HomeGain Live Nation, REBarCamp, Bloggers Connect and the Inman Connect.

Watch this space…

Today’s event is RE Barcamp and is being held at the Trulia Offices in San Francisco. To ‘hear’ live updates from the event simply follow me on twitter or check the ‘AgencyLogic Tweets’ section on the right of this blog.

For those of you not familiar with the event it is unlike any other conference:

1. there’s no agenda

2. there’s no panel

3. there’s no cost

This video helps explain things in a little more detail:

At the beginning of the day attendees are asked to list what they would like to discuss. The topics are normally detailed on a large board and volunteers offer to act as mediator. All attendees are encouraged to get involved which I think is one of the most valuable components.

The event is expanding to more and more cities all the time. If you are interested in hosting an event just contact the organizers.

Contributor: Stephen Fells

“Every day, millions of people use Twitter to create, discover and share ideas with others. Now, people are turning to Twitter as an effective way to reach out to businesses, too. From local stores to big brands, and from brick-and-mortar to internet-based or service sector, people are finding great value in the connections they make with businesses on Twitter.”

So says twitter 101, a new Website released this week by twitter. The Website contains lots of case studies detailing how businesses, including Dell, JetBlue and Pepsi have used twitter to solve a myriad of problems.

We’ve covered twitter several times with posts that include video’s, eBooks and just plain stupidity but this information is straight from the horses mouth.

It has sections on: “What is Twitter“, “Getting Started“, “Learn the Lingo” and “Best Practices”

The Website also includes downloadable slides which “help anyone interested in explaining the value of Twitter to businesses”. To get the slides either go to the Website:

http://business.twitter.com/twitter101

or click on the graphic below:

Contributor: Stephen Fells

Have you ever seen a friends face or image appear in an ad on Facebook? Third party advertisers appear on the right hand side of your facebook page just like this:

Personally I don’t have a problem with this particular ad (the middle image is my Facebook photo) And yes of course I doctored it

I do have a problem, however, with companies, unknown to me, using that same image to promote their offers, products and applications. Facebook lets this happen unless you tell them otherwise.

So how do you stop your Facebook image being used in these ads without your permission? It’s easy, simply follow these steps:

1. Click on “Settings” up at the top of the page and select “Privacy Settings”

2. Select “News Feed and Wall”

3. Select the tab that reads “Faceook Ads”

4. There is a drop down box, select “No One”. The page should look like this:

SAVE your changes.

Please let all of your friends know by highlighting this post, or pointing them to this link: How to Protect Your Image on Facebook:http://tinyurl.com/lsvd62

Contributor: Stephen Fells

I’ve spoken about my admiration for Gary Vaynerchuk before so highlighting this video is an easy choice. You might need to put a seatbelt on however; listening to Gary is sometimes like being in that 1980’s Maxell cassette tape ad, but his message is invaluable.

Contributor: Tony Thrift – McKissock 100% Education

So you’re sitting at the kitchen table, reading the morning paper and thinking, “If gas prices keep rising, I’ll never be able to go anywhere”. A few minutes later, the mailman comes, and as you flip through the junk to find a piece that you actually need to read, you come across an envelope from the Real Estate Commission. As you reach for your letter opener to see what this unexpected correspondence might be, it dawns on you:

Obviously, with so little time to spare, it’s highly unlikely that you’ll be able to find a traditional class to attend that’s within 200 miles – unless you live in a large metropolitan area (and even then your chances only rise to about 10%). What’s more is that, combined with the dismal state of today’s economy, and more specifically the housing market, you couldn’t afford the hotel bill, gas or airfare, meals, and other expenses that you’d have to pay even if there was a seminar within a reasonable distance. You’re out of luck, right? Well, not necessarily.

Thanks to the growing popularity of the internet and the dedication of our staff, McKissock 100% Education has designed an online Virtual Classroom that will allow you to complete your required education affordably and with time to spare. McKissock 100% Education is a nationally recognized provider of online education for real estate professionals. We pride ourselves on offering exceptional education, with no exceptions, to business professionals in all eleven of the industries that we currently serve. McKissock began offering professional education in 1990. Today, McKissock offers online real estate and appraisal continuing education courses all across the nation.

Click HERE (or use the button below) to search for online Real Estate and Appraisal education courses that are fast, flexible, and simple to understand. Geared for business professionals like yourself, you can meet your educational requirements using a convenient online system that works around your busy schedule. They are also an invaluable tool to help you expand your knowledge base and augment skills that you will utilize in your career as a Real Estate or Appraisal professional. If you can’t find the course you need, don’t be discouraged. We are actively seeking acceptance for additional McKissock courses. Please check back often for new approvals.

You will no doubt be familiar with the multi-talented, always fun to be around and extremely knowledgeable Frances Flynn Thorsen from either her role as Extreme Value Strategist at Socialebb Strategies and Solutions, all round Social Goddess/Guru or from appearances on ‘America’s Most Wanted’ [not really! Love you Frances! ]. So it should come as no surprise that you will learn a lot from from the following presentation created by Tucson’s most in demand citizen. Prepare to learn…

You’ve seen it, everyone is using it and maybe you have even joined but how can Facebook help you make money in Real Estate? This class will give you a step by step process on how to start leveraging Facebook to prospect, build your Sphere of Influence, market yourself and Increase your Income potential.

Learn how to:

Join Jill Courville, Senior Instructor at Matthew Ferrara & Company for a quick-study on how to turn Facebook into your personal prospecting engine and supercharge your real estate business.

Class Starts: July 9th 12:00pm – 1:00pm EST

For a complete list of all classes: https://www.acteva.com/go/matthewferrara