Presented by @briansolis.

It’s 2011 and we have lots of new tools. If you took all the advice we wouldn’t have a life.

The big TV networks have captured our attention for years. Now that’s happening online. Now we have to deal with G+. What’s next? Everything is changing, there will always be a new challenge, a new network.

Consumers have a lot of decisions to make. They need help.

Google went to 20 million users in 3 weeks, and that wasn’t at the expense of other networks.

Digital Darwinism is changing business. Companies fail to see how disruptive technologies might affect them.

We know this is a new game, it’s time to create our own rules.

Use the tools we have to listen and learn how we can help others.

Clients are confused, they need clarity and direction.

People want information to come to them. They don’t want to go to a destination to find it.

Consumers occupy different places on the adoption bell curve.

Weight where your best off spending your time and money. Find out your path to relevance.

Traditional consumers get info through paid TV and print. Digital consumers. Connected consumers is enthralled in their own egosystem .

Word of mouth is shifting to digital, to mobile, to social.

The traditional marketing funnel is gone has replaced by a decision ellipse. It’s a process that doesn’t end. They use technology to confirm their decision.

5 I’s
Intelligence – finding the answers, getting insights
Insights
Ideation
Interaction
Influence

What happens after we engage people? There is no box to think outside of.

Clients are finding Facebook as a way for people to connect to agents. Place for agents to share hyper-local content.

Put together a business plan first. Use Trulia voices to build credibility.

Agents using groups on LinkedIn. Match your style with the platform.

If they enjoy creating a blog start a blog. If you’re not a writer find free content and become a content curator.

Follow local people on Twitter. Search for people with interests outside of real estate.

Think relationship not transaction.

Use Alltop or Google Sparks on G+ to find relevant content.

Having someone do your social media is like outsourcing taking your wife out for dinner.

Have tasks that you do daily.

Don’t build something unless you’re willing to live in the space.

Create a LinkedIn profile and a Google profile.

On The Australian the Queensland Police Service outlines how they used Facebook to proactively deliver news during the recent Queensland floods.[tweetmeme]

What stands out is the way the usually conservative QPS embedded social media into their daily processes. Social media was no longer an afterthought to keep Gen-Y’s entertained but a part of their core news delivery strategy. From these processes came faster delivery of news in a rapidly evolving crisis.

Managing Facebook and Twitter didn’t cause a spike in the media unit’s workload, but changed its responsibilities to include monitoring user-generated comments. “We’ve integrated social media into our ordinary (daily) 24-hour processes,” Charlton says.

And that’s something I’m yet to see agents achieve. All too often Facebook and Twitter is left to the whims of sales people or the receptionist when it could be used as a way to create efficiencies and improve customer service.

Have you seen an agency using social media for more than just pimping out listings? If so please share the story in the comments below.

Photo: martinhoward

An online survey, conducted by Postling, of more than 500 real estate professionals in the USA has found:[tweetmeme]

• 84% of real estate agents use social media.
• 79% use Facebook and 48% use Twitter.
• Most (55%) feel comfortable using social media, while 26% are only somewhat comfortable.
• Agents are missing opportunities by not using video for property marketing.
• 29% of internet searches result in a prospect contacting an agent.
• 45% of searches lead to a prospect walking through an open for inspection.
• Real estate agents are ahead of other industries in the use of Facebook but they’re behind in the use of Twitter and WordPress.

These stats demand agents rethink their web and video strategies.

Here are the links I’ve shared during last week.

The Five Elements of Authoritative Content. It’s one thing to produce content but another altogether to produce content that moves people to action. Through personal reflection a writer conveys how information has affected them and how it’s changed or reinforced their point of view. It’s this reflection that resonates with an audience.

Charlie Sheen Not Dead, But Virus Spreads On Facebook. Charlie Sheen’s meltdown has been well documented so when news of his “death” surfaced many found it plausible, clicking on a link supposedly containing a video. The only problem was the link contained a virus affecting a large number of computers. The takeaway here is to be careful about clicking, especially on stories that haven’t broken on credible news sites.

Introducing LinkedIn Today. LinkedIn just released a newspaper style page that brings together all of the most popular content shared by connections and influencers. It has a paper.li/Flipboard feel to it but it does make using LinkedIn more interesting and interactive.

12 Things To Do After You’ve Written a Blog Post. There’s nothing really new here but I liked the reminder to tailor the comment made in a status update to the intended audience. Sharing an article a number of times makes sense too, so long as this is done with a little restraint to avoid becoming spammy.

26 Ways To Use Social Media For Lead Generation. One of the main problems facing C Suite managers is the ROI of social media. Many believe it’s a good strategy but the execs in the A and B Suite keep asking “where are the leads?” In reality this article doesn’t address the issue of gaining more direct customers but it does a great job of explaining how social media can make a brand more accessible and attractive to customers. The premise then is that brands that are well regarded will attract more business.

How To Get Thousands of Facebook Fans With a Single Video. OK, the headline is probably an exaggeration, but the point is well made. Videos are an important way to generate interactions on a Facebook Page and those interactions often lead to new Likes. That’s what marketers want, right?

Cracking The Facebook Code. This is an oldie, but a goodie. It describes the results of field research done using a new Facebook profile and outlines the ‘tricks’ to getting into the Top News tab. It’s no surprise that new accounts take a lot of work to get noticed. Surprise, surprise, interaction is the key.

EdgeRank: The Secret Sauce That Makes Facebook’s News Feed Tick. This article describes in almost mathematical terms why some posts make it to Top News and why others don’t. The concept of objects and edges provide a theoretical basis for understanding how the system ticks.

The Mystery of The Facebook News Feed: How to Optimize The Hidden Jewel of Facebook. Another close look at EdgeRank that makes uses the analogy of a diamond to explain the concept of objects and edges. The more edges (likes, comments, shares) an object (a raw diamond, a new post) has the more valuable it is and the more likely it is to find its way into Top News.

21 Creative Ways To Increase Your Facebook Fan Base. Adding a comment box on a Facebook landing page is a pretty cool idea. There’s not many doing this so it would really set a Page apart from the rest.

[tweetmeme]How-To: Add An iFrame To Your Facebook Page As a Tab. A detailed tutorial from Reggie at MyTechOpinion. The process doesn’t look that hard. For a great example of it in action check out the MyTechOpinion Facebook Page. There are lots of options to get the most from the new look Facebook Pages and this is one of them.

Image Credit: Mashable.com on Flickr.

• On 1000 Watt blog, Brian Boero offers some suggestions about writing blog posts based on content that agents already have. They’re sitting on a goldmine, he contends, and it’s time to step up to the plate and start delivering.

Right now you’re like a New York City department store with no windows, a Sushi place without the little plastic food in the window.

Hiding your goods from the marketplace. Failing to use their power to engage.

If you’re a brokerage of any size, you have tons of content to play with. You have access to an IDX feed. And, I would imagine, a camera.

There’s no excuse. No, not even MLS rules.

Come on agents, it’s time to get busy!

• Max Kalehoff provides a short explanation of content delivery networks (CDN’s). They’re used to deliver web content faster. And with Google including page load speed as part of their ranking algorithm it makes sense to look at using one, especially for high traffic sites. According to Max:

A good Web hosting provider with dedicated servers and clean coding are critical to website speed. But so is a content delivery network, especially if your site is subject to visitor spikes and geographically dispersed traffic, and contains large multimedia files (like video). The largest online publishers have already made CDNs part of their online infrastructures.

It’s probably not something I need to look at for this site but I wonder what the portals, franchises and marketing groups are doing.

• Jay Baer is right; we’ve seen this social media movie before. Where? Email marketing. Opt-in, subscribers, open rate, impressions, CTR: they all mean the same thing only just in a different setting. He concludes:

For more than a decade, the world of email has hoped to send messages of such vigor and verisimilitude that recipients would be compelled to click a “forward to a friend” button to send the message onward to their compatriots, who would surely benefit from its contents. That F2F rate has historically been tracked by email marketers, although it’s accuracy is poor since it’s easier to just click “forward” in your email software, than to click the button within the email itself.

In social media of course, this sharing behavior is the coin of the realm. Retweets, Facebook shares, Diggs, Stumbles, and now Linkedin shares are badges of honor, displayed proudly atop each blog post like family crests of feudal lords.

That’s a lot of similarities. Does anyone else feel like we’ve seen this movie before?

In short it’s time to stop thinking of social media as a special case. It’s not. It’s just a different horse in the same race.

• On the Geek Estate blog Drew Meyers recommends blogging about local free wi-fi hotspots. It’s a cool idea. He suggests doing more than just grabbing information off the web but actually going to the place (café, library, restaurant) and interviewing the owner or manager. Then he poses the real kicker:

To really maximize your time and effort, don’t just write about wifi options based on what you find on the web — go there, talk to the staff, and write from first hand experience — and send the owners of those establishments the link to your blog post once you’ve written about them. Better yet, use that email as a conversation starter and convince the owners to blog for you on your local blog (that’s the holly grail)!

Great idea, huh? Bet there’s no-one doing that in your patch. Know what that means? You could be the go-to person and carve out a niche for yourself. Much of this post was written at Rifo’s in East Victoria Park. They have excellent free wi-fi and even better coffee. So what are you waiting for?

• Finally, Kristin Rawski from Excite Media provides an analysis of the Oreo’s Facebook page. She explains that they could be more responsive about the content they share but praises their World’s Fan of the Week contest. That contest encourages fans to upload a photo of themselves in exchange for the chance to be featured on the page avatar. I wonder if they got Facebook’s permission to run that contest.[tweetmeme]

“Choosy” Western Australians turn online for love

Findings from the RSVP Date of the Nation Western Australia Report were released today, revealing the State’s dating and relationship trends.

In Western Australia, 54 % of adult males and 48% of adult females are single and less than 7% of this group are not currently interested in dating.

The most common ways to meet a partner in Western Australia are through friends, family or work. However, the biggest challenge cited by single people in Western Australia when trying to find a serious relationship was that there are limited opportunities or events to meet other single people.

“Western Australians are recognising that online dating [is] a great avenue for meeting new people outside of their established social circle and 30% of Western Australians have used online dating, 5% higher than the national average,” said Lija Jarvis, RSVP Spokesperson. “Further, of those who have not used online dating, 42% of people are considering it – again above the national average of 38%.”

“Attitudes towards online dating have shifted significantly over the last few years, most singles now view it as simply a smart and viable way to meet new people, by no means a “last resort”. It was interesting to note that there appears to be a trend towards getting online to date quite quickly after a break up, 41% of online daters in Western Australia have been single for less than a year,” added Jarvis.

The second most cited challenge to finding a partner comes down to Western Australians being fussy about what they want in a partner.

According to the research, the top priorities when searching for a partner are (percentage of Western Australians that ranked the quality as important); personality (93%), manners (92%), sense of humour (92%), sexual chemistry (92%) values and morals (88%). The least important priorities for Western Australians were religious beliefs (25%) and ethnic background (34%).

Once Western Australians find a partner, they prove to be one of the most loyal States (only behind South Australia). Compared to the national average of 34%, only 29% of Western Australians admit to being unfaithful in a relationship.

The Western Australian online dating experience (% of Western Australian adults);

• 30% have used online dating
• 62% know someone that has used an online dating site
• 31% know someone that has married as a result of meeting online
• 57% would openly discuss using online dating services with their friends

“With so many Western Australians getting online and having successful experiences, the stigma towards online dating has all but disintegrated,” added Jarvis.

Source: AAP

It’s been a big week in social media. And there was no bigger story than the launch of the new Old Spice ads. Of course it helped that the star of the show was by all accounts hot (is there a bit of man-crush at work here?) and the ads were witty and cleverly crafted. Jonathon Crossfield argues that ‘Are you influential‘ is the big question facing online marketers. The clear answer is Old Spice has influence in spades.

Of course it helps if the star of the show has the body of Adonis and…I digress.

What got the marketing world all aflutter was the way Old Spice tapped into social media. It must have been tempting for Old Spice to produce a couple of commercials, hit the airwaves and hope some kids sent it to YouTube.

They didn’t.

Old Spice jumped on the front foot. Through their @oldspice Twitter account, Facebook page and YouTube channel they invited the public to pose questions to Isaiah Mustafa. And that’s where the fun begins. The creative team then got busy creating 185 video responses, each cleverly written and completely personalised. They cranked out one every seven minutes.

And then just as fast as it started it ended. There final tweet said simply:

Well friends, like all great things this too must end.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFDqvKtPgZo

Women the world over wept. And not a few men.

So where does Old Spice take things from here? No, that’s the wrong question. The real question is where do marketers go from here. Old Spice have set the bar so high that marketers –well this one anyway–is struggling to draw breath. And no that’s not a man crush thing.

It’s as if Old Spice are playing in an entirely different league. To pinch an Aussie Rules phrase it’s like Old Spice have brought their own footy.

Admittedly this ad and the associated social media campaign isn’t cheap. But it’s the thinking behind the campaign that can be replicated by any marketer.

Follow my thinking here.

Real estate agents meet dozens of people every week. Many ask questions others also want the answer to. Why not answer them? Directly. In a personalised way. In front of a video camera. In a way that’s light and easy and maybe even entertaining. And then put them on YouTube and Facebook and Twitter and let your customers and friends become part  of your success.

Now there’s an idea.

Could you become the next Isaiah Mustafa?

How good is the new Hootsuite?!

Since their last upgrade they’ve added:

• A personalised dashboard thanks to their selection of unique themes. Options include the familiar green and blue ‘Classic’, sleek ‘Blue Steel’ – feels a bit like Facebook, or a dark ‘Magnum’ theme (my favourite).
• Hootsuite have Google Analytics “baked in”. I can now overlay tweets with web traffic. That gives me a sense of how my Twitter activity is translating to site visits. I like.
• Geo-location searches. Want to know what people are saying about a subject in your area. Just pop the term in the search box and hit the icon that looks like a cross-hair. Works a treat.
• Drag and drop image uploading. Just drag the image into the message box and it automatically loads with a shortened link.
• Share more on Facebook by including photo thumbnails plus titles, descriptions in wall posts, and view pictures and videos from friends in-stream. Prior to this improvement links sent to Facebook via Hootsuite displayed just the link. No photo, no customisation. Now you get to choose the thumbnail and description before hitting the publish button. Honest to god, it’s gold!
• Share Twitter messages with your network using Twitter’s Retweet tool. This one I don’t like so much as I prefer to add a comments in a retweet. It’s a small price to pay and I understand why they’ve done it. They do allow adding of streams to display retweets to you, by you, and by your followers.
• Display your social streams even faster — using HTML5, HootSuite caches content for immediate recall and less waiting for updates. That just means it’s fast. Time’s money. Money’s time.

Now all I want is a Hoostuite iPad app.

Our home of a decade and a half is soon to go on the market. It’s a stressful time. Choosing agents, sprucing up the gardens, patching, painting and packing. All make for challenging times.

Here in Perth, Western Australia it’s officially the start of autumn. It seems no one has told the weather though. A long, stifling heatwave would have any outsider feeling like it’s the middle of summer.

It’s not.

Soon leaves will start falling out of trees tired from a long summer of growth. The rake and leaf blower will come out of hiding to keep the yard pristine for a merry band of buyers and a host of nosy neighbours.

As much as falling leaves and leaf blowers are synonymous with autumn so is the never-ending chore of keeping friends and follower lists tidy on social networking sites. Neither job is glamorous.

Without regular maintenance gardens become messy and out of control. So do Facebook and Twitter streams.

On Twitter I regularly turn the leaf blower on spammers and folk who are only interested in pimping their eBook or affiliate programme. I clean out the gutters of my Twitter stream by unfollowing inactive accounts. With just a few minutes a day my Twitter garden is clean and tidy.

I keep my Facebook backyard in similar shape. New friends are added to lists – I have about thirty – that allow me to communicate with friends about stuff they’re interested in.

Almost all applications are blocked so my newsfeed only contains updates and news items. I don’t want leaves blowing across my front lawn and I certainly don’t want to see who’s had a psychic reading from Tara the Clairvoyant.

Occasionally I ‘hide’ a friend, a bit like I keep an old saw tucked in the back corner of my garden shed. I recently removed someone from my friends list altogether. They left a pile of spam leaves on my wall. And I take pride in keeping my wall neat and tidy.

Just like my front yard.

Best I stop writing now. I have a hedge to trim.