Do you like to be liked?  Of course you do, particularly if you are using Facebook to market and grow your business.  But getting someone to like your page is not the "pot of gold at the end of the rainbow".  That is really just the beginning because consistent engagement (i.e. post likes, shares and comments) that spark conversations surrounding your real estate business is the name of the game to effectively using social media to drive your real estate sales, which I discussed in more detail in the no fee guide, Clicking Consumers: Why Engagement Matters for the REALTOR 2.0. If you are on Facebook specifically, here are 5 tips that professional marketers recommend to each other (this is inside information ya'll, in my southern gal drawl) that I had to pull over and adapt to the real e... 11/13/2014

The REALTOR® 2.0 is the real estate professional that wants to maximize earning potential available via online consumer interaction on social sites.   But that interaction does not come haphazardly or automatically. Effective engagement that can influence an agent’s level of real estate sales is dependent upon strategies that are purposefully and consistently enacted in the agent’s business.       Through our 5 success practices, this guide will help the real estate practitioner begin to strategize in order to evolve and grow sales with the help of social networking sites. And as always check out our short commercial on the guide that we welcome you to share:   Simply scroll below to access the NO FEE guide today and remember, sharing is caring so please share :)!       And if you have... 11/10/2014

Officials and dignitaries will commemorate our country’s veterans during the Fifth Annual City of Sandy Springs Veterans Day Tribute. The event will take place on November 11, 2014 at 11:30am at the Veterans Memorial located at the Concourse Corporate Center, 5 Concourse Parkway, next to the Queen building, Building 5. Parking available in Parking-Deck Six. Everyone is invited as the City of Sandy Springs honors the brave men and women who have served in the United States Military. This year’s keynote speaker will be former U.S. Army Capt. Jack Solomon. He will speak on behalf of those who have served our country. Other event participants include the North Springs Charter High School Junior ROTC Honor Guard and special music by Sandy Springs Fire Rescue Capt. Mark Ware and Lt. Rodney B... 11/09/2014

  The Sandy Springs Education Force presents the inaugural Footprints for the Future 5K and Family Fun Run to support its mission of inspiring and supporting all Sandy Springs public school students to graduate and pursue productive lives beyond high school by providing educational and enrichment programs. If you have not already registered, adult admission is $35 and children (12 and under) are $15. Cash only accepted for race day registrations. The race will be held at Lake Forest Elementary, 5920 Sandy Springs Circle NE, Sandy Springs, GA 30319 on Saturday, November 8, 2014. Check-in is at 7am, with the 5k beginning at 8am followed by the family fun run at 9am. They are part of the RUN & SEE Georgia Grand Prix Race Series! Peachtree Qualifying Route is PENDING Bring photo ID and/or ... 11/07/2014

    Thank God it's Friday!  I am especially happy for this Friday as I get to help make this year's holiday season a little brighter for children here in the U.S. and those that may live in various parts of the world ravaged by war, famine, starvation and other unspeakables through the Samaritan's Purse Operation Christmas Child gift packing event tonight. Lejla is a touching example of how important giving is and the profound effect it can have unbeknownst to us.  She was impacted as a child by the kindness of strangers through an uncanny gift from Operation Christmas Child that meant more than just having a toy to play with or being able to having bragging rights in front of her friends.  Check out the short video below for her heart-warming story. If you are in metro Atlanta and woul... 11/06/2014

Sandy Springs Restaurant Week Explore the local flavors of Sandy Springs. Eighteen Sandy Springs neighborhood restaurants will offer exclusive menus with special pricing during Sandy Springs Restaurant Week from Saturday, November 8th through Sunday, November 16th. Participating restaurants include: 5 Seasons Brewing The Brickery Grill & Bar Brooklyn Cafe Cibo e Beve Dantanna’s Tavern Double Zero Napoletana Food 101 Fuego Mundo Hammocks Trading Company Hudson Grille J. Christopher’s Nancy G’s Cafe & Neighborhood Bistro Nothing Bundt Cakes Rumi’s Kitchen Taziki’s Mediterranean Cafe Teela Taqueria That Pie Place Tin Can Fish House & Oyster Bar Taste Sandy Springs in a whole new light. Visit AllAboutSandySprings.com for the latest Sandy Springs real estate, news and events. 11/06/2014

You just struck a deal on some prime real estate you own or want to own but now you have a sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach.  Beads of sweat cloud your brow.  You imagination runs wild and you faintly hear what could be the weeping sound of a violin "strumming your pain".  Your mind starts racing over the numbers of the real estate sales offer and you are overcome with an unpleasant sensation... regret.   There are three main types of regret that Laudon and Traver (2012) ascribe to auction sales but we in the real estate sales world know these sentiments are common among the various versions to construct a home sales deal, including but not limited to auction sales format (p. 738).     Many are familiar with the term buyer's remorse in relation to purchasing goods that cannot... 11/05/2014

The Sandy Springs Elegant Elf Holiday Market is right around the corner. Be sure to check out the 4th Annual Holiday Gift Market in Sandy Springs will be Saturday, November 15th and Sunday, November 16th. The market will be open from 9am – 5pm on Saturday and 11am – 5pm on Sunday. Don’t miss this chance to “shop for a cause”!  Take care of all of your 2014 gift-giving needs in a winter wonderland of festive fun AND help the Sandy Springs community just by attending! At the 2014 Elegant Elf Marketplace you’ll find: 7o or more local and national vendors and artists offering unique and beautiful items, hand-made crafts, home décor, children’s goods, artistic creations, gourmet foods and more The Elegant Elf Art Gallery presenting fine art by local artists Plans are in the works to bring b... 11/02/2014

  If you are reading this, you may have missed the free, 1 year offer that DotRealtor was offering to the first 500,000 members of the National Association of REALTORS® and 10,000 members of the Canadian Real Estate Association that wanted to acquire the new top-level domain (TLD) .Realtor that is set to be an exclusive rival of the popular.Com TLD for real estate professionals.  But just because you missed out on the freebie, that does not mean you should ignore this strategic tool. Here are 3 reasons to still purchase your DotRealtor domain name as soon as you possibly can (i.e. TODAY!).   Register For A New, Over-And-Above Way To Distinguish Your Brand To YOUR NETWORK (i.e. mo' referrals!) Social, local and mobile are the new three tenets of real estate and you can use this roll-out ... 10/27/2014

It’s time to recap Sandy Springs short sales for September 2014 and its impact on the current market. It’s important to understand the influence that short sales have on today’s market and to keep an eye on the market. Also, keep in mind that the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act has not been extended. This really shouldn’t have any impact on short sales and foreclosures, but could create a political firestorm as forgiven debt is now taxable again. In September, Sandy Springs short sales activity was: 3 active homes 7 pending homes 3 closed homes 7 active condos and townhomes 19 pending condos and townhomes 2 closed condos and townhomes If you’re in the market for a Sandy Springs short sale, whether a single family home, condo or townhome, we’re here to help. Our team is led by a Ce... 10/26/2014

Did you know that...          But why are so few sales agents asking for referrals?   Conceivably fear (of rejection, failure, the unknown, etc.) could be crippling you and stopping you from trying... Or it could be that your current strategy is not working... Perhaps it's because you did not know how powerfully referrals can grow your business... What about if your network is filled with other agents... Maybe it's a result of you not having or knowing the right technology tools... Don't let any of these referral hang-ups kill your referral business.  Sometimes we need to take lessons from children and even animals on how to courageously move forward and grow our businesses. Do you need help creating your referral business strategy and want to know some of the best technology to help re... 10/22/2014

Quick Quiz: How Well Do You Know Your Business?   Do you wonder what others are saying about you or your realty firm? Are you perplexed with how to stay in-tuned with the latest gizmos and gadgets for real estate? Are you "in the know" about the latest residential developments in your area or what Fortune 500 companies are setting up shop in your "neck of the woods"?   The simplest way to keep up with all of these details and much more is to set up an electronic alert (that can be emailed to you daily or multiple times a day) for each topic that pertains to your real estate sales and the specific topics that you want to keep tabs on.  Creating electronic alerts is critical for you to not have to hunt down news stories all across the internet.  Plus, you can even cut down your email subs... 10/21/2014

What do you have planned today? You may be at a closing for 2 hours, negotiating contracts for 30 minutes, spending 2 hours cleaning out your email, nurturing your SOI (sphere of influence) on social media for 1 hour, networking with agents for 1 hour at your office's sales meeting and 3 hours meeting with current home sellers and buyers. But wait a minute. What are you doing today to actively generate leads? Yes, your hour on social media may comprise some lead generation if you are using that time to post ads, share warm and fuzzy pictures from your recent closings and to connect with those with season of life changes that may eventually need to buy or sell (such as the Johnstons having triplets unexpectedly or the Smiths youngest child and last in the nest applying for college). But... 10/20/2014

  Real estate sales: who knew it could be so dangerous.  After recent events, let's all beef up our efforts to safely show homes. And since this is trick or treat season, I wanted to share some technology treats (with a few funky song phrases to act as your mnemonics) that will stop devious tricks when you attempt to simply show a home, especially to a random, internet lead that no one in your sphere knows first-hand.   "I always feel like somebody's watching and I have no privacy..."   Whether or not you remember that hit 1980s song by Rockwell (yup I just dated myself), in this internet/social media age you may share this sentiment.  Now you can begin to watch your watchers!  Visit Brand You to create a profile and control what prospects and other online looky-loos see about you.   Bo... 10/15/2014

As a real estate agent, you may have heard all the buzz lately about reaching Millennials and foreign investors. Did you know YouTube may be one of the least expensive vehicles for you to reach these two (as well as other) demographics?     YouTube reaches U.S. Millennials (those 18 - 34) more than ANY cable network (sorry Bravo/The Real Housewives of ____ (fill in your guilty pleasure location) and HBO/Game of Thrones producers).  Beyond Millennials, YouTube's website and video viewers include an international audience (those outside of the U.S.) of 80%.  YouTube has 1 billion eyeballs reaching it monthly.  Those numbers should not be ignored as you grow your real estate sales business.     You may think, That's great but I don't have the time, money, etc. to post to YouTube.  Well, I ... 10/14/2014

My heart ached as I, like many of you, watched the tragic news of REALTOR(r) Beverly Carter unfold.  Since her heart-rending story, I have now heard of agents planning to only showing homes and hosting open houses with a buddy, going forward.  I have seen many offices revisit and revamp safety procedures.  There has been a renewed quest to be armed with some form of protection, whether a lawful taser gun, pepper spray or a firearm.  I have also witnessed many agents beefing up the apps on their cell phones and other mobile devices to be more easily found in a time of distress. I believe these things are all important but as we all know, it only takes the ONE time that we did not have a buddy with us, we leave our phone in the car, our taser device was forgotten at home or we missed one... 10/07/2014

Originally written for and featured on Huliq.com. Have you ever felt that you could not afford an assistant but now realize you cannot afford to not have an assistant?     Like fellow real estate agent Melissa Miller, you may have come to the realization that an assistant is needed in order for your real estate sales to grow and to keep your sanity lol.  Melissa mentioned how being responsible for someone's salary can be an overwhelming thought, which can paralyze a business owner from seeking the help needed, but she made the leap and is glad she did.      Do you feel the same? Many times we are afraid of the unknown or of failure, which can ultimately stem from not having the resources to understand how to setup a team.       Therefore, let's cover the basics (which we have adapted f... 10/06/2014

Ding-dong.  You wonder who could be at your door because you were not expecting anyone.  You peek through the window and see your favorite pizza delivery logo wrapped on a vehicle out front.  I didn't order pizza YET, you quizzically think.  You are hungry so you excitedly yet cautiously open the door and the delivery person announces, Here's the pizza you were THINKING about ordering.  What fantastic service!  I am sure that after eating your unexpected yet delightful treat, you will hop on your phone to text, call and tweet how this pizzeria is where everyone should eat.  You just became a raving fan of "psychic pizza"."Psychic pizza" is another one of those fancy, b-school buzz words but it really is something every real estate agent should and can strive to implement in business.  B... 10/01/2014

  This post was originally written for and appears on Huliq.com.     Myth: You have your real estate website as a newer agent and that is all you need to survive and thrive among other SEO savvy real estate agents and iPad-toting home sellers and buyers.     True: It's 2014 and if you cannot be found easily online, you may lose some potential sales for eager home buyers and sellers that "live" online.    That's because according to a joint study by Google and the National Association of REALTORS(r), over 90% of home buyers search online for real estate.  When you couple this with 78% of consumers saying that the posts made by companies on social media influence their purchases and 91% of buyers are reported to have patronized a business because of an online experience, it is easy to se... 09/30/2014

The economy, competition and changes in buyer demand are just some of the reasons that your realty firm may be faced with financial hardships and crippling debt. For many financially distressed real estate brokers, thoughts of filing bankruptcy begin to creep into mind. Bankruptcy, however, can be cost prohibitive for an already cash-strapped small business (with a small business being defined as an entity where only one or two people make its strategic decisions such as the case in most real estate brokerage firms (Hunter, 2011)). Interestingly in a turn of irony, the very system created to help protect businesses (and individual consumers) facing “in the red” net fiscal losses as they either attempt to reorganize to become profitable or liquidate their assets to stop financial “bleedi... 09/29/2014