Nervous about jumping into the social media pool? Don't be!You're constantly being told that you need to set up a networking profile on all the social media sites. We're talking Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Active Rain, Pinterest, You Tube and more. One thing I've heard more and more recently is that many people don't move forward because they have reservations. Here are some tips if you are Nervous About Jumping into the Social Media Pool! If you are like many other real estate professionals, you have some amount of reservations about sharing yourself with the world. Let's face it, I'm not talking about just your work side. I'm not talking about just bits and pieces, but the real you. Why should you get started with a Social Media Marketing plan? I read an article on "Zift Solutions" w... 01/07/2014

Why Should You Start 2014 Off With A Marketing VA? Because... Ok, I know you hear it in your head - you know, what your mother may have said to you on occasion. "Because I said so!" Although that is a perfectly good answer for a mom, I'm not your mom! So I'm going to give you some concrete reasons Why You Should Start 2014 Off With A Marketing VA! First of all, let me explain what a Marketing Virtual Assistant does. A Marketing VA can: set up and maintain social media profiles; plan and implement a marketing campaign for your business; evaluate your current marketing plan and make recommendations for improvements; What does this mean for you? It means you'll have a team. It means you'll have someone in your corner whose sole purpose is to get and KEEP your name in front of your prime au... 01/06/2014

Family is Everything - Making Cheese (and Memories!)    This is a shot of two of the littles in our family - my son #3, Elijah, and my nephew, Alexander. Elijah and AJ (as we call him) were born a mere 6 months apart. As a result, they have grown up doing lots of things together. Here they are at Lake Farmpark making cheese. Elijah and AJ are not the only ones who do lots of things together in our family. The older set of kids are now ages 18, 17, 16, and almost 15. The younger set of kids are now ages 8, 7, almost 7, and 5 year old twins. Stair-steppers, as they used to be called. They all think of each other as brothers and sisters, not cousins. As a result, there is always someone to go do something with - and that's a good thing. The problem is usually a matter of choosing who will ... 08/26/2013

Unique Marketing Tips: October Here are a few ideas to help spur you into some unique marketing ideas for the month of October! If you'd like assistance in designing even more ideas or implementing a unique marketing campaign, just give me a holler!    October: 5 - Do Something Nice Day - Just do something nice for someone and see how it snowballs! 5 - World Teacher Day - Celebrate with others around the world to show teachers just how appreciated and special they are. 13 - International Skeptics Day - This is the day for skeptics to air all the things that they don't believe and get all their questions answered. 19 - Evaluate Your Life Day - This day is an opportunity to reflect on your life and make the appropriate changes. 25 - World Pasta Day - Celebrate the wonders of pasta and it'... 08/26/2013

Marketing Tip Monday: Facebook For RealAre you using Facebook for real?? I see lots of real estate agents who use Facebook in much the same context that they use ActiveRain. Quite a few postings about new listings or market reports but not much else. There are stagers who only show before and after photos. Mortgage brokers who only talk about the current interest rates. The problem is that, although it is awesome that you share your area of expertise on Facebook, you don't give people much to go on that they can't find elsewhere.Your Monday Marketing Tip is this: Facebook is a social networking site. If you're going to use Facebook, use it for real. That means, people on Facebook want to be social. In order to be social, you need to give people something to be social about. If you never... 08/26/2013

Marketing Your Business: Social Media 102 - ActiveRainAre you making the most of ActiveRain for your business? It's not just a blogging platform. It is so much more than that. It is social networking to the max for those in the real estate industry. There are so many ways you can use ActiveRain to promote, expand, and support your business.BloggingOf course, one of the primary ways to utilize your ActiveRain membership is through blogging. You can set up a blog in a matter of moments and post as regularly as you choose. Blogging is a fantastic way to put and keep your name out there. Through consistent blogging, you can notify your prospects, current clients, and past clients about what is going on in your geographic area. You can also use blogging to keep your contacts and sphere of in... 08/22/2013

Tuesday Tech Tip: RSS Feeds If you've ever visited a blog or website and really enjoyed reading that site, what is one of the first things you do? Typically, bookmark the page so that you can go back to it and visit it again at a later time. However, if you're anything like me, "a later time" could be months later. Enter RSS Feeds, stage left! With RSS Feeds, you can: Subscribe to your favorite blogs and websites and have them all in one place. Receive alerts when your subscriptions have updated - a new blog post, new content on a website, etc. You can even receive alerts letting you know when a new tablet has been posted on Craig's List or eBay! As you can see, RSS Feeds is a great way to keep up with all your favorite websites, easily. For more information about using RSS Feeds, check... 08/20/2013

Family is Everything - A Big Family    Here is my family - there are 16 people in our immediate family (one of my sisters is missing here). This was a picture taken when the twins (who I'm holding) were christened. We were almost all there with my pastor, Mark Ribbins. This was a great day. Of course, it didn't look nearly this full when the first child was christened. There were only 7 of us at that point. But over time, our family has expanded and expanded and expanded some more!Big families aren't that bad. I don't know what all the fuss is about. If you're from a big family and your car breaks down, you always have someone to call to come pick you up. If you're from a big family and you're broke, you always have someone to call and borrow money from. If you're from a big family and... 08/19/2013

Marketing Tip Monday: Don't Impulse-Buy at ConferencesAt many conferences and conventions, there is one thing that makes a standard appearance: vendors! They are there, no matter the convention. At the NAR Convention in Las Vegas one year, the vendors even walked the hallways to find people to send to their booths. That was dedication! This year, at the NAR Convention, being held in San Francisco, a whopping 400 vendors are expected to be present. This is, by far, not the only conference this year - there will be many, many more local and national conferences and conventions. You can bet one thing with a certainty - a large percentage of vendors will try to make you buy before you leave that conference!Your Monday Marketing Tip is this: Resist that knee-jerk reaction to buy all the best... 08/19/2013

What You Probably Don't Know About Me - Look At Me Now!There is an ActiveRain contest going on that is an effort to help members get to know one another. The point is to post 10 things about your past that people may not know. Then, you post 10 things about you presently that people may not know. I'm playing along! Here are my:10 Things From The Present That Many People Do Not Know! 1. I don't wear make-up. It is a rare, rare occasion where I'll wear make-up. I never did growing up and I usually don't now. If I do, it is just some lipstick, eyeliner, and mascara. 2. I love broccoli - and so do my kids. I don't like very many vegetables and of those three, broccoli is at the top of the list. 3. I cannot eat cold salad. That is the most disgusting thing. I have to heat it up. No matter wh... 08/17/2013

What You Didn't Know About Me - A Blast From My PastThere is an ActiveRain contest going on that is an effort to help members get to know one another. The point is to post 10 things about your past that people may not know. Then, you post 10 things about you currently that people may not know. I'm playing along! Here are:10 Things From My Past That Many People Do Not Know! 1. I joined the military when I was 19 years old. I was a member of the United States Army and was Honorably Discharged after 3 years, when I went into the Army Reserves. I only joined because I was bored and had nothing else to do (or so I thought). 2. I attended the University of Rochester with an intended degree of Biochemistry right after high school. I only went to school for 2.5 years but had way too much fun to... 08/17/2013

Just the Facts, Ma'am and Sir! Wrong Answer! A rule-of-thumb that I try to stick to when blogging is to reciprocate comments. What does that mean? Well, whenever someone comments on one of my blog posts on ActiveRain, I try to reciprocate by going to their blog and commenting on at least one of their posts in appreciation. Guess what I've been coming across a LOT lately...  Listings and Market Reports. That's it. How do you comment on a blog post if the only thing there is a listing? "Oh, that's a nice-looking house!"?? Uh, no. If I'm going to take the time to comment, I want it to be something worth saying. And if I can't find the real you on your blog, neither can your prospects. Do you get that? Blogs are supposed to be a way to help your prospects get to know you - get to know your ... 08/14/2013

Family is Everything - Birthdays at Chuck E. Cheese    Our family is large - there are 16 people in our immediate family. That means, we have lots of birthdays around here. As a result, we have lots and lots of birthday parties. Now, other than the 7 adults, we have essentially created 2 groups of kids: the big kids (ages 18, 17, 16, and almost 15) and the littles (ages 8, 7, almost 7, and 5 year old twins). The littles love having their birthday parties at Chuck E. Cheese. It's the highlight of their existence. We're trying to broaden their horizons and get them interested in other things and other places, but you know how little kids are. Anyway, the big kids loathe going to Chuck E. Cheese. One of them once said "Not Chuck E. Cheese! Can you just chain me next to a chalkboard and scr... 08/13/2013

Tuesday Tech Tip: Pagemodo Have you heard about Pagemodo? It's an app that allows you to make your social media marketing even more user-friendly than it already is. What can you do with Pagemodo? Well, here's a few things: Easily change your cover photo for Facebook and more. Create tabs for your pages quickly and easily. Set up contests to keep contacts engaged. Set up contact forms. Set up scheduled posts to send when you want to send them. The perfect way to set up and get your Facebook connections interacting with you. As you can see, Pagemodo is a something you should look into if you are ready to make your Facebook page a place where people want to continue coming back - again and again. ~Renae - Market 4 Real! _____________________________________________________________________... 08/13/2013

Marketing Tip Monday: Check Out Every LeadSo many leads, so little time (right?). The leads are coming in hot from all over the place, like: Craig's List Signs MLS Top Producer Lead Street Market Leader Real Pro The quick response from most agents when it comes to leads is to contact them immediately. If the conversation goes well, the lead gets placed on a drip campaign. If there is no conversation, or worse, the lead isn't ready to make a move right away, most agents simply forget about them. Don't!Your Monday Marketing Tip is this: Put those leads on an unintrusive, non-spam drip campaign. It can be long-term and something that they receive monthly. Then, be sure they are on your call list once every few months until things change. There is no such thing as never when it comes to lea... 08/12/2013

Marketing Your Business: Lead Management 101Do you know what to do with your leads? Are you doing anything with your leads? Well, in this series, we'll talk about ways to manage your leads. Some of the things we will discuss include:Drip e-mail campaigns -  This is a very cost-effective method to keep your name in front of your contacts. E-mails cost next to nothing to send. Drip e-mail campaigns are also a great way to make the most use of your time. Once your Virtual Assistant has written the campaign, it can be used over and over again, maximizing your return on investment.Drip direct mail campaigns - Although direct mail campaigns are more expensive to send, this is still another great way to maximize your return on investment. Once your Virtual Assistant has designed the drip campa... 08/08/2013

Wordless Wednesday:  Cleveland Botanical Gardens - Yoga "Tree" Position   ~RenaeP.S. If you need a Virtual Assistant who knows how to help you keep your family a priority, let's talk about it. Lead Management, Listing Coordination, and Social Media Marketing are my true loves. (But don't tell my husband that!) And if you need a service I don't provide, I'm happy to refer a quality Virtual Assistant who can!   08/07/2013

Tuesday Tech Tip: eFax Have you heard of eFax? Let me tell you a little about how those in the real estate industry can use eFax. Virtual Faxing - send and receive faxes that actually go to an e-mail address. That means, wherever you are, as long as you have Internet access, you can access those faxes. By the way, that also means you can access those faxes from a computer, tablet, or smartphone. Online File Storage - eFax will save and catalogue all of your faxes so that you can search for a document from anywhere. Lots of Storage Space - Because it is an online file storage service, that makes it very easy to share large files, which includes high resolution photos, closing documents, mortgage forms, videos, and more. As you can see, eFax is a great way to start going paperless, if you... 08/06/2013

Family is Everything - A First Camping Trip   If you know me, you already know that I'm a mom of 6. (Don't be alarmed - they all have the same mom and dad!) We have 5 boys and our one and only daughter. Here she is above with the same look coming and going on her very first camping trip. Sarai is a Girl Scout Brownie and not only was this her first camping trip, but it was her very first time going away from home when she was not going to be with one of her Auntie-Mommies. Much to all of our surprise, she was perfectly alright with that! But we weren't. My one and only niece has been in the Girl Scouts since she was 4 years old. She is now 16 and still loves it - but she is very protective of her "littles" (as we call the younger set of kids). I told her that Sarai was going camping and... 08/06/2013

Social Media Mistakes & Fixes: Don't Be NaiveSocial Media Mistake: I'm a friendly person. Many of you who have previously read or subscribed to my blog know this about me. I love to be social and I love social media because it gives me that opportunity to be social. One of my big social media mistakes which happened very early on in my social media adventure was trusting everyone. I learned the very, very hard way that everyone isn't on your side. Not everyone is trustworthy. Not everyone will want to work together. Unfortunately, I was burned in a rather brutal manner by asking for advice/help from someone who wasn't that kind of person. Now, don't be confused - there were a lot of very helpful people involved in my entry into the world of social media marketing. I don't know Social Me... 08/05/2013