Your Business Approach To Social Media

Americans tripled the amount of time they spent on social networking sites in 2009 and these sites now account for 17% of all time spent on the Internet (from a survey)

There are more than 350,000,000 Facebook users, half of whom log in at least once per day. The average user spends 55 minutes per day on Facebook.2

The average household income of LinkedIn users is $107,278

According to the 2008 National Association of Realtors Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, the Internet is the leading source of information used in a home search (87%) while traditional avenues, like newspapers and home magazines, are used less than half of the time. With the Internet being used by the vast majority of buyers, it is critical that realtors are online and engaging with potential customers on a regular basis.

Which Social Media Is Right For You and Your Business
* Research them, including local platforms like one called Smaller Indiana
* Develop a Plan … just like any other Marketing or Customer Loyalty Plan
* Social Media is not the answer to all of your business, but can be a huge enhancement
* Think Value… how can you value your audience, and include posts that others might like… in other words, think of your audience, not necessarily what you want or like

Step One – The Profile
* People are interested in more than name and business, thus you should include the most professional and personal oriented information
* Build a complete professional resume on LinkedIn … include references and a history of your career paths, with lots of rich content that could be of interest

* Include places worked, and education, memberships, special hobbies and/or pastimes

* Include any areas of particular expertise

Your Audience
* Insert posts and information others would be interested in

* Vary your posts to create interest

* Post articles that might be helpful to others regarding health, finance, government,
sports, children, schools, neighborhoods, etc.

* Maybe even post a comical youtube item on your facebook page

* Try to stay neutral regarding politics or gear your political ideas to only people with the same right or left tendencies

* Remember not to offend anyone out there, it could multiply itself to others

* Be Polite .. Cordiality is a winner … say Thanks often

* Send individual posts when appropriate

Learn From Others
* Visit other’s pages and posts, profiles etc
* Gain from their successes
* Why re-invent the wheel? But always give credit when using someone else’s information

* If everything is about you, people will see right through it…


Selling on Social Media
* Remember social media is for creating contacts and building relationships, not for selling
* Never directly try to sell anything – you will turn people off and once you lose them, they rarely come back

* Remember you do not like to be solicited so why treat others that way
* No one purchases or deals with another person unless they trust that person or company

* Social media can and does create trust if used correctly
* Realtors should rarely post listings or properties for sale only on the listing type sights or in special close-nit groups you might establish that would be interested in listings

Share Valuable or Fun Information
* Comical items or quotes (clean ones only) can be a nice change of pace

* News articles or quotes from news articles can be valuable to readers

* Possibly a short video of interest on different subjects might be enjoyed by viewers

* Local news and/or television shows of interest are helpful

* National news subjects are always of interest

* Disaster relief and other emotional items can be of interest of course

* Highlight local or national businesses and maybe include good experiences with customer service

Include In Your Plan
* I normally visit other profiles and other people’s pages a couple times a week

* Remember life in general thus being active in social media is a learning process and you can learn from others out there in social media

Consistency
* Social media, if you want it be a successful business tool, must be viewed and acted upon in a very consistent manner.

* Here today and gone tomorrow does not work

* If you ask a question, respond to replies

* If you are going to use social media everyday that is fine, or three times a week that is also fine. But whatever time you devote, be consistent and show an interest in others



Arnie Goldberg VP Loyalty Builder, LLC agoldberg@loyaltbuilder.com

Indoor Air Quality Concerns?

By Angela Epps

Air purifiers can help.
They reduce air-born bacteria from mold, fungi and household chemicals found in many cleaners used in day-to-day house cleaning. These pollutants in your home’s air can aggravate asthma, allergies, and sinus problems, especially if your household has children or seniors. The EPA (Environmental Protection Association) estimates that the air inside your home can be up to ten times more polluted than the air outside the house. Along with reducing air-born bacteria, many air purifiers remove irritants such as pet dander, pollen, smoke, and dust (less house cleaning!) from your home’s air and make the air smell cleaner by noticeably reducing odors. Which air purifier is right for you?
When considering using an air purifier in your home, make sure that you check the purifier’s CADR (Clean Air Delivery Rate). The CADR is not tested by the company manufacturing the air purifier but by an independent laboratory based on three different particles. Smoke, pollen and dust are released into a room and the ratings are based on how long the air purifier takes to clean the surrounding air. Basically, the larger the room in your home, the higher the CADR rating has to be for it to clean the air in the whole space and for you to receive the health benefits of using it.

Air purifiers don’t help with everything.
It is important to know that most air purifiers, unless you buy an expensive industrial one, do not remove gases such as carbon monoxide or radon from your home’s air. Your house should have separate devices that test for these health risks.

Selling Your Home

By Sally Aquire

Setting the right price is crucial when selling your home. If you overestimate the value of your house, you risk alienating potential buyers who will not be able to afford to buy it. On the other hand, pricing your house at far less than it is worth can leave potential buyers wondering whether it has hidden problems. Having your house professionally valued can help you to set a fair price, but what happens if this price is not fetching any buyers? At this point, homeowners often toy with the idea of lowering their asking price to clinch a sale. However, some homeowners would be better off waiting for the difficult market to ride itself out, especially if the house in question is desirable in terms of size, location and amenities.

Selling Seasons
The selling season in which you first put your house up for sale can have an impact on how long it takes to sell. The housing market typically starts to warm up during the winter months and reaches a first 'peak' from April through to June. After the summer passes, the selling season tends to slow down again until a second 'peak' begins from September to Thanksgiving. Between Thanksgiving and New Year, the housing market slows down again.
Listing your house during one of the 'peak' selling seasons is a good way to ensure that it will receive as much interest as possible from potential buyers.

Standing Your Ground
In a difficult market, houses can take up to a year to sell as the number of sellers is greater than the number of potential buyers. In this situation, it is often unrealistic to expect a quick sale, so try not to panic if your house does not sell quickly after first going on the market. If your house is in a location 'hot spot' or is particularly desirable, it makes little sense to lower your price, as this type of house is likely to attract plenty of interest from potential buyers unless it is grossly overpriced.

Cutting Your Losses
If your house has been on the market for a year or more without a sale, it is probably time to lower the price. As some time has passed since it was put on the market, you may need to take a significant hit on the asking price to interest potential buyers. This is obviously not ideal, but it may be the only way to clinch a sale if you have been unable to secure a sale at the current asking price.

Many buyers look upon price reductions as an indication that you have admitted defeat on the previous asking price, and will often come in with an offer that is below the new asking price. In this situation, you need to decide whether you can afford to accept the reduced offer or whether you are prepared to wait for a different offer. The latter can be a risky gamble as a higher offer will not necessarily be forthcoming, especially in a difficult market.

GREATEST BUSINESS RISK TODAY - LOSS OF EXISTING CUSTOMERS

We are finding the greatest risk in today’s business is the loss of existing customers. And we all have known the best opportunity for growing sales is through your existing customers... would you agree?

You must know who are your core customers and find out which satisfied customers can become loyal customers. There is a big difference between satisfied and loyal.

Nothing beats meeting a loyal customer for breakfast, lunch or a cup of coffee. Second is picking up the phone and talking for a few minutes with your grade A customers. Third and just as important is a consistent way to create value added benefits and consulting services for customers to differentiate you from those trying to erode your customer base.

But first you must know your customers well enough to know which are "core loyal customers" and which could be "cultivated" to become core loyal customers. How do you accomplish that? "DEEPER" KNOWLEDGE OF YOUR CUSTOMERS BEYOND THE "OUTER SHELL"

Your customers do not always want to hear about real estate! In fact most of the time you they do not have any interest in real estate. You must trigger their work-life interests, home-life interests and lifestyle interests.

There are companies that offer services and or programs to help you accomplish just that. Seek them out and find companies that specialize in customer relationships.

Arnie Goldberg .. Loyalty Builder, LLC ... agoldberg@loyaltybuilder.com

Loyal Customers - How Many Do You Have?

We are finding the greatest risk in today’s business is the loss of existing customers. And we all have known the best opportunity for growing sales is through your existing customers
The key is to discern who are your core customers and find out which satisfied customers can become loyal customers. There is a big difference between satisfied and loyal.
• Nothing beats meeting a loyal customer for breakfast, lunch or a cup of coffee.
• Second is picking up the phone and talking for a few minutes with your top flight customers.
• Third and just as important is a consistent way to create value added benefits and consulting services for customers to differentiate you from those trying to erode your customer base.
It is not enough to be good in today’s business climate. You need to be creative and a true consultant for your customers both new and existing. Everyone is shopping every purchase with more and more scrutiny.
You must become a resource for not just real estate but for life in general. Helping a customer replace a washer and dryer, helping them with green initiatives, or even giving a customer a business lead can help you differentiate yourself from the daily tumult.
Follow through is critical. So you must engage, act and consistently communicate in helpful ways.


Arnie Goldberg, Co-Founder VP, Loyalty Builder, LLC
Loyalty Builder is a relationship management and marketing firm that I believe is dramatically different from the standard industry focused firm. We are driven to generate relationships to grow your real estate business.

TEAMWORK LEADS TO GOOD CUSTOMER EXPERIENCES

I believe one step owners and managers can take to help their agents is to bring three top notch (world class) mortgage brokers into their office (one at a time) for a very detailed interview.

Let's face it, closings depend upon teamwork between an agent and a mortgage person.. Why not be proactive to find the very best mortgage people in your area to work with your agents... Let them compete for the business, but also create some loyalty with them. Often they have different specialties that are critical in getting deals to the closing table.

Good teamwork is not just closing the deal, but making sure the experience is topnotch and it takes coordinated effort to accomplish that. Good communication amongst the team and the client is crucial. Remember the attitude has to be "what is best for the client."

Arnie Goldberg, VP Loyalty Builder, LLC agoldberg@loyaltybuilder.com

Janet Guilbault Article - OPPORTUNITY 2010

This is the best description of business employee attitude I have seen. Of course this is not all companies, like USAA, and Nordstrom where customer service is world class.

Quoted by Janet Guilbault:
In the so called "new economy" of 2009, business strategy revolved around this miserable mindset:

1. Let's fire everyone we can, cut the pay of those left (they're lucky to have a job, after all), then try to operate normally with one third of the staff.
2. Let customers figure it out. Send them to our website.
3. Let customers wait on hold forever or go straight to voice mail jail.
4. Let customers wait in line.
5. Let customers stand at the front desk and ring a bell if they expect service. We fired our receptionist months ago.
6. Heaven forbid we should pay anybody to talk to anybody! If they need support they can e-mail us.
7. Why should we be friendly or nice? We're in a recession after all.
8. Let's make our product worse to save money. Half the size, half the warranty, half the quality. No one will notice. If they do it will be too late.
9. Let's cut our hours, close locations, and turn down the heat.
10. If we absolutely need to hire someone, let's hire a part time employee, pay no health insurance, no benefits, and give them no training
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YOU CAN BUILD AND ATTRACT MORE BUSINESS BY THE FOLLOWING ACTIONS

Again quoted by Janet Guilbault

Simply make these resolutions:

1. I will grant customers the ability to talk to ME (not to my voicemail and not to my e-mail)
2. I will call them before they call me.
3. I will have live, face to face meetings with my customers whenever I can (what a concept!)
4. I will remember that a crabby customer needs my sympathy more than anything else.
5. I will go out of my way to show I genuinely care by asking directly what the customer wants and needs.
6. More than anything, I will cause my customers to believe they matter, and they are important.
7. I will never allow my customers to know I am feeling crabby, overworked, or underpaid.
8. I would rather have fewer customers that are lavished with attention than many customers who get no service, or poor service.
9. In a world where service is getting worse, mine will get better.
10. I will know my stuff.