Author Archive
How to Cut Down on Social Media Clutter
Posted by Sibet B Freides in Social Media on May 17th, 2012
Update your tweets. Set a new Facebook status. Foursquare, Instagram, Meetup, Pinterest, Tumblr… it’s enough to make you a little crazy keeping up with your content.
But what happens when you need to change your settings? You have to click through site after site looking for the right page to edit your profile – if only there were a way to manage it from one place! Wait… what there is J
Manage All Your Social Network Settings With BlissControl
In an instant, BlissControl happens to direct you to the right setting page within the social network you choose.
There is no annoying login or application that “grants access”, because BlissControl doesn’t actually dial in to the various social networks.
The site offers the ability to do these great things from one place: change your bio, change your password, change mobile settings, update design, delete account, and more. It supports about a dozen major social networks.
BlissControl is free and easy, and we’ll be enjoying it from now on! Let us know what you think by commenting below or sharing it on our Facebook page.
Retirement Age Goes Up by Seven Years
Posted by Sibet B Freides in Demographics on May 15th, 2012
The recent Gallup’s annual Economy and Personal Finance survey conducted revealed that the average nonretired American now expects to retire at age 67, up from age 63 a decade ago and age 60 in the mid-1990s.
Today’s younger nonretirees are more optimistic about being able to retire at age 65, compared with an expected retirement age of 68 for those aged 40 and older, a statistically significant difference.
What About Being Comfortable?
Unfortunately, the poll also found a new low of 38% of nonretirees saying they will have enough money to live comfortably in retirement. It seems the number has been below 50 percent since 2002.
Naturally, this decline in expected financial comfort in retirement directly equates to the decline in the percentage of all Americans who are able to live comfortably in current times.
What Does This Mean?
Expectations for retirement have changed in recent years, due to the economic issues like housing bust and stock market volatility; however there are also serious questions about Social Security and Medicare’s ability to sustain retirees in the future.
As the economy begins to strongly move in a more positive direction, Americans are regaining some optimism about their retirement.
What do you think? Has retirement changed permanently, or are we experiencing another cycle that seems to mirror the economy? We’d love to hear your comments below or on our Facebook page!
How to Get a Social Media Audience
Posted by Sibet B Freides in Social Media on May 10th, 2012
Setting up Social Media profiles for your business may seem like the hardest part; you have to know the technology to accurately create them, have appealing graphics, and know how to sprinkle the right keywords into your about page.
Most people assume if they master this part they can kick back and watch their social networks “get to work”. Post some great articles, offer valuable and helpful information… wait. Where are the likers and followers?
Yes, content is king – but without an audience listening to your great tips what good is it?
Here are a few ways to attract people to your Social Media pages:
- Put Facebook and Twitter links on your website that direct users to your social media pages
- Put Facebook and Twitter links in your email signature
- Put Facebook and Twitter names on print materials
- Advertise your social media sites in your newsletter – make sure to highlight the benefits
- Put a sign in your lobby or front desk; a sign will remind both prospects and residents to fan you
- Get vendors to follow you and retweet and share special offers
- Run a contest and use social media to help promote it
Your turn: what methods do you use to increase your fan base on Social Media? Comment below or share it on our Facebook page.
Buyers Prefer Neighborhoods with New Homes
Posted by Sibet B Freides in Real Estate Trends on May 8th, 2012
April was new homes month. New homes benefits are typically thought of in terms of the house itself, but the bigger picture reveals that buyers also prefer new home neighborhoods.
How is new construction classified? The American Housing Survey (AHS) defines it as homes that are four (4) years old or less.
Homeowners were asked by AHS to rank their neighborhood on a scale of 1 to 10. Most ranked positive overall, but newly constructed neighborhoods ranked as a 9 or 10 in almost all cases.
Many new neighborhoods now have active community gathering areas, social events, and amenities designed to draw families and neighbors together. Marry that with the new home benefits of hi-tech conveniences, energy efficient appliances and lifestyle customization options and it’s no wonder buyers are choosing new construction over established, older ones.
What would you choose? Tell us why by commenting below or posting to our Facebook page.
Powder Rooms – a Sneaky Luxury
Posted by Sibet B Freides in Real Estate Trends on May 3rd, 2012
Ah, the powder room. Tiny but it can pack a punch in terms of design and luxury. As a builder, it’s a place for you to be inventive. Since the space is usually really small, developers can experiment with more pricy hand-crafted, patterned materials.
Have a little fun with this space – find a quirky design or shape that would be too odd or impractical in a more common area of the home.
Some fun ideas include a brightly colored clay sink, limestone sink with brass fixtures, corrugated walls, basalt or rosewood veneer, a glass sink, or storage shelves that add depth.
What are some of your ideas for a fun and creative powder room? Share them below or on our Facebook page.
LinkedIn’s New Follower Tools
Posted by Sibet B Freides in Social Media on May 2nd, 2012
According to BusinessInsider.com, LinkedIn plans to launch two new functions for companies called “Targeted Updates” and “Follower Statistics.”
Targeted Updates will allow companies to segment their followers by a range of variables such as industry, seniority, job function, company size, non-company employees, and geography. They can also send different status updates to different groups of followers.
Follower Statistics will be similar to an analytics dashboard and will allow companies to see how effective their updates have been.
These two new tools will only be available to limited companies as a test group, and will be officially rolled out in the next few months.
The ultimate purpose of these new tools are about creating direct and lasting relationships with companies’ audiences.
We look forward to employing these new tools so we can continue to help companies maximize their presence on the Social Web and really make an impact on their audience.
If you need help getting your social message heard, contact us today, or comment below.
See screen shots here:
Millennials: Lazy and Entitled?
Posted by Sibet B Freides in Demographics on May 1st, 2012
New studies by The Boston Consulting Group, Barkley, and Service Management Group show Millennials in stark contrast to their reputation as the lazy and entitled generation. In fact, they are actually engaged in consumer influence with distinctive buying habits.
According to Christine Barton, a partner at BCG, a leading management consulting firm, we shouldn’t believe the hype that Millennials consume less than previous generations. She states, “On average, U.S. Millennials already shell out and influence the spending of hundreds of billions of dollars annually—an amount that will only increase as they mature into their peak earning and spending years. Those companies that truly ‘get’ this generation will have an opportunity to differentiate themselves and forge profitable long-term relationships with Millennial consumers.”
Millennials are more engaged in rating products and services. On the flip side of this, they rely more on recommendations from peers or friends than those of traditional “experts”. I think they even prefer input from strangers and social sites to input from a company.
In fact, the definition of expert has changed from one with professional and academic credentials to peers with personal and firsthand experience. This is evident in many of the Internet coaching businesses coming forth today.
It’s no surprise that Millennials consider themselves “digital natives”, using technology and social media as a natural and necessary part of their life and work.
Here’s an interesting find: when it comes to making purchases, Millennials are far more likely to favor brands that have Facebook pages and mobile websites.
According to executive vice president Jeff Fromm at Barkley, “This is a generation that engages with brands, channels, and service models in new ways—ways that have been instrumental in creating our current ‘participation economy.” He further says that they are always in a hurry, so it’s critical to get them to spend the time to develop a relationship with your brand.
How do you understand and reach this highly influential generation? Share your thoughts with us by commenting below or posting to our Facebook page.
Bad News for Blackberry
Posted by Sibet B Freides in Social Media on April 26th, 2012
Coined the original smartphone, the Blackberry is having a hard time keeping up with the bells and whistles on the iPhone and Android devices.
Ease of use and larger screens are part of the appeal. Some more pros include the availability of ten times the number of apps than those of the Blackberry. For builders, some of these include gaining the ability to create and share blueprints, customize lighting, and qualifying for LEED certifications.
How about video? The iPhone offers Face Time, the ability to send and receive real-time video with other iPhone users.
Blackberries have increased blackout periods, some of which have actually lasted for several days. Imagine not having access to texts and emails for several days on your iPhone.
And then there’s Siri. Unlike older voice command software that often misinterpreted what the user was saying, the iPhone’s Siri feature responds quickly and accurately to spoken direction. It also affords users the ability to send messages, schedule appointments, and make calls just by a simple voice request. It will even answer random questions about things like traffic and weather. Computerized personal assistant – Blackberry can’t touch that J
Have you ditched the Blackberry yet, or are you a die-hard user?
Breyer Goes Home at Last
Posted by Sibet B Freides in General on April 25th, 2012
Sibet Freides, President of Idea Associates, leads a highly specialized, results-driven marketing team well-versed in comprehensive consulting and evaluation services, creative branding campaigns, website development, and interactive and social media. Her passion for real estate is seen by her service on the Urban Land Institute Board of Directors.
But there is another side of her that deserves to be in the spotlight. Sibet’s passion outside of real estate is homeless animal rescue. She works daily to get animals pulled from shelters in Georgia and sent to animal rescues all over the East Coast where they can be saved. Hundreds of animals are euthanized weekly in Georgia due to our lack of spay/neuter laws. There are many great rescues working to save animals, including Angels Among Us, Paws Atlanta, Atlanta Humane Society, Furkids, and Atlanta Pet Rescue. Shelter Angels is a group in Georgia that helps pitbulls and is desperate for help. Noah’s Ark takes in injured animals. All of these groups can use financial support.
Here is one of the many success stories that help keep her on the path that she forges daily.
When she saw the picture of Breyer at the shelter she didn’t think anyone would take her. But Chris, with her very big heart, likes the tough challenges, and this certainly was one. This is an incredible transformation. Chris has done a remarkable job with her, nurturing this girl to her fullest potential… and now she will have a chance at a very happy life.
Breyer went home last night with a young newlywed couple. They are doctors who are active and energetic and love to jog. She was so happy.
Here are her before and after photos. When she came into the shelter she was emaciated, mangy, had pneumonia, and her eyelids were red and swollen. Her coat was thin and dull and her legs were in horrible condition.
The after picture says it all.
To learn more about how you can help any of these non-profit organizations, visit their websites, adopt a rescue animal, or ask Sibet.
Saving one dog will not change the world…
but it will surely change the world for that one dog….
author unknown
Twitter Tips for Real Estate
Posted by Sibet B Freides in Marketing, Real Estate Trends, Social Media on April 19th, 2012
When you first got on Twitter was your reaction the same as everyone else’s? Did you overthink it, and insist that it was stupid because it was “nobody’s business what you had for lunch”? I’m guessing it took about six months for you to stop overthinking it.
Since it is the global opposite of traditional marketing, no complicated strategy is actually needed.
The biggest challenge is not figuring out what a hashtag means, it’s learning to communicate in 140 characters or less and learning how to shut off your “marketing mind” and turn on your conversation.
Twitter is an amazing place to keep up on the news, and for meeting people and sharing ideas. Over the years Twitter has been good for businesses. It puts you in touch with people you may never have met otherwise.
It’s also a place to experiment with content ideas and to test out reactions to photographs and articles before pulling the trigger and making them part of your permanent message.
If you are just getting started, or if you have been using it for shameless self promotion and gotten discouraged, here are some quick tips to keep in mind:
- Follow the local media. They don’t just tweet the news, they are also usually pretty social.
- Try to spend more time on Twitter reading than tweeting. Get familiar with the conversations happening and join in. It’s sort of like training wheels, only when they come off you will still be listening.
- Please – don’t tweet or read through tweets when you are with clients. It’s a constant stream so forget trying to keep up. You can set up filters and notifications for the tweets you simply don’t want to miss and read them at your convenience.
- Promote other businesses in your community. Recommending others – even those that may have seemingly appeared to be competition in the past – goes a long way at defining you as an expert. People will naturally want to return the favor when you play nice in the social sandbox.
Learning how to use Twitter means being able to network anytime and maybe even connect with people that you wouldn’t get to meet any other way. Remember it’s not about a list of your next open houses.
