Real You: The Fun of Constant Learning

Recently, I hosted a a webinar for the Women’s Council of Realtors. The focus was on how to get your business up and going as a new sales associate in the real estate business. The thing is, the advice for new real estate entrepreneurs is the same for new entrepreneurs in any business. Today, you are your strongest competitive advantage. It all starts with you. Your personal brand, clearly articulated, is your killer app. Your shining story. Uniquely yours and there for you to use to connect with your perfect customer. We spent a lot of the webinar discussing personal branding and target marketing. As you know, the ability to target, truly reach the right customer at the right time, has never been better. But it’s also really confusing to folks unfamiliar with the social media tools and platforms. I know, I’m learning every day, too.

For yesterday’s presentation, I created a chart—a hierarchy of sorts of how to present the Real You on the web. It starts with your website. There, you and your company tell your story to your target audience, clearly and with passion. Next, start networking. Online, the best place to begin is LinkedIn. Next step, Facebook. And once you’re comfortable with those two platforms—and perhaps you’ve added a blog—then tackle Twitter. If you’ve done your Real You chart , the words you see in front of you should often be found in the 140 characters you post on Twitter.

Trying to explain it better, a woman named Linda chimed in. She said she’s begun to think of LinkedIn as a Chamber of Commerce Small Business Meeting. Informational, flat and decorous. She considers Facebook a business cocktail party, where people are sharing a bit more of their personal side and conversing freely. (Hopefully, not too freely). I asked, so what’s Twitter?

She hadn’t decided. So I’ve been thinking about it. I love Twitter. To me, it’s about sharing thoughts and insights closely aligned with your personal brand and business brand in the world. In that sense, perhaps Twitter is the fly on the wall at the cocktail party. Gleaning the best, most concise insights and sharing them outward. At least, that’s what Twitter can be at its best.

The best way to learn about what any of these platforms can do for you and your business—or the business you are dreaming of creating—is to jump in and learn.

Cheers! And thanks for the learning, Linda!

Real You: One Day of Fame

Wow, imagine how surprised I was to find my face and my book on the front page of www.BlogTalkRadio.com! Yesterday, I was on the Secrets of Success radio show with Renee Belbeck of Like Minded Moms, and I was chosen as one of the day's top picks. Thanks BTR and Renee for having me. If you missed the show, you can listen to it

at: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/spotlightofsuccess/2009/07/30/Real-You-Inc.

It's never too late to tell you about trends, is it?

Ok, here's a funny story. My friend Stefan Swanepoel is THE real estate trends guy. He publishes a well-researched, well-read Trends Report each year and the industry folks who are smart, read it. I realize it's April, and first quarter is over, BUT I am finally reading the report! In my defense, for some unknown reason, it took two months to arrive from California to my mailbox in Ohio. (Yes, even reports don't want to visit Ohio if they're from Laguna Nigel.) But enough excuses. I learned a lot, and here are the trends that resonated with me:

1. Real estate is in the "transformation years", and those years will continue until 2012 (yikes!)

2. Social media is a real estate agent and company's friend! (yay!)

I'm not going to dwell on the negatives surrounding point 1 above, as I'm sure if you live in a home or know someone who does you've heard just about enough even if you aren't a real estate agent. But point 2 is exciting! As Stefan writes, "some 530 million individuals are now participating in some sort of social networking . . .and each person on average belongs to two or three social networks."

That's huge, in my industry and yours. If you aren't out there blogging and tweeting about your expertise in a meaningful and helpful manner—as a real estate agent it is your local market knowledge and your niche knowledge-you're missing out on customers. As Stefan writes: "Real estate professionals have an excellent opportunity to take advantage of this emerging trend by influencing others through creating meaningful content and releasing it through blogs, online communities, wikis and social networks....only 18 percent of online Americans actually create content or publish an article or blog at least once a month."

So get out there and get writing. You are an expert in your field, and you have something your tribe wants to read about. Write it, and they will follow!

Have you seen one of the best blogs for marketing to women?

I’m excited to share with you that I have recently become a contributing columnist to eBrandMarketing—the No. 1 blog on marketing to women—published by Glam Media, which reaches 77 million unique visitors. You’ll hear from the foremost authorities on women, like Fara Warner, author of Power of the Purse.

My column, called (you guessed it!) Real You, spotlights what women are looking for in a brand experience. I share my thoughts about how companies can do a better job connecting with us through emotional branding, authenticity and understanding women’s purchasing power.

Check out one of the most read blogs on eBrandMarketing: Real You: “Ladies” you can ride, look pretty, but you cannot drive, and come back every Friday for a new Real You column!

Real You: Learning the lessons of blogging

Sure, as a writer, blogging comes fairly easy for me. I like sitting in front of the computer, with a white space to fill with words. The problem is, if nobody else reads the words, it's sort of like writing in a diary. Helpful personally, but not likely to help grow my business. So that's what I've been focusing on the last few days. Learning how to link, maximize, post, syndicate the content, and most importantly, find more readers who could benefit and learn from the content I love to share.

My message to you: don't be afraid. Jump in. Learn the lessons of blogging and connecting - so you aren't just blogging to yourself!

Ok, like this example?? This doesn't look good to you or me? Hopefully, I'll be able to fix it, but at least you know I'm trying. Go ahead. To grow your business, you've got to grow your confidence online.

Like me, you just have to keep learning!