Q/A Friday: How do I add video (or the illusion of video) to my emails?

Q: I’m finally making videos and LOVING IT. But, I want my emails to look a little more compelling. How do I entice people to click on the links that I send them and watch my movies?

A: I’m so happy you’re enjoying bringing visual content to the web! However, you cannot (yet) embed a video into an email and have it be playable within that email. The good news is that there’s a simple work around to take your emails from this:

to this:
 

YOU WILL NEED:
-Microsoft Outlook
-Microsoft Paint
-Microsoft Publisher (optional)

Watch this video  for step-by-step instructions:

Q/A Friday: What can the Roost Social Media Toolkit do for me?

Have you heard? No? I’m sorry…
I was under the impression that everyone had heard…

The word: Roost launched it’s Social Media Toolkit yesterday.

From the Roost Blog:

…In talking to hundreds of individual REALTORS®, we came to an powerful realization: The vast majority of agents still get 80%+ of their business via word-of-mouth referrals. [This], combined with the incredible mainstream adoption of of Facebook and the Social Web over the past year, triggered a thought in our minds:  What if we could build technology that helps REALTORS® optimize the 80%+ of their business that really matters? [...] The Roost Social Real Estate Toolkit is easy to use and all about helping you grow the biggest, most productive part of your business: word-of-mouth driven referrals from the people you know and the people who know them.

 

First things first: how can you get the app?
Easy peasy lemon squeazy: go to the Roost App page of Facebook, click the “Go To Application” button, allow permissions, and follow the directions. Need a more visual example? Roost created a great video tutorial.

So… what can this do for you? A lot, actually…

Create a real estate tab on your personal page or business fan page
(This first example if for a personal profile. See my test profile page in action here. And click on any image below to see a larger version in a new window.) 

	Add your picture (from your profile picture album), a tagline, and some marketing copy. Note: to stay in compliance with Facebook’s TOS, you will not be able to edit a phone number. I added mine manually in the marketing copy section. Is this a violation? I’m not sure. You also can add introduction copy to the left of your photo, which is the text above the Google Map image. Based on the information you provide about your market area, Roost will provide market stats, education information, graphs from Altos Research, and a Walk Score (see my test page.)
	You can also add up to four listings (active, contract accepted, sold, open house). The Roost app will ask you to create a photo album called “Listings” from which you will select the photo for each property (I went with clip art for simplicity’s sake- you should put an actual home picture). You enter the address, price, bed/bath/square footage and a short headline. You can edit, change, or remove these listings any time.
	How does the personal page differ from the business fan page? (Click here to see my test business page in action.) The biggest (and maybe only?) difference that I can tell is that you are now able to add a phone number, web address, and company logo. Note: You will still need to select a page owner and owner picture. Because of this, you wouldn’t be able to use this on behalf of a company without singling out one person as the “owner”.

Schedule future posts from within Facebook with Publisher

The Roost Social Toolkit also provides an invaluable tool: the ability to schedule future posts (to your profile or any page that you admin). These posts can include link previews as well by using the Add Link function. Check out Roost’s video tutorial here.

I tested two links last night and was rather pleased with the outcome:

As you can see, the posts come via Roost, so you do run the risk of losing exposure if people “hide” the Roost app, just as you are if you use Hootsuite, Tweetdeck, or the Twitter app.  FYI: The first test didn’t show an image when I created it, and the second test replaced apostrophes with special characters. Be aware also that you can only schedule posts to go out at the :00 :15 :30 and :45 marks, and there is currently no way to use the Tagging feature in a scheduled post (from any program).

Who will benefit most from using this?
Realtors who are using Facebook only will find this tool to be a great aid, if only for the publisher (although having that non-invasive “I’m an agent!” reminder with the Real Estate tab can only help you). If you’re all about social media and like the ability to schedule and post to multiple sources (FB/TW/LI/etc) at once, I would stick with an outside program- my favorite being Hootsuite.

Room for improvement?
Knowing admittedly nothing about creating Facebook apps… this is my wishlist for the Roost Social Toolkit:
1. The ability to use the Tagging function in a scheduled post
2. A plugin or popup to easily schedule links from other windows a la the Facebook Share Button, Hootsuite Hootlet, or Bit.ly Sidebar
3. The ability to add a few more listings. (It doesn’t make sense to me that you can only add four when there is clearly space for six).
4. The ability to upload images off the hard drive vs from Facebook Albums
5. The ability to use the Toolkit on a page without selecting a singular owner (although I suppose there would be lesser incentive to purchase a custom app from Roost)
6. (And this one is purely because I’m lazy) The ability to auto-populate listing data from an MLS number

Q/A Friday: What are 5 things you (probably) didn’t know about Broker/Agent Admin?

Q: Ok, I’m getting the hang of the new(ish) website and Broker/Agent Admin, but there’s a lot to know! What are 5 things that I may not be aware of?
A: Excellent question! Broker/Agent Admin (sometimes referred to as the Backend/Agent Backend) is where you have control over your Agent Website, can create searches/CMAs/One-to-Ones, find company news, and more. Here are 5 things that you might not have known before:
1. YOU CAN CREATE CRAIGSLIST-READY ADS IN THE MARKETING SECTION IN MINUTES
Hopefully you are already using the Marketing section of Broker/Agent Admin to create fast and professional printable fliers. But did you know that you can take these fliers and post them to Craigslist almost instantly? To do this, just copy/paste from the HTML pop-up box… or watch the short video tutorial below:

2. YOU CAN ADD ANY LISTING FROM YOUR MLS AS A FEATURED LISTING ON YOUR HOME PAGE

If you wish to add other listings to the featured listing section of your Agent Site homepage, you first have to change a few settings:
-Log into Broker/Agent Admin and click on My Website
-Click on “Settings” from the left hand menu and select the button for MANUAL. Click the SAVE button. Click OK on the popup screen.

-Click on “Featured Listings” on the upper right. Select the button for MANUAL. Click the SAVE button. Click OK on the popup screen.
-Click on “Listings” from the left hand menu and select the button for MANUAL Click OK on the popup screen.
-Click on OTHER MLS LISTINGS (top right) and select MANUAL Click OK on the popup screen.
-Now you may add the MLS number of a property into the text box below. Click OK. NOTE: You may only add listings in the MLS(s) you have linked to your Agent Site.
-Once you add a listing, click on ACTIVATE LISTING.
-Your added listings will now appear as FEATURED on your website and in your Listings section.

IMPORTANT! Doing this will no longer automatically pull your listings from the MLS. You will need to enter the MLS number for all listings you wish to appear on your site.

3. COMPANY SUPPORT IS FULL OF USEFUL FILES AND INFORMATION
Need a logo? Transaction documents? How about a referral form or letterhead? Notes from a Social Marketing training? All this (and much more) are waiting for you in the COMPANY SUPPORT section of Broker/Agent Admin. I highly recommend you take a few minutes to browse through the various sections and familiarize yourself with the resources available.
4. YOU CAN ADD YOUR OWN DOCUMENTS AND FILES TO COMPANY SUPPORT
You can add your own documents/videos/etc into Company Support. These will only be available to you when you are logged into Broker/Agent Admin. Why would I want to do this? If you have documents that you frequently require outside of the provided documents in Company Support, you will be able to access them from any computer once you have uploaded them to Company Support.

TO UPLOAD
-Log into Broker/Agent Admin and click on COMPANY SUPPORT.
-Click CREATE MAIN CATEGORY (Upper right). Name your category and click OK.
-Your category will now appear in the left side menu. Click on your category.
-Click CREATE SUBCATEGORY and name a subcategory,
-Click on your subcategory in the left hand menu.
-You may continue to create another subcategory by clicking CREATE SUBCATEGORY again, or you may upload a file by clicking UPLOAD FILE
-TO UPLOAD A FILE: first select the type of file (Media- YouTube videos, Document, Image, or Link). Give your file a name and description. Follow the prompts provided. Acceptable file types include YouTube video URLS, PDFs, Word Documents, Excel Documents.
5. RECENT SALES ONLY PULL YOUR LISTINGS SOLD, NOT BUYER-SIDE SALES 
To add your recent buyer-side sales:
-Log into Broker/Agent Admin and click on MY WEBSITE.
-Click on RECENT SALES from the left hand menu.
-Select MANUAL.
-Click ADD RECENT SALE (upper right)
-Enter the MLS number of the sale and click RETRIEVE
-Double check the pulled information, make any necessary changes, and click SAVE at the bottom.

Q/A Friday: What are 5 things I can do to protect my privacy on Facebook (and online in general)?

Q: Is it possible to customize who can see what on Facebook? And what can I do to protect my identity from being stolen? Basically, I just want to be safe!

A: It absolutely is possible (and wise) to maintain your online privacy… but remember, I’m of the mind that whatever you put on the internet is public record, regardless of privacy settings, so think before you post! That being said, here are a series of steps you can take to safeguard yourself, and keep that embarrassing-but-hilarious party photo away from prying eyes.

1. SET YOUR BLANKET PRIVACY SETTINGS ON FACEBOOK
Did you know that with the click of a button, you can instantly select one of four privacy settings for your entire Facebook? The options are EVERYONE (which does in fact mean everyone, on Facebook or not, and indexable by search engines like Google), FRIENDS OF FRIENDS (which allows your mutual friends some access but reserves some things, like contact information, for your actual connections), FRIENDS ONLY (which only allows access to people you have confirmed as friends), and RECOMMENDED (which allows different groups of people to see different things).

To access this screen, log in to Facebook, then navigate to ACCOUNT (upper right-hand corner) > PRIVACY SETTINGS. Select the Privacy Setting you are comfortable with and click the APPLY THIS SETTING button to save.

2. TO GET MORE DETAILED, CREATE FRIENDS LISTS
Friend Lists are ways of categorizing the people that you connect with on Facebook. You can have up to 100 lists, and up to 1,000 people per list (people can be cross-categorized). These lists are private. Besides allowing you to filter the information you see in your newsfeed, you can also set specific privacy rules based on your Friend Lists.

To create a Friend List:
1. Once you are logged into Facebook, navigate to ACCOUNT>EDIT FRIENDS
2. Click “Create New List”
3. Name your list and select friends to add by clicking on them. You can also type a name in the search to find someone directly. If you check someone on accident, just click again to uncheck them.
4. Click “Create List”

When you edit your Privacy Settings, clicking "Customize" for any setting will open a Custom Privacy pop up dialogue. Under "Make this open to," select "Specific People" form the drop-down menu and enter the name of the Friend List with whom you’d like to share the content (you can enter an individual as well). You can enter Friend Lists or individuals under “Hide this from” as well. If a person is cross-listed, the more restrictive privacy settings will be honored.You will also be able to adjust the privacy settings for each piece of content you post (picture, link, text, etc.) To do this, click on the lock icon next to the share button, select “Customize” and follow the steps above. For more information/FAQ on Friend Lists, check out Facebook’s Help Center.

 

3. SAFEGUARD YOUR FACEBOOK ACCOUNT
Did you know that in less than 5 seconds, you can request that Facebook notify you any time your account is accessed on a new computer or mobile device? Navigate to ACCOUNT>ACCOUNT SETTINGS and look for ACCOUNT SECURITY:

Once you submit this setting, Facebook will ask you to name any new device you log in on. It will keep a log of these devices as well as notify you by email when a new device is used. Don’t remember typing in a device name? Time to change your password!!

Another way to safeguard your account is to be aware of the applications you authorize, Applications need to access your account information (contact info, post to your wall, access your Friend List, etc.) for various reasons, but not all applications are friendly. Any application that seems too good to be true most likely is. To see the applications that you’ve authorized, navigate to ACCOUNT>APPLICATION SETTINGS and select “Authorized” from the drop down menu. Don’t recognize something or use it any more? Click the X.

4. BE SMART ABOUT YOUR PASSWORDS
It’s OK to recycle your passwords, but here are several tips to keep in mind:
-Don’t have the same password for EVERYTHING! At least have a separate password for email accounts, one for social networks, and one (preferably more complex) for financial or sensitive information.
-Do you have a password list? If it’s on your computer, password protect it! Google “[program] password protect document” to find out how to do this. (Note: doesn’t work for Outlook, but Word/Excel/Publisher are all OK.) If your password list is printed, know where it is at all times, and I recommend that you attempt to code your services (IE, just write BANK or $$ instead of WELLS FARGO, etc.)

 

5. KEEP YOUR EMAIL (AND COMPUTER) SECURE
-If you receive a suspicious email from any source (a social network, financial institution, etc), DO NOT click on the link provided in the email. Instead, go directly to your browser and type in the URL manually. REMEMBER: a bank/social network/etc will NEVER contact you asking for your password or other sensitive data.
-NEVER download/open/install a file of any type from an unknown source.
-If you receive a .zip file from ANY source, even one that you know, verify that it was actually sent from that person before you download/open/install it.
-Anything claiming to come from a Nigerian prince or that you’ve won a prize for doing nothing, etc., is a scam. This goes double for emails claiming that if you forward to x-amount of people you will receive a personal email from Bill Gates/donate money to a charity/ ~*~*~hAvE YoUr WiSHeS gRAntED~*~*~.

Want the notes (and lots more step-by-step and tips) from the Online Privacy and Safety training? Click here!

Q/A Friday: What are 5 things I must do to create a phenomenal video?

Q: Ok, I’m ready to jump into video creation. I got the Flip Cam (or Vado, or Kodak, or whatever) and I’ve more-or-less talked myself out of stage fright. What are 5 things I can to to make sure my video rocks?

A: First of all, I have stage fright too, and absolutely DISLIKE having to deliver something on video (you probably never would have guessed that, huh?) The key thing is to just get a video done… it might not be perfect the first time, but you gotta start somewhere! So, here are five tips to make your videos more focused, watchable, and streamlined.

1. KNOW WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO SAY

Please don’t be like this guy:

The first step in creating killer video- SCRIPT IT OUT! Without a guide of some kind, you’re likely to just freeze in front of the camera, or worse yet, fill the audio void with endless “Ummmm”’s and “Uhhhhh”’s while you grasp at what you want to say next. It’s also better to write out a bulleted list of key points rather than a word-for-word script. Let the words come freely, but clearly, and even if you mess up, keep control of your face. The world likely won’t know unless you tell us.

2. GET A MOVIE BUDDY
It’s bad enough that you have to think about what you’re saying and doing in front of a camera without having to think about handling it, too! Make friends with someone in your office (or a spouse, older child, etc) and agree to man the camera for each other. Even if you’re just doing a desk-chat, this will allow you to relax a little more, plus get rid of the need to trim you moving to/from the camera to start the recording.

3. IF YOU ARE MOVING THE CAMERA, SLOW THAT SUCKER DOWN!
I dare you to watch this:

Did you feel a little sick to your stomach from all the fast movement? Don’t do this to your audience! The best way to keep a camera in control is to have one focus: monitoring your movement (here’s where that movie buddy definitely comes into play!)

A few handling tips (and keep in mind, I went to film school… so you should probably listen to me here)…
-Use a tripod when possible, but make sure it’s not so tight that panning or tilting the camera is jerky.
-If you are handholding the camera, plant both your feet, center your weight, hold the camera with both hands, and if you pan or tilt, twist from the waist for the most level results.
-However slowly you are moving the camera, you could probably stand to move it a little bit slower.
-If you are going to be walking with the camera on, it’s best not to wear shoes (this will also cut down on that *CLOMPCLOMPCLOMP* sound) and keep plenty of spring in your knees and arms.

4. ANGLE IS EVERYTHING
The actual LENS of the camera should be at your eye level, and NO LOWER- I don’t need a tour of your nostrils, thank you! It’s always better to be looking down on someone/thing than up at it, a slightly angled profile almost always beats a true profile or dead-on shot. Also, you should be the focus of the video… so don’t let anything (like your hands) sit closer to the camera than your face. 

Screen-caps have been censored to protect the identity of people who are now busy making phenomenal, well-angled videos :)

*BONUS TIP!!!! Never turn your back to the camera, especially if you are walking. I’m sure you can guess why.

5. DON’T EXPECT IT TO BE PERFECT THE FIRST TIME
I can almost guarantee that any video you see online in which the delivery was perfect was not the first take. Allow yourself a few practice takes to get a feel for the words, the gestures, etc, but keep the camera rolling in case you do nail it. Let yourself relax, have a good time, and remember: at the end of the day, the most important thing is that you did it.

Q/A Friday: How do I come up with a realistic (and successful!) social media plan?

Q: I feel like I need to make a bigger dent in the social media world, but I have no idea where to start. Is there an easy way to do this? A: YES! Managing your social media presence is really as easy as one-two-three….and four: Topics, Resources, Schedule, Spontaneity.

1. Decide on your topics Make a list of the things you want to talk about. This can be anything you want, as many as you want, and remember that your list can change as you progress. EXAMPLE: My topics are social media news, San Diego events/culture, baking/cooking, and freebies/discounts.



2. Identify your resources Determine (and bookmark!) sources who are talking about what YOU want to talk about. This can be done by a simple Google search of your topics list. You should shoot for at least two resources per topic, but there’s no real wrong number. EXAMPLE: My resources are Mashable, Social Media Examiner, Sign on San Diego, NBC San Diego, The Pioneer Woman, Bakerella, Groupon San Diego, and Slick Deals.
   
   
3. Schedule the week ahead Create a free Hootsuite account and link your Facebook (profile, page, or both), Twitter, LinkedIn accounts, etc. Schedule time for yourself to take a quick scroll through your resources (once a week for an hour should suffice, but you can adjust this to fit your needs). As you find something that you want to share, schedule it right then and there. BONUS! If you use the Hootlet fuction in Hootsuite, it will automatically shrink your link AND provide you with click analytics! EXAMPLE: Monday might be my Social Media day, so I would browse through my social media resources and schedule something for Monday: BANG! Facebook passes 500 million users.http://bit.ly/chywhb  If I want Friday to be my “what’s up this weekend” day, I might look through my local events/culture resources and schedule something for Friday: Didn't score a ticket to @comic_con this year? Good news- there are plenty off-site events, like Zombie Walk! #sdcc http://bit.ly/b5fPCL Check out just how easy it is to use the Hootlet:
4. Jump in spontaneously. At this point, you’ll be regularly posting like a pro, but remember that social media is also a conversation. Log on at least once a day and take a quick scroll down your feed to see who’s saying what. Leave a few comments, check in with at least one person you haven’t connected with in a while, manage your requests, etc. Another great way to be spontaneous is to use your smart phone smartly. Find a great restaurant or come across a street fair or have something else to say? Get your phone out and take 30 seconds to post it to Twitter or Facebook – even better, take a picture! The easiest way to do either is using an app, but you can also use your phone’s internet service or send a text message to either service. EXAMPLE: Avoid I15 north like the plague! I left Eastlake at 4... Single digits from the 8. Just passing Miramar now. Save yourself if you can! (Posted via mobile web)

Remember, part of your goal should be to become an information resource for the people you connect with. Following these four steps will help you manage your time and make the most of your connections!

Q/A Friday: How do I customize my email signature?

Q: I want to customize my email signature to include links to all the places I am online. How do I do this?
A: Great question. Take a look at my email signature:
______________________________________________
Tassia Bezdeka
Director of Social Marketing - Century 21 Award

7676 Hazard Center Drive #300, San Diego CA 92108
(760) 504-7087 Cell
(619) 471-2234 Direct

It’s very easy for you to do something similar, just follow the steps below:

1. Obtain Images
First things first, you MUST have the icons or photos that you want to use, in the size that you want to use them with. If you have a headshot or logo you want to use, great! To resize the image if it is too large, open Microsoft Paint (you can find this in your Start menu). Open the image you want to edit. Click the Image menu at the top of the window and select “Stretch/Skew Image.” Choose a percent figure to resize your image (to avoid distortion, choose the same percentage for horizontal and vertical). Click OK. Once you have the desired size, click FILE, then SAVE AS (to prevent overwriting the original image).

For the social media icons, you can find an icon you like by doing a Google Image search, then right-click the image that you like and save it to your computer. You can also download an entire icon set. I use Komodo Media’s Social Media Icon Pack.

2. Open the Mail Signature Editor and Create or Edit your signature
For Outlook 2003
In Outlook, click on the Tools menu, then select “Options.” Select the Mail Format tab and click “Signatures.” Click the “New Signature” button, and give your signature a name in the pop-up window, select “Next.” When the Edit Signature window opens, click on the “Advanced Edit” button. Select “Yes” in the pop-up window; this will open up a Word document, where you will create your signature.
To add images to your signature click on the Insert menu and select “Images.” To hyperlink, look for the “Insert Hyperlink” button on your toolbar. Once you are happy with the signature, save the file and close Word.
For a demo from Microsoft, click here.

For Outlook 2007
In Outlook, click on the Tools menu, then select “Options.” Select the Mail Format tab and click “Signatures.” Click the “New” button to create a new signature, and give it a name in the pop-up window.
Now you will create your signature. The process with regard to text is very similar to Microsoft Word. If you would like to hyperlink anything, such as your website, simply highlight the text that you would like to be clickable and click on the “Insert Hyperlink” button on the far right. Remember that your URL must be complete (ie: http://www.google.com vs google,com)
To insert an image, set your cursor where you would like the image to be (you cannot move an image later if you don’t like its placement; you will have to start over). Now click the “Insert Image” button, next to the hyperlink button. Browse to the location of your image, select it, and click “Insert.” Continue as necessary to add all your images to your signature.
To link an image, such as the Facebook icon, click on or highlight the image, then click the “Insert Hyperlink” button. Repeat as necessary.
When you’ve formatted your signature and are happy with the way it looks, select the signature for the drop-down menus in the upper right. This will automatically add your signature to new emails or replies. Click the “Save” button, and you’re done.

3. Test Your Signature
Open up a new mail window. Your signature should appear. Send a test email to yourself. When you receive it, verify that all the links go to the right place. Everything look good? Congratulations… you have an awesome signature!