Social Media Geo-Location Services. For Real Estate?

Foursquare. Gowalla. And as of this week, Facebook Places (To learn how to manage Facebook Places on your Facbook account, read this post by Kristin Maynard).

Applications that allow a user to check into a location, blaring their whereabouts to anyone who cares. The fact that there are huge personal security issues involved notwithstanding, the nagging question I can’t seem to shake is: As a Real Estate consumer, do I care?

Do I care if my agent checked into Chipotle? Or the car wash? Movie Theater? Starbucks? Anywhere?

I know my answer, and it’s a resounding NO.

It seems to me that every time something new is unleashed in the Social Media space, a wave of hype and sensationalism hits the Real Estate industry. A tidal wave. Of epic proportions. And Real Estate dives in headfirst, without understanding the practical uses, if any, of the application(s) whose virtues they espouse. It’s almost as if the introduction of a shiny new widget heralds the start of an unofficial Real Estate social media joust. “Facebook! Foursquare! Twitter! I am the best!” “No, I am the best!” the refrain is heard over, and over, and over, and over…

The reality is that most of this stuff has marginal (if any) value to helping Real Estate Professionals do their jobs better or more efficiently.

This post is a bit of a rant, I know.

But let’s not forget, that at its core, Real Estate is not a whimsical game tailor made for social media. Or an outlet for geo-tagging, commenting or expanding one’s reach into the social universe. At its core, Real Estate, and more specifically, an individual purchase or sale is at many times, a seismic, life-changing event involving hundreds of thousands of dollars for the parties involved.

Because of this, I am of the opinion that it is far more important for a Real Estate professional to have a deep well of local real estate knowledge. Down to the neighborhood and street level of markets serviced.

That it is critical for a Real Estate professional to know how to accurately price a property in order to get it sold, something that is far more complicated than the +/- 20%-25% accuracy provided to consumers by on-line valuation models (and as an aside, +/- 25% is not very accurate; one of the most popular on-line valuation models utilized by consumers has my home valued at more than $100,000 over what it could actually sell for).

That it is imperative for a Real Estate professional to have a thorough understanding of contracts, laws and procedures so that they can help navigate the often time complicated journey from contract to settlement.

I think these things are far more important than knowing if my agent is at Dunkin’ Donuts grabbing a cup of coffee, or if they have finally achieved the rank of fictitious mayor of a chain restaurant or retail shop.

You can have all of that nonsense. I will take a solid Real Estate professional and leave the four-squaring to children on the playground with a red bouncy ball and a bit of chalk on the pavement.

-Amit

Find your Home. Plan Your Life: www.averyhess.com

Oh the Places You’ll Go…(and be tagged)

Last week Facebook unveiled its newest highly anticipated feature – Facebook Places.  The application gives users the ability to “check-in,” much like Foursquare, to local places of interest. However, Facebook has added a twist.

How is this different from existing geo-tagging sites?
Facebook Places not only allows users to check-in to places but also allows them to check-in friends that are with them and see other users that have checked-in to the same location.  Think of it like a Facebook photo tag, but of where you’re at right now.

How Do I “Check-In” to Places?
In order to use this new feature, you or someone who you’re with will need a smartphone.  Currently, the iPhone is the only smartphone with an “app” for Places.  With the others you’ll need to log in to the Facebook touch mobile site with a web browser that has geolocation and supports HTML 5.

What’s to Like About Places:
Attending a networking event? Want to see who’s already at a conference? This is a great way to find people that you might have missed connecting with if you didn’t know they were at the same location  Think of all the concerts, sporting events, and outings you’ve attended where after the fact someone goes “I was there too, would have loved to see you!”  This tool can help to make sure you don’t miss out on reconnecting or networking with friends and coworkers.

What You Might DISlike:
Many people like to stay connected for work but don’t want social media’s “big brother” like technology carrying over into their personal life.   With products like Foursquare you can control which places and who see you check-ins; but with Places, if you don’t set your privacy settings your location can be made public by others.  Eeek!  The feature does give you the option to “de-tag” yourself, the same way as you can with a picture tag, but this would mean you’d have to be paying attention to your Facebook account to know you’ve been tagged.

How can I Manage/Disable Places? Below you’ll find three easy ways to help you keep your “Places” private!

1) Setting Who Can See Your Check-ins:

• Click on the Account Tab located at the top right of your homepage, then click on “Privacy Settings”.
• Next, locate the blue text towards the bottom that reads “Customize settings.”  Click that.
  



• Here you’ll see a list of your privacy options for your Facebook page.
• Under the “Things I share” header, click the drop down menu next to “Places I check in to.”   Facebook has set the default to “Friends Only” but just like the other privacy features you can select “Custom” and chose exactly who does or does not see your check-ins.
  

2) Disabling Friends from Checking You in to Places:

• Under the “Things Others Share” category and click on the drop down menu next to “Friends can check me in to Places” and choose “Disabled.” With this setting in place, you are the only one that has the ability to share your location.
  

3) Disabling “People Here Now”:

• This feature allows ANY Facebook user that has checked in to a location to see all the other people that are checked-in there.  This list will include everyone, even if you are NOT friends.
• This feature should, by default, NOT be enabled by Facebook, but double check to make sure the box next to “Include me in ‘People Here Now’ after I check in” is not checked.
  

Still have questions?  Watch this video Facebook created to help explain Places and how to set your privacy settings.

-Kristin

Facebook Privacy Made Simple

Privacy, or more specifically the confusion surrounding privacy, on Facebook has been the focus of much media attention and user distress in the past few months.  Facebook has changed settings and auto-enabled features without notifying its users and left many feeling their privacy on the social network is in jeopardy.

In response, Facebook has launched new privacy settings that give users significantly more control over their personal information.  Not only do users have more control, but these controls are also a lot simpler. The changes focus around three things: a single control for user’s content, more control for user’s basic information and easy ways to control and turn off applications.

In Real Estate, these security settings are important for us, and for our business. These settings will allow us to better control our brand messaging, and to separate our personal information and posts from our business/professional content and posts.

Facebook is introducing these changes in phases to the 400 million plus users.  When the changes are activated on your account a message will appear on your home screen alerting you of the new settings.  Click the link to find out more and view your settings. If you’ve already seen this note and “X’d” it, you can access the new settings by clicking on “My Account” and then choosing “Privacy Settings”

You’ll notice right away the settings page has been redesigned and is much simpler to navigate.  With one click you can set up a broad based privacy setting just by deciding if you want to share all your content with “Everyone”  “Friends of Friends” or just “Friends.”

Already have privacy settings in place and want to review or update them or have total control over your content? Just click on “Custom” (then click on “Customize Settings”) and you can decide on each piece of content individually.  This choice is the most complex of choices, but gives you the most options.

Want to pick and choose who can see what but don’t know where to start.  Click on “Recommended” (which personally Idon’t recommend) and Facebook will give you their suggested settings to use.  I’d only suggest using this setting if you are comfortable sharing a large amount of profile information with “Everyone.”

The BEST part about the new settings– once you set up these controls they will apply to all new products launched by Facebook, keeping YOU in control of your information and what is being shared.  Hooray!

The new settings page also provides you with easy to find links where you can edit what basic directory information you share, block people or block applications.  You can turn off the “instant personalization” application (allows Facebook to share your information with their third party partners) under the “Applications & Website” section.

Still need a little more guidance?  Click on “Learn More” under the “Controlling How You Share” icon and Facebook will break down the options even further.  Facebook also created a Fan Page for “Facebook & Privacy.”  You can “like” this page and have updates they post included in your news feed.  Avery-Hess Agents also remember that I’m just a call or quick visit away to help you out if you ever have questions or need assistance.  Happy & Safe Facebooking!

- Kristin

Use Caution When Merging onto the Social Media Highway

This weekend, as I logged in to my Facebook account, I was both shocked and surprised at one of my friend suggestions.   I discovered, via a ‘mutual friend,’ that my 82-year-old Grandpa is now on Facebook!  I don’t know about the rest of you, but for me this confirms that EVERYONE now utilizes social networks as a means to connect and reconnect with the people around them.

After this discovery, while I was still a bit baffled after seeing my grandpa’s profile picture (which is from about 50+ years ago), I ran across an interesting statistic from a recent Consumer Reports study.  It stated that 2 out of 3 online US households use social networks such as Facebook and MySpace, which is nearly twice as many as a year ago.   One in four of these households with a Facebook account have users who either don’t know about or don’t use the privacy controls.

This got me thinking about my Grandpa… if people can find ways to hack the profile of one of Facebook’s very own Board Members, what’s stopping them from coming after my unaware,  little old Grandpa?  Or me?  Or YOU?

As Real Estate agents, it’s important to be friendly and approachable public figures, especially when utilizing social media. However, you still need to be smart and safe with what you choose to disclose to others online.

I’ve compiled a quick checklist of things you should avoid doing on social media to help keep you and your information safe:

Using a Weak Password

We’ve all been guilty of this one – with so many passwords to remember, it’s easy to give in!  Using a password like the name of your pet or your child’s name is big NO NO.  Hackers create programs that can easy crack these simple passwords in a matter of seconds, granting them full access to your account.  To help prevent this, I suggest using a password that incorporates each of the following:

a) use a password not found in the dictionary
b) include UPPER and lower case letters
c) include least one numer1c symbol or ch@racter

Posting Your Full Birth Date

When Facebook first started, I know I did not think twice about putting up my birthday to share with my fellow college classmates.  However, Facebook and other social media networks are now open to the public, and your information is out there for everyone to view.  Giving a stranger your full name and full birthday, along with other commonly posted facts about yourself, can leave you open as an easy target for fraud.   To counter this, many of these networks have the option of keeping your birthday private or showing only a partial birthday without the year.

NOT Using Privacy Controls

An important thing to remember when using any social media network is that they are run by a profit seeking company and are looking out for THEIR best interest NOT yours.  Privacy controls are available for users, but many require you to a) know about them, b) understand what they do and c) USE them.

Facebook has become notorious for changing their privacy controls and “auto including” their members in new features/settings.  It is your responsibility to make sure that you take the time to learn and set up these controls in order to ensure your content and information is only disclosed to those that YOU choose.

Facebook has recently redesigned their Safety Center which they claim has quadrupled their safety content and made it easier to navigate and find answers quickly.  It’s a great place to start to learn about what you are sharing/how to make things private.

Also, Mashable just posted a “How To” on reclaiming your Facebook privacy and suggested trying the product “Reclaim Privacy.”  It’s a simple open-source scanner that will quickly and easily scan your profile to see if any of your settings are “risky.”   This can help you determine if you are making content unexpectedly public and take the necessary actions to correct it.

Mentioning That You’ll be “Away”  & GPS “Tagging”

Telling people on Twitter or Facebook that you, “Can’t wait for vacation next week!!”  or that you “Miss the wife and kids at home”  or that you just “checked-in” to your favorite watering hole using foursquare, all seem innocent enough, but this “over-sharing” opens up the possibility of telling people where you AREN’T – at your home or with your family.  It could also invite unwanted persons to where you ARE.

Many people were first made aware of their “over-sharing” on social media by sites like pleaserobme.com or  by watching tv news specials, but quite a few of us are still sharing too much.   To protect yourself and your loved ones, be sure that you are properly using your privacy features on EACH and EVERY social media network you use.

It seems like every time I turn around privacy controls and settings are changing in the world of social media, making it even more critical that we stay informed.  I’ll be sure to help keep you and my Grandpa Joe informed and up to speed… if you promise to do the same for your Grandpa – I’m sure he’ll appreciate it.

-Kristin

I Like Avery-Hess, and I think you should too: www.facebook.com/AveryHess

How To Make People Care About What You “Share”

It’s quickly becoming a fact that Facebook is no longer just part of our personal life.  Companies, large and small, are now using the social media platform as a means to engage and build relationships with potential clients, and are utilizing social media to close business.

This leaves many of us in Real Estate asking, “What should I be ‘sharing’ on Facebook?”

Last Friday, I met with an agent looking to utilize Facebook as part of her marketing plan.  A good rule of thumb would be  to “share” at least one thing on Facebook every day utilizing our “80/20 Rule.”  Eighty-percent of the time, share something personal; twenty-percent of the time, share something professional.

The most important part of using Facebook professionally is not just to attract new “friends” or “fans”; it serves no real purpose to have the most “fans” or most “friends” if these people are not engaged with you.  Rather, carefully build your social capital and constituency.  Engage your following and encourage interaction to create a lasting relationship.

To help you get started on building these relationships, I’ve come up with my top 3 topics to “share” on Facebook:

1) “Share” Something of Value

• Think about what YOUR clients would want to know about and be their maven of useful information.  Discover a handy tip or trick for home improvement?  Find an interesting fact or news story about what’s shaking in the industry? Share this valuable information with your clients. Over time, they will look to you as a trusted source of knowledge.

2) Ask Questions

• The key here is to encourage your Facebook friends to engage in a conversation.  Asking a question as simple as “What they thought about last night’s episode of LOST” or something more meaningful like “What do look for in a new home?”  When you start to receive responses, be sure to thank them and use this as an opportunity to reach out and start a personal conversation.

3) Ask for Help

• Utilize your friends to help you make a decision.  Asking for ideas of what to do that weekend, reviews on a new restaurant in town, or input on a product you are considering purchasing.  These questions open up the lines of communication to start a personal conversation about the topic that could lead to a business discussion.

I have found, personally, the “Ask for help” type of “share” gets the most feedback, but all of the aforementioned techniques can be utilized to build relationships and start personal conversations, the bread and butter of the Social Media game.

-Kristin

I Like Avery-Hess, and I think you should too: www.facebook.com/AveryHess

We “Like” Facebook, and Here’s Why

I can think of a lot of things that I like. Pizza. Dogs. Virginia Tech football. Tecmo Bowl (the original, not the SNES remake). I also think I like the Facebook “Like” option.

I actually think I REALLY like the “Like.”

Admittedly, I was a bit fuzzy about the transition from “become a fan” to “Like this” on Facebook until I read this great piece on WellcomeMat. I agree with a lot of what was written in the WellcomeMat piece; I think Facebook has really nailed how to serve up relevant ad content to consumers who are in the market for a particular product or service offering.

What does this mean? Talk sense please.

About a month and a half ago, Facebook eclipsed Google as the most heavily trafficked place on the web. Even if that event manifested itself as a one-time occurrence (which while I do not have the data at hand, I doubt is the case), it certainly signifies a shift in web browsing habits from a linear paradigm of “input query >> get results” to a more conversational paradigm weighted towards opinions, shared experiences and user insight.

Facebook has figured out a way to deliver terrific, focused content that is tailored to you. Content that satisfies your every need with the insertion of a 4 letter verb in the form of a button. “Like.”

The creepy idea of silent data aggregation/privacy notwithstanding, the Facebook platform is a boon to advertisers and companies of all shapes and sizes. Facebook gathers data about what each one of their users “likes.” Facebook creates a consumer profile for each of its users based on profile comments, data and “likes.” Facebook delivers ad content to user based on this algorithm – creating a very highly targeted, and presumably effective, ad campaign. This model is not terribly dissimilar to many other behavior-based models out there in the advertising stratosphere, but Facebook is taking this one step further.

By allowing the usage of the “Like” button on websites, blogs etc., Facebook delivers visitors directly to advertisers tiny slice of revenue heaven – their owned media assets – complete with an inferred recommendation from their peer group. Facebook has created an advertising platform that ROCKS.

Great. So what does this mean for me?

This means a lot for you, so I am glad you asked. Here are a couple of ideas:

1. You have a listing, freshly minted and new on the market. You have a website specifically created to market that listing for your seller. Now you can incorporate a “Like” button onto your listing site and share that with the Facebook universe that is 400 Million strong and growing.
2. You have a unique skill set and specialization in assisting homeowners through the short sale process. You can place a “Like” button on this section of your website or associate the “Like” button with posts about short sales on your blog, and share all of your knowledge and content with your sphere on Facebook.

And best of all, when interested parties decide that they want to learn a bit more about your product or service, they go straight to the on-line you, your website, blog, etc., not some 3rd party “lead aggregator.” When coupled with Facebook’s burgeoning “Facebook Ads” platform, you have a recipe for a tremendous, highly targeted advertising platform on the social web.

With other content and advertising platforms gathering content from users, and selling advertising on it, Facebook is taking a GIANT step in the right direction by leveraging its users/advertisers contributions to help the original publisher. I think this model is setting up Facebook to become an advertising platform behemoth in the mid-to-long term, and certainly something all of us here in Real Estate need to be cognizant of.

Real Estate is a social business. Facebook is a social network – the largest in the states. Seems like a match made in heaven, a match that I think I really, REALLY “Like.”

-Amit

I Like Avery-Hess, and I think you should too: www.facebook.com/AveryHess