Social Media Marketing Institute

Yesterday, it was announced that we, the Social Media Marketing Institute, have partnered with the National Association of REALTORS® to redevelop and rewrite NAR’s e-PRO® curriculum from the ground up. The new e-PRO® certification program will be designed to help real estate professionals broaden their technology skills and compete effectively in today’s market.

We are thrilled to be a part of the new program. Specific learning objectives of this program include:

• Employing social-media technologies, techniques and best practices
• Integrating online marketing into your real estate practice
• Monitoring and protecting one’s reputation
• Observing and upholding the NAR Code of Ethics as well as intellectual property rights
• Working more effectively online and on the road
• Identifying technology tools that reflect each student’s budget, time, resources, and technology aptitude

In the past, this program was an online learning event. The new program will be a blended experience with a 1 day live component and a second “day” of online modules. This approach was chosen to allow for a greater depth of material and a richer learning environment.

Frequently asked Questions about the e-PRO® Relaunch

• How do I register for the first course in New Orleans? You can do that online and save money just by registering here.
• Do I have to travel? No!  Though we would love to see you at the NAR Conference and Expo in New Orleans for the pilot program on November 4th,  the course will be offered all across the country.  You can ask your local association if they have plans to host a course, or contact SMMI directly to provide a course for your group or firm.
• Why isn’t the course all online? There will be all online version of this course in phase II, however we have found that  a lot of people with varying levels of technological expertise prefer a live classroom environment where course material can be covered, but conversation and breakout sessions are encouraged.  For many students, the concepts covered involve a substantial change in how they handle their current business.  A live classroom environment enables students to learn from their peers as well as interact with their teacher.
• I am a current e-PRO®.  Can I take the course for free? No, but NAR is hoping to provide a discount for current e-PROS for the day 2 modules that will be available online.  There will not be a discount for the live classes.  More information to come!
• Technology is changing rapidly.  Won’t this course be outdated in a few months? We couldn’t agree more!  Technology is changing so rapidly that it can be overwhelming to keep up.  We will be updating course material twice a year to reflect the rapidly changing environment. Certificate holders will have access to webinars and forums to stay up to date.
• Why do I need a technology course to teach me this?  Can’t I learn it at a free RE BarCamp? We are huge supporters of RE Bar Camps.  The founder of RE BarCamps sits on our Advisory Board and our Advisory Board has planned more than 14 of them across the country. They are fantastic events to extend someone’s technology knowledge.  You will learn something, and it will be great, but the open nature of that format is not a holistic approach to building a fundamental plan for your real estate practice.
  Technology and online marketing skills are fundamental to the success of today’s real estate agent.  The e-PRO® course is designed for people of all skill levels to get the skills they need to compete as real estate professionals, be efficient, and manage their reputations online.  The course curriculum is structured to meet the needs of all learning styles in a comprehensive manner so that real estate professionals leave with a strategy to incorporate technology and online marketing into their real estate business in a manner that fits their own individual budget, time, resources, and technology aptitude.

Today Bill, Andy Kaufman and I were discussing how negativity exudes from some people’s online presence.  It prompted a lengthy discussion about what we would want people to say about us in our eulogies.

It made me think about what I would want people to say about me.  I sure hope most of it is not about work. I am sure people will say I was addicted to technology.  I worked hard.  I hope they say, at times, she worked too hard, but she spent more time worrying about others than about herself.  I would want people to say, she was a terrific mom, she raised her kids well and loved them with all of her heart. She treated her friends and family with respect.  She was loyal.  She fought for what she believed in.  She was bright.  She cared about others.  She worked with children who were abused and raised money for cancer.

When my grandfather passed away, a woman I did not know came up to me at the funeral. Someone close to my grandfather mistreated her and though my grandfather had no obligation to help this woman, he felt a responsibility. She told me he bought her a car when she was abandoned as a single mother. He didn’t tell anyone he bought her a car, he just did it.  It wasn’t an expensive car, but it enabled her to drive to work and to drive her kids to school.  That car changed her life. That woman’s story is what I remember from his funeral.

When I pass away, I hope someone will say I changed their life.

Sometimes the comfort of sitting behind a computer screens gives us comfort or security in behaving in a manner that we would never project nor want to have affiliated with our persona in our offline lives.

In today’s online world, everything we say is permanent.  Showing dissatisfaction for a product or service is warranted.  Thoughtful criticism and commentary helps to facilitate change, but personal attacks don’t.

Our personal and professional reputations are being built gradually by all of the things we say and do over time.

What’s truly important in your life?  What do you want people to say about you? Would you want people to say you are negative?  A whiner?  A complainer?  You talked badly about others?  You attacked people instead of ideas?

The words we say and the actions we take have a long lasting impact.  They are your legacy.

What do you want people to remember?  What do you want to leave behind?

~Ginger

Heading out to dinner, arrive at the restaurant.   Should you check in?  To check in or not to check in on FourSquare/Gowalla/Yelp is often the question these days.

Chris Brogan wrote a post about why he doesn’t like Foursquare which Derek Massey responded to with this post about why Chris is wrong about Foursquare.

Foursquare has enabled me to meet people in my local community, learn more about people I already know and share relevant information to select people.

I am protective of my privacy and even more importantly, the privacy of my children. I am very selective about the people I let into my Foursquare network.  I don’t check in to every venue I visit, I only check in to places I want people to know about, and I rarely post to Twitter.  When I do post, I have a reason for it.

Gowalla, Foursquare and other location based services have tremendous value when used effectively.

Businesses and careers are built on relationships.  No computer can replace the feeling of giving someone a hug or sitting down and having a honest, in person, face to face conversation.  Location based services enable us to get face to face where we can deepen existing relationships.  There is tremendous power in it when used properly. Just because some individuals abuse it doesn’t mean it is a communication channel that should be avoided.  Think about how many spammers misuse email, yet we still see email as a valid communication channel when used properly.

Here are my simple do’s and don’t for location based services like Foursquare, Gowalla & Yelp

• DO be careful who you friend on the network.
• DON’T accept every friend request.
• DO see who else has checked in to the venue you are at.  It’s a great way to meet local people.
• DON’T auto-feed every check-in to Twitter if you are a power user, you will alienate your network.
• DO add context! Include a message, especially if your posts feed to Twitter or Facebook.  Share something interesting about the venue or add another message so your followers know why this is important!
• DON’T violate your customer/clients privacy by checking in when you shouldn’t.
• DO be cautious of your personal safety.
• DON’T check in at the same time and place every day if you are concerned about personal safety. Be aware that frequent check ins can indicate a pattern of your physical whereabouts.
• DO add tips for other users in your network.
• DON’T check-in if you are supposed to be somewhere else (like at work!)
• and most importantly…DO use common sense.

Use of location based services are not going to be beneficial to everyone. If you are in the CIA or working on sensitive mergers and acquisitions, checking in might not be a good idea.  But if you are looking to meet local people, foursquare, gowalla or yelp could be a great tool in your tool belt.

There has been a lot of discussion about signal vs. noise and providing value in online communications.  Yesterday, Deb Ng wrote about why social media noise is good that sparked a good offline conversation with Andy Kaufman and I.

Recently, my social networking time has been limited. A big part of it is being crazy busy with SMMI operations but I have also found that I am hesitant to create too much “noise” and so therefore I step back from my communications.  As a result, I not only have produced less noise, I also have produced less signal.

I don’t and haven’t pushed my foursquare checkins to twitter or facebook unless I have a specific reason.  I monitor the noise that I make.  But recently, I have taken that a step further for fear of generating too much noise and not enough signal.

Do I need to censor myself as much as I have?  I feel like I have been missing out on conversations I used to have.  I am talking more in back channels, not because I am trying to be exclusive, but for fear of making too noise, which means I have been meeting fewer people.

Yesterday, I logged in for some scheduled social networking time and scoured my tweet stream for conversation.  All I got was “signal”.  Nuggets of value, links, huge booming words of wisdom, but I didn’t want to read all business at that point in time. I wanted conversation. 

Where was the conversation? 

Could I find one to jump in to and engage?  It was a struggle to find someone to talk to.  I am guessing lots of other people are worried about making too much noise. 

Noise does not have to be bad.  Noise can be the catalyst to conversation.  Noise can be the catalyst to identifying a common interest. Some of my most important business deals have occurred after initiating casual conversation.  I am not just talking about online.  Have you ever been to a party and found out someone else graduated from the same college, likes the same music, or is a raving fan of the same sports team?  There are times when it is pure business, and there are times when common interests create a bond that enables a deeper connection and a deeper trust.  When we are looking at people to do business with, we seek out people we trust.

Conversation creates an opportunity to generate a deeper level of trust that can lead to more powerful personal and professional relationships.  That conversation won’t close a sale most likely, but it might start the process of one.

Should we be cautious that our noise isn’t excessive?  Absolutely.  Should we focus only on making signal?  I don’t think so.

Converse with me.  I crave it.


I know a blog would help my business but I don’t know what to write about.
I don’t have anything to say.

You sit down in front of the computer to write a blog post and nothing comes.   Zip.  Zero.  Nothing.  Nothing to say.  Don’t worry, this happens to the best bloggers too.  Just the idea of having to write a blog post can give one blogger’s block!

But I don’t have anything to say…

If a customer asked you a question about your business, could you answer it? 

Take a week and write down every question you get from your customers.  Don’t worry about writing the answers. Don’t even think about the blog. Just write down the questions you get from every channel, whether they are over the phone, in person, or via email. If you are not customer facing, ask the people in your organization who are to do this same task.  You might want to take it a step further and ask your customers if they have any questions that they need answered.

At the end of the week, take all the questions and review each of them. 

1. Can you answer the question?  If you can’t, could you find the answer? 
2. Would the answer be helpful to other customers? 
3. Can you answer them in a manner that doesn’t harm the privacy or responsibility to your customers or violate laws or trade rules? 

With the questions you are able to answer, you should have a great starting list of topics for your blog. Once again, don’t think about writing a blog post, just type the answers.  Type them in a document if you are more comfortable with that. 

Guess what?  You have the hardest part of the post done.  You have a topic.  You have questions your customers are asking.  You have answers that demonstrate your expertise.

Take each question and answer and make it a blog post.  Make it coherent.  Add an opening statement and closing statement.  Spell check it.   Most importantly- post it. 

Whether you are starting your first blog or further along the blogging path, I challenge you to take a week and write down all of the questions you get.

You do have something to say.  Blogging is just another channel to say it.

By the way, have any questions for us?  Let us know!  We would love to answer them.