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Archive for the 'Social Media for Real Estate Agents' Category

Block Your EX – Digitally

So you don’t have to go through that dreaded digital pain

By: Deena Nissley

Thanks to social media, we’ve all felt the silent sting of watching an X get progressively more attractive, a lot richer, or appear next to your old ‘best friend’on her latest photo album. With so many ways to run into people and information online today, we need the Ex-Blocker.

This application is an add-on to Firefox, Chrome, Safari and Explorer. In short, it prevents heartache. Enter your ex’s name, Facebook link or Twitter handle and they will be removed from your search. Even on Google.

It’s a righteous Band-Aid to the most modern of problems. If the dreaded target does pop up on your daily radar, you’ll see her info blurred out with the words EX-BLOCKED preventing you from any spying.

And when you inevitably reconcile, the Ex-blocker is a cinch to uninstall.

EwingSIR does not guarantee information contained in this blog, readers are encouraged not to rely solely on this information and to do their own independent research of facts contained herein. Blog information was obtained from independent sources that we do not endorse, and we do not investigate this information for accuracy.

Tags: ex blocker

Tina Stern Mentioned on Luxist

The benefits of inbound links and their relation to real estate

By: Stephen Roesler

Recently, Tina Stern’s listing on 221 5th Avenue in Venice Beach was mentioned in one of the most prestigious blogs for luxury items know as Luxist. The Cape Cod inspired home, listed at $1.899 million belongs to Mark Snow, the “X-Files” composer. Interestingly, the post on Luxist nearly doubled our daily internet traffic the last two days. Ironically, Luxist pulled the high end listing from the LA Times hot properties section.

From the aspect of search engine optimization, this quantifies the value of inbound links from respectable websites. Not only does it help our traffic, it increases the exposure of the property. It’s explains the basic exchange of information that occurs on the internet all the time.

The Luxist article can be found here.

EwingSIR does not guarantee information contained in this blog, readers are encouraged not to rely solely on this information and to do their own independent research of facts contained herein. Blog information was obtained from independent sources that we do not endorse, and we do not investigate this information for accuracy.

A Healthy Blog

Where does ‘good’ news come from?

By: Stephen Roesler

Creating a healthy blog oriented around community news is a project that requires an army of contributors that supply our readers with specific neighborhood news. Therefore, in light of our desire to expand and add more content, we’ve decided to open our blog to guest writers from the area. If you have community news that you would like to share on our site, please shoot me an email with your ideas. The goal of our blog is to create a platform where residents can visit and find highly specific news brought to them by existing community experts. Whether you’re a real estate agent, a local business owner, or a long time home owner, we believe the best news comes from within. You know what’s going on. After all, you live you here.

EwingSIR does not guarantee information contained in this blog, readers are encouraged not to rely solely on this information and to do their own independent research of facts contained herein. Blog information was obtained from independent sources that we do not endorse, and we do not investigate this information for accuracy.

Tags: community news, ewingsir, news

John Mayall at the Canyon Club

A pleasant surprise at the Canyon Club

By: Stephen Roesler

The Canyon Club, at least the way I know it, remains infamous for burn out bands, crapped out voices, and sometimes repugnant personalities. Occasionally, however, the most unsuspecting groups prove they deserve infinite praise. This was the case with John Mayall.

Walking in a few minutes late, I observed the thinly spread crowd calmly reclined in their chairs, imbibing the sounds as if they were spraying through the room. I grabbed a drink and casually strolled the center of the venue, noticing the notably older crowd. John Mayall, known more for his blues days in the late 60’s and 70’s, certainly attracted a well seasoned bunch. Scattered about, however, remained a healthy crew of up and comers as Jeff Biebyuck, former singer of Bad Blood commented. It became clear that these young artists were around to receive an education.

I immediately noticed Tom Canning on keyboard. Standing as if he was straddling a horse, the slender artist known for his productive relationship with Al Jarreau captured me with his violent solos. Canning handed his solo off to guitarist Rocky Athas who spontaneously stole the show. Acclaimed as the guitar lead for Black Oak Arkansas, Athas slowly faded into a rhythm as he lost his inhibitions; for moments he seemed to be existing in an entirely different reality than the stage of the canyon club.

Mayall, known for a multi-instrumental music career of over 50 years, is most praised for the founding of John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers. Mayall was influential in shaping artists such as Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce, and Peter Green of Fleetwood and Mac. Mayall’s long history was no mystery during the show as he and bass player Greg Rzab passed solo’s back and forth. Mayall, who is a sensation on harmonica, controlled the movement of the crowd as they vibed to the inherently pleasant blues rhythm. Long bass riffs followed by Mayall’s freestyle harmonica/beat box pseudo singing overtook the audience. There were people playing air guitar, women dancing, and one dude playing the drums with one hand the bass with the other.

Despite my past Canyon Club failures, this event certainly revived my interest. Here is a taste of John Mayall:

EwingSIR does not guarantee information contained in this blog, readers are encouraged not to rely solely on this information and to do their own independent research of facts contained herein. Blog information was obtained from independent sources that we do not endorse, and we do not investigate this information for accuracy.

How do YOU Use Your Smartphone?

Mobile Internet’s correlation to Social Media

By: Stephen Roesler

With the rise of the smart phone, users are spending more time on the internet.

Let’s be honest, most of us desperately cling to our smart phone. We rarely spend a waking minute without the temptation to fiendishly flip on our phones and check our texts, missed calls or voice mails. Or maybe you’re a weather fanatic, constantly updating the weather app to see if the 10 day forecast in southern California has changed. Believe me, it didn’t. I am THAT weather fanatic. It’s almost impossible to get away from the constant desire to maniacally scroll through the latest facebook posts or to aimlessly scour your tweets. YouTube is not easy to resist either. I mean, auto-tune the news is simply superb.

Recently, a study by Ground Truth revealed that 60% of all mobile internet time was spent on social media sites and applications. Portals are the second most popular category with only 14% of time spent on mobile internet. Observe the statistics below.

Deconstructing the study revealed that social media platforms like MocoSpace and AirG, which are designed for mobile use, maintain higher engagement levels than Facebook and MySpace which were designed for PC access. Thus, Facebook and MySpace are considering ways to improve their chat functionality to mirror the platforms receiving the highest user engagement.

As we consider the shift in hardware use from PC’s to mobile devices, we’ve responded by offering property YouTube videos to our agents. Anytime we receive a new listing, we create a YouTube video. With people spending more time watching video on their phones, this is another way to expose our properties. Our in-house social media team is working to give our agents the needed edge in a changing market.

EwingSIR does not guarantee information contained in this blog, readers are encouraged not to rely solely on this information and to do their own independent research of facts contained herein. Blog information was obtained from independent sources that we do not endorse, and we do not investigate this information for accuracy.

Tags: Mobile Internet's correlation to Social Media, Stephen Roesler

The Arms Race: Battle to the Top

What’s in your digital arsenal?

By: Stephen Roesler

Similar to the buildup of military weapons by the Soviets and U.S. in the mid 20th century, there is a hot pursuit to win the race to the top of Google. Regardless of industry, SEO (search engine optimization) is the name of the game. Embracing a marketing initiative that aims to promote exposure via organic search engine traffic may qualify as an organizations biggest hurdle. The heart of our online marketing efforts revolve around the concept of an online community. Let me explain.

If things are going ’social’ as I’ve advocated in the past, the goal then becomes utilizing our social power in a medium where the majority of people spend an unconscionable amount of time; the internet. Given that 85% of real estate searches begin online, we can assume our community relentlessly searches this diabolical machine named Google, which accounts for 65% of real estate searches alone. Therefore, we need to capture our audience on their terms. What are they looking for? How do they find it? What do they search? How do they think?

Answering these questions requires some research on Adwords and thoughtful website analytics tracking. But, that’s only one aspect of finding a community. Next, providing useful content becomes integral. EwingSIR has taken a unique approach which has doubled our organic traffic. We use a strategy that provides news to micro community’s in attempt to grow participating communities. By publishing online news that remains relevant to specific communities, we cultivate a community based on location. Not only are we highly targeted, we are personal and social. Therefore, we find specific buyers and sellers coming to our site, looking for services we offer. Not only does this community effort add to our arsenal of SEO tools, it builds an online community.

However, choosing to harness one SEO effort will only result in limited exposure. Winning the arms race requires a full scope of social media efforts rooted in a strong SEO crusade. Go forth, soldiers.

EwingSIR does not guarantee information contained in this blog, readers are encouraged not to rely solely on this information and to do their own independent research of facts contained herein. Blog information was obtained from independent sources that we do not endorse, and we do not investigate this information for accuracy.

Tags: Social Media for real estate, Stephen Roesler, top of google

Social Media: I Don’t Want to Know

IRobot: The rise of the Machine

By: Stephen Roesler

I often hear intelligent people saying they want nothing to do with Social Media. Habitually explained as “just another trend,” Social Media is frequently received as another trifling distraction from business. Instead of the desire to embrace, many prefer to remain blind to this social transformation. Whether we don’t have time or remain indifferent, apathy will not eliminate Social Media.

Rather than explain the business implications of ignoring the emerging social networking trends, let’s consider the societal implications of emerging technological forces.

Throughout education we are continually pounded like slabs of meat with one simple message, learn from history. However, if we’ve learned anything it is that humans, in fact, learn very little from these history lessons and that, itself, is a much larger lesson.  Continually, the human experience is full of shock and bewilderment at our social state. Holocaust, genocide, war, poverty; we are relentlessly caught off guard by the forces that have seemingly emerged overnight. Today, it is the rise of the machine.

As our society becomes further dependent on technology, we are forced to compensate with over organization. As a result, more people live subordinate lives as they slave to the rhythmic pulse of Google’s uncouth palpitation. Meanwhile organizations inflate, bureaucracy expands and hierarchy deepens. Before long we have massive sectors of society unaware of the progressing hand of technology and the undeniable change of social condition. Suddenly, people find themselves in places they didn’t want to be, relentlessly engaging in things they never intended to do.

Social Media is fundamentally changing communication. It’s transforming the way we gather knowledge, it’s shaping how we understand our world and it remains an undeniably catalyst for immense social change.

At the hub of this revolution stands the proverbial “Search.” We’ve created algorithms that allow us to scour the collective knowledge of the human race, something that’s never been possible before the Internet. We maintain access to nearly any fact that’s ever been recorded. And we can find it in seconds. We are creating robots that are more accessible and clever than the human mind.  Essentially, we are combining the brightest minds of our current world and pouring those capabilities into one organized system that is capable of hyper intelligence. I am not sure if it’s exciting, fascinating or redoubtable. Whatever it is, Social media is simply one clear way in which our society is progressing. Let’s not ignore where we’re heading.

EwingSIR does not guarantee information contained in this blog, readers are encouraged not to rely solely on this information and to do their own independent research of facts contained herein. Blog information was obtained from independent sources that we do not endorse, and we do not investigate this information for accuracy.

Tags: IRobot, social media, Stephen Roesler

Tweet: A fleeting, unenduring, ephemeral string of words

The staying power of the Tweet; the revival of the funk

By: Stephen Roesler

A facade? A guise? A veneer? Who knows, pick your word.  Generally, a Tweet is short lived and largely ineffectual on a mass scale.  With Twitter receiving roughly 600 tweets per second, it’s no wonder that a Tweet is typically lost in cyberspace.

Generating followers on our Twitter account has proven torpid. However, this week we are testing a new product called Motor Twitter that has increased our follower list by roughly 50%. The system allows us to schedule tweets and repost them automatically. So, instead of a tweet lasting a few seconds before it’s kicked over to the second page, our tweets roll out and catch our followers who don’t spend every waking hour anticipating the next earth shattering tweet.

If the goal is to drive traffic to our website, this is certainly one strong initiative.  Under this system, we capture an extra 1,000 visitors per day. That’s more traffic, more eyeballs and more brainpower.  We like brainpower. Now that we are beginning to accrue more visitors, our marketing team is pondering the purpose of Twitter in the Real Estate world.

It seems we can use twitter a few definite ways:

-> Tweet listings

-> Tweet Real Estate news

-> Use it as a customer forum

We are working on new ideas daily.  Let us know what you think.

EwingSIR does not guarantee information contained in this blog, readers are encouraged not to rely solely on this information and to do their own independent research of facts contained herein. Blog information was obtained from independent sources that we do not endorse, and we do not investigate this information for accuracy.

Tags: social media in real estate, staying power of the Tweet, Stephen Roesler

How Good are your Facebook Friends?

Why are they friending me? Does business and Facebook clash?

By: Stephen Roesler

We’ve all asked ourselves the question.  Who is this person, how do they know me, and why are they asking to be friends on Facebook? Ironically, much of the time we cannot answer such a seemingly basic question.  The reason, likely, is due to the now blurring definition of a friend.

Since the onset of Social Media, the idea of a friend is rather different from the classic sense. A friend may not be your old fishing buddy or your loyal, die hard shopping companion. Now, a friend could be an utter stranger.

With over 400 million users, Facebook neophytes are volatile, jittery beings that are friending everyone in sight. But what’s the point?  Now your newsfeed is overflowing with vapid status updates that remain inconsequential because you haven’t a clue who the person is, what they do and why they accepted a friend request from a stranger. Many are building profiles based on desperation. And, one thing we can extrapolate from a classic friendship is that desperate friends rarely last.

This is especially true for businesses. As organizations grow their friend networks, they must remain mindful of who they are adding and accepting into their sphere of friendship. Service oriented business runs the largest risk. If we add friends because they engage in similar or complimentary business, we better like how they conduct business. Afterall, in some sense, we are vouching for their quality of service.

If the goal of Social Media for business is to turn relationships into clients, then businesses should seek Facebook friends that correlate with their industry. Before friending someone or accepting a friendship, ask yourself a few questions:

- Could I benefit from this person’s industry knowledge or could they benefit from mine?

- Am I going for quality over quantity?

- Am I geographically desirable to this person?

As Facebook continues to grow, the idea of a “network” becomes more applicable. Although Social Media allows us to stay connected to more people than before, we can’t have meaningful social relationships with millions of people. We must draw a line somewhere and I propose that we start by limiting Facebook friends to people who we know and marginally trust their opinion.  Same goes for Twitter. Spreading yourself thin with an abundance of fruitless friends and futile follows won’t help anyone focus their efforts. Instead, we will create a massive database of information that becomes unnavigable. Let’s not defeat the purpose.

EwingSIR does not guarantee information contained in this blog, readers are encouraged not to rely solely on this information and to do their own independent research of facts contained herein. Blog information was obtained from independent sources that we do not endorse, and we do not investigate this information for accuracy.

Tags: Facebook and Business, Facebook Friends

The Personality of Ewing & Associates Sotheby’s Realty in Sherman Oaks

By: Jeff Biebuyck

Just to give our audience a visual presentation of our brand at the personality of Ewing & Associates Sotheby’s International Realty in Sherman Oaks, we shot a video in our office to showcase the unique personality of Ewing and Associates. Take a look at what we offer and let us know if it’s a place you would enjoy being apart of.

For a confidential appointment, call Jeff at 818-486-1763.

EwingSIR does not guarantee information contained in this blog, readers are encouraged not to rely solely on this information and to do their own independent research of facts contained herein. Blog information was obtained from independent sources that we do not endorse, and we do not investigate this information for accuracy.

Tags: The Personality of Ewing and Sotheby's