My Thoughts at the end of our Class

The Social Media for Business class has helped me learn and feel more comfortable using social media platforms for my business.  I've been amazed at how many types of social media sites are available.... even to research specific niches.

My use of social media has increased, I feel more confident using it, and amazingly, I view how I could use the various activities, conversations or situations in my daily life to promote my relationships and business through social media.

I have found that due to this being an online class that I am a person who prefers classroom instruction; however, I have learned that if I persistent and not get frustrated that I am able to figure out many things on my own!!!

I have not seen an impact on my business bottom line yet.... it's early days.  However, I have seen an increase in my reach and engagement with Facebook.... both personal and business.

I really liked the class - one suggestion is to have some lab time.  I appreciate the time Tracy and Claudia gave to help me and answer my questions.  Thank you!

 

Social Media Marketing Plan for Next 3 Months

 This is the time of year that I develop my business plan for the next year... however, I've decided that I'm going to break it down into quarterly plans, including doing this assignment on online marketing strategy, that will allow me to fine tune the plan as needed throughout the year.

A.  Social Media Tools  

 

In my previous post "Review | My Top 6 Social Media Platforms", I listed six tools I would use; however, I've decided that for the next 3 months I will only learn and use three of them consistently along with my email newsletter.  

1.  My blog at SellingProperties.com which I will optimize along with writing more about the community, my thoughts on real estate and answer any questions my clients pose.

2.  Facebook for both my personal and business page.  I'll be scheduling posts from my blog, more photos of the community, comments on businesses/restaurants, share from other real estate sites.

3.  Pinterest/Instagram will allow me to post photographs I've taken along with a resource to use photos and ideas for Facebook posts.

B.  Time Management for Social Media Plan

I have scheduled into my work week into one hour segments on Monday, Tuesday and Friday mornings to work on the 3 social media platforms I've chosen.  During those times, I will be writing blog posts, scheduling posts for Facebook, viewing Pinterest and Instagram as source to use on my website and for Facebook.

I will also be mailing out a trivia and real estate newsletter on the 1st of the month, a real estate tip postcard on the 15th of the month, and send on the 23rd of the month an e-Newsletter comprised of 3-4 of my blog posts from the previous month.

C.  Content Plan for Blog, Facebook, and Pinterest/Instagram

 1.  My Blog

On Fridays I will write blog posts and schedule for the following week based on the topics of Mortage/Lending, 2-4 unit investment properties, green real estate, community and school information.

 

2.  Facebook Business Page

On Tuesdays I will write posts and schedule for the week about houses viewed on caravan, one of my blog posts, house photos and DIY house projects.

 

3.  Facebook Personal

On Mondays I will write posts and schedule for the week about personal activities, sayings or events and community events.  Quarterly I will ask for my friends to like my business page.

 

4.  Instagram/Pinterest

I will view and use these tools when time permits or I have a need for something on my blog or Facebook posts.    I'd like to start taking my own photos and posting.

 

5.  Review Sites

Regarding the review sites of Yelp, Zillow, Trulia and Google, I will check on Mondays and request reviews when appropriate.

Blog Posts Visited in Week 14

Visit 4 of my fellow student blog posts starting with those listed below mine...  and make comments about their post:

David Harris
Jessica Ipina 
Sharin Kinsey 
Cynthia Ogg

Review | My Top 6 Social Media Platforms

I reviewed what I covered in class this semester and the work I've done with the various social media platforms and realized how much worked I've done and how much more I could do..... 

In my September blog post "Is it Personal or Business?" I listed the social media that I thought I would use for my business after reviewing so many in my research and a few that I'd look into when I had time.  I also stated that the list may change after completing this class... 

My business purpose for social media is to deepen my relationship with friends, acquaintances,and clients; to freely give real estate information; and to increase my client base.  Therefore, I think there are several social media platforms that integrate best with my business.

So, I've changed my "Top Ten Social Media List" to the following "Top 6":

1. My blog on SellingProperties.com
2. Facebook.com/SellingProperties.DeeMarieFisher
3. Pinterest and Instagram for photos and post ideas.
4. LinkedIn
5. Twitter
6. YouTube ( still not comfortable with video)

There are also review sites for comments/reviews by clients or directory sites  that I have set up for my business:

1. Yelp
2. Zillow
3. Trulia
4. Google Business Places 

For now, the platforms I may explore in the future are Google+, Active Rain, Bigger Pockets, Ning.... or not explore!

I've enjoyed using Facebook with Pinterest as a resource for posts!  I've enjoyed the satisfaction of seeing an increase in reach and engagement, setting up many of the new social media sites that I will be able to use in the future, and the review sites that my clients have used in giving me 5 star reviews!  Learning about Instagram and how I can use it to post on my Facebook business page was a great moment.

Facebook is probably the only one that I may use daily.... unless I really get involved in Twitter.  The others will be used throughout the month... based on my social media marketing plan that I am setting up.

Facebook Insights

Learning about Facebook Reach and Engagement in Week 5 of our class helped me understand what purpose Facebook pages have for a business.

In viewing my Insights, I'm learning what type of content is reaching and engaging more people.... and it's not information that I'm sharing about real estate, even though I am reaching more people than I have prior to this class. 

It's sharing photos of homes and personal comments that seem to generate the most interest.  I like knowing this.... and will continue to reach out with something that is related to real estate but is fun to do for me and obviously of interest to others.

Insights is easier for me to understand than the Google Analytics that I have for my blog website.  I couldn't figure out how to use Google on my Facebook business page.  Sometimes all of this is overwhelming and I wonder how much I will truly use once out of this class..... so decision not to do Google was made to save time.

Google Analytics

Over the years having a website and then a blog, people have shown me Google Analytics.  They have explain the statistics would show me how to make my website/blog better in order to increase my business.

It never made sense to me.... I found it difficult to relate the statistics to the blog posts I wrote or how to change my writing or topics to obtain better statistics.  

One person talked about how I needed stickiness... to keep the people on my website or how to write an article with lots of keywords.  It was very difficult for me to be focused on keywords rather than just writing what I wanted to say.

I'm very glad to be taking this class.  I now understand some of what I've heard in the past about analytics and what I need to focus on to reach and engage potential clients.   Actually, I must admit that some of it is still confusing but I'm seeing a glimmer at the end of the tunnel.

I want to check on my blog Google Analytics to learn which posts are popular and what keywords bring them to my website.

Coupon Deal

Developing a coupon deal for my business is an interesting idea....

I guess I could say "buy two houses from me and I'll give you a free house cleaning on your third home"!

Okay, I'm being facetious... I do remember that some agents many years ago would have coupons that said "buy a home from me and I'll pay for your home inspection or appraisal".

Groupon and livingsocial do not appear to be appropriate venue for a real estate business.