1.
1
How Real Estate
Agents Use
Facebook, Twitter
and LinkedIn to
Network
3 Everyday Tech
Tools that Can
Grow Your Real
Estate Brand
Launch Your
Own YouTube
Channel to
Promote Your
Listings
Tools You
Can Use
to Create
Professional
Video Tours
A Quick Start Guide
to Social Media
Laffey NowBeat the Odds, Overcome Resistance & Conquer Real Estate
Provided By Laffey Real Estate

2.
2
Editor’s Note
Generating property sales and listings using online marketing is
nothing new.
According to the National Association of Realtors, 12 percent of
its member agents surveyed said they got from 11 percent to 25
percent of their business from online marketing. Eight percent said
they got from 26 percent to 50 percent of their business from online
marketing, while 4 percent of the agents said they generated more
than 50 percent of their business directly from online prospecting.
Tools and Methods for Online Marketing Multiplying
Although these statistics seem pretty incredible, the agents surveyed
were only talking about marketing online through their individual Web
sites. They were not talking about additional business that will come
as a result of social networking and video marketing! The fact is that
these methods of generating online sales are in their embryonic stage.
Most agents simply don’t understand them -- never mind actually use
them.
Latest Online Marketing Trends Reviewed
It is our goal to crack open the door to the mysterious subjects of
using social media to grow your business and brand. We will examine
how you can use Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to differentiate
yourself from your competitors. We will also take a closer look at
video marketing and how the YouTube video portal can get your
properties indexed pronto into Google’s search engine.
Finally, we will examine some effective and inexpensive ways even
a novice real estate agent can use to produce professional video
property tours, even if he or she has very little technical acumen. We
hope you find this edition helpful and informative. Please email us any
suggestions, comments or questions you may have.
Contact Us!
Feel free to contact "Laffey
Marketing" if you have
questions or would like your
peers added to the
distribution list.

3.
3
CONTENTS
6. How Real Estate Agents
Use Facebook, Twitter
and LinkedIn to Network
4. 3 Everyday Tech Tools that
Can Grow Your Real
Estate Brand
10. Launch Your Own
YouTube Channel to Promote
Your Listings
12. Tools You Can Use to
Create Professional Video
Tours
14. Video Marketing Under
Utilized in Selling Real Estate
16. A Quick Start Guide to
Social Media

4.
4
3 Everyday Tech Tools
That Can Grow Your
Real Estate Brand
Selling real estate has always been
a highly competitive game, but in
today’s slowly recovering economy
- novice and veteran agents alike
need an edge.
That’s where standing out from the
rest, or branding, comes into play.
I know that branding may sound
like a daunting and expensive
task, involving a formidable
advertising budget and time, but
I’ll show you how by investing
a few dollars, using everyday
technology and dedicating a few
hours of work a week, you can
launch and build your own brand
– quickly differentiating from your
competitors.
Smart Phone
If you haven’t done so already,
you should consider purchasing
a“smart phone.”A smart phone
is a phone that for all practical
purposes is a mini computer that is
connected to the Internet and can
be used as a virtual office.
They are either made by Apple or
other manufacturers like Samsung
or HTC. Telephone service
providers such as Verizon and
AT&T often run promos where you
can pick one up for under $100, if
you commit to a cellphone service
contract.
Why a smart phone? The savvy real
estate agent uses a smartphone as
his/her direct phone line and sets
it up so all business emails are
automatically forwarded from
the office to this dedicated tool.
This gives you instant access to
your clients, or potential clients,
and ensures that no matter where
you are or what you’re doing -
you’ll never miss a listing or sales
opportunity.
Web Site
While you will certainly get leads
from your office’s website when
it’s your turn, there is no substitute
for launching your own site, where
you can tout your experience,
listings and contact info. This
is true whether you are just
beginning or are an established
agent.
If you are tech savvy, you can
launch your own site with a
hosting company such as Bluehost
or Hostgater for as little as $100
a year. Or, if technology isn’t your
strong suit, then consider using a
service such as Point2, where you
can launch an individually-branded
real estate agent site with point-
and-click templates for as little as
$199 per year. The company also
offers a free, two-week trial.
No matter which method you use
to create your own branded site, it
is a necessity in today’s real estate
marketplace. It is the first place
you have the opportunity to show
the world you are the agent they
should choose to use.

5.
5
Blog
Even marketers sometimes
confuse the difference between a
real estate agent’s website and a
real estate agent’s blog. They are
not the same.
For example, your website is
more formal and is focused on
presenting your credentials and
your listings, while a blog, which
stands for Web log, is really a
personal platform where you
let potential clients get to know
you and your sales and business
philosophies.
You can do this in a more informal
and friendly manner. Another way
to say this is that the formal real
estate website is more a hard sell,
where a real estate blog is a soft
sell. On your blog you can post real
estate advice, talk about different
market trends and financing
options in a warm, neighborly
fashion.
If this all sound complicated and
over your head, don’t worry. The
goal is to just get you thinking
about how you can use everyday
technology to build, enhance and
grow your brand, which is you, in
the real estate marketplace.
In subsequent issues, I will give
you specific blueprints for building
your blog and keeping it filled with
quality content. However, in this
issue we will explore how you can
use social media such as Facebook,
Twitter and LinkedIn to build your
brand. In addition, we’ll talk about
the technology and developing
the skills needed to build the most
effective virtual tours for your
listings. Finally, we’ll touch on how
to use YouTube and other video
marketing platforms to promote
the virtual tours of the listings you
created.

6.
6
How Real Estate Agents Use
Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn
to Network
Social media has become a
buzzword in real estate selling
circles and for a good reason.
The concept of finding a way
to multiply an agent’s ability to
network to an unlimited number of
prospects with little or no upfront
outlay by just investing a few hours
a week on Facebook, Twitter or
LinkedIn is a dream come true.
That’s because even if you have
a modest hard-copy networking
plan in place that consists of
mailing a few hundred brochures,
business cards or promotional gifts
to potential clients, the cost can
quickly add up to several hundred
dollars a month.
However, before your prospecting
expectations exceed the reality
of what social-media marketing
can do for you and your brand, it’s
important to first examine how
these three mighty platforms work
and how you can incorporate them
into your long-term sales strategy.
Agents Quickly Adopting
Social Media
According to a recent analysis
of its customers by Postling,
a company that offers social
networking management services,
84 percent of its 7,000 real estate
professionals are using social
media as part of their marketing
strategy.

7.
7
The 900-Pound Marketing
Gorilla
It goes without saying that if you
haven’t already created a Facebook
account, now is the time. We will
touch on whether you should
create a personal account and a
business account later.
The first thing you need to do after
you create your Facebook account
is to connect with your existing
clients, potential clients and
friends, which can be contacted
instantly from your email account
in one click as you sign up.
Some agents say they find
approaching people this way is
less aggressive and more socially
acceptable than contacting them
by email or by phone. No one can
argue that it is easier, but whether
this method is more effective than
direct contact remains to be seen.
Personal or Business Page?
Some agents prefer creating a
personal and a separate business
page on Facebook. It’s free and
some feel by launching a second
business page they can more
effectively target their particular
real estate niche. Or course, the
downside to this strategy is that
you must develop a fan base in
order to generate any traffic to
such pages.
This means you will have to invite
all of your contacts to become
a fan at least twice a year. Some
agents make such invitations
quarterly. In addition, it takes more
time to run two pages.
If you find that the majority of
material you post to Facebook
is business related then it might
make more sense to create a
business page and spend most of
your time using it to promote your
real estate business. But if you
discover that most of your sales
are generated by your friends or
relatives -- then you might forget
about creating a business page
altogether and simply concentrate
on marketing via your personal
page.
Agents’Actual Usage by
Network
29%
LinkedIn
79%
Facebook
48%
Twitter

8.
8
Integrate Your Efforts
If you have real estate blog, it’s a
good move to add a plug-in that
allows your readers to follow you
on Facebook and add another
plug-in that allows them to like or
share your posts with their friends.
You should post a link to all of
your blog entries on Facebook and
commit to posting tidbits either
written by you or someone else at
least twice a week.
Also, if you use an email marketing
program such as Constant Contact
or MailChimp and you send out
a monthly newsletter, you can
post the newsletter on Facebook
by using specific Facebook
distribution apps designed and
made freely available by these
companies. This way you avoid
your clients’and prospects’spam
filters and increase the likelihood
they will read your newsletter.
Experiment with Facebook Ads
If you happen to have some
money in your marketing
budget, you should also consider
experimenting by running a
Facebook ad. The advantage of
doing so, instead of using other
media, is that you can work with a
small budget and really hone in on
a specific demographic you want
to market to.
Advertising experts advise that
rather than running a general ad on
Facebook showcasing yourself as
a real estate agent with a glamor
headshot, you would get far more
bang for your buck by running an
ad showcasing a specific property
with an accompanying quality
image.
Protect Your Image
Finally, it is critical that you never
let your guard down when you
are posting, communicating or
commenting on Facebook. A
seemingly innocent opinion or joke
can hurt your image and therefore
your brand. While I firmly believe
in the freedom of expression
and speech, it never makes good
business sense to alienate a
potential client. As difficult as it
may be, it is always best to adhere
to the adage taught to many of
us by our parents when we were
children:“When in public, don’t
discuss religion or politics.”
This is especially true when it
comes to Facebook or any social
media. You must remember that
Google indexes Facebook faithfully
into its search engine. The worst
thing that can happen to you is
to lose a potential client who is
searching for your name online,
only to find a comment or opinion
that offends them.
In addition, it’s important to be
just as vigilant, maybe even more
vigilant, when it comes to posting
photos of yourself, others or
objects. Be careful to only present
yourself in the most positive and
non-offending images. Images of
clowning around, or worse, can
only diminish your professional
persona. If you have already posted
what might be considered by some
as offensive comments or images,
why not remove them? Save your
personal thoughts and images for
those close to you. Again, it’s good
business to keep them offline.
Now, let’s take a look at Twitter.
Increase Your Web Traffic and
Brand with Twitter
The main difference between
Twitter and Facebook is that
Twitter is less a place to schmooze,
and more a place to champion
your interests, causes, opinions –
or promote your business. That’s

9.
9
because tweets from Twitter are
picked up often in real time by
Google, Bing and Yahoo. Many
real estate agents who generate
substantial leads from their own
websites credit their tweets with
generating as much as half of
their new traffic! With such stats,
you can easily see why Twitter
stock prices shot through the roof
the day its initial public offering
debuted.
But before you get delirious about
Twitter, successful agents who
have used it to generate quality
prospects caution that it will take
some patience and perseverance
for your tweets to turn into gold.
Watch Your Mix of Tweets
It’s free and easy to create a
Twitter account. Marketing experts
say to stand out from the pack
of other real estate agents you
should invest in a quality logo
and a polished and grammatically
flawless description of you and
your business. Also take the time
to design your page and make sure
its colors and images are pleasing,
professional and make visitors
want to stay and return.
Finally, it’s important not to overdo
the selling of yourself and your
services on Twitter or any social-
media platform. Most successful
agents tweet links to interesting
real estate related articles 80
percent of the time, and sales-
related tweets 20 percent of the
time. The danger is that potential
clients will be turned off and
stop reading your tweets if they
perceive you are only interested
in hawking real estate and not
providing much useful information
to the Twitter community.
LinkedIn Used Less but
Potentially the Best
As I mentioned earlier in this
article, only 29 percent of real
estate agents use LinkedIn. While
this is understandable considering
the popularity of Facebook and
Twitter, it might one day be
considered a serious oversight for
agents who
didn’t get in on LinkedIn’s ground
floor.
That’s because out of the three
social networks we explored in this
article, LinkedIn is by far the one
with the highest demographics
of professionals from various
industries. What differentiates
LinkedIn from Facebook and
Twitter is that members of LinkedIn
join to improve and grow their
careers and businesses. While this
means that LinkedIn is treasure
chest of quality prospects, it also
means you’re apt to face some stiff
competition to earn their business.
Opening an account with
LinkedIn is free, but there is also
a paid professional account that
costs $39.95 a month, if you pay
annually. Many real estate agents
end up utilizing this account
because it gives them a much
wider search range of profiles,
allows them to email any of the
members directly and shows
them who is visiting their profile,
including all of the visitors’
demographics. I suggest you start
with the free account, carefully
complete your profile, join some
groups and then monitor them for
a while before signing up for the
paid membership.
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10.
10
In previous articles, we pointed
out that although 90 percent of
consumers seek videos of real
estate listings when they are
searching online for properties,
we found that only 4 percent of
real estate agents actually post
videos of their properties on their
websites.
The reason for this is probably that
most agents fear that producing
videos of their listings is way
beyond their technical expertise
and many of them are not ready to
invest the time, money and effort
they believe it will take to build a
video presence.
Launch Your Own YouTube Channel
to Promote Your Listings
However, they might want to
reconsider.
Minimal Investment in
Equipment and Time
Today, you can purchase a state-
of-the-art Digital Single Lens
Reflex (DSLR) Camera for as
little as $380, or a quality point-
and-shoot model for under
$100. In addition, Smart Phone
cameras on the latest Android and
iPhone models keep improving
exponentially. So getting
your hands on the necessary
technology to take good stills or
videos is no longer the financial
hurdle it once was.

11.
11
Still, the fear of new technology
isn’t easily overcome. Many agents
know how to take photos and
video and download them to their
computers, but when it comes to
uploading them to their website or
blog, they are mystified.
Create a YouTube Channel
That’s where YouTube comes in.
Not only does opening an account
on YouTube make it possible for
you to upload and host as many
videos as you can create for free,
it also gives you the opportunity
to brand yourself by creating a
YouTube Channel, which is also
free of charge.
It only takes a few minutes to
create your own channel after you
open your account. Just go to
the top right hand corner of your
panel and follow the instructions,
using the provided links. This is
the first step in branding yourself
via videos. It is also a smart move
in promoting yourself online
because Google quickly indexes
new content on YouTube – which
it owns – into its search engine.
And once Google indexes a video,
it isn’t long before Yahoo and Bing
search engines do the same. So,
besides getting your brand and
listings hosted and broadcasted
on YouTube for all to view, you
have also ensured that your
name and brand will show up
more frequently in regular online
searches for real estate agents.
Moreover, you can now easily cut
and paste the code at the bottom
of your YouTube videos where it
says share, and embed them on
your own Website. You should
also post a link to the videos you
created on Facebook, Twitter,
LinkedIn and any other social
media you use for promoting your
brand. At this point, you may have
all of the necessary equipment to
create a video and have opened
your own YouTube channel, but
you are still not a technical wiz.
You may know how to take fairly
good photos and videos, but you
have no idea on how to take these
disparate pieces of media and craft
them into an entertaining and
informative presentation about real
estate trends or listings.
Tips for YouTube Newbies
Here are some tips for optimizing
the real estate videos you upload
to YouTube:
Make sure you prime Google’s
search engines by adding
keywords in your video file that
include your name, your location
and your company.
Create a catchy title for each
of your videos, making sure
you include relevant keywords,
but don’t overdo it by keyword
stuffing.
Include a link to your website
or blog at the beginning of the
description of each video you add
to your channel.
Become active in the YouTube
community by subscribing to
channels that interest you and
adding comments when you feel
moved to do so.
Answer comments made regarding
your own videos promptly and
politely.

12.
12
Tools To Create Professional
Video Tours
If you’re a real estate agent that
has decided to commit some time
and effort to video marketing using
YouTube, your own website and
social networks, then you have
already begun taking photos and
videos of your property listings.
Getting them organized on your
computer is the next step. But
unless you went to film-making
school, chances are you have
no idea how to transform this
hodgepodge of video clips and
photos into a professional-looking
video tour.
Easy-To-Use Video Editors
You could post to the Craigslist
classifieds and hope to find a
professional videographer that
doesn’t charge higher fees than
you can handle at this stage of
your real estate career, which
might be difficult. Or you could
take advantage of an out-of-the
box and easy-to-use video editor
such as Sony’s Movie Studio, which
you can try by downloading a free
trial version. If you like it, you
can purchase for just $49.95. I
recommend this product because
hundreds of customers have
given an overall 4.9 stars out of a
possible 5-star rating.
The other reason is that if you
find you have a knack for creating
these videos, you will have many
more options using a video editor
program like Movie Studio than
you will have using one of the
automatic, self-service editing sites
such as Animoto.
Animoto for Those Who Want
Editing On Automatic Pilot
However, if you haven’t the time,
interest or technological savvy to
sit down and edit your own video
tours using a video editor, then
Animoto is the way to go. This
service is extremely easy to use.
In fact, with a few clicks of your
mouse you can take the photos
you’ve shot of a property and
transform them into a professional
video presentation with special
effects and even with royalty-free
musical background.
But this comes at a price of about
$20 a month, which is well worth
the investment considering how
it can elevate you and your brand.
Animoto also offers instructive
examples of how real estate agents
use its product by showcasing
the following type of promotional
videos:
An Agent Video Selfie
This is a short but cogent video
where the agent briefly introduces
herself and mentions her awards,
includes customer testimonials
and ends by giving her contact
information.
Tours of Properties
The hook in this video is the mixing
of quality video and photos with
upbeat music and special effects
provided by Animoto. It is designed
to whet the appetites of potential
homebuyers and make them want
to see more.

13.
13
Neighborhood Tours
In this video the agent, who
represents a number of properties
in the same neighborhood,
highlights some of the parks,
businesses, schools and listings in
the area intertwining all of this with
the latest relevant statistics about
the area.
How-To Home Buying And
Selling Basics
The agent uses this video to cover
some of the basics of buying
or selling a home in easy-to-
understand terms. It’s the classic
educate-to-sell strategy.
While we have only skimmed the
surface of options a real estate
agent can exercise to create
a strong video presence, the
purpose of this article is to get you
motivated enough to explore and
put into place your own video-
marketing plan.
In future issues, we will cover more
options and trends of this growing
method of transforming prospects
into clients.
Here are some of Movie
Studio’s features:
You can add special effects like
slow motion, and the program
even has a green screen for
superimposing yourself or your
properties on various backgrounds,
such as your logo.
The editor also allows you to
manipulate images such as rotating
them, or panning still images.
In addition, Movie Studio lets you
easily drag and drop photos and
videos across timelines, allowing
you to arrange your presentation
in the most effective and appealing
manner.

14.
14
Video Marketing Under Utilized
in Selling Homes
Every real estate agent I know
is looking for an edge over the
competition and a way to multiply
her presence, so she can show
more prospects the latest listings
in the most favorable light.
Video marketing is that edge.
But using video, which offers much
more functionality and depth than
many other strategies, surprisingly,
has not gained much traction
among agents.
According to the latest survey
by the National Association of
Realtors (NAR), while about 66
percent of the agents surveyed
have a personal website to
promote their listings, only 4
percent of agents post videos
of their listings on their sites
and major video portals such as
YouTube.
Even on official listing or company
sites, only 14 percent of agents are
using video to sell their properties.
Yet, 90 percent of the buyers who
are searching for a home online
say they seek out video listings
first, a spokesman for the NAR told
the Chicago Tribune.
Ground-Floor Opportunity for
Video-Savvy Agents
You don’t have to be a genius
to see that these statistics
have uncovered a great selling

15.
15
opportunity for any real estate
agent that makes a commitment to
learn how to use video to promote
his or her listings and brand!
Let’s talk a little bit about what
type of video themes successful
agents are creating to market
themselves and their listings.
Here are three themes that have
yielded great results for innovative
agents, according to various real
estate experts.
1. The Informational Video
When you think of this model,
think of an info commercial you
see running late at night or on a
Sunday morning. It’s a soft sell all
the way. But it offers the real estate
prospect tons of basic information
about buying or selling a house
in simple English, which helps
the prospect trust the agent. The
narrator is the agent and the length
of the video usually runs from
three to four minutes. This is long
for a video. Most of the themes are
shorter.
2. The Testimonial Video
This is a very popular and effective
video marketing theme. It is easy to
put together and can be naturally
scripted with a few notes. It
comprises of an agent introducing
one of her satisfied clients inside
or in front of their new home.
The focus then goes to the happy
buyer who tells about his buying
experience and often recounts the
entire process - praising the agent
along the way. You may think that
such unabashed cheerleading is a
bit too much, but some agents say
that such video testimonials are
golden! The length should be no
longer than three minutes.
3. The Data-Driven Video
On the face of it, this video may
seem a little dry. But when done
properly, it is very effective. In
the video, the agent focuses on
recent property sales in the area
and neighborhoods where she
operates. An agent can also use it
to showcase current interest-rate
lending trends, using this data for
a strong call to action. Real estate
jargon should be avoided at all
costs in such video presentations,
and if you must use it, be sure to
translate it into plain English your
prospect can easily understand.

16.
16
Unless you’ve been in suspended
animation for the last decade,
you’ve heard a lot of buzz about
Tweets, friending, Facebook,
Linkedin, Twitter and likes.
As a real estate agent, you are also
hearing that unless you become an
active user of social media you’re
missing out on a huge opportunity
to automatically produce a large
number of referrals for your
business. Still, if you are like
most of us, you’re somewhat
overwhelmed with the sheer
volume of information out there
about these tools, and you’re not
quite sure where or how to start
building your very own social-
media machine.
This quick-start guide is for the
top-three social-media tools --
LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.
The goal is to make it easy for you
to find a starting point so you can
take action now!
A Quick Start Guide to Social Media
LinkedIn: Most Effective for
Business Referrals
Unlike the other two social
networks we are going to explore,
LinkedIn is a bit more formal and
focuses on creating business-to-
business relationships. It’s free and
easy to sign up for an account and
the first step is to upload a profile,
i.e., resume. This, in my opinion, is
the most important step of utilizing
Linkedin’s powerful set of tools.
It’s important to take your time,
use a professional photo and/or a
company logo and upload a well-
written, interesting profile that
highlights both your professional
skills and accomplishments.
Important: Make sure there are no
misspellings or grammatical errors
in your profile, even if you have
to hire a professional copyeditor
to proof read it. Remember, first
impressions are lasting, especially
on LinkedIn.
Once your profile is completed,
you are ready to take the second
step that will immediately set you
on a road to unlimited referrals
by authorizing the social network
to scan your email contacts. This
automated process will link you
to the profiles of everyone you
know or have done business with.
But here’s the added benefit that
could eventually grow your base
of qualified referrals: When you
visit the connection pages of your
contacts, you are allowed to see
everyone they know! You can then
carefully cull through them and
send requests to connect with
the ones you’ve chosen. This is
an important step in developing
new business relationships and the
key to building a treasure chest of
quality referrals.

17.
17
Twitter : Tool for Building
Credibility and Attracting New
Clients
Think of Twitter as a way to blog to
a targeted audience without all the
heavy lifting. In geek speak: Twitter
is really what’s known as a micro-
blog, because it lets you send
short messages to your network of
“followers.” Followers are earned
by posting pithy, informative and
relevant“tweets”that engage
fellow members on a specific
subject, such as politics, music or
real estate. When someone likes
your tweet, they give it a“like,”
which means more people will
read it.
It’s easy and free to sign-up for
Twitter and the whole point of
doing so for a real estate agent is
to share some of your local listings
and insights about real estate to
potential clients, who will find you
because they are searching the
Internet looking for properties in
your area.
Avoid Being Labeled a
Spammer
However, it’s really important
to mention that some new
members of Twitter kill their
chances of developing a following
by immediately posting every
property they have listed. If you do
this, you risk turning off potential
followers and being classified as
a spammer. The penalty for this
is that your tweets are ignored.
Also, you shouldn’t use Twitter to
constantly toot your own horn or
beg for referrals. This will ensure
that members won’t want to follow
you and those who do will stop.
To avoid this from happening,
pick and choose what you post.
Tweeting about a true real estate
bargain is good, just as tweeting
about some local real estate
statistics will be well received.
Facebook: Informal
Networking with Friends,
Relatives and Clients
Since 2004, Facebook has been
a universal online community
that allows more than a billion
human beings to share personal
information with their friends,
relatives and people they haven’t
yet met. It is a must for any real
estate agent, but it’s a less formal
venue where you can relax a little,
but always remember to do so
without putting your professional
standing in jeopardy. It’s a great
place to keep in contact with your
past, present and potential clients
– and it’s free.
Again, it is an ideal place to
promote your best properties and
to obtain referrals as long as you
don’t begin spamming. If you do,
expect to lose friends. Case in
point, I had a friend on Facebook
that began sending me emails
every day about different shows
he was promoting. Needless to
say, I soon blocked him and his
messages.
Follow this rule of thumb and
you’ll never have a problem on any
social media network: Only tweet
and post the kind of items that
you would want read if you were
searching for a property.