We are in an always “Connected” world. Find time to unplug.

Note: the blog has been a bit stagnant lately. I have been extremely busy with travel, new clients and building a business. This is not an excuse but rather an apology. Please leave feedback about these audio posts. I really enjoy doing them.

Thank you!

Photo Credit: John Meadows

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1. Twitter – Ok, Twitter might sound like a cliche tool but Twitter has become my large net. What I mean is that I am able to scan for specific terms and chat with many over the twitter interface using tweetdeck or seesmic desktop. If I am looking for information on a certain topic or people with a specific interest Twitter is the quickest way to do this. Not a lot of deep collaboration happens here for me but it provides massive access to people I might never have known.

2. Skype – Skype is a free tool that allows you to make free skype to skype audio and video calls as well as text chat. Skype is a great tool for one to one or one to few collaboration. I have been using it for one to one for many years and plan to use it for an upcoming mastermind group that I have formed with some close friends and colleagues. I suggest starting your own weekly mastermind session. heck, schedule a skype video lunch with someone who you want to connect with!

3. Google Docs – Google docs is a pretty well known tool for collaborating on documents with a team. In fact the entire google office like sweet allows for collaboration and editing. You have the ability to set permissions for those with editing capabilities as well as those that are only able to view.

4. Google Wave – Wave can be a bit choppy at times and not so easy to use, but it is still in beta. The potential of wave is huge, but I mainly use it for project notes and brainstorming. Wave allows multiple people to add to a document and threads together all of the workings within a specified project. If you are sharing websites, notes, documents, and actively brainstorming a project give wave a try.

5. Yammer – Much like twitter yammer is private and by invite only. Yammer works by email extensions. So if you have a number of people with a similar email extension then any of the updates made in yammer would be visible to them. You also have the ability to group and friend people the same way you can on twitter. This is very convenient in large organizations. If more organizations utilized the power of yammer they could possibly take a huge amount of weight off the email servers.

6. Dropbox – The final collaboration tool is perhaps the most powerful and underused. Dropbox is cloud storage for large files. If you work collaboratively on large documents, photo editing, video, or audio dropbox is a must have. These files are often too time consuming and large to send by email. Dropbox allows to to drop a file into a shared folder and distribute to the collaborators. When I was learning how to produce audio podcasts John Meadows and I wore out our dropbox accounts.

Tomorrow I will share my 6 favorite WordPress plugins.

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Fact #1 – 80+% of Home Buyers use the web to research schools, location, pricing, and gain general knowledge before they even talk to an agent.

This means that 80% or more of your potential home buyers are searching the web way before they contact you as an agent. They are researching the area and getting a general sense of the market well before you have the chance to advise them. My advice to you is to BECOME THE RESOURCE. Stop thinking of yourself as a listing in the local yellow pages or a line item in a directory of possible realtors, but rather as the key resource in your target regional location.

Fact #2 – Realtors, Brokers, and Agents in general have a perception problem. The only time you talk to one unless they are a close friend is when you are going to be spending a lot of money. I don’t know about you, but I don’t like doing business on that scale unless I have a huge amount of trust for that person. It’s sort of like the local gym membership. The only time anyone on staff approaches you is when your membership dues are coming due. USE DIGITAL CHANNELS TO BUILD TRUST.

Solution: Search is the Key

As we stated above a huge amount of research takes place online before a realtor or agent is ever consulted with. This says to me that YOU as a realtor or agent better be spending a huge percentage of your marketing budget and personal time mining the digital space. Yep, no more wasting your time with a scan of your business card in the local newspaper or church bulletin. That is thinking like a listing again. What would compel someone to use you based on your head shot in a publication?

Solution: Become a Resource

I have no doubt that any 101 real estate marketing you learned early on was very much what everyone else was doing. Print cards, make cold calls, ask for referrals, submit to directories, direct mail, and of course the business card scanned and placed in local papers and bulletins. All of these things are tactics to get your name out there, but they fail in helping you build relationships and really just present you as another option on the list. How do people find out about you anyway? Right, referrals from friends. In the system I am about to present to you I will show you how to become resource rather than a listing.

Solve Search and become a Resource ~ How this might look

Above is a graphical display of how an agent might approach the social media space. The entire solution hinges around the REA Blog. This is the blog of the agent herself. In this blog she is a resource to people who are looking for information about the area she sells in. In her blog she would cover local events, craft fairs, schools, crime stats, and local stories of interest. The density of the information and keywords will surely position her in search as a local resource. Of course this blog will have her contact info, as well as a bit about her and the service she offers.

The Yellow dots located and interacting with the REA Blog are actually domain names of the homes that she is listing. With each home that the agent is listing she will purchase that domain. It might look like www.145tomtomavenue.com. The home URL will also have a small blog that gives info about the house, maybe some pictures or video and note from the sellers. The content on each of the home URL’s will be unique to the seller and is really only limited by creativity. The key here is in understanding what is going on from a digital perspective, With each new URL purchased you have a small sales device for each home and the linking back and forth from the REA Blog to the home URL’s will create a massive digital footprint over time. This large digital footprint will push you to the top of search engines and position you as a resource in your local area.

I have been asked quite a bit in the past few months to share this formula and to most of you who understand the digital and social media space this will make a lot of sense. For those of you who are looking at this a bit cross-eyed please leave your questions in the comment section and I will do my best to answer them. If I have enough interest I will write an e-book that really starts at the very beginning and works you through all the steps and theory. Real Estate is not a specific focus for me and there are many other industries that can take advantage of this outline. How might it work for you?

If you would like me to provide a workshop or keynote for your agency or organization please feel free to contact me.

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7Th Son Descent is a thriller novel written by JC Hutchins. To be 100% transparent JC is a good friend of mine and I was honored to be able to read this book before it officially hit the shelves. Let me tell you! This book is a thrill ride from cover to cover that you will not want to put down.

Master Story Teller

I first learned of JC Hutchins and his story-telling when he released his 7th Son podcast! From the first line of the first book I was hooked. In fact I was so effected by the book that I decided to make a wood sculpture themed after the “Cloning Chamber”, one of the coolest key elements in the book. I don’t want to give away the plot and I certainly don’t want to give you any spoilers, but if a blend of Mystery, Sci-Fi, Crazy Hackers, Clones, and Action get your blood boiling you’ll want to pick this book up for yourself and your closest friends!

My Offer!

- UPDATE – The five copies are now accounted for. Here are the winners: Anthony Miller, Brandon Winrich, David Sobkowiak, Jeff Cope, and Joel Gerhold. They were responsible for purchasing almost 50 copies! Wow! Thank you all so much, and let’s keep this going for J.C. let’s do him proud!

I have purchased five Copies of JC’s 7th Son Descent. If you decide to make a purchase of three books or more and one of the first five to contact me with proof, I will guarantee that you will receive a signed copy compliments of myself and Mr. Hutchins! These are copies that I have purchased because frankly I love this guy and I’d do anything to see him be successful!

The Details!

Purchase three or more books and take a screen shot of your purchases or receipt and I will guarantee that you are sent a signed copy Free of charge! The offer is limited to the first five (for now) to email me with their proof of purchase. My email is keith (at) keithburtis (dot) com.

BUY YOUR COPIES NOW!!!!

The Ascent of 7th Son Descent!!!

The 7th Son Inspired Artwork I created in 2008

Order, Order Order, and lets drive JC Hutchins up the charts to New York Times Best Seller!

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First Impressions can leave a lasting effect.

I was 17 years old and I was in the market for my first car. I remember walking through the lot and being all excited and looking at all the shiny new cars on the lot of the local Dodge dealer. In just a few minutes my father and I were approached by a large man that wore a lot of flashy gold jewelry and a sported fast tongue. In his stroll over to me he sized me up and presumed to know what I wanted to spend, the car I should be driving and that if I went to anyone else I would never get that type of opportunity again. My father and I walked away quickly feeling like we needed a hot shower. So what does this have to do with digital marketing or the social media space you ask?

Opportunity: Social media has given you powerful tools to listen to unbiased and unedited conversations that are taking place around your brand, products and services.

Action: Take the time to aggregate real time conversations and learn exactly what your customers and patrons are seeking. More and more time and investment by your target audiences is being spent in the social online space. It is absolutely imperative to to reinvest conversely into the space. If you don’t someone else will and they will eat your lunch. If you don’t know how to do this find someone in your organization that understands the new digital social culture.

Twenty years later and they haven’t changed!

Today, my wife and I were driving past that car dealer that I had gone to as a teenager and saw four men in bright orange suits carrying signs warning consumers about entering that very dealer (Photo Above). Out on the public sidewalk in front of the dealer they paced with signs that said “Buyer Beware” and were offering printed materials warning people about sketchy sales practices going on inside. What lessons can be brought from this?

Fact: Consumers are not afraid to take action when they feel they have been wronged. Isolated offline incidents are becoming digitally logged events that go on to live with the effected individual and organizations forever.

Opportunity: As powerful as digital tools are for spreading bad news it is just as powerful for spreading good news. Companies and individuals that provide real value, foster trust, and put their customers first will reap the rewards of their culture.

Action: Create an interactive digital presence that allows your biggest fans to become your best advocates. Foster online community and bring your offline attitudes and procedure into the online space.

How are you shifting your offline strengths to the online space?

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If you are interested in the high quality photos from flickr I have released the all under creative commons in flickr. Please attribute to http://www.keithburtis.com properly.

A shout out to all the awesome people who let me capture them with my lens:

CC Chapman
Jason Peck
Brian Simpson
Laura “Pistachio” Fitton
Jason Falls
Jay Berkowitz
Sukhjit
Stuart Foster
Sarah Stanley
Rick Klau
Jeremiah Owyang
David Spinks
Tee Morris
Pip Ballantine
Chris Brogan
Darren Rowse (Problogger)
Brian Clark (CopyBlogger)
Arik Hanson
Dave Thomas
Jim “Genuine” Turner
Ted Murphy
Aaron Strout
Jennifer Leggio (MediaPhyter)
Connie Bensen
Rohit Bhargava
DebNg
Amber Naslund
Bryan Person
Margaret Francis
Eric Berto (GeekGiant)
Tom Martin
Jacob Morgan
Mitch Canter
Jay Berkowitz
Leo Laporte
Jill Foster
Robin Maiden
Justin Levy
Natasha Wescoat
Beth Cochran

Link Love and additional names coming. I know I didn’t catch everyone. Yet!

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For the Social Media veteran or Practitioner here are a few reasons you need to educate before you preach:

1. If people cannot interact they have no value to the community and will find no value in the tools.

2. You have a very small window of opportunity to help someone get involved. People are very quick to turn back to the “This stuff is stupid” way of thinking if they do not find value quickly.

3. You cannot tell a seasoned business owner to stop advertising in the Penny Saver classifieds or the local news listings without proving to them why craigslist or a host of other free classified services perform better.

4. Take the above thoughts and look outside of the fishbowl of people who “Get it”. Reel in your thoughts to when you were just starting out. Answer some of the questions that you had early on.

5. Finally, we have a massive number of baby boomers like my parents who own businesses. They want to keep up with the times. They are seeing revenues fall off and they are seeing the new kids on the block come in with more energy, more technology and more drive steal their business. Start these people with the basics and get that huge wheel rolling in the right direction. They’ll thank you for it and then they will pick up their old analog phone and refer you to their friends!

In November I will be hosting my first set of Social Media for Business Lunch and Learns in the Buffalo, NY and surrounding areas. If you think your business, group or organization can benefit please feel free to get in touch with me. I hope to have a bunch of these resources up in the coming week as well as more info about the Lunch and Learns. You can get automatic updates in your email very easily by clicking here (Email). You can also get updates to an RSS reader if you are a bit more advanced by clicking here (RSS).

If you are new to social media or an old salt, I’d love to hear your recommendations for what needs to be in the resources section. Thanks!

Photo Credit: Tracy Apps

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Organizational Development Network of WNY

Slide Deck

If you would like to embed this slide deck on your website or blog please attribute properly to http://www.keithburtis.com. feel free to print out, pass out, and give to your friends and colleagues. You will find the embed code at Slideshare If you would like a PDF emailed to you please leave a comment and I will get that right to you.

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Lets look at a few examples:

I asked Shannon if a toilet paper company like Charmin should be in the social space. After all it is just toilet paper at the end of the day right? Who is passionate about toilet paper and going to the bathroom? Don’t answer that question! Shannon’s retort was that a related passion around toilet paper might be the fact that it is or is not Eco-Friendly. Wow! Stroke of genius right? You might not find Charmin creating a facebook fan page, or knocking out viral videos on YouTube (but then again you might) but they might have success getting culturally involved in, enabling, and fostering communities around eco-friendly topics. Please note that I am not a certified environmentalist and really have no idea whether Charmin is eco-friendly or not, but it’s the idea that counts.

What are the related passions in your business or industry?

Do you sell monogramed hats like New Era? The related passion might be fashion or sports.

Do you have a consultancy or firm? How can you tap into the passions of your current customers and potential customers? Maybe a golf outing? How about a cruise that links a common interest similar to the way the guys at Social Fresh are approaching their event?

Enable Follow up

Once you have found that common passion or multiple passions for that matter give your community ways to follow up and engage. Community is big! It’s not a buzzword. Studies say that 43% of people engaged in an online community hold that community in as high esteem as they hold their offline communities. Remember to be of constant value and feed the need for new support and content around the passions of your community!

Rubbermaid ~ A Great Success

I want to leave you with a great success story on the theme of sharing passions. Rubbermaid, the maker of storage products, garbage cans, and totes took what I would say is a quite boring product and succesfully tapped into peoples passion for organization. Jim Deitzel and his team at Rubbermaid have enabled and supported the communities that are passionate about organization. They have a twitter page, website and even reach out to professional organizers at industry events creating a passionate ecosystem with the Rubbermaid brand tying the whole concept together. I would recommend checking out the work that Jim and his team have done for great ideas on how you can tie the related passions of your customers back to your brand.

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Monitoring Facebook Screencast:

What kind of real time searches are you doing?

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