Last year Facebook began allowing users to set custom URLs or web addresses for their fan pages.  This is a great feature because it allows us to promote our fan page address in plain english.  Instead of having an address that has a hundred random characters in it that nobody could remember, we have a nice and tidy URL that is much more memorable.  And in our case it is the same as our Twitter address and ‘mothership’ website.

Our Old Facebook URL looked something like this:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/My-Super-Long-Fan-Page-Address/335531722729?ref=not-memorable

Our new Custom Facebook URL is much shorter and easier to remember:
http://facebook.com/myticor

Ticor’s Twitter account
http://twitter.com/myticor

Ticor Title Northwest Mothership Website
http://myticor.com

With ‘myticor’ in each address, we have congruency among our website and social accounts which reinforces our brand.

So how did we set our custom URL for facebook? Here’s a video to explain how we did it.

!NOTE: once you set your custom URL for your fan page, it can not be changed! So have fun, but plan carefully!

Cheers!
Matt Sweet
Ticor Title
@sweetmd

You’ve been waiting for the closing of your transaction and now it’s getting close. Soon you’ll be called by your escrow officer and you’ll schedule a time to sign documents. At this time it’s important to follow the tips below so you’re prepared to provide proper information to expedite the closing of your transaction. Take a look…

Our customer service team is highly regarded by our clients and is one of the reasons Ticor shines over the competition. If you need help with research, need to order title/escrow or if you have an obscure question please give our team a call at (425) 255-6969.

In anticipation for the RE BarCamp event in Seattle last Friday, I had high expectations. I expected to be challenged, to learn new things, to meet new people, and to be inspired.  I have to say that all of my expectations were met or exceeded.  And each of the discussion group leaders came across in a fun, honest, open, and refreshingly humble conversational manner.

There was so much knowledge being dropped in such a short amount of time from high-caliber people, It was a challenge to take it all in.  So as a breadcrumb trail for myself and others, I tweeted like a song bird and tagged it all with the hashtag-du jour #REBCSEA.  Looking back through the tweets, I’m smiling and remembering a very fun day.  And much more than what I learned, I am most happy about the connections I made and conversations I had with so many great people.

Here are my top 5 takeaways from last week’s event:

1.  There is still great opportunity to leverage video to stand out in niche markets. It’s a land grab of sorts.  The hilarious guys at Think Big Work Small shared a plethora of ideas for anyone in the Real Estate industry who chooses to board the video train.  But their points on the importance of editing and  always providing either value, entertainment, or enrichment stood out to me as being paramount.

2.  Getting an iPhone is one of the best decisions I have ever made for my business. This may sound hyperbolic but as a marketer for a title and escrow company, I’m in a relationship building business.  And the iPhone has made it so much easier to listen, produce and share content, and keep in touch with a broader range of people via social networks.

3.  Facebook just surpassed Google as the most visited site.  Facebook Fan pages are all the rage right now. And Mike Mueller is a Facebook Fanpage Ninja.  If you want great info on how to leverage your fan page to achieve your business goals, check out his website for some great info.  http://areweconnected.com/facebook/

4.  You’ll get the most from twitter with a balanced mix of speaking, listening, and conversation.  There are real people behind those tweets, and if you take the time to engage, great things can happen.  Reggie Nicolay shared a great tip on how to be good at sparking engagement on twitter:

5.  It’s all about people. In each session that I attended there were no powerpoints, no projectors, and no dazzling media displays.  Instead, there were chairs, a big notepad on an easel, and sometimes a microphone.  It was awesome and ironic at the same time.  In a nutshell, It was people just being social.

I’m grateful to the people who worked harder than I know to make the event possible!  Here’s a list of volunteers and sponsors.

Cheers!

Matt Sweet
Marketing
Ticor Title
@sweetmd

Did you know there’s multiple ways to hold title to real property? Ticor Title has developed a quick sheet for referencing some of the most common ways people hold title. Take a look at this flyer…

Friday March 19th is the RE Barcamp event in Seattle at the Seattle Center! I expect that this will be THE social media event of the year for Real Estate professionals. If you want a boost of inspiration, a kick in the pants to try something new to achieve better results, or if you just want to find out what the state of the art is, this is the event for you! From smartphone productivity, to blogging, to twitter, to facebook, to good ol’ fashioned face to face networking, I guarantee that there will be an opportunity to discuss it, share successes, and ask questions with peers in an open format.

Everyone is welcome. If you’re new to social media or internet marketing, or if you’re a seasoned blogger, you’ll get something out of it.

Jim Marks of Virtual Results is the keynote speaker this year (9AM kickoff) . I heard him last year and found him to be very insightful, funny, and challenging at the same time.

So please come! You’ll thank yourself for doing so!

Ticor Title is a proud sponsor.  We’ll be there joining in the conversation!

Click Here to register and get all the details.

Enjoy!

Matt Sweet
Marketing
Ticor Title
253-312-7003

Having the right attitude about your social media strategy is just as important as having the right social media plan for your business.  At Ticor, we’re constantly trying to stay fresh, listen well, and improve our social media efforts.  I came across a brief case study this week and found it very encouraging.  There’s a link to it below.

What are my two big takeaways?

Firstly, it’s important to recognize that social media is in a constant state of flux.  So it’s healthy to make adjustments to your message / conversation as well as the platforms you use along the way.  It’s OK to try something different, measure the results and either stick with it, tweak it, or scrap it!  Early attempts at success are normal!

Secondly, the number of followers is not necessarily the best way to measure your success in social media.  What’s more valuable are the relationships built.  Duh… In the real estate industry it’s all about relationships and trust and I think that part will never change.

So without further delay, here’s the case study on how a certain small business is using social media.

Enjoy!

Matt Sweet
Marketing
Ticor Title
@sweetmd

This is a follow up post to my previous post regarding Google Alerts and Getting Search Engine Attention.

On Monday, we created  a new Vimeo account for MyTicor. On Tuesday, I received a Google alert letting me know that Google had found the account. This is good news to me considering that one of the two videos that I uploaded wasn’t described or tagged at all (meaning, I haven’t given any of the search engines much to go on as far as indexing is concerned).

The Takeaway: Google is paying close attention to Vimeo. When we put our “Thank you” videos up there, we can expect to be indexed by the search engines quickly!  Welcome to the real-time web!

Google Web Alert for: “Ticor Title”

Ticor Title on Vimeo
Visit Ticor Title’s profile on Vimeo. Use Vimeo to share the videos you make with the people you want. Its free to join and really easy to use.

Enjoy!
Matt Sweet
Ticor Title
253-655-7003