New Port Richey, Florida Real Estate Blog

You just never know when you will catch a Great Photograph

I must admit, I saw the spectacular image while heading home.  What might surprise you is that I took the picture from my car traveling at 50 miles per hour.  Yet you have the imagery created by the illusion created by the clouds as well as the refelectve light.  This picture was shortly before sunset, but who really cares as it is spectacular on its fact, and is meant for your enjoyment.  All rights reserved

How to use Twitter Lists for you and your business REDUX

In case you missed the original blog on this, check out How to use Twitter Lists for you and your business

So yesterday I posted about the new hot twitter development Twitter Lists

I realized today I missed a few points.  it was time consuming to go through 2800+ (and growing) following to sort the creme de la creme into the lists I started with.

If  you have a massive following, far bigger than mine, it will be too overwhelming.  I believe I spent between 1 & 2 hours sorting through those I follow, while watching tv. If you are following too many people and have too little time, think up the lists you wish to create, and create them, and than add tweeters as they show up in your stream.

Than you also will see at the top of the picture to the left, that they now track how many lists you are on Twitter.  To accommodate this they moved your Tweet count up under your Twitter Name.

But one of the best ways to grow quality content, as a result of the lists, is to follow the list of a Twitterer that you admire / respect.  as you will see in the graphic on the left of this blog, there are my first 3 groups of twitter users that I follow.

The last list is @nik_nik's list of Real Estate Rock Stars.  I am following a list created by Nicole Nicolay.  So far as I can tell, you only see those tweeters when you click on the list.  Just because you follow a list, does not mean you are automatically following all those people as I saw no major jump in my following count by following her list.

But as you can see I have 2 lists Real Estate over loaded.  I am also proud to say one of the 7 lists I am on is @Nik_Nik's Real Estate Rock Stars.  If you do not follow Nicole Nicolay, I highly suggest you at least give her a try.  The great YouTube video she sends you (not automated) in a DM to thank you shows you the power of Twitter and how it can be leveraged to.  She is a character, and we all need people like her in our lives to put a smile on your face.

The last tip, at least for now, is I can not believe I forgot to include a Friends & Family In Real Life list.  The only reason is that I only have 1 friend, from real life, on twitter, and no family *shrugs*.  Everybody I know just doesn't get it.  But that is ok, because I realize Twitter is not for everyone.  From what I have seen, you either Love Twitter or just do not get it.

How do I break the 2000 following Limit on Twitter?

Well there are many ways to break through this limit on Twitter.  The most common ones you come across are the auto-follow programs, which spam you to hundreds of other tweeters hoping they follow you back.  However, these softwares are very generic.  They focus on people that have a history of reciprocating back, and following you, if you follow them.

Unfortunately, IMHO, it seems you just get to follow, and are followed by, others using the same or similar software.  And is that actually in your best interest, for growing your web presence?  I do not think so.  I am a Realtor in Hudson Florida and I am using these networks to try an build my internet presence, as well as learn and share knowledge about our industry.

So I stepped back from twitter and thought about how to best build my following in a smart, efficient and beneficial way.  And after looking at many tweets in my stream, I came upon my answer and a very smart tool for Tweeters.  It actually came from @Alyssa_Milano of whom I am a huge fan.   Yeah, you knew her as Sam in 'Who's the Boss' and other shows/movies.  While her acting is enjoyable, I am actually a huge fan of her Humanitarian works much more than her craft, but I digress.

What I found most effective to build my following was not to target the public, but other realtors.  So I started locally and expanded from there.  I started with following @proupdates a local Realtor Association ( Pinellas Realtor Organization) of which I am an affiliate of with my side business Agent Listing Websites.  Local Realtors for Local Information! Than I went wider and started following Floirda Association of Realtors (FAR) and the National Association of Realtors.

But that was just 3 following/followers so what is a guy to do to build his following, and eventually break the 2000 limit of following on Twitter.  and than Lightening stroke.  Follow those following the organizations important to your business.  So I just raided the followers list of the above organizations.  I was maxed out at 2000 following very quickly.   

So here I am following 2000 tweeters, but I did not have 2000 people following me back!  So what is an avidly interested Tweeter to do?  Well my friends, it is called Friend or Follow.  What this does is, as your following grows, it allows you to see who you are following but is not following you back.  And you eliminate them, if it has been a while since you started following.  Many people do not maintain their twitter account on a daily basis, but if its been months since their last tweet, or they have tons of followers but do not follow back, than dump them for somebody who is going to reciprocate.  Now a key to doing this efficiently is to use ctrl + left click on each avatar so they open in bulk in new tabs for you to review.   Also when your mouse hovers over the avatar it tells you when they joined, their date of their last tweet, number following and followers.

Now it takes time for your followers to catch up to how many you are willing to unfollow.  But maybe once a week, you do Friend or Follow and eliminate dead wood.  Now many times for me, in the beginning, I would be automatically following 2001 people almost as soon as I weeded out the dead wood.  Than when i got to following 2001 versus 1800 followers than I started to see a vast difference.  Ihave now punched out over 2000 following, and now the sky is the limit, and I did this all in the time since I joined ActiveRain.  My head was ready to explode a few times trying to 'get' all these Social network sites, but it has been worth it in the long run, with Twitter and ActiveRain being the best of all the Social Network Sites I have joined so far.

So put in a little time, give ActiveRain your Twitter account log in info so every blog you enter here is announced on Twitter with a link back.  And even if that is the total of your participation, it is yet another place marketing yourself FOR FREE.

And by the by, I am Love The Gulf Real Estate on Twitter

I encourage all to share their Twitter names so we all can follow and build each others networks, helping each other break the 2000 ceiling

edit: I also forgot to mention Realtor Magazine to follow, as well as tcar

Check out http://AgentListingWebsites.com  and use coupon code RealtorVIP for half off first month, no contract EVER.

My service Does just that.  it includes, on every listing page you generate, the AddThis tool, which allows you, with the click of your mouse, to share the new listing with many of your Social Media Networks.  Not only that, but when you go on a listing appointment, you bring the rider sign, with the web address for the house.  And you tell the seller that this sign will hang in your yard and it will Sell YOUR house and only your house.    It is not a website of all my lsitings, or all my firms listings.   You do not have to wade through a sea of listings to view it. Not only that, but here are some business cards for you, the seller to pass out among family, friends, co-workers, and anybody else who may be interested, or know someone who is, in your house. 

On top of that, not only will you, the Listing Agent use the AddThis tool, I suggest weekly, but your Broker can assign an staffer to do it as well.   And if your seller is active on sites, they can use the AddThis feature as well as, any interested buyers who view the webpage.

Now here is the key difference that enhances the powerful harnessing of Social Networks.  You only have 1(ONE) domain name.  You change the subdomain to identify each propety.  You make the sub domain  specific enough to speak to that property, but keep it general enough, so that when you sell that listing, you delete it's webpage, but than recreate it with your next listing.  Therefore all the promotion with AddThis that you, your broker, your previous seller, interested buyers, etc.. did, is still out there in cyberspace ready to be compounded by the neew rash of marketing of the Same URL but with a differnet property.  Since you ca reuse the web address' the Rider sign goes from house to house.  The business cards you give to sellers go from house to house.  it is all recyclable because while the URL is selling the house it is currently associated with, all the marketing, in print, online, etc... is actually promoting the URL, time after time after time.

Check out http://AgentListingWebsites.com  and use coupon code RealtorVIP for half off first month, no contract EVER.

Impressed? I hope so, because we charge no start up fees.  There are no contracts. If you are happy with the service and the upgrades to come, at no additional cost to you, you can continue to subscribe.  Your domain name of your choosing is included in your first months payment.  You are allowed unlimited listings, as many as you persoally get is all that limits the number.  And for now it is a flat monthly fee of $49.00.

************here is an example : http://Ex250.LoveTheGulf.com************

************another example is : http://Ex100.LoveTheGulf.com************

************another example is : http://Dan1.LoveTheGulf.com************

Its green, because everything is reused and reused.

It is keeping up with the latest technologies, and you have my pledge that it will continue to do so.

It is as easy, if not easier than brokerloading your Local MLS.

Check out http://AgentListingWebsites.com  and use coupon code RealtorVIP for half off first month, no contract EVER.

If I have not sold you on it yet, maybe this will do it

You can also add your trusted network of associates contact info & website 1 time, and it si automatically rendered on every listing webpage  you create.  Maybe your mortgage broker would like to assist you with the nominal monthly fee of $49.99 in exchange for having a link to their business on all 5/10/50/100 listing webpages that you have.  No, maybe your title company would than, or your home inspector, hell maybe even your hair stylist would like to swap links and pick up some of the costs.  If you have 10 people in your Trusted network and you charge them $5/month, all of a sudden my service is basically FREE for you.  Now you can just add your Trusted Network at no charge to them, if you want,  That is just the spin one of our initial clients came up with.  So besides the commissions he gets for selling each house he generates a webpage for, it actually makes him money because he is charging 20 people in his Trusted Network $10/month to have a link on all 72 listings he carries.  Automatically.  So the site costs him ~$50/mo and he charges $200/mo to his trusted network, which he than uses to entertain and thank hsi trusted network on a monthly basis

Now my idea behind having the trusted network was not based on charging fees, but in exchange for being on every webpage for every listing you carry, your trusted network members would agree to use the AddThis tool every week, for every listing, for every Social Network they belong to.

In case you all missed the announcement, recently Social Network sites just overtook Email as the dominant way people communicate.  Young adults dont really use their emal for anything more than signing up to Social Network sites.  That is where they keep in touch with each other.

Still haven't got you?  well do you have a smart phone.  Well if you do, you can book mark, on your phone browser, all your listings, and than beam any one of them to an interested buyer or another agent who is interested in one of your listings.  They see pics, they see all the data input on the website, but best of all, they ahve the address to view on their computer, without having to worry about losing a flyer

Check out http://AgentListingWebsites.com  and use coupon code RealtorVIP for half off first month, no contract EVER.

 ************here is a live example : http://Ex250.LoveTheGulf.com************

***************another example is : http://Ex100.LoveTheGulf.com************

***************another example is : http://Dan1.LoveTheGulf.com************