For those who attended, this is the Prezi that I used. I hope you enjoy! I also have a blog on  presentation ideas.

In the meantime, enjoy this piece.

Daphne Confar – New Paintings from asia Kepka on Vimeo.

Visit their site to search for Massachusetts real estate or to do a town search. You can even narrow it down to water-accessible properties. There are integrated search tools from Google, Yelp, Education.com and Zillow.

…but how do I find the time for social media?

Week in and week out, this is the refrain I hear from my clients. They wonder aloud how they will find the time throughout their busy days to post. Some even wonder how important it is to have a social media presence. In this post, hope to answer both of those questions and even offer a few tips.

Time-Saving Social Media Strategy

My client’s social media accounts look as though I am posting several times a day, each day of the week – including weekends. Some weeks, I post over 50 updates! So, how do I do it and still manage to meet with 15 clients per week and build websites and such? I use Hootsuite, a social media dashboard. For some of you, this terminology is new. A “dashboard” is a page that shows all of the activities in one place. With Hootsuite, I can see all of my clients social media accounts (except for Pinterest). Then I can make posts and schedule them in advance. Therefore, if I sit down for a few hours, I can set posts to run throughout the week. I would say it takes about an hour, per client, per week. Then, I schedule a few mornings or evenings to go in and “be social” — I will, as my client, comment on others’ posts. This is the best system I have seen so far and one that has generated success for my clients.

Is social media really necessary?

I wasn’t really sure how important social media was until I experimented for myself. While working for a major metropolitan real estate office (and seeing that my agents weren’t using Facebook) I decided to post a few of the company videos to my Facebook page. In the space of two weeks, I generated two leads. Because I was not an agent, I gave them to  my agents. Since then, as I check Google Analytics to monitor the performance of my clients’ websites, I notice that Facebook is consistently the top referring site. So, yes. Social media is important.

My next post will be about creating a winning social media strategy.

**An earlier version of this post incorrectly noted that Google+ wasn’t available in Hootsuite. It is indeed part of their great system. I stand corrected (technically, I SIT corrected.)

1. taken photos – The most fun camera apps are Hipstamatic and Photosynth by Microsoft. Now I know you are thinking, “Microsoft made an iPhone app??? and it’s COOL???” You need to see it to believe it.
2. edited photos – PS (Photoshop) Express is pretty darn neat.
3. created and edited videos – You can use the iMovie to get fancy or the native camera app just to shorten videos.
4. blogged, tweeted and facebooked - I love WordPress. But, the native apps for Twitter and Facebook are also very good.
5. dictated a document – Dragon dictation software can allow you to blog or compose emails while you do the dishes or dust (not vacuuming – that is too noisy). I love multitasking.
6. shared word processing files – Google Apps is part of the Google app (say that 5 times really fast). You can create or share files from your Apps account.
7. checked the weather in Reykjavik – I like the native Weather app for international or national weather (different cities) and the Weather.com app for my local weather.
8. managed multiple client’s social media accounts – I use Hootsuite for this and have found it to be fairly user-friendly. But, chances are, if you are managing client accounts, you are fairly tech-savvy to begin with…
9. practiced my drawing skills – I think Sketchbook is so neat!
10. listened to live radio and stored podcasts – I use the Radio.com, Public Radio and Stitcher apps. They cover me no matter what mood I am in for news. For music, I like Pandora – it is smart enough to play similar music to what I want to hear.
11. listened to my own music – iTunes is still my favorite for his.
12. recorded interviews – The native Voice Memos app works perfectly well.
13. tuned my guitar – Cleartune does a very nice job and I no longer need to remember my tuner when I bring my guitar to a friend’s place.
14. composed music – Nano Studio is a lot of fun to experiment with.
15. attended a desktop sharing meeting – GoToMeeting and JoinMe both have apps for this. JoinMe is FREE!
16. checked flight statuses – TripTracker has worked for me on 6 or 7 trips. It is also great if you are picking someone up at the airport.
17. paid bills – These apps are offered by the billing companies.
18. watched TV shows and movies – Even with all of the missteps they made in 2011, I still really like Netflix. Since I don’t have cable, this is how I watch movies.
19. reviewed restaurants – I like UrbanSpoon. Others prefer Yelp.
20. made restaurant reservations – OpenTable has been good to me. And they send you reminders via email.
21. converted currencies – GlobeMaster can do several currencies and can be very helpful.
22. navigated trips – The native Maps app is great – though it doesn’t speak to you with turn-by-turn directions.
23. searched for real estate – There are several – I like the SIR Mobile app and the Trulia app. Both do a nice job of giving photos and descriptions of local properties (using your phone’s gps).
24. video conferenced – Love that Facetime… alright, it wasn’t exactly a video conference. It was a call to my mother.

Please keep in mind that many apps require a network connection to transmit data. Be sure you understand what your usage fees are before you use them abroad (or at home, for that matter). I got an unpleasant surprise from AT&T when I didn’t see the fine print located on a second page… Not nice.

Go to Visual.ly, click on create and select the type and style you like. Then punch in your login info and VOILA! Can you think of a more visually engaging way to show social media activity?

This is so cool, I may or may not have gone overboard the other night… (ie. I was on it for an hour or so…) I have to admit it: I am in love!

There is more!

Tagxedo.com makes word-cloud infographics. See below…

The video below describes all the new site’s features and how to follow their social media posts on Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Pinterest.

• You’ve read some painfully boring blog posts.
• You blogged once or twice and it gave you a headache.
• You haven’t blogged about a topic you like.
• You are afraid because you haven’t blogged before.

No matter the reason you have been avoiding it, you should blog. Blogging is good for your business because:

• It creates original content that can help your search engine optimization (SEO).
• It positions you as an expert in your industry.
• It shows you are actively involved in your business.
• Serves as a resource for potential clients.

5 Ways to make blogging more fun

1. Be yourself. Style matters. If you’ve read boring posts, you probably read a sterilized version of the writer’s actual opinion. Of course we need to be professional in our business blogs. But, we don’t need to remove all humor or style. The blog post needs to offer good info delivered in an engaging way. Otherwise, it’s not worth writing.
2. Select topics that interest you. There are aspects of our jobs that we like and those that we don’t like. I find that, all too often, people blog about the things they DON’T like because they think it is more valuable.  If you think about the origination of the word “blog”, it is a “web-log” — essentially a blog is a diary. In this case, think of it as your own daily/weekly record about what is happening in your industry. So, choose the items that interest you first. Then, add your own style/spin to the items you don’t. This will make it more fun to write and more engaging to read.
3. Make a schedule for consistent timing and varied topics. You still need to have an umbrella topic, but you can vary the individual post topics. For instance, if you are an interior decorator, it needs to relate to that industry. But, you could write about…
   1. color trends
   2. fabrics trends
   3. manufacturing
   4. green production/healthier materials
   5. style choices
   6. decorating small spaces
   7. decorating on a budget
   8. famous designers
   9. famous spaces
   10. modern looks
   11. traditional looks
   12. different rooms and their approaches
   13. adjusting rooms for seasons
   14. and this list was just what I could come up with in two minutes!
4. Make a fun blog post once per month or once per week. I do my Fun Friday posts to make myself and my followers giggle. It also happens to get me blog-writing with glee. Then, I will write one or two less fun posts after that. If you are a real estate agent, you could always…
   1. find type errors in ads
   2. bad house photos in ads
   3. houses in strange locations
   4. houses with strange designs
   5. neat overseas homes
   6. famous houses
   7. There are lots of options.
5. Invite other authors. You can take a little of the pressure off yourself by inviting other authors to post. For instance, if you are a photographer, you could…
   1. ask a client/subject to talk about the experience of being photographed
   2. ask your local supplier to talk about changes in technology
   3. ask an editor talk about the importance of photography in his/her magazine

If you have wanted to blog and are having trouble finding topics, post your industry/career in the comments. I will reply with ideas. If all else fails, buy a pair of Groucho Marx glasses — it is virtually impossible not to have fun when wearing them.

Please contact me for more information about marketing your business.

The next one is a tad off color…

Today, BetsyBullock.com launched a new real estate website for the North Shore of Massachusetts. This Cape Ann agent specializes in Manchester real estate, Beverly real estate, Beverly Farms real estate, Prides Crossing real estate, Gloucester real estate, Rockport real estate, Essex real estate and more (phew! I am out of breath.) Her new site offers mapped searches with Zillow info, Yelp info and Education.com info about school systems. She also has community profiles for many of the North Shore communities. You can create your own customized searches with up-to-the-minute from MLSpin.

Congratulations to Betsy and thank you to the folks at Boston Logic who produce great real estate websites.