Mike Mueller, Social Media.ist

It was a great show and I'm not sure if I got more of a kick out of Jason's discomfort with the Sex on a Plate or my broadcasting pantless.  

Either way it was one of my favorites!

One of the items he missed was all the talk about Truffles.  And as I mentioned in the show, YES, I shave my truffles!

It’s no secret I’m a fan of the Facebook (Fan) Business Page.  I also have a few real estate clients.  Hence it’s no surprise that I have built quite a few Custom Facebook Business Pages for real estate agents.  Here’s a few:http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikemueller/sets/72157622207611298/detail/

Not a single day goes by that someone doesn’t ask the big question

WHY?

Make no mistake it’s a very valid question. 

Here’s the 5 reasons I think every agent needs a Facebook Page:

 “SEO” – a Facebook Page is indexed by all the major search engines as well as Facebook itself.  Wait there’s more.  If it’s indexed it’s also Page Ranked.  Want more?  Most every link on the Page has “Follow” attributes (as opposed to “No Follow”).

 “Separation of Church and State” – a Facebook Page automatically provides a privacy layer between the Page (you) and the people who “Fan” your Page.  This goes both ways.  Provocative pictures your old college buddy just found, uploaded and tagged of you don’t get shared to your Fans. Conversely, your Fans have an understanding that by becoming a fan they won’t be divulging private information as well.

 “The Landing Page” – you can set any one of your tabs to be the first one shown to NON Fans.  That means you can create a Tab specifically designed for the new visitor.  For a relocation agent that would be “Why it’s so great to live in Sunny Acres”.  That Tab could be Photos, Videos, or even a custom built tab.  Engage me on your neighborhood and guess who I’m going to call to show me a house?

 “Voted OFF the Island” – It’s a little known fact but pushing your new listings out to your friends (via your personal profile) is a violation of Facebook’s Terms of Service as well as it’s Facebook Site Governance: Statement of Rights and Responsibilities.  You can read more here.  And I know what you are thinking… there’s many agents breaking that law on a daily basis and Facebook hasn’t yet voted them off the island (yet).  True but there’s nothing stopping them from starting tomorrow.  That’s happening right now on Flickr and Video sites like Vimeo.

 “Say my Name” – Like a personal profile your Facebook Page can also have it’s own custom URL.  In the world of Custom URLs there’s can only be one Facebook.com/SunnyAcres.  While most people opt for their own name for their personal profile (i.e. I’m http://facebook.com/MikeMueller ) when it comes to a Fan Page it’s all about business, it’s all about branding.  Secure a custom URL and your business card and other advertising could simply state  “Find us online at Facebook.com/SunnyAcres” Now there’s real value on a couple of different levels!

So there’s 5 reasons I think every real estate agent needs to have their own Facebook (Fan) Business Page.  Give me ten minutes and I could come up with 5 more reasons.  I do have to add a couple more thoughts to the conversation…

• Having a Page does not mean you can just automate the process and walk away.  It’s not a “set it and forget it” concept.
• Having a Page does not mean you can simply Broadcast.  Having any exposure on any social media also requires a significant amount of listening as well.  Some might say that is much more important than the broadcasting.
• Having a page does not mean it’s business only.  Quite the opposite.  You can still have the same personality traits that make you a wonderful human being also come out in your Page.
• Having a Page is one thing, having a page that engages others is another.  Yes, I build Custom Facebook Business Pages but I have seen plenty non custom pages that do a great job engaging others.

Want to start you Facebook Business Page?  Start by logging in to facebook as usual, then go to http://facebook.com/pages/manage

Want a little video?  Here’s Robert Scoble and Caitlin O’Farrell (she’s from Facebook)

Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy!

Educating Real Estate Agents On How To Use Modern Technologies To Better Their Business Will Never Be The Same!

On November 17th, 2009 dozens of the most respected educators in the real estate industry converge to host the first of its kind, Virtual Real Estate BarCamp.

Virtual Real Estate BarCamp is a 1-Day Learning Extravaganza.
From 9am until 4pm PST, three concurrent webinar "rooms" will each host 9 different sessions, for a total of 27 different presentations.
There is something for everyone and everything for someone, and best of all, IT IS FREE and attendance is unlimited!

Click below to:
Register.
Learn more.
See who is coming.
Check out the Session Calendar.
Get sponsorship info.

Attendance is projected to be at least 1000 agents, nationwide.
Do not miss out on being part of this ground-breaking event.

Session topics include:

1. Social Media Risk Management
2. Flickr for Real Estate
3. Developing Your Brand
4. Online Advertising Secrets
5. Facebook for Real Estate
6. WordPress Training
7. Daily Goal Tracking
8. Starting a Real Estate Blog

...and much more, with new sessions being added every day.

My session is entitled "LinkedIn - The Red Headed StepChild of Social Media" Since we only have 30 minutes and so much ground to cover I've narrowed it down to just these 3

• 3 things to change now to maximize your profile
• Testimonials. How to get them.
• Farming on LinkedIn

And if that wasn\'t cool enough, individuals from around the country are volunteering to host In-Real-Life MeetUps for after the event.
Learn all day, and then meet to have a beer with local participants. This is going to be a blast!

We hope to see you there!

A REBlog for an excellent radio show coming tomorrow!

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/MondayMornings/2009/10/28/The-Real-Rudy

Tamara Dorris - Rah Rah Rah!

: )

I've just got to repost this one...

: )

Today's show is all about Facebook.  

It'll also be all Q & A - (the Q stands for Your questions)

If you have a question - listen in, call in, or ask it in the chat room.

We'll do our best to get to everyone's questions.  

Remember - it's Noon Pacific time (today) at "the M files".  If you missed a show you can listen to the archives here: http://areweconnected.com/the-m-files/

Umm. No.  Sorry.  Not this kind…

More like this kind…

And the funny thing is, as much as I love these rolley polley real life cartoon characters, I can’t go see them at the zoo.  Don’t know what it is but the Zoo just creeps me out. (sorry to all the Zoo Keepers)

I have a plan though.  I’m going to go see them (IRL) in real life.  Call it a “bucket list” if you like, but I will someday hop on my bike, and ride to Alaska (no joke).  The trip is almost 8,000 miles there and back.  No polished highways, it’s camping and dirt roads.  Bring what gas you need because gas stations are few and far between.

So when http://www.blogactionday.org announced the topic this year was going to be Climate Change I knew exactly what my focus was on.

POLAR BEARS

You may have read in the news that in a very short period of time the Polar Bear’s natural habitat may be down to nil.  You may also have read that the whole global warming thing is a hoax.

I did a quick search on Google News and found examples of both.

Your Man could not care less about polar bears

Northwest Missourian – ?13 hours ago?

I am 98.73 percent sure that global warming is a sham. This last weekend I froze my butt off. Is it just me or is the middle of October too early for this …

(Polar) bear and back again … in 24 hours

National Post – ?11 hours ago?

The trip has become more popular, he says, because “the polar bear has become the poster mammal for globalwarming.” As a result, the animals have had to …

Polar bear tourism booms on Alaska’s North Slope

USA Today – Glenn Burnsilver – ?Oct 12, 2009?

“We have climate change, global warming,” he adds. “People are wondering what these bears are going to do.” Polar bears have historically used the barrier …

Fix the Climate, or the Kid Gets…

Mother Jones – ?7 hours ago?

Climate change poses the greatest danger not to polar bears, not to glaciers or beaches, but to our kids. Their world, if you read the scientific …

Staten Island Tea Party to screen film that seeks to ‘expose’ global warming…

Staten Island Advance – SILive.com – Stephanie Slepian – ?18 hours ago?

And the only polar bears dying because of man are the ones who try to eat men.” Members of the Staten Island Tea Party are inviting both skeptics and …

How’s the weather over there?

Prince Albert Daily Herald – ?22 hours ago?

Everything else in the movie was part of the circle of life, but the plight of thosepolar bears seems to be the fault of humans. There are those that claim …

Saving the earth by hating humanity

Small Gov Times – Alan Caruba – ?10 hours ago?

Polar bears are thriving. Solar and wind energy is a bust, providing barely 1% of all electricity used daily nationwide. The truth is that pesticides …

Here’s the Thing:

Believe in the theory of Global Warming or not, is there really any harm in making an effort to reduce greenhouse gases, switching to greener cars, and driving the technology for alternative energy sources?

Besides, if I get on my bike and ride 3,570 miles one way just to see a bunch of barren rocks I’m going to be more than a little upset.

I might even be as mad as a…

Hey, did I mention I love Penguins too?

Today I’ll be talking to Ginny Mees of WomenHomeowners.com. 

She’s an expert when it comes to Niche Marketing. 

She was recently featured in Realtor Magazine and the Wall Street Journal.

Listen in LIVE (Monday at Noon Pacific) and you can even ask Ginny a question on how to setup your own niche – (really) she’s like that!

http://blogtalkradio.com/jckc

Contact Info:

• AskGinny@WomenHomeowners.com
• http://twitter.com/womenhomeowners
• http://womenhomeowners.com
• 925 208-4991 

I'm engaged - hopefully you are as well.

I was at REBarCamp – Lynchburg and the theme for the day was Engagement.

I gave a rare presentation to start the day. That’s a little weird. If you know me you know how strongly I think a REBarCamp is all about the conversation and NOT about the presentation.

I kept it short and sweet. I looked at this as a way to set the mental stage of the participants. You can tell someone how to engage others but what I hoped to do is show them real life examples of people sitting in the same room. Here’s a link to the presentation on Google Docs but there’s not much there besides pictures. I've adapted Guy Kawasaki’s 10/20/30 rule. Big on images, big on font, light on text.

Bringing the message home

The final slide is of course my favorite. We were engaged on December 26th, 1987. For her it was a complete surprise. Smack dab in the middle of Squaw Valley, on one of the busiest days of the year, I had arranged for a concert violinist to play Bach’s Violin Concerto in d Minor while a tuxedo’d waiter poured Champagne into crystal flutes and flambéed Cherries Jubilee. There were hundreds of people there to witness the event. I had a photographer there to capture the entire event. In the picture below you can feel her surprise. To this day it is one of my proudest moments.

I’m no expert when it comes to “engagement” and I’ll be the first one to say the same goes for Social Media. I would rather think that I am a student of both, learning everyday, and so far I think I’m doing a ok.

What’s your favorite engagement story?

But I am very excited to announce the birth of a new radio show.

“The M files”

The details.
The show is hosted on BlogTalkRadio.  Each and every week we’ll be chatting with leaders of technology, social media and some otherwise really cool and interesting people.  We will air LIVE every Monday at Noon Pacific – 30 minutes in length.  Past shows will be available to listen to at any time.  Of course, the Chat Room will be open and you’ll have the opportunity to ask any of the guests any question from there or by calling in to the show.  You can find the show here: http://blogtalkradio.com/jckc and in the near future I’ll create afacebook Page and maybe an archived page here as well.

To launch this show properly we’re going to be broadcasting live fromREBarCamp/SiliconValley and since we’re going to be smack dab in the middle of a REBarCamp… I figured why not interview THE Andy Kaufman?

Ok, but why “the M files”?

Here’s the back story…

The show is a great way for me to spotlight some of the amazing people and stories I’ve come across.   As for the X-file theme, I was always a big fan of the tv show.  Yeah I’m a geek.  In fact, in my wife’s address book you’ll find me under “Mulder” (and no – she’s not Scully).  With having the M playing a big part in my initials it was an easy swap for the X.  What does the M stand for?  I don’t know.  It could stand for Mike, or Mueller, Marketing, Media, or ____?  As for the ‘files” by this time next year I hope to have brought you 52 great stories all tagged and catalogued.

There’s also a little intentional symbolism in the image.  First of all, I faded myself into the background as much as possible.  The show isn’t about me – it’s all about the guest.  Oh and sorry, that’s not an alien tractor beam, it’s a spotlight shining down on the truth – something I hope each guest is able to help bring to the table.  You’ll notice it’s also not a B & W image but grayscale, a nod to the fact that there’s no single black and white truth, the real truth lies somewhere in between.

So there you have it.  I hope you listen in, ask questions, participate and we’ll all learn something together!