The rainy June day started sleepy and a bit disheveled, as most traditional conferences do, when we arrived at the Back Bay Center to begin setting up our Exhibitor Table. BarCampers were slow to arrive, and cautious to post or host unpopular topics on the big empty whiteboard – but the afternoon turned out to be anything but traditional or underwhelming!

In fact, it was refreshingly noisy, social and unbarring. It almost seemed as if the vibe in the room was mimicking the very nature of the subject we all came to discuss: integrating social media into our businesses, relationships and accepting it as the new fabric of our lives. While the process feels messy and begs a substantial humility of sorts, the end result is one that’s honest and produces eye-opening results.

Our CEO and Founder, David Friedman, led the pack with what he called “A Realtor Wake-Up Call: You’ve Been Looking at Social Media the Wrong Way”.

This seemed to be just the caffeine everyone needed as thoughts and theories began to open up about the future path of the technology tornado. One Agent expressed his concern that the role of the realtor may soon become altogether inconsequential, as social channels bypass directly to the buyer and seller. Some participants seemed more weary than others of the trend, as Union Street Media’s Founder, Ted Adler, added his belief that social media “makes it harder to be bad at your job”- but David offered a final sentiment by expressing that “social media doesn’t have an agenda, nor does it have a conscience- it’s just a tool”- a tool that will only bypass us if we let it.

From left: David Friedman, Spencer Taylor, Sven Andersen

The following session on social media presented the question, “what’s working?”- a tag-team effort by David, Spencer Taylor of Union Street Media, and Sven Andersen of RE/MAX. Sven shared an interesting notion with the group that his most effective marketing technique was the ‘personal touch’ achieved from throwing lavish or family-friendly client parties- and that social media tools like Yelp and Facebook came in a close second.

A dialogue then began about the value and ROI of  ‘community management’ techniques, such as partnering with local vendors to send out an “Angie’s List” type magnet to neighbors through direct mail – or participating in local activities and then sharing those experiences through a Facebook profile. An interesting Twitter anecdote was also offered about a realtor who was recognized at a client showing from a Twitter profile and won the client’s business as a result. The discussion soon took a turn and shifted into a panel about how much information is appropriate to share- it seemed many of the realtors were most concerned about appropriate social media etiquette and how much ‘personal touch’ to offer up online. What I heard loud and clear is that a real estate agent’s hesitancy behind social networking can be largely attributed to the very fine line that exists between personal and business life.

So what did we discover at the end of the day?

For Boston Logic, the real take-away was this: it’s not about the tool or gimmick, or even the means – it’s the matter that matters and it’s the connection that counts. Whether a magnet sent through the mail, a client party thrown with a clown, a Yelp review, a Facebook “Like” or a Tweet on Twitter- it’s the rapport that can be drawn from these frequencies that actually pushes a relationship forward and helps a business grow. There’s a sense of commonality and familiarity still at the driving center of all social networking- and this is something technology will never succeed to bypass.

Boston Logic President David Friedman recently attended the RE BarCamp event in Chicago, Illinois to kick off our expansion into the Chicago area. Fresh on the heels of our integration of MRED, the Chicago area's largest MLS, we thought RE BarCamp would be a perfect avenue for introducing ourselves to this exciting, growing real estate market.

RE BarCamp events always involve great conversations, and this one was no exception. David had a fantastic experience at the event: "I have to say that the day was one of the most discussion oriented Bar Camps I have experienced. Most sessions weren't lead by any one person. Often, there were people in the session who knew more about the topic and answered a lot of questions, but really, a conversation ensued."

The Chicago RE BarCamp event, which took place on June 6^th, featured sessions revolving around the use of social media to reach new leads. A topic Boston Logic has long been preaching, it was refreshing to see an increased focus on the use of tools like Facebook and Twitter to expand your network and your ability to make new connections through as many channels as possible.

Join Us at the Upcoming RE BarCamp in our Hometown Hub!

REGISTER NOW

Boston Logic will also be presenting at the upcoming RE BarCamp event in Boston's Back Bay - it will be held at the Back Bay Events Center (see map) on Wednesday, June 22^nd. We are proud to be a Platinum Sponsor of the event to support this rapidly growing educational forum, as it becomes one of the premiere learning opportunities in the real estate vertical. Registration starts at 7:45am and the event runs all day, until 5pm (and surely there will be an after-party to mix and mingle). David Friedman, along with fellow Inbound Marketing guru Spencer Taylor (@unionstmedia), will be co-hosting a lively "Ask The Experts" question and answer forum that you don't want to miss! Other members of the Boston Logic team hope to facilitate additional sessions throughout the day focused on putting technology to work for you and your real estate business.

Far from your average trade show, RE BarCamp events are a fantastic opportunity to learn from both peers and experts, and to share your questions and thoughts in an insightful and open forum. Oh, and did we mention it's FREE to attend? Please visit the Boston RE BarCamp website to learn more.

We look forward to seeing you there!

The Social Media Accelerator, the latest online marketing tool offered exclusively by Boston Logic, will ensure that your social profiles are optimized, syndicating content, and attracting leads with an interesting, attractive, and engaging profile.

Once implemented, you will be on an accelerated path to social media success! You'll simply need to log into your accounts and interact with your Followers and Fans.

The Social Media Accelerator will:

• Add a Sales and/ or Rentals Property Search to your Facebook Page or profile.
• Feed your Exclusive Listings directly to your Facebook Wall and your Twitter Feed.
• Syndicate your blog to Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin.

We do the hard stuff; you get to do the fun stuff!

Contact us for more information, and to get started today!

We covered a LOT of useful information:

• Interesting marketing and traffic trends of Twitter
• How &  why to use Twitter for business
• Best practices for marketing on Twitter
• How to find more relevant Followers and retain them
• How to link your Twitter with other accounts to strengthen your online brand
• Great 3rd-party applications and tools like TweetBeep, TwitterFeed, and more!

If you want to utilize the Social Media world and improve your online marketing strategy, follow our tips below!

We host a different LogicClassroom via webinar and in our office every month!  Follow us on Twitter or Fan us on Facebook to make sure you stay 'in the know' about upcoming LogicClassrooms!

Businesses are using online social networking to develop relationships and create sales opportunities more and more each day. Each website design offers different opportunities and challenges to sharing information and reaching prospects.

In order to effectively leverage Twitter for your real estate internet marketing campaign, you need to develop an action plan and utilize Twitter applications and tools, such as TwitterFeed, Twellow, TweetChat, TweetDeck, the list goes on.

In this concise, 1/2 hour LogicClassroom, we will talk about building a following, the rules of engagement for Twitter, syndicating your content to Twitter, and much more!

You are welcome to attend at the Boston Logic Office (view map) or participate through an online webinar at your convenience. The class begins at 5pm on November 16th.

To attend, please contact Katrina at 617.266.9166 or by email at ksierant@bostonlogic.com. Please specify whether you will attend the class at our office or online.

We look forward to seeing you there!

"Blogging 2.0" covers the Basics of Blogging and Blogging Best Practices to make sure you're creating valuable content your potential clients will WANT to read & share!

We also discussed the SEO Process and How to Optimize Your Blog for search engines as well as users!

We talked a lot about Syndication and Social Media Marketing.  This presentation provides a ton of valuable resources to help you syndicate your blog to all your various social networking profiles, how to integrate RSS feeds, and how to let readers share your content for you!

We also shared 'tricks of the trade' so you can set up 'Listening Channels' to monitor your brand, your industry, and your competition!

There's a lot of information to process, but if you follow the advice in this presentation, your blog will help to generate LOTS of traffic (and lots of LEADS) to your website and business!

Please join us for our next LogicClassroom session 2/9/10 on Search Engine Optimization 101. Please email Katrina to attend.

Don't worry if you missed the second session. We'll make sure that you're not left behind. When we start each LogicClassroom, we'll be careful to start with the basics and then get to the good stuff.

Please view the presentation on effective blogging below. Enjoy!

Our next LogicClassroom will be on 1/12/10. Learn how agents and brokers can leverage free social media to generate leads and a loyal client following.

But don't worry if you missed the first session. We'll make sure that you're not left behind. When we start each LogicClassroom, we'll be careful to start with the basics and then get to the good stuff. Also, below you can find the presentation that I gave. Enjoy!

Our next LogicClassroom will be on 12/8. Learn how to turn a blog into a traffic and lead generating machine!