Answering the Realtor Question: What is a Widget Anyways?

Tuesdays, here at the Glen Oaks Escrow website, we post Technology Tips designed to help you, the REALTOR®, grow your business, keep up to date on the latest technologies, and move you forward into the new era of real estate.

As I speak with Realtors I am reminded that technology is bringing to agents a whole new vocabulary. In my constant endeavor to discuss the opportunities that technology provides the modern Realtor, I have written on many basic technology terminology which Realtors need to understand in order to put together a strategy for success in today’s market. Terms such as: Web 2.0, Social Media, Social Networking, and Blog. Today I’m adding another terminology to the list – Widgets. Many have heard the term, but most don’t have an understanding of what a widget is or how a widget can help them. This post is designed to clarify a thing or two.

A widget is a piece of code that can be embedded within a web page. Basically, it is a mini-application provided by a 3^rd party that you choose to install on your website or blog. Why would a Realtor do this? Well, because there is lots of information out there that consumers want and this is a good way to give it to them. Many 3^rd party vendors are offering a no-maintenance way for you, the Realtor, to provide valuable information on your site. If you are interested in providing the consumer what they want on your website (and why wouldn’t you…this is how you get traffic and have people come back to your site), you should look into the myriad of real estate widgets that are available out there. Many of them are even free.

This great article lists a few widgets for the Real Estate world, it was authored by Nicole Nicolay of MyTechOpinion.com. In it, she points out that there are great real estate widgets out there that provide helpful information for visitors in a variety of categories such as Property Search, Home Valuation, Industry News, Information and Statistics, and Calculators. The article was written a couple years ago so things have evolved (for example, check out some of the neat free real estate widgets that Trulia now offers Realtors here), but her article still gives a great list of useful real estate widgets by functional category.

Think widgets might be for your website or blog? Great. Widget-away. BUT, a word of caution – plan your widgets carefully. There is a thing as too many widgets on a site! It is very easy to add too many widgets to your website and the result can not only be disruptive to the visual integrity of your site, but also cause your site to load slowly. I’d say a good rule of thumb is to add 1-3 widgets to your site.

Lets look at a great application of widgets by a Realtor:

Heather Elias of Century 21 in Ashburn Virginia incorporates widgets into her her blog at www.locomusings.com:

Heather has included a widget on the right hand side that provides consumers with a slideshow of featured listings. This is a widget or what the company calls a module on their website but it’s effectively the same thing (a piece of code added to your website). The featured listings module that Heather uses is available through Diverse Solutions as an MLS IDX search option for agents. Diverse Solutions has three available website modules for featured listings, the Slideshow, Map and Map Search modules. When a visitor clicks on the featured listing they are taken to a page hosted by diverse solutions that provides a very detailed property listing and a way to contact the agent.

Heather also incorporates a Facebook widget lower down the right hand column. This widget displays her current Facebook activity and allows the visitor to become a fan with one instant click.

She has a Chat widget that invites the visitor to “Chat with Heather Elias”. At the moment of this screen capture, Heather was busy, but when she is online and available, visitors have the ability to simply type her a question and have her respond in real time. Talk about rapid feedback and being available to the consumer! There are several chat widgets that are out there such as the one provided by Meebo.

Heather Elias is an outstanding example of an effective use of widgets. Her use of widgets is useful to consumers, not overwhelming, and maintains the attractiveness of her site and blog.

So, widget sparingly and appropriately, and you too can effectively extend the value of your website and/or blog.

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How to Email Articles (Posts) to Your Clients

Tuesdays, here at the Glen Oaks Escrow website, we post Technology Tips designed to help you, the REALTOR®, grow your business, keep up to date on the latest technologies, and move you forward into the new era of real estate.

You may have noticed that we’ve been providing some escrow education and answering a lot of great questions here on our blog (even though you may be getting this in your inbox, the article is still also part of the Glen Oaks Escrow Blog and permanently archived/available there). Topics like Options for How to Hold Title – The Vesting Form Explained and What Day Is Best To Negotiate Close of Escrow? Although there is new topics/articles on our site every week, the old topics remain on the site and are available for you and your clients anytime. And, it is simple to share these articles via email with your clients. Here’s how:

Step 1:

Go to the site and find the post you are looking for.

Say you want to email the article Choosing A Notary When It’s Time to Sign Your Escrow Documents. Go to the site and locate the post so that it appears in the main area on the left of the site:

Step 2:

Scroll to the bottom of the post and locate and click on the “Share This” icon.

Step 3:

Click on the Share This link and select the Email option under Send.

Step 4:

Fill in the form and select the Send button.

That’s it! Your client will now receive an email from you that links them to the post and includes your message.

It works for any of the posts we do. Share away!

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List Local, Promote Global | International Websites For Your Property Listings

Tuesdays, here at the Glen Oaks Escrow website, we post Technology Tips designed to help you, the REALTOR®, grow your business, keep up to date on the latest technologies, and move you forward into the new era of real estate.

Are you looking for an international buyer for your listing which would make a fabulous second home? Interested in getting your listings exposed to those potential foreign buyers? Although sites like Realtor.com do a great job of reaching a national audience, wouldn’t it be better if your listing was appearing in the currency of the country that it is appearing in? How about having your listing translated into the language of the country you are targeting? Or maybe you just want to make sure your listings are appearing on sites that rank well with Google in foreign countries. Although still fairly new and evolving, a growing area of online real estate marketing is in international listing websites and portals. Some are specific to a country, while others are trying to develop a global listing database. It is still too early to determine who the winner of this latest phase of real estate website positioning is going to be, but here are a few sites to watch, and check out for your current and future listings:

GlobalEdge:

Billing themselves as “The Business Portal for Overseas Properties” this site is based in the UK is “an award-winning trade portal designed to help real estate agents and property developers do business overseas”. In order to participate on this site, you need to create an account. They have several pricing models which range from free to £250/month. For £15/month you can showcase 3 of your best listings. In addition, this site has a property portal section which is an “independent analysis of the best overseas property portals” presented by region and by country. This is an excellent resource if you are trying to target a specific country for your listing.

Enormo:

With the tagline “Every Property, Everywhere”, this site aims to be an international listing portal and translates your listing into approximately 30 languages for a moderate monthly fee. Realtors can list their properties on the website, provided they have a website of their own. Specific details and pricing information is available by viewing the add a listing page found here.

Property Showrooms:

Based in Spain and a respected site amongst the European investor community, this site allows agents to post unlimited listings for 75 EURO/month with a 3 month minimum sign up period. Their site describes itself as:

Winner of CNBC Best Portal, frequently mentioned in the worlds press such as The Telegraph, The Wall Street Journal, and The South China Morning Post. As a result we appear at the top of Google, Yahoo and the other major search engines providing extensive background information, up to date news and services for both the public and industry alike.

Point2Homes:

A listings syndication service based in Canada, Point2Homes has a free 3 month trial membership where you can upload your listings and choose where they are distributed. After 3 months, the price is $19.99/month. Point2Homes is a great way to exposure your listings to many sources at once, including leading national, and international websites. The process is manual and requires you to create an account and upload your listing data.

Interested in what you are reading? To automatically receive these Tuesday Technology Tips in your email box, subscribe to these articles at the top right corner of this site (Glen Oaks Escrow) in the box titled “Subscribe via Email”.

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Connect with Glen Oaks Escrow on Facebook

Tuesdays, here at the Glen Oaks Escrow website, we post Technology Tips designed to help you, the REALTOR®, grow your business, keep up to date on the latest technologies, and move you forward into the new era of real estate.

Are you on Facebook? If not, and you are a sphere of influence (or social) farmer, you probably should be. Facebook is a Web 2.0 site that is one of the greatest ways for Realtors to create a social networking strategy. Facebook currently has over 175 million users and makes it so easy to connect with people you already know from all parts of your life. It is a great way to let those who already know you, what you are currently up to (for example, that you are a Realtor and have a particular expertise in real estate in the Glendale area – think of the potential for referrals!). Find and connect with friends from high school, college, your company, or others in the industry, like Glen Oaks Escrow. Glen Oaks Escrow has a new “fan page” (Facebook terminology). By becoming a fan of Glen Oaks Escrow on Facebook, you have an easy way to stay connected to all of the training and event opportunities that we offer and support. In addition, by connecting with Glen Oaks Escrow on our fan page, you have a way to subtly remind your other Facebook friends that you are in real estate, as they will see you interacting with other professional organizations in the industry. So become a fan! Here is how:

Step 1:

Login to Facebook. (If you aren’t yet on Facebook, it is easy to create an account. Simply fill in the Sign Up section on the homepage and follow the directions to get started)

Step 2:

Search for “Glen Oaks Escrow” in the Search box in the upper right hand corner of the Facebook screen .

You will get this as your search result:

Step 3:

Click “Become a Fan”

That is it! Once you click “Become a Fan” the wording will change to “You are a Fan” and you will be connected to Glen Oaks Escrow on Facebook.

Step 4:

Check out our fan page. You can now click “Glen Oaks Escrow” and see the details of  our fan page where we will keep current all of our training opportunities (stay tuned…a training session on Facebook for Realtors is coming soon!) and you can keep up with the latest events and announcements from Glen Oaks Escrow. You can even send us a message on our fan page.

Just another great way to build your social network and establish yourself as a working Realtor who is keeping up with the latest trends and opportunities in the industry. We look forward to seeing you on our fan page!

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Understanding What "RSS" Means | A Key Concept In REALTOR Social Media Education

Tuesdays, here at the Glen Oaks Escrow website, we post Technology Tips designed to help you, the REALTOR®, grow your business, keep up to date on the latest technologies, and move you forward into the new era of real estate.

Have you ever noticed that little orange icon that appears on web pages and blogs everywhere? (If you haven’t, after reading this post, you will – trust me!). Are you curious what it is? That icon is the symbol and the cornerstone technology that has enabled the explosion of blogging and transformed how information is consumed in a web 2.0 world. And, it is called RSS. My personal journey into social media started the day I discovered RSS. Understanding RSS is what allowed all kinds of doors to open for me in social media and the web 2.0 world. My hope is that it will for you, too.

The stage has been set for this post. In previous weeks I have defined “blog”, and discussed in detail the concepts of web 2.0 and social media, and discussed how these pertain to real estate. If these concepts are still new to you, it will be helpful to review my post on blogs as a basis for learning the power of RSS.

So then, what is RSS?

Most literally, RSS is an acronym for Really Simple Syndication. But, this is such a bland definition, and one that is generally irrelevant to understanding the true meaning of RSS. Following are 3 different (outstanding) sources who have a slightly different take on how to describe and understand RSS. Go with the one that resonates best for you:

If you are a visual learner, here is the Common Craft video explaining RSS in plain English and points out that RSS is “like Netflix compared to the video store”:

Interested in a straightforward, practical explanation of RSS? A great working explanation of RSS is provided by ProBlogger Darren Rowse who explains RSS as:

RSS is a technology that is being used by millions of web users around the world to keep track of their favorite websites.

In the ‘old days’ of the web to keep track of updates on a website you had to ‘bookmark’ websites in your browser and manually return to them on a regular basis to see what had been added.

The problems with bookmarking

• You as the web surfer had to do all the work
• It can get complicated when you are trying to track many websites at once
• You miss information when you forget to check your bookmarks
• You end up seeing the same information over and over again on sites that don’t update very often

RSS Changes Everything

What if you could tell a website to let you know every time that they update? In a sense, this is what RSS does for you.

RSS flips things around a little and is a technology that provides you with a method of getting relevant and up to date information sent to you for you to read in your own time. It saves you time and helps you to get the information you want quickly after it was published.

I find the ‘subscription’ description helpful. It’s like subscribing to a magazine that is delivered to you periodically but instead of it coming in your physical mail box each month when the magazine is published it is delivered to your ‘RSS Reader’ every time your favorite website updates.

Let me say right up front that I’m not the most technically savvy guy going around – but even I can use RSS. At first I found it a little strange to make the change from bookmarking to RSS but I found that when I started that I just couldn’t stop.

Still a little foggy on RSS? Here is “The Oprah Way” of explaining RSS, courtesy of Stephanie Quilao who explains RSS “The Oprah Way” in her great, non-technical post (read her full article here):

So, to make RSS much easier to understand, in Oprah speak, RSS stands for: I’m “Ready for Some Stories”. It is a way online for you to get a quick list of the latest story headlines from all your favorite websites and blogs all in one place. How cool is that?

Suppose you have 50 sites and blogs that you like to visit regularly. Going to visit each website and blog everyday could take you hours. With RSS, you can “subscribe” to a website or blog, and get “fed” all the new headlines from all of these 50 sites and blogs in one list, and see what’s going on in minutes instead of hours. What a time saver!

So, how does this all relate to real estate?

Are you interested in offering creative ways to gain more exposure for your clients? Or maybe you are you interested in simply expanding your knowledge base of what you can do for your clients. How about syndicating your listings information out to the internet? Maybe you just want to stay on top of what is going on, or learn from others. As Keller Williams Simi Valley, California agent Ted Mackel points out in the following video, these are just some of the benefits that RSS has afforded his real estate business. Ted created this video as part of a 2008 MyTechOpinion.com contest asking for submissions from real estate folks about which technology has impacted your business the most. Take a look:

You too can benefit from the power of RSS. As a first step, I suggest signing up for a Google account (if you don’t already have one) and sign up for their feed reader. Then, every time you see that RSS logo out on the web on a site that interests you, add that site to your reader. It will open all kinds of doors for you in this internet and social media world and help you to better serve your clients as social media becomes an ever increasing part of real estate.

Interested in what you are reading? To automatically receive these Tuesday Technology Tips in your email box, subscribe to these articles at the top right corner of this site (Glen Oaks Escrow) in the box titled “Subscribe via Email”.

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Did You Claim Your Facebook Vanity URL?

Tuesdays, here at the Glen Oaks Escrow website, we post Technology Tips designed to help you, the REALTOR®, grow your business, keep up to date on the latest technologies, and move you forward into the new era of real estate.

Have you claimed your Facebook username yet? If not, you should do so! It makes it easier for friends, family, and clients to find and connect with you on Facebook.

In June of 2009, Facebook gave users the opportunity to claim a “vanity URL” that represents their profile on Facebook. Over 6 million people registered their username within the first week. This optional process gives Facebook users a distinct web address for their profile and makes it much easier to share and promote your Facebook presense with others. If you haven’t registered your username, the URL for your profile looks like the before picture below. After you register your username, the URL for your profile will look something far more friendly (see the after image below).

To claim your username, go to http://www.facebook.com/username and follow the simple process that Facebook has set up. You can select a username that Facebook suggests or create your own. Select “Check availability” to check for available usernames. If the desired username is available, click “Set Username” in order to confirm your choice.

A few notes:

• Facebook usernames are permanent. In other words, they cannot be changed or transferred! This is an important consideration. How are you branding yourself? Are you using facebook for business or personal use, or maybe for both? Should your username be your full name or something more tailored to business (staceyharmon vs. RealtorStacey). Only you can make that decision. But, keep in mind that it cannot be changed. So choose wisely and make sure it is a username that will represent you over time.
• Your username must be at least five characters in length and only include alphanumeric characters (A-Z, 0-9), or a period or full stop (“.”)
• Once you have your new friendly “vanity URL”, consider adding it to your email signature to encourage those you deal with to interact with you on Facebook.
• It is possible to also have a vanity URL for a fanpage, but you must have over 1,000 fans and have registered your page before May 31, 2009 in order to qualify. More details can be found here.

Interested in what you are reading? To automatically receive these Tuesday Technology Tips in your email box, subscribe to these articles at the top right corner of this site (Glen Oaks Escrow) in the box titled “Subscribe via Email”.

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REALTORS: Learn How To Change Your Internet Browser Home Page to Something Useful

Tuesdays, here at the Glen Oaks Escrow website, we post Technology Tips designed to help you, the REALTOR®, grow your business, keep up to date on the latest technologies, and move you forward into the new era of real estate.

When you open your internet browser window, wouldn’t it be nice to see something useful? Is there a site you visit every time you browse the web? If so, wouldn’t it be helpful to have that set as your home page on your browser? It’s very simple to change and this week’s tech tip is designed to show you how to do that.

Some suggestions of sites that might be relevant to a REALTOR to set as your default home page:

• Your MLS login screen (are you at the computer mostly to check the MLS?)
• Glen Oaks Escrow (new tech tips and escrow posts will automatically appear on your homepage!)
• AgentGenius.com (real estate magazine)
• MyTechOpinion.com (tech magazine for the real estate industry)
• Google.com (the search engine – good one to choose because it loads quickly)
• WSJ.com (leading business and financial news)
• InmanNews.com (real estate news)
• Realtor.org (NAR’s REALTOR site)

First step is to pick a default home page. Select one from the list above or select your own (ANY website will work).

Once you decide what site you want, follow these step by step directions on how to change your default home page to something useful.

Most of our readers are on PC’s and using Internet Explorer, so these directions are geared towards them. If you are on a Mac and in Safari, directions can be found here and if you are using Firefox, you can find directions here.

Interested in what you are reading? To automatically receive these Tuesday Technology Tips in your email box, subscribe to these articles at the top right corner of this site (Glen Oaks Escrow) in the box titled “Subscribe via Email”.

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The Easiest Way for ANY Realtor to get started with Blogging | Posterous.com

Tuesdays, here at the Glen Oaks Escrow website, we post Technology Tips designed to help you, the REALTOR®, grow your business, keep up to date on the latest technologies, and move you forward into the new era of real estate.

I love Posterous. It’s my new favorite must-have application for the modern Realtor. If you are a Realtor, and you want to have a personalized, real time web presence for your real estate business, but don’t know how to get started, Posterous is your solution. Before I get into why, let me introduce what Posterous is.

Posterous describes itself as “The dead simple place to post anything.” By creating a Posterous account, you instantly create a web presence for yourself that lets you post anything to it – photos, articles, videos, MP3′s, files (such as word documents, pdf’s, etc). There is no easier way to create a blog for yourself and your real estate business (if you’d like some background as to why this might be valuable for your real estate business, check out my earlier posts on social media, web 2.o, and social networking for real estate). And posting is EASY, making Posterous the most attractive blogging option to the novice user, while still being an outstanding and powerful resource for the techiest of agents.

Why do I love Posterous so?

First: It’s easy. It’s simple. (You can do this. Really. You Can.)

If you can email, you can use Posterous. In its simplest form, all you have to do is email whatever you want to post to post@posterous.com, and it is done. Doesn’t get much easier than that.

Simply tell Posterous what your email account is, and it will know that when you send an email to them, the content is to appear on your Posterous blog. And, if you have multiple email accounts (for example, a brokerage account, a personal account, a gmail account, etc.) you can tell Posterous all your email addresses and it will post to your site no matter which email account you send from.

In addition, there are multiple ways to update your Posterous site from both your PDA cell phone and from your computer. This makes Posterous easy to use whether you are in the office checking out the MLS, or out in the field working an open house or showing property. Here are the options for how to update your Posterous Page:

1. From your PDA cell phone:

• Email whatever you want to post to Posterous and it will automatically post to your site.
• Text in your post via SMS (maximum post size is 110 characters…even a busy Realtor can manage that!)
• PicPosterous: If you have an iPhone, you can download the free PicPosterous application which further simplifies the process of posting photos to your site, and organizes the pictures on the site into photo-galleries allowing the user to preview multiple thumbnail images and select the one they want to view larger (see an example on my site here).

2. From your computer:

• At your Posterous.com website: Simply create a new post and type in what you want to say.
• From your email: Email whatever you want (including file attachments) to Posterous and it will post to your site.
• Use the Posterous Bookmarklet: This is a Posterous application that will let you grab photos, video, audio and text right out of the web pages you’re looking at, comment, and post it to your posterous blog.

Second: Posterous looks good.

Social media is really a brand building opportunity for Realtors. And, part of that opportunity is the visual design of how you are represented online. Posterous has a simple, elegant, and clean design that is professional and will display you and your content in an attractive manner that is good for your business image.

Third: It’s Free.

There is no charge to use Posterous. By creating a Posterous account, you create a free website for yourself. And everyone like free, right?! Over time, Posterous will be adding premium features, but they state in their FAQ “…there will always be a useful free version you can use.”

Fourth: It’s branded to you.

When you sign up for a Posterous account, you will select a vanity URL that can be branded to you. So, for example, my Posterous URL is: staceyharmon.posterous.com. Assuming it’s available, you can have YourName.posterous.com or PalmDesertProperties.posterous.com or WhateverYouCallYourBusiness.posterous.com.

Fifth: Posterous integrates with other social media sites.

One of the most powerful features of Posterous is the ability to auto-post to ALL of the social media sites that are most relevant to Realtors, all at the same time. This includes:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Flickr
• WordPress
• Blogger

So, for example, if I take a photo of a listing that I am holding open and want to send that to Posterous with a note that says “I’m holding open 123 Main Street from 12-4 today…come on by and say hello!”, I can choose to have that photo and message sent (with one email) to Posterous, and concurrently to Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, and my WordPress blog. This is powerful and efficient stuff!

How to Use Posterous For Your Real Estate Business:

Posterous is the best way for Realtors to get started in social media and in blogging. The possibilities for using Posterous for your business are only limited by your creativity. The goal is to give people a glimpse inside your life as a working Realtor, in real-time. Here are a few ideas to get you started. At the minimum, your Posterous site is an outstanding place to post photos…of your neighborhood, of your listings, of your life as you experience it (why not post photos of your office, or of your team as they are out showing listings?). Position yourself as a trusted real estate advisor by sharing with people relevant information related to real estate in your market. Post market reports for your farm (simply scan what you get a hard copy of at your sales meeting and email it to Posterous, or post a PDF of one that is emailed to you).

Check out my Posterous account here (which I use primarily as a photo blog site) and then sign up for your own. Give it a try. And let me know what creative ways you come up with to build your real estate business with Posterous. I want to hear your great ideas!

Interested in what you are reading? To automatically receive these Tuesday Technology Tips in your email box, subscribe to these articles at the top right corner of this site (Glen Oaks Escrow) in the box titled “Subscribe via Email”.

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What’s a Gravatar and Why Every Modern Realtor Should Have One

Tuesdays, here at the Glen Oaks Escrow website, we post Technology Tips designed to help you, the REALTOR®, grow your business, keep up to date on the latest technologies, and move you forward into the new era of real estate.

The picture below is a screen shot of multiple comments that were left on a blog post that was promoting a happy hour gathering at a social media conference that happened earlier this year.

Quick, take a look at the image and tell me at first glance which of the people commenting:

1. Did you look at first?
2. Do you think is the most professional?
3. Do you think is the most technically proficient?
4. Seems the most like a real person?
5. Are you most drawn to?

I’m willing to bet that the people who have images next to their comment (me and Hans Ziegenbein) were the answers you gave. If I ask you which people appear to be the least professional and least technically proficient, which would you answer? The one’s without a photo? Probably so. Which camp would you rather be in?

In the post I did last week, I explained what an Avatar is your visual image of yourself online – usually your photo), and how it is an essential consideration of the brand image for any modern Realtor. This post expands upon that and introduce you to Gravatar.com, a service that will make including your avatar in your blog comments, simple and easy. Here is a brief video which clearly explains the service:

As the video mentions, once you sign up for a gravatar account, you can associate ALL the email addresses that you have with your account (your brokerage email, your gmail account, your home account, your college alumni account, etc). And, then when you go to comment on a blog or forum, no matter what email address you use, your photo is automatically included when you make a comment (assuming the site supports gravatars…which many blogs and forums do).

A gravatar is a great way for a Realtor who participates in blog commenting to be positioned with a professional, consistent brand image across many sites. It also centralizes and automates the posting of your photo when you comment on the web. By using a gravatar, you are more effectively branding yourself with the image you choose and you are more likely to be perceived as more professional and technically proficient. So why not continue the brand image you have created off-line to on-line and sign up with Gravatar.com?

Interested in what you are reading? To automatically receive these Tuesday Technology Tips in your email box, subscribe to these articles at the top right corner of this site (Glen Oaks Escrow) in the box titled “Subscribe via Email”.

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Build Your Online Brand by Paying Attention to Your Avatar

Tuesdays, here at the Glen Oaks Escrow website, we post Technology Tips designed to help you, the REALTOR®, grow your business, keep up to date on the latest technologies, and move you forward into the new era of real estate.

Build your online brand with your avatar? Your what? Wondering what an avatar even is? Here is a hint:

Avatar is a fancy word for the small image used to depict your online presence or identity. It is a very important part of any Realtor’s online presence and branding. When you create a profile on a social media website, they often ask you to upload a photo of yourself. This photo is your avatar – most Realtors would think of it as their headshot. But should your avatar be your headshot? Maybe, but maybe not.

Here are some things to consider when choosing your avatar:

• Your avatar sets the tone for who you are. What do you want it to say? It should be a reflection of you. It is the first visual that people generally see of you. Put some thought behind it. Keep in mind that it does play a part in defining your personal brand online. What do you want your personal brand to say?
• Keep in mind that the digital world is generally more casual than the print world in marketing yourself. I suggest portraying a professional, yet approachable image of yourself. It does not need to be of you in business formal attire (of course, it can be).
• The image will most often be presented very small, and cropped to a square. Very frequently the image will be only a ½ inch square. It will often appear as part of a list like this example from Facebook.

• Your avatar should be close up to your face. Because of the small size that most Avatar’s are presented, it is generally best to have the photo be cropped tight.
• It is ok to get creative! Your avatar doesn’t have to be your face (but most Realtors will likely choose this option). Also, think about getting creative with your cropping. You’d be surprised how well you can communicate you with just part of your face. For some additional options check out this Guide To Using Avatars for Online Marketing by Justin Smith of the Real Estate Tomato.

Take a look at the sample avatars at the beginning of this post and a few more below. These are all appropriate guides for Realtors who want to brand themselves online and participate in the social media game. Give your avatar some thought – make sure your photo fits the medium, communicates what you want it to say, and is a reflection of you. It will be good for your brand and your business!

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