Medford Web Designer-Matt Jameson

A new social networking platform was recently released called Google Buzz. www.google.com/buzz

I thought as our companies designated technology research-ist, I had better sign up and check it out. Here are my thoughts:

1. What does it really do? Well, so far I am not impressed, and am quite under-whelmed. The interface is clunky, slow, and difficult to navigate (and I say that as a techie) - which I think will ultimately prevent it from catching on as quickly as its competitor.

2. Where' the Google juice? I always look to see how beneficial a blog or social network will be for my Google search rankings. So far I see no real value in this platform, until at which time they allow for more robust content posting. Currently you can only post updates and photos (similar to the Twitter model). Neither of these things will result in additional rankings on Google.

3. But what about the social aspect of it? Well this one is also lacking. Simply put, they do not provide the tools to allow you to easily import your friends lists from MySpace and Facebook. Why is this a problem? Well, since its a new social network there are very few people signed up. So you cannot just search for your friends and hope that they will show up. Another issue is that there seems to be no current way to invite someone to join Google Buzz (which is the best thing to do if your friends are not already memebrs of your preferred social network).

4. So...what IS good about it? So far, the only redeeming feature I see is that setting up and account is free. Outside of this, Im not sure what would intice me to join or to abandon any of my current social networks for this one.

5. So should Realtors and Loan Officers ignore Google Buzz? THE ANSWER IS NO. Despite its initial shortcomings, bad navigation, and clunky confusing interface - it is new. Like all new social networks there is much fine tuning required before it becomes the next overnight web success. With this in mind, I encourage you to keep tabs on the program and to even join just so you know about it and have a presence.

6. Why should we care about Google Buzz if its not "all that and a bag of chips"? Because even Facebook struggled for several years until they perfected all the tools and options. MySpace took 5 years to take off. Twitter was the only true lightning fast buzz site - this is primarly because of all the sports and celebrity figures posting updates.

Bottom line is this: What if you had ignored ActiveRain when it was a fledgling website? You would now be paying for rainmaker status, severly behind on points compared to others users - and you would be struggling to learn it quicker in order to try and catch up. This always results in a less than ptimal experience because if you truly do not fully understand the tools of these platforms - then how can you best use it ti its full advantage.

Watch this infant website in the next few months. I would not be suprised to see numerous tools and changes added in the coming months. Plus, you never know when something can change from free to a paid subscription - better safe than sorry, and in this case "better never than late!"

So you have a Facebook page to promote your business. Do you know how to use it?

Most Realtors with Facebook pages utilize them to help market listings and keep their Facebook "friends" up to date about the changing market. Some go a step further and also provide information for buyers and sellers designed to make the buying and selling process easier to understand. These are great uses of Facebook, but many Facebook users overlook one very important thing: Using your account privacy settings to ensure that your posts are viewed by the right people.

Before I get into what this entails it is important to understand why Facebook privacy is important. You should ask yourself this question: Did you use Facebook as a personal social network PRIOR to using it for marketing? If so you need to keep reading. If not, consider finishing this article as it will provide some unique insights into the need to Facebook security.

Those who used their profiles as personal social networks PRIOR to using them to boost their real estate business should realize that your personal profile could actually drive away buyers and sellers. Why is this? Well for starters most of us enjoying leaving very personal "status updates".

Danger Will Robinson, Danger!

Let me throw a hypothetical situation at you to best illustrate my point. You have several listings but one client in particular is a little more needy than the rest and expects a little more attention and updating than most. Let's assume you have a vacation coming up. Coincidentally, your needy client has been feeling that their listed home is not getting much attention from buyers, and just happens to be losing "faith" in you as a Broker. The client has not spoken with you about this, leaving you unaware of this. You go on a fun filled vacation, posting status updates on Facebook about beaches, palm trees and Hawaiian sunsets. Well guess what? Your client now knows you're on vacation enjoying fun in the sun. Is this a bad thing? Well it could be. If you notified your client you were going on vacation in advance, this might not present an issue. However, had you taken a short vacation away and simply told your client that you would be unavailable for a few days - that could leave your client with a bad taste in their mouth. Not good.

Lifestyle choices can also present problems on Facebook. Posting political opinions or potentially offensive humor can have catastrophic effects on your business. By posting such things you can actually prevent people from working with you. People have strong opinions about politics and what they consider to be offensive.

Keeping these two examples in mind, it may be appropriate to set up two Facebook profiles. Consider having one profile just for your personal friends and a whole separate profile for your clients. This is a quick and easy way to prevent the scenarios above. For most of us though, the prospect of managing two profiles is undesirable. But there is a solution!

Keeping Your Facebook Posts Private To Only A Select Audience

Start by clicking on the "friends" tab, and then creating a "group". The only real group you need is one that includes your personal friends and family. You should be selective about who goes into this group because this group will be able to see all the information you put onto your Facebook profile. Select only your friends and family which would be unlikely to be offended by anything you may post. Call this group whatever you want, but I like to call mine the inner circle.

Next, in your account settings (click the account button on the top right hand side of your Facebook page), under the "privacy" section and then "profile information" - you can set up options about who can see your posts or what your friends post to your "wall", your uploaded photos and more. Set your profile to show everything you post to everyone in your new friends group. This means each thing you post is now private unless you choose to post it to "Everyone" which means ALL of your Facebook friends (clients and personal).

From now on when updating your status, make notice of this button (shown below in black):

Each time you update you can then select "Everyone" before you click the "Share" button - for updates that you wish for everyone else to see. But now by default if you do not select this option ONLY your personal friends will see the update - leaving you free to post whatever you like, without broadcasting it to the entire Facebook world.

Parting Thought

One last thought to leave you with on this subject. Google likes Facebook, a little too well. What I mean here, is that your posts to your Facebook "wall" (photos, updates, links you post, etc...) are indexed by Google and displayed in the search engine results they provide to the public. This means your witty comment on the Obama administration, could just pop up when someone searches for info about Obama. It is not extremely likely that your witty quip will appear for most people searching the term Obama - but since the slight possibility that this could happen is there if someone searches using the right combination of keywords that appear in your witty remark - it's even more reason to set your profile to private as described above.

What About MySpace?

MySpace is also a social networking platform in use by many agents. MySpace allows users to also make their pages "private" to only those who are accepted as friends. However, MySpace DOES NOT have the same features for privacy as Facebook. MySpace is an all or nothing. Either everyone on the green earth can read everything you write and post - or ONLY those accepted as MySpace "friends" can see your page and comments.

So What Do I Recommend For MySpace?

Absolutely set your profile to private. Make a choice to either use your MySpace ONLY for marketing purposes leaving out any posts that might draw negative attention to you and your business or set up 2 profiles, one for you personally and one for you as a Realtor. In this day and age online impressions are extremely important. Your potential clients will often choose a Realtor based on their web presence. Make it a point to create the RIGHT kind of web presence.

-Matt Jameson

Tired of Picasa? Sick ofImage viewer? Can't afford Photoshop?

How bout' a free program, that does everything you need - and takes mere seconds to begin using once installed. It's called IrfanView and its the bee's knees!

IrfanView is an easy to use image viewer / editor which supports all major graphic formats and makes resizing images a breeze! IrfanView is 100% free!

(MAY NOT BE COMPATIBLE WITH WINDOWS 7 - check IrfanView to verify BEFORE installing)

I personally have used IrfanView for the past four years, and its stable, solid, and glitch free. You can download it from www.download.com or www.tucows.com both great free software portals that only offer stable software at quick download speeds.

So how popular is it, compared with competing software (stats are for December 2008):

IrfanView can re-size photos, touch up color, crop photos, save in numerous formats or convert to numerous formats, adjust resolution, batch process (edit multiple photos at once), and even allows for advanced features such as color matching and .gif transparency (for images with single color backgrounds).

Resizing is simple:

Here's a screenshot of the entire edit menu:

Its great for MLS, becase once you use it to resize one photo - it will remember the dimensions you entered. So resizing additional photos is a breeze. Plus, if you need instructions a great FAQ is available on www.irfanview.com

Check it out!

I'm currently at two very different, yet oddly simlar milestones in my life.

Milestone 1: I just recorded , and am about to release my first solo music album.

Milestone 2: I've been a technology and media teacher in Medford Real Estate for years. This year marks a new beginning. Becoming a Real Estate Broker.

After recently passing my Broker exams, and doing much soul searching about how best to begin building my business as a Medford Realtor - I discovered something rather interesting. Building a successful Real Estate business is about the exact same thing musicians strive for. A fan base!

Your sphere or database is comprised of friends, acquaintances, and well wishers. But until these folks become your fans - they aren't doing much to bring you business. Think of it like this. As a musician, my best listener is a person who will love what I do, and be excited and animated when they tell others about me. The excitement in their voice will be a motivator for the friends they share my music with - to actually pursue listening and hopefully downloading a track.

Now don't get me wrong here, every listener I can get is of value. But my job is to turn that listener into a fan. So how can I accomplish this?

I think it best to relay my experience as a DIY (do it yourself) musician. In the music world, the internet provides musicians with an amazing ability to market themselves and their work. The traditional record label model is dead. In fact few musicians rely on labels any more. So in order to reach listeners, I utilize numerous tools on the net, as well as advertising. Very similar to Real Estate!

Also similar to Real Estate, is the notion that regular contact with my base of listeners reminds them to remember me and what I do - and it reminds them to tell others about me. By keeping in touch with those who listen to my music, I can inform them about news and products. In your case, your database should be informed about what you are doing, and your products (listings).

We all become fans of something in our lives, whether it's a great author or actor, sports team, etc. We become fans because we admire how these people conduct themselves in their business. We admire the results they achieve. And often, we admire their character. That's what YOUR business is all about.

By keeping yourself in touch with your clients and database, you are engaging them to think about what you do, and to hopefully become your fan.

With Brokers using tools like MySpace, FaceBook, and Twitter - it's easy to see just how similar the model of a DIY musician and a Real Estate Broker truly are...

The word geek has evolved quite a bit over the years. It's now being used more than ever as our culture changes to embrace the many technologies we use in our daily lives. Once used as a moniker for anyone whose hobbies were not understood or embraced by the masses. But today the term is no longer limited in use as it once was.

With geek being such a prevalent modern language the word itself has begun to take on much more meaning than it once had. Terms such as "geek chic" or "geeking out" have recently introduced themselves into our slang adapted, ever-evolving English language. The formerly negative title is now more acceptable than ever, and even applies to hobbies considered popular.

In fact, people now can "geek out" on just about any subject. Any hobby is susceptible to this. In fact the more knowledge a person has about their hobby of choice, the more of a geek in that hobby they become. Discussing these hobbies in detail is now known as "geeking out". For example, in most of my posts I am geeking out about some great software or technology that excites me.

With the inception of computer science into almost every corner of our existence, modern day citizens find themselves compelled to learn and understand this technology. Those once deemed as geeks are now in charge of maintaining, creating, and troubleshooting the very technologies that make our lives easier. This change requires most of us to maintain a baseline amount of techie knowledge just to keep us from being left behind as new technologies are developed.

Basically, we all speak a little 'computer geek' whether we like it or not. Even the term blog itself is just geek for Web Log. We all use this term and think nothing of it. Now we even have Vlogs - or Video Blogs.

But as usual, I have my own two cents to throw in. I think it goes much deeper than this. In fact I believe we are each born with the geek gene. It just takes something a little different to bring it out in each of us. Everyone has a subject that they love to talk, discuss, or debate. Everyone has a hobby that they enjoy talking about in painful detail. And for each of us, it is these hobbies that bring out our inner geek.

So I ask you, what makes you geek out? Is it Real Estate? Is it following your favorite sports team, or another hobby such as mountain biking, yoga, or working out?

So where does that leave me? I'm quite sure I am a considered a consummate computer geek. But in addition because of my hobbies, I am also now an art geek, music geek, film geek, and since I like to play live music - officially a band geek. Because I hold a wealth of mostly useless knowledge in these areas, I have firmly established my geekdom.

Chances are that if you don't yet have a hobby such as this, one day soon you will. And when you find yourself rambling on about it in detail at your next social event, just think of me. Music, art, film, band, and consummate computer geek at your service.