Over the past few years Facebook has seen many changes. You may remember Facebook apps seemed to be the hottest thing around.  But it didn’t take long for all of us to try them…and get burned out! Also during this time Twitter burst onto the scene and taught us conversation was far more important.  Facebook quickly realized that and made more adjustments bringing us the newsfeed we know and love.  The evolution has continued and now brings us a new Lite version of the site and @ status tagging.

Facebook Lite was originally touted as an optimized version of the site for countries with low-bandwidth. However last week over at TechCrunch, Facebook was quoted as saying:

“We decided to roll out Facebook Lite in the U.S. to give users a simple, expedient alternative to facebook.com, and hope that it will fill this need. We have also found that people who are new to Facebook tend to be most interested in a simpler experience, focus on establishing their network of friends and communicating with them by writing on their walls, sending messages, and looking at pictures. We have introduced the Lite site with these new users in mind”.

After taking Lite for a spin, I must admit that I’m very impressed with the simplistic interface.  As you can imagine, the newsfeed is the main aspect of the site.  It’s very clean and easy to interface with. Clearly positioned at the top are status and media sharing tools; followed by birthday and event notifications.

@ Tagging

Now when posting a status update you’ll have the option of tagging your friends in the message…that’s right, just like Twitter. Although Facebook’s implementation works differently, there are obviously similarities starting with the @ symbol.  Once you type “@” a drop-down menu will appear with a dynamic list of your friends and other connections even including groups, events, applications and Pages.

When you reference a friend it will send them a notification and post the status update to their wall. Just like traditional tagging in Facebook, your friend can delete the update from their wall. Also worth noting is that the “@” symbol will not be displayed in the published status update.

So what does this mean for you and your business?

Well for starters, you’d be better off spending time communicating and engaging your connections than building fancy applications for a page that users may not even visit.  Remember it’s not just Facebook Lite you need to be thinking about, it’s also Facebook mobile.  (Read here: Mobile now connecting 65 million.) You’ll notice that Lite seems to parallel mobile in terms of its feature set…which may become our new reality. Now I’m not telling you to bail on your business page, it will still be assessable. You will still be able to share business updates and engage with users you just might not need those fancy tabs.

This morning we had a webinar covering Facebook Business Essentials and this post is a recap.  We covered a lot of ground and promised that we would compile links, slides and video for your review.

If you haven’t connected with us yet, you’ll find us here:
Cyberhomes Fan Page
Connect with Reggie
Connect with NikNik

Here are the PowerPoint slides

Here is the video recap. We had a little problem with the recording, you’ll notice it cuts in about 5 minutes after the presentation started. If you don’t see the player below, you may need to install Microsoft silverlight.

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It’s been very exciting at Cyberhomes over the last few weeks with the launch of our new Market Forecast report.  If you’re not already aware, the Cyberhomes Market Forecast is the only report that uses loan data, foreclosures, and defaults to project changes in your local real estate market.

The initial feedback has been great!  Recently Holden Lewis over at Bankrate.com said the Market Forecast Report was “like Carfax, but for houses.”  Holden went on to say that from the report he learned “the pace of new foreclosures in his area will remain steady over the year, but that the inventory of bank-owned homes will surge. Banks will seize homes faster than they can sell them.”

Also Les Christie, writer for CNNMoney.com, shared that Cyberhomes “introduces an element of logic to a transaction that’s often fraught with emotion.” Sharing that often homeowners act too quickly and causing them to overpay.  Having a report like the Market Forecast would give them access to information that could help.  Christie says “the market report tells them that prices may be in for a sharp fall and more homes are coming onto the market, they may slow down and make a more informed offer. If, on the other hand, the report shows the market heating up, they may conclude that a quick offer can save them some money.”

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For anyone with a vested interest in real estate, we have some exciting news about the first ever consumer report to help predict future real estate trends in a local market by analyzing key information such as credit information, loan repayment data, delinquencies and foreclosures.

Using the proprietary data and analytics from LPS Applied Analytics, Cyberhomes Market Forecast is available for millions of properties and thousands of neighborhoods around the United States. Users can simply search for a property address or neighborhood on Cyberhomes, and we will show them whether their market is expected to increase in value, decline in value or remain neutral over the next year, based on the data used.

Anyone looking to delve deeper into the results can purchase a summary report for a special introductory price of only $3.99. For those seeking professional-level, rich analysis, a full-scale report showing all of the details will be available for an introductory price of $9.99. Here is what the reports include:

The Cyberhomes Market Forecast Summary:

• Overview of the local market direction
• Historical and future projections of distressed, foreclosure and REO properties in the area
• Estimated change in value for the neighborhood and the subject property over 12 months
• Detailed loan and assessment information, including assessor market value, the loan-to-value ratio, tax delinquency status and more

The complete Cyberhomes Market Forecast Report:

• A 24-month value forecast
• Local foreclosure trends and timelines
• Mortgage delinquency and loan deterioration trends
• Historical median sales price vs. volume trends
• Neighborhood lending and sales statistics
• Average area credit scores
• Local percentages of distressed homes compared to state and national levels
• Average local discounts on bank-owned properties
• Risk from exotic loan types in the neighborhood and more

If you were to ask me for one of the big buzz words of 2009, I would have to say Twitter.  You can’t turn around without someone mentioning the rapidly growing micro-sharing network.  But what is it about 140 character tweets that has everyone talking? If you’ve been asking those questions, than you should seriously think about attending our free upcoming webinar:

Twitter Webinar
Date: May 7^th, 2009
Time: 10am (PDT) / 1pm (EST)
RSVP: http://rsvp.cyberhomes.com
Instructors: Reggie Nicolay (@cyberhomes) and Nicole Nicolay (@nik_nik)

The truth is Twitter has lots to offer your real estate business.  The simplicity of the tool has empowered extremely creative uses of the technology.  One of the latest Twitter features is another take on a growing web-based quandary of user registration. Keep in mind, each time users are asked to create a new account; they typically create a new username, password, and even upload their avatar.  Both Facebook and Google have stepped up with solutions aimed at porting user’s profiles into newly authenticated sites. Now Twitter has done the same with Twitter Connect. Basically the service allows any website or blog owner to self-host the entire oAuth connection process. (see examples)

As mentioned, this would allow visitors to your site to authenticate using their Twitter account. Which could be handy for leaving new comments, it’s even possible to bring in their avatar alongside.  Of course, Twitter Connect could be used for more than just comments; it could be used for any other registration need that may arise.

If you’re a WordPress user, I’ve already seen a WordPress plug-in popup that will help you through the installation process.  You will however need to follow a process similar to Facebook connect setup, meaning you will need to register your blog and then grab your Consumer Key and Consumer Secret. Those unique numbers are then added to the WordPress Plugin.

Earth Hour is a global initiative for individuals and businesses alike to turn off lights for one hour and cast a vote in favor of action on climate change. This year, Earth Hour was the largest climate event of its kind; comprised of more than 3000 cities in 80 countries, including 200 U.S cities.

On the 28^th, Cyberhomes turned off all non-production servers in observance of Earth Hour. With everyone’s combined participation, we hope to send a powerful, visual message to World leaders demanding immediate action on climate change.

If you missed Earth Hour and would like to know what you can do, the World Wildlife Fund has created a helpful resource to reduce emissions, and prepare for client change. Consumer examples include:

• Replacing incandescent bulbs with fluorescent bulbs
• Restricting the gallons of water your showerheads and faucets use to under 2.5 gallons per minute
• Turn off appliances that are not being used

If your business would like to participate:

• Implement technologies that reduce CO₂ emissions
• Help set up a carpool system for your office
• Read what other top companies are doing to make a difference

Follow the Earth Hour on Twitter here.

Whether it’s a large conference or a local event, making new connections is a critical part of the relationship building process. How have you gone about this in the past? Are you walking away from events with the connections you want? Or are you the fly on the wall? Try implementing these tips for your next event:

1. It all starts with planning ahead! Choose the sessions that you want to attend; research speakers and their backgrounds. This will make small talk easy once you’ve made the introduction!
2. Pick your technology! Are you going to be taking photos or video? Charge those batteries. Think about streaming the event with Qik.
3. Find out if your event has a hash tag, use the hash tag to communicate with others via Twitter, Facebook, and other social platforms.
4. Connect with attendees via social networks (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr). Remember this can be done from your mobile device!
5. Help colleagues and friends make new connections by via an introduction when appropriate.
6. Take lots of pictures! These make for great sharing opportunities later. Upload to sites like Flickr and Facebook.
7. Approach your favorite speakers and make the connection…in person. Make sure you get their card!
8. When you have a questions…ask them!
9. After the event, search hash tags, friends and event name to see what’s been said about the event. Comment where appropriate.
10. Share your favorite events highlights on your own website or blog.

This will be the first of many posts on target marketing your real estate business.  Let’s start by identifying why a niche is important, what questions you should be asking yourself and how you can complete the corresponding research.

When the topic of target marketing comes up, most will agree it sounds like a great idea.  But I have a hunch that many real estate agents will not go the extra steps required.  Now obviously once you’ve identified a niche, you’ll still except business from other sources-especially given the current economic and housing turmoil.  But rather it will enable you to optimize your marketing efforts and bring a consistent message for a particular age group or lifestyle type.

Ask yourself who’s the perfect customer? Is it a first-time buyer or seasoned homeowner looking to buy their next home? Do you cater to young families? As you identify these demographics, look at your market to see if there’s a fit. Does your local market have more of a particular type of client? Does your skill set have more to offer a particular type of buyers or seller?

Researching Your Local Market Segments

Using the “Maps” section of Cyberhomes.com you can segment your local market.  For example, start by selecting “Maps” from the search dropdown, then enter the zip code you think generates most of your business.  Now on the Maps page, look to the left-hand side and you’ll see various demographic and market groupings.  Segment your market area by age group, lifestyle, type of neighbor or neighborhood characteristics.  As you review the maps, look for high concentrations of your target customer. Zoom in and out as needed; also click on any area to see the actual percentages. Repeat as needed for each market area.

Coming up next, we will uncover strategies for researching your closest competitors.

I was talking with a seasoned real estate professional recently about jumping into the social media scene with her business.  I wasn’t surprised to hear that she was very anxious and unsure about how to best get started. So I thought I would share my thoughts on getting started with social media in 2009!

To start, before you get to deep into any social media plan you need to think about your goals and what you want to achieve. For example, who are you trying to reach specifically? Where do those consumers hang out online? How much time do you have to focus on social media each initiatives week? Once you have the answer to these key questions and have set goals, you can move forward knowing that you have something to gauge your success.

Monitoring
Now that you’ve established goals, it would be a good idea to establish a pulse or monitoring system for your brand and market.  Remember that it’s not just mainstream media you’re listening to. With current technology you can easily track individual conversations online. Ask yourself what type of content a prospective client would find if they search you online. This exercise will also help you identify new emerging topics early so that you can implement them into your business, communication plan, or social media objectives.

If you want to setup automatic alerting, one of the most popular free services is Google Alerts.  It’s a free email update service offered by Google to help you stay on top of developing news by setting specific keywords to track.  (i.e. your name, business, competitor).  I would also suggest using tools like SocialMention and WhosTalkin to search user-generated content like blogs, comments, forums, bookmarks, events, and videos. To learn more about monitoring tools, read 7 Ways to find out who’s talking about you.

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I had the privilege recently of participating in a discussion lead by Dustin Luther at Inman Connect NYC that exceeded my expectations.  The topic was Web analytics – which I thought would have a high propensity to be exceedingly boring to the brave few who might wander in, perhaps because they had nothing better to do at that time.

I won’t reiterate the whole discussion here other than the part which I found most promising: that the room was mostly full of agents, and that these agents were already well past the point of knowing what Web analytics are and why having a basic understanding of your traffic matters, and even how to assess it.  Instead, we were able to move right to the practical application of “online intel” to the business goals of a producing and not necessarily very technology-savvy real estate agent.

Let’s start with a basic truism: most consumers online are not looking to buy or sell.  Statistically speaking, they couldn’t possibly be.  Look at this comparison of the number of sides nationwide each month in 2008 (in red) to the number of people cruising real estate information online during the same period (in blue):

Now think about your own business practice.  Do you only deal with clients who are in the market now?  This is not a trick question: one legitimate answer is, “Yes, I don’t want to waste my time with someone who’s not serious right now.”  You still probably have visitors on your Web site who do not fall into this category.  You may be buying ads on property aggregator sites (like Cyberhomes) which expose you even more to this segment of the audience.  Why are you doing that to yourself?

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