Missoula, MT

“A 2% reduction in negative word of mouth boosts sales growth by 1%”

• London School of Economics and Political Science, “Advocacy Drives Growth” Study

If you are an active participant in today’s social media circles, you NEED to be monitoring and managing your reputation. I’m not talking about your street rep (the kind that keeps you from getting mugged by a rival gang), but your online rep (the kind that keeps your company and your name shielded from mudslingers). As shown in the London School of E&PL’s Word - of - Mouth study, mismanagement of your online reputation has the potential to devastate not only your image, but also your sales rate and company growth. Thankfully, there is a bevy of web-based tools, both free and paid, that can assist you in your rep tracking.

“Reputation Management” may strike fear in your heart and conjure dollar signs in your eyes, but rest assured that you can effectively track and manage your web rep without paying for anything. How, you may ask? Well, as David Salvato comments, “Free tools are the best tools when powered by Google.”

1. Google Alerts/Google Reader, and Google Blog Search

If it was deemed socially acceptable in a business setting, I would have ‘Google’ tattooed on my forehead in full color. Unfortunately I would probably lose my job so I’ll have to be content with directing readers to use Google’s array of rep management tools. Firstly, be sure to set up Google Alerts for yourself. These keyword searches are completely free and are delivered to you as they are indexed by, you guessed it, Google. The easiest way to organize and view your Alerts is to send them directly to your Google Reader, as opposed to routing them into an email inbox. Here is a list of keywords to get you started:

• Company & Product name
  • Also track variations thereof, for example “Company X has terrible service”, “Company X is fantastic”, and so on
• Employee names
• Website Keywords
  • Check your website analytics to see which keywords are generating the most traffic
• Competitor names

Setting up your Reader to the best of its potential can be a pill; check out this preso from Ian Lurie for an easy-to-follow walkthrough. Another great tool to familiarize yourself with is Google’s Blog Search. As opposed to the basic Google Search, Blog Search scours blogs, forums, and comments to deliver results per the keywords you request.

2. StepRep

In the same vein as Google Blog Search, StepRep delivers search results per the keywords you dictate, and files them according to your response. This means that every search result you receive will be filed in your “Reputation Monitor” within either the “Positive”, “Negative”, or “Not Relevant” folders. StepRep will oftentimes deliver pages that Google Alerts miss. They also provide a website widget you can embed in your blog or site that features an easily-updated list of the StepRep results you want to promote.

Between these two tools you will have eyes on almost every mention of your brand and your competitors indexed across the world wide web. Keep in mind though, that beyond simply tracking your online reach it is imperative that you constantly produce good content. Reputation management ties directly into social networking best practices. If you are posting regularly on your blog and syndicating your content to as many sources as possible, you will increase your reputation, be it positive or negative. If you are active on Twitter and like-minded ‘live interaction’ platforms, you will affect your rep. If you are responding positively to comments and linking out to sources and working on your SEO and…the list goes on and on. Basically, if you are following the guidelines and suggestions set out by successful social media marketers you will be effectively managing your web rep. By producing as much positive content as you can muster, you will eventually smother the negative content nipping at your heels. One of the best ways to do this is syndicate your content to a multitude of sources; of course, this means that you need to set up a multitude of profiles/blogs in as many places as you can. This sort of ‘spider-web’ network increases SEO as well, since you now have 20 blog posts linking back to “Yourwebsite.com”, as opposed to just 3 or 4.

So now you know how easy (and FREE!) it really is to manage your online reputation. The tools I have listed above are free or charge, easy to use, and extremely effective for both corporations and individuals. If you would rather not use the tools mentioned above, check here, here, and here for more ideas. Remember that it is best to approach negative feedback with a customer-centric mindset; don’t fall into the trap of hoping it will just go away on its own. Take the proactive approach: deal with the problem and then bury it under a mountain of positive web content. And always remember that cultivating a good reputation is tied directly to your social networking efforts. If you are truly transparent in your networking efforts, your good reputation will make itself.

Missoula Offers a High Quality of Life - And Missoulians Like It!

A study was just released by Missoula ADAPT, Area Development And Preservation Team, showing 94% of Missoulians are satisfied with the overall high quality of life in Missoula.

Some of the study's other findings:

• 88% are happy with Missoula's public parks and open spaces
• 81% are happy with Missoula's city government

Respondents were also asked about their areas of concern, for respondents growth and development, schools and education, affordable housing, and traffic congestion were the top four.

Results come from telephone interviews with 253 voters in Missoula County with approximately 60 percent from the city and 40 percent from outside the city limits. The survey notes a sample error of plus or minus 6 percent at the 95 percent confidence level.

Missoula ADAPT is a nonprofit and loose coalition of professionals and residents interested in housing.

For more information about Living in Missoula, contact Kevin and Monica Ray of Access Realty at 406-207-1185 or visit us online at www.YourMT.com.

How Much Does It Cost to Rent in Missoula Montana?

According to a study from the National Association of Residential Property Managers (NARPM) that was published by the Missoulian this summer, a rental in Missoula typically runs between $520 per month for a studio apartment to $1400 per month for a 4+ bedroom house on average. The table below shows a breakdown:

There are many factors to consider when you are looking to rent such as:

• Does the rent include utilities? If not, how much do those run per month?
• Do you need or want a yard?
• How much is the deposit?
• Do they allow pets? Is there an additional deposit?
• Where is the property located? Will it be convenient to work or school?
• What other amenities are included?
• How long are you planning to rent?
• Would there be advantages to buying rather than renting?

For more information on Living in Missoula, contact Kevin and Monica Ray of Access Realty at 406-822-7653 (SOLD) or visit us online at www.YourMT.com.

Upcoming Social Media Events in Missoula, Montana

Social Media Club Missoula started in July of this year and has grown into a group with more than 40 members. We meet the Third Wednesday of every month at the Missoula Public Library at 6:00 p.m. Admission and membership are free. We have some exciting events coming up:

Tonight 10/21/09 - Social Media Club Missoula Meeting: Jeff Mangan from Montana Business is speaking on Social Media Business Strategies in Small Markets / Economies of Scale.

November 6, 2009 - Fidos and Felines - a Tweetup for Animeals starting at 7:00 p.m. at The Broadway: Join us, and bring an item from the Animeals wishlist, pet food, spare change and/or aluminum cans for recycling! Social Media Club will be tweeting from the event, and we'd love to show you what we're all about!

November 18, 2009 - Social Media Club Meeting - Lois McElravy, of Lessons by Lois, and a professional motivational speaker will talk to us about using Linked In for Business.

December 16, 2009 - Holiday Meetup at The Press Box on Broadway, Bring a White Elephant Gift (Under $10) to Exchange.

January 20, 2009 - Kevin Leavell will speak about Using your visitor's mouse clicks to improve your website.

For more information about these events, or Social Media Club Missoula, visit our website at www.SMCMissoula.com or contact Monica Ray at 406-544-3098.

Every October Newwest.net holds a real estate conference regarding real estate and development in the Rockies. Each year they've had an economist, Chris Thornberg, come and speak. Chris has been on-target all three years, predicting the burst of the housing bubble, the effects of the stock market collapse, and the rise in foreclosures. This year he was the keynote speaker, and here's what I took away from it:

• The United States is pulling out of the recession, all signs point to that, we're no longer heading downhill. In fact GDP growth in the 3rd quarter will be positive, the first time since the 2nd quarter in 2008.
• Job losses and the shrinking of the job market will continue. Jobs are a "lagging indicator" which means that they're usually one of the last things to correct after a recession. Chris is the 2nd economist I've heard this year say this, NAR's cheif economist Lawrence Yun also said it. Both cautioned that news media will use the shrinking job market to suggest we're still in a recession, which is not true.
• Unemployment is still high due to this, but it's improving a bit. Here in Montana, unemployment is acutally still pretty good. State-wide we are about at 6.5% unemployment which is about 2% lower than the current national average.
• Nationally, many housing markets have bottomed out and are now seeing recovery in terms of volume. Meaning that more houses are selling than in prior quarters, those markets include; Cleveland, San Fran, Minneapolis, Washington DC, Dallas, Boston, Denver, San Diego, Miami, Atlanta, Phoenix, LA, and others. Of the large national markets only Seattle, Detroit, Las Vegas, and Charlotte had negative volume in his reports
• Montana's median sales price has leveled out but seen little drop, his numbers suggested roughly a 4% drop in values. He predicts some correction will still occur, however Montana's market never spiked during the boom years and so it's only seeing a slight decline over the bust years.
• Prices nationally will continue to go down this coming year, in Chris's opinion and per his data, they're still too high, but getting a lot better.
• Montana is ranked 48th nationally in regards to houses with "mortgage issues" being people who are 60 days+ late or in foreclosure. Only Wyoming and Alaska are in better shape than us. Montana only has 3.15% of it's total housing market that are having mortgage issues.

The most interesting discussion was about where Chris believes we need to go from here, and how important the Federal Reserve is for all of us at this point. He even went so far as to call Ron Paul a "nitwit" for suggesting in his newest book that we should "end the fed." The federal reserve controls inflation and the US is on the brink of another massive inflation risk. Federal stimulus plans have injected billions of dollars into bank reserves, if that cash begins to seep into the market, our inflation rates will go up substantially. Interest rates would spike, in fact Chris compared it to the early 80's with 14% - 16% interest rates. Henry Paulson and the Fed have continued to monitor inflation and curb it as best they can, the issue that comes up is national pressure on further stopping job loss. Below me is what is known as the Phillips Curve. This very simple chart follows the relationship between inflation and unemployment. Chris Thornberg stated that if the Fed folds to political pressure and focuses on curbing unemployment, we will shift along the line below and inflation will rocket up.

The federal deficit will also affect inflation, and this next year we'll have a record deficit. However that should work to correct itself over the years to follow, he believes, and there will be other factors that will increase GDP, and shrink our deficit.

He went on to point out that this next year the Bush tax-cuts eclipse, so taxes will be going up. While as tax-payers this is bad news, for the economy, it's real good news. Tax revenues will increase for the government cutting back the deficit.

Also we want a weaker dollar globally, the reason why is that a weaker dollar means our exports cost less globally, and our export market will go up. Inversely our import market will go down and we'll buy locally a little more. This will further reduce our deficit, and help our economy.

Chris's overall projections went as follows:

• Expect 2010 to start with a sea of foreclosures. Many markets have investors who are begging for more foreclosures to come out for sale. His analogy was that they're begging for a glass of water and they're going to get a title wave. Banks will dump more foreclosures on the market in 2010 than ever before.
• Inflation will creep into the market regardless what the Fed does, but if they stay on target it will be a small effect.
• In 12 - 18 months interest rates for mortgages should be in the 7% - 8 % range.
• Unemployment will not dramatically improve, it should drop to around 7% but probably won't get much better.
• Next year we should see solid GDP growth in all 4 quarters.
• Expect taxes to go up once the Bush tax-cuts go away.
• Do not expect any more federal stimulus or bailout plans as further actions could really push inflation rates.

Chris said that of course his data could be all wrong and there are some big wild-cards that can dramatically affect our economy next year:

• It could be positively affected if our export market improves strongly, as suggested with a weaker dollar.
• It could also be positively affected if business spending goes back up.
• More tax cuts and/or more federal spending would have a negative influence on our economy.
• If Fed policy shifts from fighting inflation rates to fighting unemployment rates, that would also have a negative effect on our market.

Chris said it too, the scary thing is that both Democrats and Republicans right now have it wrong. And the other thing that really frightens him is that none of the actual reasons that caused our economic collapse have been addressed (such as compensation pay for stock brokers and loan brokers, and regulations regarding stock markets and loan markets).

The big theme was that this will be a slow recovery, be patient, because nothing will be fixed overnight.