All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

I am fresh out of great Real Estate/Social Media/Marketing audiobooks to listen to on the drive to and from work.

Does anyone have any great recommendations?

I just finished with "The Richest Man in Babylon" which I would highly recommend to listen to in the car if you can get past all the ancient names!

I agree with Joel Comm who wrote Twitter Power, when you see someone's real photo as their avatar it creates a sense of a real person behind the post, someone to network with.

Nothing against those who do not post real photos, but those that do seem more memorable.

This type of return is an out lier, however, there are still great returns just as easily attained in Detroit.

Thanks guys. Do you remember your first deals?

Good point Jackie. Maybe we should have put a rule into the competition that if you have negative Influence or 'Abuse' Posts you are disqualified.

That's the goal! I'll keep you guys posted, or better yet, you may see a lot of Customer First Homes employees popping up in the forums and blogs!

Kevin Kaczmarek, CFO of the company, spear-headed the idea; he is very active on BP and got me connected on here (I think he is working on the 'Recruiter' award). Hahaha.

Something interesting we have just started at Customer First Homes is the Bigger Pockets Showdown. It is a company wide competition for everyone to participate in. Almost like a Fantasy Football type game!

We started this competition to increase the activity of social networking, sharing of education, and increase the awareness of the company as to how powerful social media can be.

It is a 90 day challenge and it is based off of the BP Profile awards.

Here is the company e-mail that was sent outlining the competition:

~~~
You have been challenged to join the Bigger Pockets Showdown - a Customer First Competition.

What it is
A company wide challenge to remain relevant and active on the BiggerPockets forum.

When it starts:
Friday August 6th - ends Friday November 5th at 12:00pm.

How you participate:
Sign up on the BiggerPockets forum and start posting on the forums, writing blogs, etc.

How you win:
Be the leading scorer at the end of the 90 day challenge.

How to earn points:
1 Point - Bigger Pockets Level 1 Award
2 Points - Bigger Pockets Level 2 Award
5 Points - Bigger Pockets Level 3 Award

What you win
Framed Championship Photo of Winner on the Wall
Engraved Trophy
A brand new laptop of your choice

Additional Rules
Any awards that you have already achieved prior to August 6th, 2010 will not count in this competition.
The "Profile Complete" and "Reporter" awards do not count towards earning points.
Every two weeks updated scores will be posted in the office.
This is not a mandatory competition.

~~~~

I believe this will be great for the company with many added benefits that we may not even realize! A fun competition never hurts any Office.

Has anyone else ever incorporated something similar with their business?

Mike,

The best advice I can give you is to complete your due diligence before your first deal. Once you know it is a good deal for you, do not hesitate to pull the trigger. The first deal is always the hardest, but from then on it is much easier!

Good luck!

Has anyone generated any leads or great connections through their social media marketing plan?

I would love to hear about your the plan your company developed.

We are in the early stages of our newly launched social media strategy and have had some early success.

Twitter is great for a lot of reasons! A few quick ones:

1. Creates connections and networking opportunities.

2. Helps a business keep a pulse on an industry and the immediate buzz/happenings.

3. Can provide a channel for your clients who are your biggest supporters to help spread your message.

Being an anti-twitter person prior to researching it, I can relate to some of the views on this post.

After I have read a few books about Twitter I was immediately convinced that it can be a useful marketing tool regardless of what industry you are in.