Posted on March 20, 2012. Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: blogs, constant contact, email, infograph, mark schmulen, social spam, texting, Twitter |
Mark Schmulen, Constant Contact’s Social Media Expert, explains what is Social Spamming and warns against the practice. It’s important to understand what social spam is and how to avoid it, but what I found especially interesting was Mark’s choice of expression, the Infograph.
We’ve all grown up hearing that a picture is worth a thousand words. Maybe it’s meaning is more relevant than ever with so much email, texting and blogs and article writing.
Consider Twitter allowing 140 characters, wouldn’t a link to an infograph offer you an improved resource for commentary? Judge for yourself.
Mark’s message is easy to understand and follow. I’m going to report back on how easy infographs are to create, suggested usage and recommendations for quick easy to use applications. What Infograph applications would you recommend and how are you using? What kind of response are you receiving from your listeners?
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Posted on July 1, 2011. Filed under: Real Estate Housing Trends, News and Information | Tags: aerial view, Agent, Brokerage, Business, Buyers, Carbon Footprints, commercial real estate, communications, e-zinc email, email, ENewsletters, Ezine, Facebook, Frog Pond, frogpond blog, Internet Marketing, marketing, Marketing and Advertising, Marketing Strategy, marketing tips, Paperless, Realtor, satelite imagery, Social media, Susie Hale, sustainability, Twitter, Web conferencing |
Breaking News Network is one of the most innovative marketing tools I’ve seen. Never before has a marketer been able to harness in this social setting, local news and community activities, in one very automated personalized site. It is so localized that not only are you able to display local housing trends and data, compare zip codes, but even restaurant menus in the neighborhood, and even daily deal offerings and much much more.
Watch the video embedded in Breaking News Network to get a brief understanding and then sign up for Webinars for details.
Please join me for a free series of ground-breaking Webinars on new trends in marketing, “The Newest Trends in Social Media and Social Discovery”.
I think you’re in for a treat for this summer. We’ve developed a summer series of webinars to discuss news marketing concepts you will never hear anywhere else. Register once below and participate in all five webinars.
You may have attended previous webinars with me and my friend Pat Kitano of the Domus Consulting Group. I invite you to a new series of Webinar with Pat Kitano who will explain the newest trends in social media marketing and social commerce that I guarantee you will not hear anywhere else.
July 7 – 9:00am PDT / 12 noon EDT: The Groupon of 2011 – Airbnb. How Airbnb disrupts real estate revenue models and creates new opportunities to Realtors. Link for reference: bit.ly/AirbnB
July 21 – 9:00am PDT / 12 noon EDT: How to promote your local business community completely free and create tangible marketing and financial value for them. Then, how do you leverage your “value” relationships into leads and transactions. Example: bit.ly/kevinsthyme
August 4 – 9:00am PDT / 12 noon EDT: All about Daily Deals. How to create them, how to market them, and most important, how to automate them so you promote your community without lifting a finger (while also receiving income from them)
August 17 (Wednesday! due to a schedule conflict) – 9:00am PDT / 12 noon EDT: How to use Housing Trends eNewsletter, IDX and other real estate information resources to reach 100% of your community before they even contemplate a decision on real estate. (It’s too late to reach them if they don’t know you).
September 1 – 9:00am PDT / 12:00 noon EDT: New social discovery applications. Social media marketing by itself is inherently inefficient. Learn how to pull active buyers and sellers out of the woodwork by getting them to “discover” your services. This webinar will tie everything you will learn from the summer series.
Register once, and you’ll be on the invite list for the complete series, which we slate to run every two weeks.
The Webinars are held on the following dates:
Jul 7, 2011 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM PDT
Jul 21, 2011 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM PDT
Aug 4, 2011 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM PDT
Aug 17, 2011 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM PDT
Sep 1, 2011 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM PDT
Register Now at:
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/261994618
Once registered you will receive an email confirming your registration with information you need to join the Webinar.
System Requirements
PC-based attendees
Required: Windows® 7, Vista, XP or 2003 Server
Macintosh®-based attendees
Required: Mac OS® X 10.5 or newer
Hugs, The Frog
Susie Hale
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Posted on May 27, 2011. Filed under: Real Estate Housing Trends, News and Information | Tags: Agent, Brokerage, Buyers, commercial real estate, communications, e-zinc email, email, Ezine, free articles, Frog Pond, frogpond blog, green, green marketing, housing data, housing trends, Houston, Internet, Internet Marketing, marketing, marketing tips, news, Newsletter, Paperless, press releases, readers, Real Estate, real estate content, Realtor, Sellers, Susie Hale, sustainability, tv |
40,000+ subscribers nationwide utilize FrogPond products, services
HOUSTON, TX – May 27, 2011 – Showcasing a wide range of publishing, software, and communications and marketing solutions for the real estate industry, FrogPond.com has relaunched with updated graphics and multimedia features. The site contains 3,500 free reprintable articles, profiles of industry leaders, videos detailing current marketing trends and tools, and a link to the Housing Trends eNewsletter, which has more than 40,000 subscribers nationwide.
“Content is King! FrogPond.com has always been about providing outstanding free real estate content for the industry. Today, the consumers are driving the market with their desire for housing information. FrogPond’s Housing Trends eNewsletter was designed for the real estate professional to provide the ‘numbers’ from a national to micro local perspective to help the agent stay front and center with the consumers” , said Susie Hale, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of eFrogPond Inc.
FrogPond.com began in 1994 as a site for booking real estate and motivational speakers and later was where agents could “cut and paste” articles aimed at homebuying and selling consumers. Today, reprintable, royalty-free articles are aimed at agents, brokers and other business owners, with information on sales and marketing strategies, personal excellence, customer service and business planning.
Agents who want timely and accurate information to send their past clients, homebuying and selling prospects now subscribe to the Housing Trends eNewsletter (HTEN). Hale launched HTEN in 2010 as a monthly, free-subscription publication containing timely and accurate consumer-oriented content on national and regional housing sales, economic trends, mortgage rates and calculators, home improvement and maintenance, taxes and insurance.
The electronic publication is customizable for the subscribing agent’s franchise colors and logos and includes a personalized messages section. Agents can e-mail the newsletter or post it on their Facebook page or Website. It has been very successful – today having more than 40,000 subscribers across the spectrum of real estate franchises and brokerages. Those subscribers are many of the long-time – as well as the new – readers of FrogPond.com.
Other new features on the redesigned FrogPond.com Website include “picks” from the well-read Hale for motivational and real estate books, as well as a sidebar showing her Twitter feed and entries from the Housing Trends eNewsletter Facebook page.
Hale has a 23 year career in the real estate industry, with wide and deep experience as a licensed residential agent, a title company marketing officer, a mortgage broker and a mortgage banker, prior to her founding eFrogPond. Known as “The Frog,” Hale’s insightful technology and communications solutions have earned her the respect and affection of real estate professionals at all levels across the country. In 2008, she was named one the Top 25 Most Influential Women in Real Estate Leadership by the Active Rain online community for real estate professionals.
NEWS from eFrogPond.com
Contact: Susie Hale, President/CEO
101 Westcott, #102,Houston,Texas77007
(o) 713.880.1010 (c) 832.428.8482
Susie@frogpond.com
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Posted on January 30, 2009. Filed under: Real Estate Housing Trends, News and Information | Tags: Agent, Bill Marriott, commercial real estate, Dottie!, e-zinc email, email, ENewsletters, Ezine, frogpond blog, green marketing, Houston, Internet Marketing, Marketing Strategy, Newsletter, Real Estate, Tough Attitude, Tough Times |
Special Wisdom’s of Dottie Walters
· When in doubt -take a survey
· Listen to the great conversation of mankind
· Never sell one when you can sell 2-3-4- or a subscription
· Look at the marks on your fingertips. You have been programmed to accomplish great things.
· When the angel knocks and yells at the door of your heart.-open it! The bolt is on your side. Then arise and go forth!
· Bill Marriott told me, ‘Failure? I never encountered it.. I just stumbled over a few temporary set backs.’
· Earl Nightingale told me when I was feeling low: ‘Arrogance is Gods’ gift to shallow people. Move on!’
· Mark Victor Hansen told me: “When they say ‘no!’, just say ‘next!’”
No one else knows what you are capable of.. put your fingers on your wrist and feel the beat of your own heart.
Dottie Walters passed away Feb 14, 2007. She was the world premier sales and motivational speaker, author, and consultant. She is perhaps most famous as the author of Never Underestimate the Selling Power of a Woman (Wilshire Book Co.), the first book ever written by a woman for sales women. Also, “Speak & Grow Rich” with Lilly Walters, (Prentice Hall-Simon Schuster); this book was selected in an industry wide survey – by an overwhelming majority – as THE most valuable book ever written for professional speakers.
Thank you, Dottie!
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Posted on January 30, 2009. Filed under: Real Estate Housing Trends, News and Information | Tags: Agent, Brokerage, Case Study, commercial real estate, communications, e-zinc email, email, frogpond blog, green marketing, Green office, Houston, Internet Marketing, Marketing Strategy, marketing tips, Newsletter |
Most average newsletters and websites have several testimonials sharing the greatness of the product or service offered. That’s all well and good, but the way to really capitalize on your superior offering is to highlight a detailed example of a job well done through a case study.
A case study is a mini-article that is two to three short paragraphs long and includes two or three pictures. The pictures may be the ‘before’ and ‘after’ comparisons and a photo of the person. The text can describe the problem in the first paragraph, the solution you provided in the second paragraph and a quote from the satisfied customer in the third paragraph.
Case studies tell the story of your business brilliance. They are a much more effective way of saying how great you are because someone else is saying it. Including a single case study in each newsletter is a savvy way to keep people interested in your product and offering satisfied customers a way to show off their wisdom in choosing your product or service.
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Posted on January 30, 2009. Filed under: Real Estate Housing Trends, News and Information | Tags: Agent, An interesting tip, Brokerage, commercial real estate, communications, e-zinc email, effective branding, email, email newsletter, ENewsletters, Ezine, Frog Pond, frogpond blog, green marketing, Green office, Houston, Internet Marketing, Marketing Strategy, marketing tips, marketing tools, People stories |
Your ezine or email newsletter can be one of the best and most effective branding and marketing tools you have. The trouble with most of them is that the all tend to blur together. Very few businesses take advantage of the opportunity to distinguish their product, services and people through this dynamic medium. Determine what you have to offer that will delight your reader and make them look forward to getting your message in their in box and actually reading it rather than deleting it.
Here are four fabulous facets to include in each issue:
An interesting tip- It should be related to your business, but not at all technical. The best tips are ones that include a statistic in one sentence that can be easily shared at a party or over a lunch.
People stories- People like reading about what other people are doing. They like doing business with people they know and even though they may never meet a single person in your company, highlighting a member of your team will make your readers feel like they know them.
News they can use- Include one article that talks about your product or service that educates your reader about your business. This positions you as an expert in your field.
Good looks- Make sure your newsletter has a consistent look that appeals to your readers. They will remember you through that look as much as through the content. Let a high quality company like FrogPond Publisher help you craft the perfect look for your newsletter. That consistency will make your reader comfortable about reading each issue.
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Posted on January 22, 2009. Filed under: Real Estate Housing Trends, News and Information | Tags: e-zinc email, email, ENewsletters, Ezine, Frog Pond, frogpond blog, Marketing Strategy, readers, subscribers |
Now that you have your subscribers to your e-Newsletter or e-Zine, how do you get them to read it instead of immediately hitting the delete key when they see it among a hundred other emails?
The answer: Give them a terrific product!
Here are six steps to success for making your e-zine and/or
e-newsletter one of the ones your subscribers look forward to reading:
Make it look good. Balance text with visuals. To decide if you have the right look, email yourself a draft and just look at it with out reading anything. Does it appeal to your eyes?
Know what is most important. Use graphic elements to direct readers to the most important message in your e-zine.
Give them information they can use. Make sure there is some meaty material related to your industry that ties into your product or service. That will keep your readers coming back to you as an information source.
Include people. As much as readers like new information and facts they can use to better their business, people like to read about people. Include at least one story about an individual’s success either in the company or with your product or service.
Make it short. Write about only one topic per article and keep the paragraphs short, using no more than three sentences per paragraph.
Solicit feedback. Ask for comments on articles and perhaps even submissions from subscribers of articles.
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Posted on December 29, 2008. Filed under: Real Estate Housing Trends, News and Information | Tags: email, frogpond blog, green marketing, ground swell, podcast, press releases, Real Estate, susiehale, tv |
Going Green Business Tips
I’m on a mission to save our planet. I need your help. In return, I’ll be helping you save dollars. This is part of my recently launched “Go Green to Make Green” campaign for 2009.
Let’s start with the basic premise that marketing is changing radically and you don’t want to be left behind. Over the Thanksgiving holiday I read Groundswell by Li and Bernoff, published by Harvard Business Press. I highly recommend you order this book from Amazon today. It will open your eyes to green and save you money.
Historically, print was the only way to establish your brand and persuade your consumer to call. Print still looks the same; it hasn‘t changed, including the font size. The consumer is immune and unable to unwilling differentiate your message from your competitor’s. TV advertising has always been a leaders, but the consumer has wised up to its intrusive nature and turns down the sound of the screams or TiVos through the ads quickly.
What can you do right now to influence your consumers with an informative, but gentler feeling message while incurring a generous savings to your budget?
Here are some immediate actions you can take to make simple, cost-effective additions to your marketing before your competitors do.
1. Do not print and mail press releases. Email your press releases to all media sources, many are free. A list of free media sources can be found at MarketingwithArdynnMedia.com.
2. Create a podcast of all press releases and add them to your website.
3. Create videos of your company CEO’s message, product tours and testimonials of your exceptional service.
4. Send the media your news related videos. You’ve done the work for them of capturing footage to add to their stories.
I’d like to hear about your Go Green to Make Green marketing ideas.
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FrogPond Real Estate Blog 