A New Way to Say Thank You ♥

The Doors are open!

There is a new way of saying thank you to the businesses where you spend your time and money….and that new way is on-line through social media sites…. Facebook and Twitter are easy examples of quickly letting the world know how pleased you are with service, food and quality of products…not to mention favorite parks, events and people….On Twitter this is called a mention by adding the Twitter handle of the business or person @KeepItSimpleSM and on Facebook you also use the @Keep It Simple Social Media

One of my favorite things to do is send a Tweet right from the restaurant I am having dinner at with an awesome photo of the artful display the chef presents…The ultimate in compliments…and promotion for that establishment.

Yes we know it is also easy to defame someone on-line too, but for the purspose of this article I am going to stick with the theme…How to say thank you on-line…

Blogging is a larger version of the thank you

My good friend and student of social media Carolyn Hill asked me the other day to give her some ideas about what she could blog about….now Carolyn is one lucky girl she lives in the mecca of resources for blogging.. WHISTLER… and todays blog is dedicated to all my Whistler social media students…I will start with ideas for real estate and then I will finish with ideas for restaurants…for Keeley from La Rua and Caramba if you’re reading this blog and feel left out just go to my Facebook Business Page and ask me to write something for you…. I’d love to.

Real Estate Ideas

• First think Life style – people are buying real estate mostly for what Whistler offers
• Write about the different restaurants – one at a time – as you experience them
• The Five different Golf Courses – How to and Tips
• How about each area or sub-divison
• Show Case a Builder of the week
• A day in the life of the Ski-hill or Ski Instructor
• How about the Non-Skier – what can they do?
• The recreation center – or other gym facilities
• A walk along the village stroll
• Write about an athelete or retired citizen
• Write a story about the municiple hall / Whistler/Blackcomb
• Emergency services – The local Police – other heros
• Your company
• Your personal experience as a local
• Write about Whistler pit falls
• Local camp grounds
• Things for kids to do
• Show the world how friendly everyone in Whistler is through Video interviews
• The trails – Hiking – Biking – Cross-country
• I’m sure by now you’ve come up with a few ideas of your own, another fun idea would be to get together with a few friends and talk about ideas to blog about, and ask people and places if you can write a story…they would love and appreciate the publicty – work together as a community, it helps inform the tourist and shows you are open minded and care about each other. You see social media works much better if you help one another … it is also much more fun! (as a side note the blog I wrote about Whistler marijuana has been my most read blog!)

Restaurant Ideas

• Study the people doing it right
• Ask customers to follow you
• Encourage tweeting and taking pictures
• Show case your chef and other behind the scenes staff
• Write about each person and the owner
• Pic of the week
• Entree of the day
• Night mares and funny stories
• What are your drinking and lift home programs
• Your pinics to go
• Contests
• Like minded vendors
• History of food
• Eating within your province
• Local farmers
• Show case Events
• Wines and pairing
• desserts mmmmmmm
• I hope these ideas spur you on to start writing passionately about your profession or establishment, I can think of many people I know who hesitated at first to write a blog and now absolutely love writing…it’s fun and a great way to say thank you to the people and businesses that have helped you along your journey to success.
• Cheers!!

Heather Clifford lives in gorgeous Nanaimo BC and teaches her hands on Social Media Marketing for small businesses Clinics all over the province of BC… Call her to come out and speak with your team about social media or one on one for an indepth passionate look at your opportunites to market in and around your area and the world.

Exciting Things to Post on Your Facebook Business Page!

Today’s Social Media Tip

Thank you to Janet Brown of Sutton Whistler for asking me to clarify and suggest some ideas for posting on your Business Page..

Janet is more than a real estate agent in Whistler, she comes fully qualified to stage homes as an interior designer, she also loves to ski and has two of the cutest little dogs…

Can you see how many things Janet could write about on her business page? I know many people who are always looking for tips on how to arrange the furniture or how about decorating for Christmas?

No Competition

With social media you have nothing to worry about when it comes to competition….No two people are the same… It does not matter if you’re in the same family or belong to the same clubs… Each of us thinks completely independent of the other…

Everything you have done through out your life has brought you to where you are today…good or bad you have learned lessons that can be shared. Facebook is all about sharing your expertise and what’s on your mind…This little quote is often said to me…thx Norm.

“You can not put your brain into another persons head!”

You should take a little time and decide what type of message you want to portray on your Facebook business page, do you want a consistent flow in one direction or do you want variety? Browse through other pages and see what stands out for you… Look and see what makes you laugh or smile…

The community you are building on Facebook is known as a “LIKE” minded community of people you have hand-picked… especially when you are launching your business page or are in the first stage of putting it out to the world.

The following is a suggestion of posting ideas…I think differently than you, right? There is really only one wrong thing to do on Facebook and that is negativity…People will delete you… Opinions are interesting and I tend to stay far away from political and other touchy subjects..but thats me…

I also don’t recommend sharing current news articles that are on TV or in the paper…as most people are aware of these postings… Twitter however is different…

Ideas for Posting according to Statistics

• Pictures (Hikes, skiing, walks, ocean, mountains, flowers, parades, jokes, cute things, emotional)
• Videos (Songs, teach me something, funny, self-made, you-tube)
• Quotes (Work related, day related, month related, famous, sad, happy, FUNNY)
• Links to blogs (Literally thousands of fabulous articles out there. Google what you are looking for)
• Articles of Interest
• Tips and Tricks
• Share your knowledge, write a blog
• Fund Raisers – Parades – Social Gatherings – Current Events
• Recipes…Christmas, Martini’s, Family Recipes
• What’s on your mind (I bet you have tons to share)

Getting Started

It takes about a month or two to get comfortable posting on your business page wall and you will begin to feel better once people or businesses start to add Comments and click the Like button…Engage with you….

 Once you have 30 people who like your business page Facebook will allow you to use their metrics known as Facebook Insights to track and check your engagement success. The information found here is priceless…

Good luck everyone… and make sure you enjoy the journey… Anymore questions out there?

Cheers!

Keep Your Social Media Simple…When Starting

Social Media Clinic - Whistler

Awesome Social Media Students

Today I need to thank Lynne Venner for her suggestion to write a blog about Keeping Social Media Simple…. her exact words were “Keep It Calm”

As a real estate representative in Whistler for the past 18 years, Lynne is extremely busy on a day-to-day base and told me her concerns with fitting another activity such as social media into her schedule.

Lynne found social media a little confusing at first… Lynne is no different then 95% of the people just getting aboard the social media train…

 “What is it all about? I don’t have anymore time in my day!”

Before our class rushed into creating their business page we took a half hour and talked as a group about what a powerful tool for marketing social media could be….How absolutely crazy it was that for now you could be marketing to millions of people absolutely FREE.

If executed correctly…you could spend as little as 15 minutes a day nurturing your Facebook Business Page and within six months you would be seeing favorable results through Facebook Insights… but first you need to buy into the concept that social media really does works, and you need to learn how to effectively post and comment, things such as….When to post….What to say…Why am I on here… and Who cares????

This is why social media for most people just starting should be learned over a period of many months and only one network at a time… you need to understand each one for its value … such as its reach and longevity…you need to find your flow, and comfort……then you can set out to learn another network…spend a month or two getting friendly and building your community before you introduce any other activities into your already busy day… I always start with Facebook Business Pages and then introduce Twitter… However I strongly believe that blogging and video are very powerful marketing tools…but then again I have been writing my blog for years…

All this social media is still very new…please don’t panic if you’re just starting, treat yourself with compassion by giving yourself this new gift of knowledge in small doses, find someone to work with you…..to nudge you in the right direction…just a little bit of social media everyday.

To all my students here is a review of your homework…

• Your profile picture is your introduction to your professional business page on Facebook
• Your Business Page name and your profile picture is your branding and calling card on social media
• For the first month you need to go out and LIKE 25 other businesses
• You’ll then need to Like and Comment on those business pages to build your community
• You’ll make one posting everyday or at least three times a week
• You will attempt to get people to LIKE you….through our launch process we discussed
• When you’re out watch for valuable pictures to take and things to post
• Consider mentioning another Business you are now friends with on Facebook @keepitsimplesocialmedia
• Comment and ask questions on my page…this is how I can help you…for free!

Can you see how this activity is important and builds your community? Think about what you want to stand for, think about your message travelling around the world… think of how awesome it is that you can promote your city, village or friends…Social Media is about being social, not selling…

If Lynne was set-up with Google Alerts she would know I have written a blog in honor of her great success with taking the first steps in social media and telling me to Keep It Simple…and to slowly incorporate social media into your business…however I will copy the URL and post it on her Business page.

Cheers!

Your Real Estate Temperature is Found in the Recent Sales – Period!

Real Estate

Asking the Right Questions

Do you know the right questions to ask? You should narrow your search criteria to product, price, and area, if you encompass too much information it could easily misguide your value. Another small important thing to consider is MOTIVATION… It can make people do crazy things..

Whistler in the last quarter April – June 30th 2011 saw about 137 sales. I choose to leave out of my numbers Timeshare… however I do count Quartershare… my basic principle is over $100,000, and in the last couple of years $75,000 and above has also been included. Sales this year are a little stronger then same quarter 2010 – 123. I have written a quarterly blog about real estate in Whistler since 2002 and always reflect on past posts.

Recent articles in the Question and Pique News Magazine have spoken favorably about the Whistler market. I’m wondering if this has anything to do with the recent sales of a home in Stonebridge for $8,700,000 or Kadenwood for $4,800,000… we should note that the most active dollar value of the market in Whistler has been buyers in the $350,000 – $900,000 price range.

Affordable Housing

Every sale does count, and it has never been so clear until you look at what the Pemberton market has experienced over the past couple of years. When over 300 buyers (local mostly) purchase a home from the Whistler Housing Authority it takes a large amount of purchasers out of the Whistler or Pemberton’s open market. That is a significant amount of buyers to lose in a market place as small as those two areas are.

Non-Resident Buyers

In a market such as Whistler it is fueled by non-resident buyers, and over the past four years we’ve seen a significant drop from the earlier 2000’s when Whistler was finishing its build out of hotels and townhomes. Many buyers today in my opinion are still waiting for the turbulent world economy to settle. Second home purchases are discretionary spending, and right now a lot of buyers feel more comfortable with their money in the bank…… Except for one strong economy…..

The Vancouver Market

I have several friends in the lower-mainland who sell real estate and it baffles me at how busy they are… multiple offers and the newest craze is presenting offers on Monday night ??? Wow to be so fortunate.

Even the Economist Cameron Muir shakes his head at the Vancouver market which he predicts is expected to have a modest gain of 5% over the next two years.. but it can’t last they say – six years later!

The lower-mainland home owner has seen healthy gains in their holdings and can now take some of that equity and build on their existing portfolio by purchasing more real estate… and that is who is buying in Whistler!

The Second Quarter Numbers 2011

April – 47 sales             May – 46                          June – 44          

Chalets – 10                 Chalet – 15                           Chalet – 8

Townhomes – 19        Townhomes – 14                   Townhomes – 14

Condos – 14                Condos – 15                           Condo – 8

(4 in other)             (2 other)                  ( 14 Q-Share – find out why!)

The month of June saw a drop in sales in every segment of the market except Townhomes which is still the top seller and now Quarter Share  which Intrawest decided in the month of June to off load their remaining suites at Evolution. So remember – ask lots of questions before you put the pen to paper, so you can enter the market with confidence and a lot more knowledge.

Below you’ll find a link to my house – just listed!

http://www.justsnooping.com/tours/2685257/

8337 Needles Drive Alpine Meadows $925,000

Cheers!