Changes to the REALTORS Code of Ethics for 2011

I wanted to share a piece from the 12/29/2010 Suburban West REALTORS Association Weekly Newsletter regarding changes to our REALTOR Code of Ethics for 2011 ...

The Code of Ethics is a continually evolving document. The Professional Standards Committee of the National Association of REALTORS evaluates the Code on a regular basis with an eye toward the legal and practical. For the 2011 edition of the Code of Ethics, the committee addressed the issue of advertising in text messages, tweets and other communications where character limitations make Code compliance difficult.

Standard of Practice 12-5 requires REALTORS to disclose the name of the REALTOR's firm in all advertisements in a reasonable and readily apparent manner. Recognizing that this information may use up most, if not all, of the available characters in some electronic media, the SOP was amended with the following language added: "This Standard of Practice acknowledges that disclosing the name of the firm may not be practical in electronic displays of limited information (e.g. "thumbnails, text messages, "tweets", etc.). Such displays are exempt from the disclosure requirements established in this standard of practice, but only when linked to a display that includes all required disclosures."

Other changes to the 2011 Code of Ethics are:

* A new Standard of Practice 3-10 was added to Article 3. The new SOP defines the cooperation that is required in Article 3. "The duty to cooperate in Article 3 relates to the obligation to share information on listed property, and to make property available to other brokers for showing to prospective purchasers/tenants when it is in the best interests of the sellers/landlords.

* Standard of Practice 3-7: This standard addresses the necessity for REALTORS to disclose their relationship with the client when seeking information from other REALTORS about a property under a listing or property management agreement. The last part of the standard was changed from "their representational status" to "their relationship status".

* Article 10 and Standard of Practice 10-3. For many years, the Code has assured the public that REALTORS would not deny any person equal professional services based on their race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin. In response to the recommendations of several state associations, Article 10 and Standard of Practice 10-3 were amended to add sexual orientation as a protected category.

Please take the time to go over and understand these changes for 2011.

Thank you & happy new year!!!

CB Hearthside Education 2011 Survey

I know what I want you to learn in 2011 ... but I also want to hear all about what YOU want to learn next year! Please take 2 minutes to complete a very short survey to help me plan our CBH Education program for the coming year!

Thank you in advance and happy holidays!!!

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world's leading questionnaire tool.

What's on YOUR To Do List for 2011?

This is the time of year when I write, record, PowerPoint and prep for the coming year. There is so much to be excited about in 2011 that I can barely contain myself! A few things on my list ...

1. Mobile mobile and more mobile

Office visits will continue to be a priority for me in 2011. I know that you have questions - and sometimes I have the answers! So I will be mobile again in the coming year ... look for the schedule to be posted soon on the company calendar. Along those same lines, I know are you mobile too! I plan to explore and teach as many mobile tools as you can all digest! I am really rooting for you all to get the smart phones I know you put on your holiday wish list.


2. Video-palooza

In 2011, I am planning to record many of my how-to presentations that I usually write out for you. Look for a new video every Friday in your email and posted here!


3. Let's do lunch

In an effort to get my happy smiling face in front of you more often, I invite you to have lunch with me on Mondays. Well, I will be teaching via webinar, but you can watch while you lunch. I am putting together a survey to see what topics you might want to hear about ... you pick em and I will teach em!


4. New Agents - new experience!

I have significantly changed the New Agent Training Program around this year - in both schedule and material. In addition to the training programs, I have a new agent blog launching and New Agent Night Out's on the 2011 calendar for sharing knowledge and networking.


So get excited with me about 2011! We have so much to look forward to together.

The Fab Five

Happy Wednesday! Just wanted to give you a little presentation that I created for a meeting with the Chester & Delaware County Home Builders Association this morning. The presentation focuses on 5 tools (The Fab Five) that you can implement to in your business to ...

1. Save money!
2. Create an online presence
3. Get some Google juice
4. Connect with your consumers, vendors and peers

As a side note ... I was on a panel with Lou Tilley! He is super nice and we had a nice banter going during his presentation.

Social Media Matters

View more presentations from Stefanie Hahn.

Begin at the Beginning

I was asked to teach a class for an office who wanted to know the latest and greatest in the world of social media. However, when I started my research for the class, I found that their website and the sites of their agents seemed disjointed, unfinished and in need of an update. I realized that I could not in good conscious have them do all sorts of great work and sharing on social media just to point consumers back to less than awesome sites.

I would recommend that you begin at the beginning as well. Or, in some cases, revisit your starting point. If you are pushing traffic back to your website - make sure it's current and professional. As we wind down 2010, take some time to update your photo, check your links, freshen up your homepage and profile pages.

Before 2011 begins, you can freshen up your social media profiles as well. Update your LinkedIn profile - tweak your job descriptions, add your groups and affiliations and get recommended. Peer reviews matter more than what you say about yourself! Check your Facebook profile and make sure your contact information is current, review your friend lists and privacy settings. Are you sharing more than you realize? Revisit your Twitter account. Tighten up your bio, add some more followers, create a few lists and share relevant content. Don't forget to show some personality on Twitter!

Video is here to stay - make 2011 your year to set up a You Tube account, buy a Flip camera and tripod and try a few listing videos. Don't put this off any longer! When you post a video, use your keywords just as you would in a blog post or on Twitter.

Begin at the beginning - go through all your online websites, company profiles, social media accounts and wherever else you hang out online and make sure your information is current. Is it time to revisit your keywords? Do you need to drop a keyword or two and add others? Focus on this work now while you have time and before the new year hits.

Cause you know I will have a brand spanking new To Do List for you in 2011 :)

Who Needs Content?

I got your content! Tons of it in fact ... it's everywhere and most of you are not taking advantage of it. Today I want to go over just one more super cool source. What do I mean by content? So glad you asked!

- Content for snail mail, flyers and other print material
- Content for emails, e-newsletters and the like ...
- Content for social networking (Facebook, Twitter, etc.)
- Content for blogging (yes, even blog posts!)


NAR's HouseLogic Content Resource

You will need your NRDS # to access the content here, but totally worth the 2 minute or less look-up on your part. The site then guides you through the sharing process.

1. Select the article you want (search by theme or keyword, click on more to read the full copy

2. Choose how you want to share the article - your choices are Facebook, Twitter, email, blog, website, e–newsletter, or printed handout

3. Share articles with your clients and customers

Quick Tip: For those of you with Facebook Business Pages - note that the Facebook share here will post to your personal profile. Instead, select Read More and copy the full article. On your Facebook Business Page you can add the copied content as a note or just as a link on your wall. I like the first option better, because you will have the content saved as a note if they ever mess with the link.

Read more: http://members.houselogic.com/articles/#ixzz13PqUPnqI

Still curious? Watch the video:

Website Must Haves with Kim & Stef

Just wanted to share our presentation for Technically Speaking at the Suburban West Realtor® Association for tonight ... "Website Must Haves" by Kim Wood & Stefanie Hahn

Website Must Haves

View more presentations from Stefanie Hahn.

Thanks all! Go Phils :)

Twitter Gets a Makeover

Not in love with Twitter.com? Go back and take another look ... Twitter has had a makeover!

Full disclosure - you may have to "turn on" the new version of Twitter at the top of your screen:








Click on Try it now!


So far, I love the look and feel of the new site. I'm certainly not ready to give up Hootsuite yet, but I definitely feel better telling newbies to try and use the new site before running to a twitter desktop application.















The information displayed on your profile is pretty much the same as before, just moved around a bit with a bit more style. Your profile looks like this on the new Twitter:












My favorite part of the new Twitter is the "people you might want to follow" that pop up on my home screen. Twitter will tell me people that I might want to follow based on who is following me, who my followers follow and so on ... they also display "this person is also followed by" which is pretty cool. Just make sure you don't get hung up on only following the accounts that Twitter suggests. Branch out!

Let me know what YOU think of the new Twitter!

Google New

I read the first lines of Mr. Parr's post on Google New and ummm yeah. I heart Google.

"Are you obsessed with everything Google? Do you stalk the pages of Mashable just to be first on the latest GMail update? Then you’re going to love Google New."

Check out the full article on Mashable by Ben Parr here.

Pathetic? Maybe, but we all have our vices. Get started with Google New here.

Basically, Google New gives you all of the latest Google news all the time. It's a plethora of Google-tasticness ... just a little snippet of what you can expect:
















Still unsure? Check out the video:




Happy Wednesday! Have a great rest of the week :)

Become a Sharper Agent!

This week, Coldwell Banker Hearthside, Realtors is launching their new partnership with Sharper Agent! If you missed the introductory webinar from Sharper Agent today - you missed out. I thought I knew what they were all about from playing around with an account that Chris set up for me, but man was I wrong. Sharper Agent is a super cool tool. I can't wait to see what you all will do with it! Get on a webinar and get the details ...























Luckily, we have two more webinars set up this week that you can still sign-up for ...

Thursday, 9/9 at 11am > https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/258622192

Friday, 9/10 at 1pm > https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/166677504

I'm really excited for you to see all that Sharper Agent has to offer and BONUS - it looks like their training and support R-O-C-K too.

The new and improved Coldwell Banker University!

Last week, Coldwell Banker announced the launch of a new and improved Coldwell Banker University!

To access the site:
Go to cbworks.coldwellbanker.com
Under the LEARN tab, click on Coldwell Banker University
Click continue and a new window should open that looks like this ...













The new site looks and acts differently, so Coldwell Banker has provided us with some video assistance. To see the new site, click here and click here for tips on navigating the new CBU. Need to start eFastStart or another multi-session class? Go here.

The new site homepage looks like a dashboard of sorts with news clips, an inbox (for your transcripts), training you registered to take, training in progress, plus a section that helps you browse for available training.

















Super fun right? Go ahead ... check it out!

A Tech Savvy Day in Philadelphia

Joanne had a great sales meeting in our @CBHearthside Philadelphia Office yesterday featuring Stephen Pacinelli of Move (they own Top Producer and Realtor.com). Find Steve here for details on his products. Of course he had a sales pitch, but it was short and painless and really only at the very end of his program. Before that, he talked about all sorts of cool stuff that you should know about ....

Since I was in attendance, I wanted to write a quick post to share what Steve had to say.

First, I have to mention that Steve is one of the creators of the Tech Savvy Agent blog - so you know I was in full crush-mode right from the start. And just so you know, I'm not the only one crushing on these guys, they just won the Inman News 2010 Innovator of the Year Award for the "Most Innovative Blog". Check out the blog at: http://techsavvyagent.com and you'll see why.

So let's get to it ...

1. Agent Ranking Sites

This is not the first time we've heard about these sites, in fact Realtor Magazine has had some great articles on this topic. One of my favs > Ratings Matter by Blanche Evans back in March 2009, talked about the negative sites out there and how we can use sites like AgentRank and others to combat the bad reputation that Realtors sometimes get labeled with online. Steve showed us a site called Incredible Agents - www.incredibleagents.com and discussed how agents can use this site to ask our former clients for reviews and testimonials. If you think people are not Googling your name, I think you are living under a rock. Managing your online reputation is so important - this is an easy way to get your name out there and get some business!

*It's important to note that your name may already be on these sites - you can go there and claim your profile (usually for free) to start working on building your online reputation.


2. Google Alerts

Of course we've talked before about Google Alerts > www.google.com/alerts and how you can use them to track your name, your company or really anything else that is posted online. Remember, that Google Alerts will not tell you if someone has searched for you or your Google Alert term, only if someone has posted something online (on an open Facebook Page, a blog, etc.)


3. Domain Names

But all the good domains are gone! Well, they are after Steve's class at least. I have always told you, I think it's super important to own www.yourname.com, but of course, you can have more than one domain and guess what? There are still good ones out there! He suggested ... www.yourtownhousevaluesdotcom or something similar. Put your consumer hat on and consider what you would Google when researching for a home.


4. Giving consumers what they are looking for on your website

Steve talked about providing the consumers with what they are looking for on your websites and showed us a few of the Top Producer template sites. We talked about search (with IDX of course) and market data being super important. The sites were pretty slick, even for templated sites and the Market Data add-on report/page had some lead generation and I think a drip email campaign that came with the package. Ping him here for details.

We believe that the search is key to any real estate website, which is why all of you have IDX enabled websites with a search box front and center. We also have an add-on that we call the Market Data widget that will give your clients Market Data reports for the areas in which they are interested. Our market data reports are not the same thing you would get with Top Producer, but they are a nice add-on and a great way to give a market snapshot to your consumers.


5. Zillow Accuracy & Jing

Steve discussed Zillow and how we should be showing our consumers the accuracy of their numbers. The accuracy information is all the way at the bottom of the home page ... click on Zestimate® Values & Accuracy and then you can search by state, county, etc.

















Steve used a tool called Jing to grab a screen shot similar to the one above. Get Jing for free here and click on free version to download. Jing is a screen clipping tool that allows you to grab a screen shot, add some graphics and text, then copy, email or share via screencast. For a short video on how Jing works, go here.

So as you see, tons of great information! If you have questions, ping me anytime!

Back to School for REALTORS!

When I was a kid, my Dad used to save all of the "Back to School" ads from the paper and share them with me. He loved to tease me that September was right around the corner and soon I would be back to school. Remember that Staples commercial where the Dad is dancing around the store buying school supplies for the miserable looking kids? That's my Dad. Oddly enough, I'm one of those people that L-O-V-E school. Love it. Big surprise I know.

September and the rest of the 2010 are packed with tons of amazing education opportunities at little or no cost to REALTORS. I challenge Y-O-U (yes, you in front of that laptop) to take advantage of some super cool classes and events! Let's run through them, shall we ...

September 16, 2010 - 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM
Coldwell Banker Regional Rally in Atlantic City, NJ
Atlantic City Hilton in the Cambridge Ballroom
Boston Avenue and the Boardwalk Atlantic City, NJ 08401
Free seminar - Your business card is required for admittance!
Please register with your manager.

The skinny:

Jerry Rossi presents, "Things just don't gotta get better ... you do!" Are you stuck in a slow moving market of muck with sluggish price points, low-ball offers, short sale blah blah, short tempered sellers, frigid lenders, rigid appraisers, and a grinning squirrel saying, "I told you to stash nuts when ..."?

Now a solution! Come discover the spice you need to rejuvenate your business in four areas - Approach - Attack Plan - Tech Knowledge - & Work Smart Marketing. All provided during class - not sold at the back of the room.

Jerry Rossi’s goal for this class is for you to walk out ENERGIZED, REFRESHED, and EDUTAINED. Edutainer, Intuitionist, Thought Artist, Humorist, Motivator, Bon Vivant, & Lifestyle Mentor

.........................................................................................................................
September 23rd, 2010 - 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM
2010 Regional Education Conference
Radisson Hotel in Valley Forge, PA
Admission is $25 - go to the link above to sign up!

The skinny:

Conference Schedule:

Registration and Peer-to-Peer Networking

Morning Sessions:
Independent Association Business Meetings
Why Use Social Media to Market the Business of a REALTOR® (Melynn Sight; program description)

Lunch & Legislative Update Session:
Election Watch 2010 - Focus on Pennsylvania (Dr. Terry Madonna, program description)

Boxed lunch will be provided, compliments of the Suburban REALTORS® Alliance

Afternoon Sessions:
Think Globally, Sell Locally (Terry Watson, program description)
"Taking Your Career to the Next Level...with a Dash of Humor" (Mark Mayfield, program description)

..........................................................................................................................
December 7th, 8th & 9th, 2010
REALTORS Triple Play
Atlantic City Convention Center in Atlantic City, NJ
Registration opens in September! Early bird prices for 2009 were less than $75

The skinny:
Real estate professionals from New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and surrounding states attend the annual Triple Play REALTOR^® Convention & Trade Expo in Atlantic City for a unique opportunity to attend professional development courses presented by nationally recognized speakers and maximize their business potential through networking with colleagues from across the tri-state area and beyond. This year's Triple Play will be held from December 7-9, 2010 and will feature a variety of quality workshops, keynote speeches, exciting social events and more. For details on how you can register, click here.

View a list of the 2010 Education Sessions here!

So get out there and attend these great events! You might even learn something :)

CB Hearthside Goes Virtual

On Monday, Coldwell Banker Hearthside, REALTORS launched its first virtual office in Malvern, PA. The term "virtual" is a bit of a misnomer as the office is still there. They have a manager of course, an admin, plus all of the other great tools and services that CB Hearthside offers agents.

The main difference is that everything the agents do can be done online and anywhere - from forms to office meetings, listing presentations to one-on-one's with their manager. The word freedom always comes to mind when I am explaining this new office model. Agents can take floor time on their cell phone - from home, Starbucks or the beach. We are utilizing all sorts of cool Google tools -Calendar, Voice and Docs specifically - to make a lot of the everyday office functioning seamless. Don't feel like working remotely? No problem, the office is still there.

The agents have access to their manager, admin, corporate staff and more via the traditional methods - phone, email and text; but we also set them up with Skype accounts and webcams so they can instant message or video chat with us whenever the need arises. Not sure how to enhance your listing on Realtor.com? No problem - Skype me and I can share my screen and show you the steps. Want to see me in person? Check the Google calendar - I have lots of dates posted for office visits, along with Chris Beadling, Jamie Mancuso and of course your manager. We'll see you at the office (which is still there).

Office meetings will be a mix of in person and web-based to reach every one of our agents how they wish to be reached. We are using DimDim for our web meetings. Just like everyone learns differently, we realize that some agents will still want to come into the office. Not a problem! Come in anytime, use the equipment, say hello. The office is still there.

Execute a deal? Great! Pop over to the office (yep, still there) to scan your file as you always have and drop the deposit check into our pre-paid UPS envelopes then toss it into the UPS box as you are driving away ... ahhh freedom. Your admin will email you with anything that is missing and take it from there.

So what's so different? Not much really. We started using a lot of these super cool tools over the last few years and we know that agents are spending less and less time in the office. Going virtual in this market just made sense.

Did I mention that the office is still here?

Still curious? Check out Chris Beadling's video on "A Day in the Life of a Virtual Agent".

Yey Google - Multiple Signatures in GMail!

Ask and you shall receive. It never made sense to me why I couldn't have multiple signatures in GMail, and alas ... my dream has been answered. In true Google fashion, they did it better than I imagined.

Let me set the scene for you - my 3rd quarter Tech Daze class is, "Making GMail Your Online Outlook". So I'm teaching in our Rockledge Office last week and going through my little rant about how important your email signature is these days and wha .... ???!!! The new signature box in my GMail has a drop-down arrow that allows me to save a signature for each account I set up to send email from. YEY!!!

To set up your signatures in GMail:
Click on Settings
Scroll down on the General tab
For any account that you set-up in GMail to "send mail as" you can add a signature

Side note: If you have not done so already, I encourage you to set up your company email as an account you can send mail out on through GMail. Make GMail your online Outlook! If you are using GMail already to read your email, it just makes sense.

Now for the fun part, add your signature for each account! You can do a bit of formatting, add a photo, links, etc. Don't forget to save your changes at the bottom of the page.

Summer School with Coldwell Banker University

As a larger company, we are lucky to have tons of incredible resources to provide our agents ... but as a Coldwell Banker company, we are privileged to be able to offer our agents some of the best tools and services in the industry.

Now I know that Summer School might not conjure up the best images for some of you ... but I promise that these classes will be fun, full of great information and hopefully jump start your career.

I encourage you to take a closer look at what Coldwell Banker University can offer you! I am highlighting a few of my favorites below:

1. BrainChain Videos (get 25 videos for free)





2. Free Pre-Recorded Webinars with top trainers from all over! To get there ...

Go to CB Works
Mouse over the LEARN tab
Click on Coldwell Banker University
A new window will open with CBU, click on Course Catalog
Click on Free Webinars (at the very bottom)

Titles include: 5 Steps to Finishing Strong, Adventures on Coldwell Banker Works, Closing Skills for Buyers, Consultative Selling, Converting eLeads, Getting it Priced Right, Difficult Negotiations, New Homes Sales Strategies and Opportunities, Overcoming Call Aversion, Quit Happens, Recruiting in Progress, Secrets of Social Networking, Securing Price Reductions, Selling on the First Click ... and MORE!!!

Hear from the very best - Matthew Ferrara, Martha Webb, Amy Cherow, Steve Woodruff, Dirk Zeller, Denise Walsh ... and some of my - let's be honest here - trainer crushes!



3. BreakThrough with Dirk Zeller

A little video from Mr.Zeller to explain the program ...



The official course description from CBU - BreakThrough is a nine week coaching program that is designed to dramatically improve your skills, strategies, techniques and disciplines so you increase your lead volume and the conversion rate of your leads.

Over these nine weeks you will have nine small group coaching sessions that will move you toward the mastery level in time management, prospecting, lead categorization and follow-up, as well as referral generation and building your value to your prospects and clients.

The sessions are powerful, explosive, motivating and packed with tools designed for your skill development. The coaching sessions are sixty minutes in length and are built to help you to ramp up your production quickly.

So there you have it! Tons of great learning opportunities right at your fingertips! Please consider taking advantage of all that Coldwell Banker Hearthside and our brand Coldwell Banker have to offer.

Happy Thursday!

Google Voice - One Girl's Journey ...

So I have a thing for Google. Always have.

Of course, there are things I would change about my Google products ... multiple signatures in Gmail (help a busy girl out Google), allowing me to add my Gmail address to my Google Profile, easier photo alignment in Blogger ... that sort of thing. And while I can entertain myself and others for hours at my Google Voice translations ... well, I really wish the voice recognition was better in the translation.

Let's back up ... what is Google Voice? Google Voice is a super cool, FREE tool that allows me to do all sorts of neato things with my existing phone. Things like:

- maintaining one number for all of my phones
- using different voicemail messages for different contact groups
- having all unknown callers announce themselves before I choose to answer the call
- getting all of my voicemails converted into text

Sounds fabulous right? It is for the most part. First of all, I should mention that Google Voice is only currently available by invitation. Request an invitation here.

Here is my experience with Google Voice so far ...

Maintaining one phone number for multiple phones is mighty convenient.

I only have two different voicemail messages that I use - one for work and one for everyone else. The only time this gets confusing is for the handful of work people that I have in a "friends" group in my contacts. For them, Google Voice gives them my work voicemail.

Sidebar >>> The groups I am speaking of are my contact groups that I have set-up in my Gmail address book. Completely necessary if you are anal like me.

Any callers that I do not have stored in my contacts are required to announce themselves when they call me. So that annoying paper salesman can go straight to voicemail and I can pick up if my boss calls me from a number that I don't have stored (and might normally ignore from an unknown number). This feature is useful, although some people get confused when Google asks them to announce themselves and instead they just start talking as if I answered the phone.

Finally, the main reason I wanted Google Voice was get my voicemail in text format. If you have ever left me a voicemail, you know that I am terrible with returning calls. The quiet time that I have to listen to voicemail and return calls is in my car while commuting ... as you can imagine, this makes taking messages down a bit difficult. Now, when you leave me a voicemail, Google Voice will record that message online and convert your words to text for me. Super cool in theory ... here are a few snippets of my transcriptions for your amusement:

6/2/10 8:58 AM 6 days ago
Hey scratch. I think we need some help in the world. Now give me a call. Talk to you soon.

5/22/10 1:23 PM 2 weeks ago
Hey, it's me. It's X and just what I can't do anything. It is almost 1:30, 1:15 and i was gonna bust out or not, this is the burgeoning so I'm watching climber on the monkey bars in the right time. So I'm here as long as he here. Give me a call if you wanna bluetooth, but just been creeping the burning parking lot so many will children's alright.

5/17/10 7:58 PM 3 weeks ago Hi Hannah, I don't know, see if hello. Bye, so you can. Hey Ainge it's mom, if you could you this is Bruce Hi. Anyway, we're sorry we missed you were out playing in the yard. I'm sorry. Mister stinking. But anyway, have a school seniors. Thank you for coming over at and I hope all is well with you come and I'll talk to you later, okay.

So ... not perfect. But still pretty cool. I picked some of the more obscure ones to be honest. Right now, I can get the gist from 75% of the text conversions, but others are only good for a laugh. It's important to note that I can still listen to the voicemail on my phone or online at my Google Voice inbox. I can submit my transcriptions (with the online recording) to Google for further analysis and I assume make the transcriptions better over time. The journey continues ...

RE BarCamp Philadelphia Review

Unless you've been living under a rock, you know that I was involved with RE BarCamp in Philadelphia (also affectionately known by the hashtag #rebcphl) last week. Like most of my little adventures, I coerced Chris Beadling into getting on the committee too. We both attended last year's event and felt geeky enough to team up with the classic BarCamper's. If you have no idea what an RE BarCamp is > see my post from last year or get the official answer here.

We had some amazing sessions - everything from Raising the Bar to Foursquare Open House Events, Taking it Offline to Wordpress Blogging and Plug-Ins ... Google, Flickr and so much more! All in all it was a great day at World Cafe Live.

I have to say, this event brings in some of the smartest, tech-savvy, real estate folks I have ever had the privilege of meeting in person (usually after stalking them online). I learn more in an RE BarCamp session than I do in 7 hours of CE sometimes. And yes, I get that you are busy. But this is a FREE event, with some major real estate technology trainers - some of which you can pay a lot of money to see elsewhere!

It's time to get off the sidelines - I will keep alerting you to upcoming RE BarCamps in our area!

Check out the RE BarCamp Philadelphia site or our facebook page for more information!

Archiving In Your CBH Email

It’s time to clear the cobwebs in your CBH email! Let’s archive some emails! RackSpace (our email provider) makes this process fairly simple. Follow these steps ...

1. Login to your email

2. Pick the email folder you wish to archive (you can select specific emails within that folder)










3. Select the emails you wish to archive. To select all - click on the very top box ...













4. Once you have the emails selected, click on More, then Export to Zip

















5. A new box will pop up prompting you to save and download - click Save File and OK.

A little inbox clean-up can make you feel so much better! Happy archiving :)

New Signs >>> New Attitude!

We have new signs! They have a super fun 3-dimensional, deep blue sky look and a shiny, techie feel. Do you love them??? I do and I will love them even more when our web address is bigger. But that is already in the works ... take a peek:



I am hoping that all of these new, shiny signs will inspire you to add a little newness and shine to your listings out there.

Servicing your listing is so important and one thing that many agents let slide a bit when they get busy. Now is a great time to meet with your seller and freshen things up! A few suggestions ...

1. Talk to your seller about their current price. Update your CMA - Are they competitive with other similar homes on the market? Is an adjustment needed?

2. Explain the Coldwell Banker Buyer Bonus program and how it can help make their home more attractive to interested buyers.

3. Update your online media! Take new photos - so much is in bloom. Make a listing video and upload it to the Coldwell Banker On Location You Tube channel. Refresh your MLS data, ePropertySites information and other online marketing.

4. Update your print materials too! Create a business card for your listing with some basic information on the property and small photo of the house.

5. Try a different Open House strategy - twilight opens are always fun and allow you to break out of that traditional Sunday Open House funk.


So let the new signs inspire a new attitude and go get em!!!

Adding the ePropertySites Application to your Facebook Profile or Page

First, login to Facebook. Then go to the ePropertySites Facebook application:

http://apps.facebook.com/epropertysites-com


Directions from ePropertySites - Installing Facebook Application:

HINT: The first time you install the you will need to go to the Properties tab in our system and edit a listing and save to build the property database for the application.

Step 1 - Go to the ePropertySites facebook app page
Step 2 - Click "Go To Application" button, click ALLOW
Step 3 - Copy your Facebook ID number and paste into SETUP screen on ePropertySites
Step 4 - Click Applications, select "Real Estate Property Listings"
Step 5 - Click Add to Profile
Step 6 - Go to PROFILE on Facebook, click "+" sign, select "Homes for Sale"
Step 7 - Click your new Homes For Sale tab, at bottom under "Display a listing widget box on your profile wall!" click "Add to Profile" button, click ADD, click KEEP

A little how-to video from ePropertySites ...





Need to add the ePropertySites application to your Facebook Page (formerly known as a Fan Page)? The video below will guide you through this process:

From Fanning to Liking

Last week, Facebook changed it's oh so popular with businesses, groups and Realtors Fan Pages to ... well, simply Pages. You are no longer asked to "become a fan" if you like what they are selling, representing or otherwise putting out there on Facebook.

In truth, Facebook has always called them Pages. We added the "fan" part since they allowed us to "fan" the pages we liked.

Now, we click the thumbs-up "Like" button. Hmmmm. I get it - you can get a lot more people to click "Like" than you probably can with "become a fan". But I have to say, thumbs down from me.

"Like" is not strong enough. I "like" loads of things. I am a bit more discriminating with my fanning. It's too early to tell what effect this will have on your Realtor pages, although I suspect your "people that like this" number will grow faster than you could accumulate fans.

Also amusing myself with wondering what all of those businesses with, "Fan us on Facebook" advertising will do with ... "like us"? Seems so lukewarm to me.

Have a great week!

PS: Okay, wow - posted this and then read an article on Mashable about a new website called likebutton.me that will show you what your Facebook friends "like" across various sites. Read the article here.

So ... of course I checked it out. Here is a screen shot of what I got (click on the photo to see it larger):













Pretty darn cool - although I still don't love the word "like".

PA Real Estate License Renewal

It's license renewal time here in PA and the process is slightly more challenging than in previous years, so I created a little demonstration for you ...

A few important points before we get started:

1. You must renew your PA real estate license by May 31st, 2010!
2. You will need your NRDS # to register for a login/password on the Dept. of State website.
3. Your CE credits were NOT sent to the state and you are NOT required to turn in your transcripts with this license renewal. After everyone is renewed, the state will conduct a random audit and, if chosen, you will need to provide copies of your transcripts for your 14 hours of continuing education.

PA Real Estate Li

View more presentations from Stefanie Hahn.

Happy Friday!!!

Tech Knowledge - What is Chatroulette?

Let me be clear, from the very start - Chatroulette is NOT for the under-age, the faint of heart, the squeamish or the easily offended.











So what is Chatroulette? Well, I don't believe it's the next big thing or Facebook 2.0, but the concept is so Web 2010 and completely mind-blowing. In a nutshell, Chatroulette allows you to chat with another person anywhere in the world - you log in, click New Game and are instantly dropped into a web chat with another person. They could be in the next town over over halfway around the world.

If you are not into the person you are chatting with, you can click Next to chat with someone else. Chatters on the other end can also "next" you - which will start a new chat for you.

So, full disclosure - you know I HAD to try this ... and while the numbers were overwhelming, almost 17,000 active users on the site when I was chatting, there wasn't much variety. In my 40 or so chats, I was connected with only 1 other female, the rest were men and a few groups of teenage boys. None of which were the Jonas Brothers, who have supposedly use the site to chat with fans :) My experience was completely random, pretty funny and at times, very strange.

Note: While you can report inappropriate behavior, you need to be prepared to see some crazy stuff and not all of it will be PG-13. If you try Chatroulette, keep an open mind and remember to click Next!

Now I know you're wondering, "how can I use this in my real estate business?" Currently, I would say that you can't - but I still think you need to know what's out there (hence the Tech Knowledge - What is Chatroulette title). The concept of Chatroulette is currently more powerful than the reality of it for me, but who knows, with some tweaks, this could be huge.

If you are adventurous and always need to know what's hot, then yeah, check it out > www.chatroulette.com. Happy Sunday!!!

Tweet & Greet TONIGHT!

Okay folks - this is your final reminder on the only remaining channel I haven't promoted tonight's PA Chapter of REALTOR® Magazine’s Young Professionals Network Tweet & Greet on yet ....

Join us on Thursday, March 25th at 5:30pm for a session on using twitter in your business while socializing with some of the area's leading real estate pros. A very informal learning experience followed by great networking at Crossroads Tavern in Hilltown. Sign up here!

Pennsylvania's chapter of YPN is growing quickly! Chartered in 2009, it helps the "next generation" of real estate professionals deal with unique challenges, learn technology and meet other young professionals throughout the state.

Directions Note: Apparently the address listed for the tavern doesn't jive for GPS units. If you it is about 600 yards north of that location. Look for the signs!

For more on the PA Chapter of REALTOR® Magazine’s Young Professionals Network:
- Visit our website
- Fan our Facebook Page
- Follow us on Twitter

Yes, I Broke Up With You on Facebook.

Hi, my name is Stefanie and I break up with "friends" on Facebook all the time. Let me explain.

Is there anyone who isn't on Facebook? Currently, Facebook is posting that they have more than 400 million active users with the average user having more than 130 friends and whoa - more than 35 million users update their status each day (get more fun Facebook stats here).

My ideas about Facebook and my social contract with other users has morphed quite a bit over the years. A few things have not changed:

1. I don't connect with people I don't know
2. If we "sort of" know each other, you've got to give me something in the initial friend request - why we should connect, or I typically ignore the request
3. I might break-up with you on a whim

I have always been a private person. I lock down most of my Facebook photo albums and I keep my updates fairly vanilla. And every so often ... I go on a break-up spree.

Don't be offended. It's not you, it's me.

As my "people I lock out of everything" group slowly grows, I get anxious. Why did I accept this person as a Facebook friend if I am not letting them see any of my stuff? And that's when you get broken-up with ... hopefully I just disappear from your feed and your thoughts.

Every so often, someone will ask, "did you break-up with me on Facebook"??? Well okay, break-up is my word for it, but you get the gist. Yes, I did break-up with you on Facebook.

Why? Because I'm keeping my Facebook profile personal, most of my work goes on my fan pages now. Like many of you, every member of my family is on ... plus my best friends, my college roommates, my sorority sisters and yes an ex or two and Facebook is how I communicate and keep up with them. I share photos, updates and news with them that *most* people that don't really know me would not be interested in seeing. I'm not saying that my 250 Facebook friends are all my best pals, but I do friend and unfriend with purpose. So really, it's not you, it's me.

I read a great post from Louis Gray the other day that explains this much better than I just did ... read it here.

Hey Did You Hear ... ??? We Have a New Agreement of Sale in PA!

It's finally here ... the new Pennsylvania Agreement of Sale has landed!!! The new forms are already available online and ready for use. If you haven't done so already - make sure you check out the new forms and the all new Guidelines for Preparation and Use that PAR put together to assist you with completing this new agreement of sale. The new forms are already in RealFast2Go and the changes are significant, so take a peek before you need to write an agreement. You can access the Guidelines for Preparation and Use on our intranet here.

So what has really changed? Well, in a nutshell:
1. data layout - first page
2. mortgage contingency
3. inspections
4. escrow & return of deposits
5. mediation
6. signature page

So not that much right? Wrong. Take a class! We all need our 14 hours of Continuing Education before our license renewal at the end of May 2010 - so why not take 7 hours of CE on the new AOS?!

Other online resources ...
PARealtor website - the PA Association of Realtors main site
Just Listed website - real estate news from PAR
PAR Facebook Fan Page
PAR Just Listed on Twitter

Have a fantastic week :)

Keepin it Fresh

Facebook Fan Pages are all the rage now that everyone knows about their Google juice. Getting started is easy - too easy. It's the keeping up with it that is hard. Why? Well, for the very reason that Google loves Facebook Fan Pages in the first place - fresh content.

A few ideas ... beyond posting your listings (well durrr, everyone is doing that):

1. Post photos - not just of your listings, but of the community you work in, your favorite spots around town, or even your happy customers at the settlement table

2. Post links - to helpful information (tax credit, state/county/township news, community events, your favorite places to go, eat, hang out and shop

3. Post notes - you can use the Notes section as a blog of sorts ... when you create a new note, it will post to your fan page wall

4. Post videos - take a quick video ... you can talk about the latest market stats in your area, talk about different areas in your community and why they are so cool/interesting/fun, even a little video about you

5. Post events - create a new event when you are having an Open House or Brokers Open and invite your fans to attend

Remember you WANT people to comment on what you are posting and when they do - you should be commenting back. Even if it's just a "hey thanks for commenting". Let your fans know that you appreciate their fandom and recognize their comments.

Don't forget to share your page with the world. Similar to a website, you have to tell people about your Facebook Fan Page everywhere if you want them to actually check it out. Once you reach 30 fans, you can get your own Fan Page username (www.facebook.com/yoursupercoolpage) by going to www.facebook.com/username and setting up a name for your page. Once you have your Fan Page username, share it everywhere - your website, your email signature, your online profiles, even your print materials.

Have a great weekend!

Some Incredible Stats To Start Your Week

In this Mashable article - Remarkable Stats on the State of the Internet - well, short article and then a video from Jesse Thomas, get a snapshot of some astounding numbers associated with the Internet today.

JESS3 / The State of The Internet from Jesse Thomas on Vimeo.

Have a rockin week!

My Latest Crush - PowerPoint 2010

I take a ton of screenshots. A ton. For every class I teach, I have a PowerPoint presentation to go along with it ... usually anywhere from 25 to 75 slides. Most of those slides will have one or more screenshots. Screenshots are great for capturing what is on your screen at this very moment.















For agents, it can be a cool tool to use in your listing presentations to a consumer. A screenshot of what their listing looks like on a particular website, a screenshot of your Facebook Fan Page (with their listing posted as your latest update), or anything - anything you want to capture.

Taking a screenshot is easy ... take a moment to look down at your keyboard. Go ahead. Look for a key that says something along the lines of Prnt Scrn or Prt Scn. I'll wait ...

Typically, your "print screen" is an F-key ... look top-right~ish.

Find it? Okay good, now, use it. Is it a "function key"? Meaning I have to press my Fn (usually lower left) to make it work? If the wording on the key is in a different color and that color (usually blue) matches your Fn key ... then you need to use both for a screenshot.

Ok ... so we take our screenshot ............... then what? Here is when you say to me, but Stef, nothing happened???!!!

When you take a screenshot you are "copying" your screen. Now, in order to see it - you have to paste it somewhere. Open Word or PowerPoint and paste. Your screenshot is now a .jpg within your Word or PowerPoint document. You can treat it just as you would any other photo.

So to the point of this blog post ... I LOVE PowerPoint 2010. Why? One reason. The insert screenshot and the screen clipping option. When I need to capture something on my screen, as long as I have that screen open. I simply go to Menu > Insert > Screenshot ... all of my open windows will show up in a little drop-down as thumbnails. I select the thumbnail I want to insert and whammo! It's in!!! Or... even better ... I can select "screen clipping" just underneath all of the thumbnails and PowerPoint 2010 takes me out to my active window ... from here, I have clipping tool. I can select what I want of that active window and poof! Easy peasy - it's in :)

How great is that?!

By the way, if you don't have this latest version of Microsoft Office - get it here.

More Cool Stuff on your Agent Websites

Hey CBHer's ... hopefully you all saw the latest and greatest from Chris Beadling with regard to a few new extras on your agent websites. Just to review:

1) In each agent site if you search for a property and then click on the details you will now see a "printer friendly version" icon at the top of the page. This creates a printable version of the listing, complete with your contact information at the top.

How GREAT is that??? Let's take a peek ...

When you click, Printer Friendly Version - another window open with all of the details neatly formatted with your happy smiling face at the top and all of your contact information. Making you ... super cool.

2) You now have the ability to link your listing on the CBHearthside site to the individual property web site you created through the EPropertysites.com tool provided by Mortgage Mobility.

To connect your ePropertySites URL with your listing on our site ...

- Go to http://www.epropertysites.com/ and login

- Mouse over the Properties tab

- Click on Properties

- On the listing you wish to link up ... click the Tools icon on the property menu
- Under Marketing Tools, click Website Links & Sharing & HTML (oh my)

- At Full Website Link - highlight (Ctrl + A) and copy (Ctrl + C)

~~~~Part Deuce~~~~deep breath~~~~Just a few more steps ...

- Then ... go to http://www.cbhearthside.net/ and login

- In the Manage Listings box, click on My Listings & find the listing you want

- Click on Edit ePropertySites.com link

- Paste your previously copied URL from ePropertySites in the box

- Click Save

Now ... you should see this when you click view details on your listing on http://www.cbhearthside.com/:

3) While not new, we have just added a link on the home page of the main CBHearthside.com site that helps visitors connect their twitter accounts with School-District based new listing feeds. This tool then gives them access to all the new listings in that district by tweet everyday.

>>> http://www.cbhearthside.com/twitter

Rockin right? A little snippet ...

How GREAT is all of this new stuff???!!! Have a wonderful Friday :)

Buzz-Worthy

In playing with the newest social media tool to hit the streets ... Google Buzz, I have discovered a few things about myself.

1. I have no patience when it comes to slow internet. None at all.

2. I want to LOVE any *new* cool thing that Google throws my way.

3. I miss FriendFeed.

So Google Buzz is the current hot topic in my little geek world. What is it? So glad you asked ...

Buzz is another micro-blogging platform. Think Twitter with components of FriendFeed. You can post status updates, photos, links, etc to your followers and/or to the world. Buzz is connected to your Google Profile and your Gmail. It looks like this:

So the first thing you notice is that Google Buzz is located right inside of my Gmail. The Buzz link is just below my inbox link. The issue with this ... when I click back and forth - from my inbox to Buzz and back again is that the load time is insanely slow. Painfully slow. I've started writing this post at least 3 times now and every time I get hung up on just trying to grab a screenshot of Buzz.

I want to LOVE anything and everything Google. And I usually do. Because of this, I am giving Buzz an extended trial period to work out the kinks. Fingers crossed.

What excites me about Google Buzz is that it looks & acts like FriendFeed. So micro-blogging without all of the limitations of Twitter. I can type more than 140 characters, load photos directly from my Buzz page, add links without needing a URL shortener and my followers comments are directly below my original post. I can also "like" a post.

So speed up Buzz and make me proud to love Google. For more on Google Buzz, check out Chris Beadling's post from 2/11 - You Have a Chance to be an Industry Leader.