February 10, 2012

Connecting Pinterest To Your Real Estate Business

pinterest logo Connecting Pinterest To Your Real Estate BusinessPinterest is a fun new social network and a great visual diversion for most of it’s users. Now agents are trying to figure out a way to use Pinterest for real estate. Like I mentioned in my previous post, Pinterest is not a tool for self promotion or a magic lead generating solution. That being said, there are ways you can creatively use Pinterest in relation to  your real estate business, to make new connections and even help with link building.

Before I launch into the various ways to use Pinterest for your RE biz, please heed this following warning… Please for the love of all things holy, DO NOT use Pinterest onlyas a vehicle to just post images of your listings to promote them. I’m serious. People do not go to Pinterest to search for real estate.

Moving on, here are a few ways you can relate the Pinterest social network to your business.

1. Showcase Your Community and Neighborhoods

 Connecting Pinterest To Your Real Estate Business

Use lifestyle marketing and build your “trusted advisor” status by showing that you know you local community and neighborhoods well. Just like you can use video marketing to show off the great neighborhoods and area amenities, you can create pin boards on your Pinterest account to do the same. Curate pin boards with images of the neighborhood parks, city views, local landmarks, and the local restaurants and hotspots. Showcase what is great about the communities you work in the most and the lifestyle that people live there. It is a great way to show prospective buyers, connect to people in the community, and connect to people who interested in that area. You can do this for relocating buyers she meet with. When initially meeting with them, pull out your iPad (or laptop) and show them a collection of pin boards of the various neighborhoods that may suit their lifestyle or that they are considering. Again, it builds your status as a local area expert.

2. Home Decor,  Dream Homes, & Landscaping

One thing I like to do on Pinterest is search for home decor ideas or features I want in the home of my dreams. You are in the business of selling homes, so why not create pin boards related to all things home decor or showcase photos of certain spaces? For example, I have made a pin boards consisting of Dream Kitchens, Dreamy Bedrooms, Dream Baths, and Outdoor spaces. It is a fun thing for me to put together and collect images what I want in my dream home. So again, because it relates to homes so it can relate to your real estate business. One agent I saw had gone a step further and encouraged their buyers to create pin boards of the things they wanted in their ideal home to help aid in the home search process. A great way to connect this social network to your real estate business.

Dream Kitchens1 Connecting Pinterest To Your Real Estate Business

3. Feature Interesting Architecture
Another real estate related category that you can create pin boards for would be images of interesting architecture. Do it in combination of #1 and feature architecture that might be unique to the areas or neighborhoods you work in. Do you serve a market area with numerous victorian style or other historical homes? Show off their unique exteriors and more. Live in a funky city neighborhood with an eclectic mix of old and new architecture? Show off those features. You get the idea.
4. Feature Your Interests, Likes & Hobbies

You are more than just a Real Estate salesperson. You are not just a real estate robot. You have hobbies, interestes, and generally have a life outside of your work. So use Pinterest to display that. If your alter ego is a chef or you just love to cook, make pin boards full of your favorite recipes or ones that you want to try.  If you’re a crafting addict like me, create pin boards with your own projects, or find great DIY & craft ideas you want to try yourself. Have fun and make things that reflect you. Just because you’re in the real estate business, there is no need to make Pinterest all about real estate (and it is NOT the place for self promotion anyways… have I mentioned that before?). Doing this can help you connect and meet others on this network who have similar likes and hobbies.

Who’s doing it right?

There are ways to tie this social network into your real estate business, and here is a collection of those in the industry that are doing it right on Pinterest and I generally like following:

Do you have a more ideas on creative things you can do with Pinterest, or are you someone who is doing Pinterest right? Leave a comment below and let me know!
 Connecting Pinterest To Your Real Estate Business

 Connecting Pinterest To Your Real Estate BusinessMegan E. Barber is a Real Estate Virtual Assistant, and owner of Barber Virtual Assisting Solutions. With over 10 years of experience working within the real estate industry, Megan and her team Virtual Assistants provide top notch real estate support services such as marketing, lead follow-up, social media, WordPress websites, and more. Megan E Barber is also the creator and author of The BVAS Connection and VA Mommy.

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Rich Real Estate Agent, Poor Real Estate Agent

media httpactiverainc qguJq.jpg.scaled500 Rich Real Estate Agent, Poor Real Estate Agent

What separates Rich Real Estate Agents from the Poor Real Estate Agents? Check out this awesome infographic and survey from Active Rain. Lots of striking information in this, definitely worth checking out.

Posted via email from megbarberva’s posterous

 Rich Real Estate Agent, Poor Real Estate Agent

 Rich Real Estate Agent, Poor Real Estate AgentMegan E. Barber is a Real Estate Virtual Assistant, and owner of Barber Virtual Assisting Solutions. With over 10 years of experience working within the real estate industry, Megan and her team Virtual Assistants provide top notch real estate support services such as marketing, lead follow-up, social media, WordPress websites, and more. Megan E Barber is also the creator and author of The BVAS Connection and VA Mommy.

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When Technology Lets You Down

What have we been up to lately at the BVAS office? Things have been buzzing along here while running my real estate virtual assistant team and marketing projects galore. Then around the first of the month, an all out techno meltdown happened. My poor 3 year old laptop had been limping along lately, but I knew it was not long for this world. It finally overheated and went kaput.

Let us hold a moment of silence for the good old HP dv6700 laptop…

There was just a minor slowdown while waiting for my new computer to arrive, but thanks to my husband’s a backup laptop and Dropbox I was able to keep things going close to “business as usual”. Dropbox especially was a lifesaver as I was able to store the files I needed in the cloud to get them whenever the project called for it.

macbook blog pic 300x206 When Technology Lets You Down

Now, I am a proud new owner of a MacBook Pro. I will spare you all the details on how I came to the decision to ditch PCs and go for the Mac, but I am super happy with my choice and I won’t be looking back. While I have a bit of a learning curve since I am a total Mac virgin, it helps that I have been able to keep my lifeline to Windows (via VM Ware Fusion). Because of that, I didn’t have to buy new software for absolutely everything and can still access all my same Windows based files for clients.

Having the right backup systems in place really saves a lot of stress and anxiety, and a computer crash or transition to a new machine is always a great reminder of that. I always stress that you MUST backup your computers files often because a PC crash or virus can happen at any time . Here at the BVAS office, we backup our computers to a external hard drive here, and also via the web with Carbonite. You can never have too many backup systems in place.

In other BVAS news, sew systems and service packages are in the works, so stay tuned for some upcoming announcements. As always, please join the conversation on our Facebook page, and feel free to leave a comment with your questions and request for upcoming how-to’s.

 When Technology Lets You Down

 When Technology Lets You DownMegan E. Barber is a Real Estate Virtual Assistant, and owner of Barber Virtual Assisting Solutions. With over 10 years of experience working within the real estate industry, Megan and her team Virtual Assistants provide top notch real estate support services such as marketing, lead follow-up, social media, WordPress websites, and more. Megan E Barber is also the creator and author of The BVAS Connection and VA Mommy.

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Online Biz Insiders Podcast – Real Estate Virtual Assistant – Megan E Barber

Recently I had the pleasure of being interviewed by the creators of Online Biz Insiders, Carla Wilson and Mary Motz, for their potcast. It was much fun, and we talked about the tasks that we typically handle for REALTORS, the value of our services, and much more. Click on the link above and check it out!

Be sure to check out all the other episodes of their fabulous Online Biz Insiders podcast as well, where you will find great tips and tools for online marketing, productivity and more!

Posted via email from megbarberva’s posterous

 

 Online Biz Insiders Podcast – Real Estate Virtual Assistant – Megan E Barber

 Online Biz Insiders Podcast – Real Estate Virtual Assistant – Megan E BarberMegan E. Barber is a Real Estate Virtual Assistant, and owner of Barber Virtual Assisting Solutions. With over 10 years of experience working within the real estate industry, Megan and her team Virtual Assistants provide top notch real estate support services such as marketing, lead follow-up, social media, WordPress websites, and more. Megan E Barber is also the creator and author of The BVAS Connection and VA Mommy.

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Have You Updated Your About Page Lately

aboutme 300x160 Have You Updated Your About Page LatelyTake a look at the “About Me” page on your website.  Have you not updated your bio within the last several years on there? Or worse, do you have canned content from your template website provider? Or worse yet, you have the phrase “This is where you put in information about yourself” in that spot?

The About page on any given website is about the first or second place a visitor clicks on when visiting a new site (on a real estate site, it’s probably 2nd to property searches). People want to know the person or people that are behind the business and what that business is really about. It is important to show who you are and still give people a reason to stay on your site and want more from you.

I recently decided to take a new approach to my own About page on my website. Before, my page was just like any professional profile or resume, stating my certifications, my past work experience and so on. It was a snooze fest. And I really didn’t think it conveyed who I was or represented me authentically. So I changed it up, re-wrote it in my own voice and added some more personal information about me outside of my business. I still kept at the end bullet points with my professional certifications and such, but now I gave a little more insight to the REAL me.

Now, I’m not saying that my new about page is the most compelling thing ever written on the planet. But I feel it is more authentic. I wrote it in my own voice, telling more of the story on how I got to be in the business I’m in, and showing the REAL person behind the business (who is a busy mommy as well as a wine lover).

Now I have mentioned before, that real estate consumers don’t really care about the agent at first, and that mostly is true. They mostly want property info and market conditions. But once they ARE ready to care about the agent they want to use, you’re about page can help to convince them that YOU are the one they can be comfortable working with.

About pages don’t have to be boring and resume like. Check out this blog with 12 of the best about pages from around the web. You can also check out this site About.me and create your own profile on there as well as get your creative wheels turning.  You can check out my own About.me page here with a slightly shortened version of my bio.

I recommend you examine your own About page right now. Does it authentically represent you? Does it say who you are and give people a reason to stay and find out more. Does it tell of all of your professional experience and most updated certifications? Does it have an updated photo of you, or glamor shot of you from 25 years ago? Go look at it, re-work it and make sure it makes a great first impression.

Have a great About.me page or an about page on your site to be proud of?  Leave me a comment and share it below!

 Have You Updated Your About Page Lately

 Have You Updated Your About Page LatelyMegan E. Barber is a Real Estate Virtual Assistant, and owner of Barber Virtual Assisting Solutions. With over 10 years of experience working within the real estate industry, Megan and her team Virtual Assistants provide top notch real estate support services such as marketing, lead follow-up, social media, WordPress websites, and more. Megan E Barber is also the creator and author of The BVAS Connection and VA Mommy.

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Pay Attention to Your Online Reputation – The Story of My Nightmare

29578v7 max 450x450 Pay Attention to Your Online Reputation   The Story of My Nightmare

Image via CrunchBase

One’s offline reputation can be tarnished by some gossip around town that can eventually fade way. One’s online reputation can be destroyed by a few poison words that can be indexed in Google forever.

That brings me to my post today. I am disgusted that I have to address this issue at all, but the time has come where I have to publicly address the injustice of the situation I’m facing and defend myself against completely false allegations. I have been quietly living through this nightmare for 6 months and I am finally now going to speak out and tell my story. Buckle up and get ready for a long one.

Approximately six months ago, I received an anonymous email from someone stating they’ll “won’t be doing any further business” with me based on claims on a complaint website regarding me and my business. This came as a complete surprise as I had no idea who this person was that had implied they have done business with me. It was from an anonymous gmail address. When I went searching for said complaint, I was shocked and completely horrified by what I found. (I will not be linking to the offending site, but if you are smart and know how to use Google, I’m sure you can find what I am referencing.)

What I found was a so called “consumer complaint” website with horrific allegations made against me by a “third-party” poster, that I am a child predator. It was complete with my name, company name, links to my site, videos, displaying my home address and a map, etc. What is worse, links to the complaint on the site where indexed on the 1st page of Google in searches for my name, my business name, etc.

It almost goes without saying, but I will say it here. The allegations that have been made against me on that website are of course patently false and have no basis. Anybody who knows me would know that those ugly things said about me cannot possibly be true. I am a work-at-home mother to a small child, running a small business, trying to make an honest living. There is no possibility that what have been accused of can be remotely true. It is clear that some sick and deranged person had set out to do serious harm to me and my business. To this day, I still do not know the person who has done this to me or why.

My first course of action was to contact the owner of the supposed consumer complaint website, and kindly ask that they please remove the false and defamatory content from the website. I was sent a response that shot down my request citing their policy that they never remove reports that are claimed to contain defamatory, even if the original author requests it. They do this in the name of free speech and to avoid “rampant censorship”. But they suggested 2 courses of action:

  1. Contact the person who made the complaint (who, may I remind you, was basically “anonymous”)
  2. Take part in their “COPA” program where I can pay them $4999 a year to be able to defend myself

This same website’s policy and FAQ displays a “go ahead and sue me” attitude, because they are protected by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. (I won’t go into it’s merits or details, but you can find more info here too) IT was soon after this initial contact that a 2nd false complaint appeared on the site, not of the same ugly nature, but still completely false and still damaging.

I did consult an attorney to see what my options could be, but it didn’t leave me with much hope. Unfortunately, I am a small business and do not have the deep pockets of a large corporation to be able to come up with the tens of thousands of dollars to front for legal fees to be able to fight this in court. The only real course of action I had left was to file complaints with the state attorney general offices in my state and the state the website is located in. I had done so nearly 6 months ago and now it’s just a waiting game if the state attorneys choose to take any action.

So why am I waiting until now to tell my story? Frankly, I was embarrassed that such awful things were being said about me and did not want to give it publicity. Also, I did not want to bring much public attention to it because I did not want to give that website a boost in traffic. Though I have tried to rise above by continuing to provide great services to my clients, marketing my business, and blogging, with the hope that this ugly content would be buried in Google, but it is still coming back to haunt me. If I do not speak up, it still leaves the allegation open to question, and I cannot have that anymore. I can’t have potential clients Google my name a have these outrageous allegations cause them to question my credibility or my ethics.

It is horrible that such things can be done to innocent people, especially small business owners, and they have little recourse. This could have happened to anyone in my industry. Someone with a vendetta and a few poison words has the potential to destroy businesses and lives. Online defamation and libel needs to stop and I wish people would not be able to easily hide behind anonymous names without consequences in cases like mine.

Let it be known that again, that the allegations made against me are completely false. I, Megan E. Barber, owner of Barber Virtual Assisting Solutions,  am a good, decent human being, an upstanding citizen, and do not have so much as a speeding ticket to my name. I have been a victim of online defamation, and it has been nothing short of a nightmare. I don’t know what the absolute solution is, but I wanted to start by getting my side of the story out there and making sure there is no question about my ethics and integrity.

I will not stand for it anymore! And you shouldn’t either, so I invite you to please share my story.

 Pay Attention to Your Online Reputation   The Story of My Nightmare

 Pay Attention to Your Online Reputation   The Story of My NightmareMegan E. Barber is a Real Estate Virtual Assistant, and owner of Barber Virtual Assisting Solutions. With over 10 years of experience working within the real estate industry, Megan and her team Virtual Assistants provide top notch real estate support services such as marketing, lead follow-up, social media, WordPress websites, and more. Megan E Barber is also the creator and author of The BVAS Connection and VA Mommy.

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2011 Is Bringing Some Changes – Don’t Miss Out!

Ho Ho Ho and Happy Holidays from the Real Estate Virtual Assistant team at BVAS! 2011 is a few weeks away and will be bringing in some changes here at BVAS, including new rates. Here’s my video with a little announcement for those thinking about partnering with Barber Virtual Assisting Solutions in the near future…

New higher 2011 rates will be effective after January 15th. S new clients thinking of signing on with our services and want to get in on the current 2010 rates, you have until January 15, 2011 to sign on. This applies to all services including our Retainer plans and Pre-paid Blocks.*

Rate increase happens at midnight on January 16th so don’t miss out!!!

**Current clients will not face a rate increase at this time. You will be grandfathered in at you current rates.

 2011 Is Bringing Some Changes   Dont Miss Out!

 2011 Is Bringing Some Changes   Dont Miss Out!Megan E. Barber is a Real Estate Virtual Assistant, and owner of Barber Virtual Assisting Solutions. With over 10 years of experience working within the real estate industry, Megan and her team Virtual Assistants provide top notch real estate support services such as marketing, lead follow-up, social media, WordPress websites, and more. Megan E Barber is also the creator and author of The BVAS Connection and VA Mommy.

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Online Dominance & A Fantastic Facebook Trick

n645867662 3626 Online Dominance & A Fantastic Facebook Trick

Image of Michael Russer

After attending the awesome VREBC last week, I wanted to highlight one of my favorite speakers from it, Michael Russer. When I first started out as a Real Estate Virtual Assistant over 5 years ago, I was introduced through the REVA Network to Michael Russer and his fantastic classes and webinars. Also known as “Mr. Internet”, Michael has been speaking and coaching real estate pros for years on using the internet for their real estate business. He is also one of the biggest cheerleaders of the Virtual Assistant industry, which is another reason why I am a big fan of his.

Michael’s extensive list of accomplishments and books written can be found right here. His latest program, Online Dominance, includes a fantastic Mentoring program for agents that contains his high-energy group coaching calls, as well as the highly valuable CLICKS to CLOSES™ and ePRODUCTIVITY™ courses. This is one program where a few of my real estate friends are participants, and they all are raving fans.

The main reason I am posting this is to highlight a fantastic lead follow up resource that he shares and how he goes about sharing it with the use of his Facbook fan page. The resource Michael shares is the ingenious “Critical First Response Email Script”. It is a simple email sent to internet consumers after their initial inquiry. It is crafted in a way that is no pressure, “non-salesy”, and invites consumers to open a dialogue when they are ready to.

150x117 Online Dominance & A Fantastic Facebook Trick
Image by Getty Images via Daylife

How do you get this fantastic email script? Well, you must become a fan of the Online Dominance Facebook page in order to get to the download link. This Facebook tactic demonstrates a great way to generate new fans (or leads) to your Facbook fan page by enticing users to get something of value from you that they want or need. This simple trick is something you can do with your own fan page by creating a tab that only fans can access and use that tab to share valuable links, or special downloads for your fans. Then just watch your fan numbers grow.

I highly recommend that you check out Michael Russer

Looking to spruce up your own Facebook fan page and add valuable links and information for your fans? Your Real Estate Virtual Assistant can help you! Contact us today for an assessment of your real estate and social media support needs. and if your not already, come on over to Facebook and be a fan!

 Online Dominance & A Fantastic Facebook Trick

 Online Dominance & A Fantastic Facebook TrickMegan E. Barber is a Real Estate Virtual Assistant, and owner of Barber Virtual Assisting Solutions. With over 10 years of experience working within the real estate industry, Megan and her team Virtual Assistants provide top notch real estate support services such as marketing, lead follow-up, social media, WordPress websites, and more. Megan E Barber is also the creator and author of The BVAS Connection and VA Mommy.

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More Adventures in Video – New Intro

Here I am having more fun with using video. Here is the latest video I posted just yesterday. It’s a little bit of a company intro giving some history on my business and why I became a Real Estate Virtual Assistant. Enjoy!

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I Don’t Only Talk the Talk…


Long time, no see! I truly have a great reason for my small blogging hiatus here. Which brings me to my post today. Not only am I a Virtual Assistant, I use Virtual Assistants as well.

Obviously, I have been known to promote the value of using Virtual Assistants to help agents and other businesses streamline their admin overload, and marketing tasks. I AM a Virtual Assistant after all, so of course I want encourage all to engage with those in my industry (and most of all, use ME as their VA).

Well not only do I talk the talk, but I walk the walk as well. In the beginning of May, my family was blessed with the arrival of our beautiful baby boy. It was necessary for me to take a maternity leave so I could figure out being a first-time mom and get to know my son. But I did not want to abandon my clients and leave them in the dust for the couple months I was taking off. So I did what any savvy business owner would do and used my Virtual Assistant team to handle the reigns of my business while I was away. My awesome VA team members, Sandra Sims and LoriAnne Rehrig, took over for me and covered all my client business so I could take that time off. My business was able to run without me! If it wasn’t for them, I surely wouldn’t have been able take that time, or my clients would have been very upset if I just dropped the ball on them for a couple months.

That is one of the wonderful things about partnering with a Virtual Assistant in your business. You can take a vacation, sabbatical, or family leave, and you can be comfortable that your business continue to run without you in the hands of your Virtual Assistant (or multiple VAs). Your lead follow-up can be handled like clockwork by your VA as well as your listing updates, marketing activities, etc. None of it has to stop because you’re not there!

Now that I’m fully back, I am roaring to go and excited to be adding new services and activities to offer busy real estate agents. And with the backing of my VA team, my return has been seamless. Again, I couldn’t have done it without Sandy or LoriAnne. Thanks ladies! I truly have a fabulous team!


Megan Barber is a Real Estate Virtual Assistant, owner of Barber Virtual Assisting Solutions, LLC,  and runs blogs, The BVAS Connection and The Virtual Perception. Megan has been in a Virtual Assistant for 4+ years and has spent 10+ years doing the “behind-the-scenes” work in the real estate industry assisting agents with their real estate marketing and transaction needs.

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