Education and Seminars
mRELEVANCE experts teach Internet Marketing, Website Optimization, Social Media, Tracking and Analytics, and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) courses for homebuilders associations across the country and individual builder clients. Programs are tailored to each relevant audience and designed to challenge participants to rethink their approach to creating relevance in the marketplace.
Our most popular 2010 Seminars are:
Social Media for Home Builders (90 minutes to 2.5 hours)
Social media isn’t just for teenagers anymore. Learn how home builders, developers and others in the real estate industry are using social media for a competitive advantage. From social media to social networking, see case studies of how builders are benefiting from blogging, FaceBook, Twitter, ActiveRain, Trulia and other sites. Get started with the right sites and strategy with tips and insight from mRELEVANCE social media experts, Carol M. Flammer, MIRM and Mitch Levinson, MIRM. Discover the 5 reasons you should use social media and learn ways to measure your success.
Forget the Bling: It’s Time to Blog (keynote)
There’s more to social media than Facebook, Twitter, Posterous and Linkedin. While these sites are certainly “hot” today, don’t get distracted by the bling-bling of sites that you don’t own. Find out how to make your blog the engine of your social media program for an effective tried and true strategy that will take you from 0 to 60. Carol Flammer, author of Social Media for Home Builders: It’s Easier Than You Think shows you how your blog will power the social networks and make your entire program easier to manage and get results!
Social Media Lab (4 to 6 hours OR 4 classes)
Social Media Lab is a hands-on workshop designed to train professionals how to effectively use social media to enhance their professional reputation, reach existing customers and build relationships with target audiences. This four hour lab covers the “how to basics.” Get started with the right sites and strategy with tips and insight from social media experts, Carol M. Flammer, MIRM and Mitch Levinson, MIRM.
Blogging – learn the basics of how to blog. Your blog is the foundation of your social media program. A well-built blog should be one of your Web sites’ top 10 referral sources – who doesn’t want more traffic?
Twitter – create a Twitter account and learn proper twittiquette – it’s like text messaging to the world.
Linked In – build a personal profile, participate in groups and learn the ins and outs for getting the most out of this online rolodex and resume.
Facebook – create a Fan page and learn how to promote your business to friends and customers — don’t miss this online cocktail party.
Upcoming 2010 Seminars
REtechSouth – March 25 & 26
New Homes Camp
Professional Women in Building (Birmingham, AL) – April 1
Social Media Lab
April 12, 19, 26 & May 3, 10 & 17 – Social Media Lab at Georgia Northwestern Technical College
Set up your sites on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and learn to blog.
Mondays from 9 a.m. – noon
Registration starts at 8:30 a.m.
NAHB Webinar: Using Social Media to Create a Buzz about Your MultiFamily Community – April 15
Southern Building Show – May 14 from 2:30 – 4 p.m.
“Social Media for Home Builders: Engage in the Online Conversation”
Location: Georgia World Congress Center (Room # 305)*
Social Media Webinar with Lasso Data Systems – May 20 at noon
NAHB Webinar – Sell to Women Through The Social Media Grapevine – May 25 from 2 to 3 p.m.
HBA of South Carolina Annual Meeting – June 22, 2010
Social Media Keynote - 8 – 10 a.m.
Social Media Lab – 3:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
21Century Building Show (Charlotte, NC) – Sept. 16 & 17
Social Media for Home Builders
Sell to Women Through the Social Media Grapevine
Downloads:
IBS Internet Tracking 2009 (1)
IBS Social Media 2009 (2)
IBS Web Traffic 2009 (1)
Social Media at the Southern Building Show
mRELEVANCE founders and managing partners, Carol Flammer and Mitch Levinson MIRMs will present “Social Media for Home Builders: Engage in the Online Conversation” at the Southern Building Show on Friday, May 14 from 2:30 to 4 p.m. This year the show takes place at the Georgia World Congress Center – May 13 – 15.
If you are home builder or developer who is still wondering how social media can benefit your business, this is the seminar for you. Learn how home builders, developers and others in the real estate industry use social media for a competitive advantage. From social media to social networking, blogging and social bookmarking, see case studies of how builders are benefiting from Active Rain, FaceBook, Twitter, Blogging and more. Learn how to track and measure a successful social media program and learn how to set one up from the ground up.
If you can’t make the Southern Building Show, call us to schedule a consultation. We’d love to help you build your online program. 770-383-3360 or email carol (at) mrelevance.com.
NAHB Social Media Webinar April 15th
Managing partner of mRELEVANCE, Mitch Levinson, will be leading a webinar on “Using Social Media to Create Buzz About Your Community” April 15th. The class is sponsored by NAHB Multifamily and aims to teach developers and communities how to leverage social media to drive interest in their properties.
An online presence is necessary for success in the age of technology, but what is the best way to use that presence to drive traffic and increase sales? Mitch will give you a rich foundation of knowledge on search engine optimization, because if nobody can find your blog, what’s the point?
The webinar is scheduled Thursday, April 15 from 2-3 p.m. EDT. Other presenters during the webinar include Michelle Betchner of Alliance Residential and Michael Manfred of AvalonBay Communities. The webinar is free for NAHB Multifamily members and worth 1 hour of NAHB credit. The webinar cost for all other NAHB members is $100 and $125 for non-NAHB members.
This is a webinar you won’t want to miss! Register to attend.
mRELEVANCE Invites YOU to New Homes Camp
Mark your calendar for the South’s largest real estate focused technology conference. REtechSouth takes place March 25 and 26 at Gwinnett Center. Best of all, there is still time to buy your ticket, but don’t wait long the conference sold out last year. Carol has a discount code, so make sure to use it: REtechSouth Discount Tickets!
mRELEVANCE is proud to sponsor RetechSouth’s New Homes Camp on Thursday, March 25 from 9:30 a.m. – noon. Featuring Carol Flammer, Meredith Oliver, Mitch Levinson, Tice Burke and Paul Chaney, this special focus section focuses on how to use blogging, social media and other tech tools for a competitive advantage.
Whether you are a home builder, developer, marketing director, new homes sales agent, broker or are simply interested in learning more about the new homes industry, this is one adventure in new technology that you don’t want to miss. Don’t forget to bring your business card for raffle prizes to be given away throughout New Homes Camp.
Take Aways include:
• Positioning your blog as the engine of your social media program
• How to sell to the savvy dot com consumer
• Interacting with consumers through Trulia Q&A and your Trulia blog
• How to position your social media content to show up higher in the search engines
• How online conversations can lead to building long-term trusted client relationships
• The most commonly used social media tools for engaging customers
Here is the content schedule for New Homes Camp:
Forget the Bling: It’s Time to Blog
There’s more to social media than Facebook, Twitter, Posterous and Linkedin. While these sites are certainly “hot” today, don’t get distracted by the bling-bling of sites that you don’t own. Find out how to make your blog the engine of your social media program for an effective tried and true strategy that will take you from 0 to 60. Carol Flammer, author of Social Media for Home Builders: It’s Easier Than You Think shows you how your blog will power the social networks and make your entire program easier to manage and get results!
Selling to Dot Com; Follow Up Until they Buy, Die or Get a Restraining Order
It’s five o’clock…do you know where your Web site leads are? How well do you convert your eLeads into eSales? This seminar is for sales agents who want to: 1) Improve follow-up response time and frequency, 2) Set more appointments with eLeads and phone calls and 3) Convert more eLead appointments into eSales. Fast paced, fun and content rich, Meredith will give you six strategies to help you respond better, quicker and faster to your walk-in traffic and Internet leads. Stop sending massive eblasts that get little response and leaving boring voicemail messages! It’s time to put the fun back in follow-up! Learn how from Internet marketing expert, Meredith Oliver!
Beyond Listings: Interact with Consumers on Trulia
You’ve claimed your listings on Trulia, but have you looked beyond that? With 6 million users a month, how can you interact with them so that they know about your homes and communities? Tice Burke, Manager of Strategic Partnerships will show you how to meet buyers on Trulia. Learn how to engage your next buyer through Q&A and launch your Trulia blog – It’s Free!
The Intersection of Social and Search
Google is working to make search more social. What can you do to optimize your social sites to show up higher in both the search results and the social search widget? How do you know where you should be, how to optimize your status and how to know it is working? Mitch Levinson of mRELEVANCE will help you learn how social media sites can help you control what consumers find when they search for your company and communities.
The Digital Handshake: Proven Strategies to Grow Your Business Using Social Media
Even today’s most successful businesses are seeing shrinking returns on their advertising and marketing dollars. The Digital Handshake explains why advertising and marketing are losing their effectiveness and how to solve the problem using social media to corral elusive consumers. It explains the best practical business applications in current use and how you can use them to ramp up your business. Using case studies gleaned from real businesses, author Paul Chaney shows you how companies both large and small can tap social media to mitigate market changes and reap valuable business benefit in the real world.
Marketing Your Apartment and Condo Communities with Social Media
Social media is the buzzword these days, and is becoming a staple of effective marketing in the housing industry. It seems like everyone has a Facebook page, a LinkedIn, Twitter account or a favorite blog they read.
Social media, like signage to your apartment or condominium community, steers prospects to your web site and blog, and builds awareness and third party credibility while improving your online reputation. In this lively, interactive presentation, find out how to utilize these new tools and technologies to connect to potential renters and condo buyers and get them talking about your community. The end result is increased occupancy and sales.
Join me (Mitch Levinson), Jack Williams of Kairos Development, Michelle Betchner of Alliance Residential and Eric Brown of Urbane Apartments for this hour long Social Media Marketing Seminar at the International Builder Show in Las Vegas Wednesday, January 20 – 9:00 – 10:00 a.m. at The Apartment and Condo Meeting Place, North 254, Level II
2010 Super Sales Rally – “Walk This Way, Talk This Way”
Inspired by rock legends like The Rolling Stones, The Beatles and Elvis, the 2010 Super “Salesapalooza” Rally will teach you how to maximize your success and staying power in new home sales. This high-energy presentation is packed with ideas to boost your sales NOW. By unleashing your inner ’sales rock star’ we’ll help you ignite your personal selling power and blow past your goals. Don’t miss the marquee sales training event of the year. Get ready to rock your sales all year long!
The Sales Rally Speakers & Topics:
Myers Barnes – “New Home Sales Nirvana”
Melinda Brody – “Rock Your Sales”
Meredith Oliver – “Wanted Dead or Alive: Salespeople who CLICK”
John Palumbo – “Long Live Rock and Roll”
Jeff Shore – “Getting Your Customers to Dance”
Jim Suth – “You’re a Powerful Rock Star, but Sing the Love Ballad Instead”
This Rock n Roll Show takes place at the International Builder’s Show on Wednesday, Jan. 20 from 9 to 11:30 a.m. Location: Exhibit Hall S-3
Learning Outcomes:
- “Take the money and run” by tapping into proven strategies to close every sale
- Get “More than a feeling” by staying focused and motivated no matter what the market does
- Benefit by “Taking care of business” in the areas of prospecting, networking and follow-up to generate leads
- Have something to “Shout” about by following a sales process and polishing your presentation skills
- Put the fact that “You’ve Got a Friend” to work by using relationship selling to build brand loyalty
- Last but not least, “Don’t Stop Believin’” in the power of your USP!
If you look closely during the Super Sales Rally, you might just find some of the mRELEVANCE team working as roadies for these superstars!
Using Facebook, Blogs and New Media to Market 50+ Communities
One-third of adult Internet users have a profile on a social networking site, and baby boomers are one of the the fastest growing demographics embracing social media. Find out how an effective social media marketing program can help increase your leads, build advocates and increase brand awareness.
Fun facts:
- At present there are approximately 78.2 million baby boomers (born between 1946 and 1964) – www.census.gov
- Boomers comprise almost 28 percent of the US adult population – www.census.gov
- More than 60% of Baby Boomers actively consume social content such as blogs, videos, podcasts and forums. (Forrester Research)
- Only 10 percent of Americans age 65 and older participate in social networks, but that number is quickly growing. From “Tools of Engagement” on the www.ALFA.org site.
- In June, the media measurement firm comScore reported that Internet use was growing nearly twice as fast among people 65 and older than any other age group.
Learning Outcomes:
• Better understanding of available social media tools and how to utilize them for a competitive advantage
• How to target 50+ homebuyers through effective use of social media.
• Steps to launch an effective social media program and/or ways to improve an existing one.
Join Carol Flammer and Meredith Oliver for “Social Networking: Using Facebook, Blogs and New Media to Market 50+ Communities” at the International Builders Show on Thursday, January 21 from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. in North 256, level 2.
Dealing With Gen Y – The Next Generation
Gen Y doesn’t own a turntable, will never have a car with an 8-track and certainly doesn’t remember the days of 3 TV channels that we had to walk across the room to change. And back in the day, cartoons only played on Saturday mornings. I used to get up before 7 a.m. just to watch Casper the friendly ghost!
This year at the International Builder’s Show, Mitch Levinson, Steve Lewkowitz and Joe Stoddard will present Dealing With Gen Y – The Next Generation of Builders, Buyers, Colleagues, and Employees.
Down markets eventually recover … but generational shifts are here to stay. The home builders who made it to 2010 now must learn how to sell to, work with and compete against the always-on, tech-savvy Generation Y. Are you ready? This session will focus on the housing products GenYers want to purchase, the lifestyles they want to lead, the technology they expect to use and the work environment you’ll need to create to attract the best and brightest of this dynamic generation.
- Learn what makes GenY tick as a demographic group – where and how they want to live, the communication tools they use, the marketing channels that will reach them and the way they expect to work.
- Explore the world of online social networking, and learn about its impact on you as a home builder.
- Examples of how successful builders have changed their Web presence, marketing approaches, product lines and policies and procedures to attract GenY buyers and employees.
Add a calendar item to your smartphone for Thursday, January 21 from 8 – 9:30 am. We will see you in South 221.
Taking it to the Extreme
Extreme eMarketing that is! So you have a Web site … now what? Join Meredith Oliver, Mike Lyon and me (Carol Flammer) at the International Builder’s Show for a high-energy, content-rich Internet marketing and sales master’s class.
Fill in the missing pieces of your Internet program with a comprehensive strategy to take it from good to great. Learn how to use your Web site to drive traffic, manage social media to generate awareness and use eLead follow-up to close the sale.
Warning: This class is for serious real estate marketers only! Be prepared to take notes as we give away powerful secrets sure to generate leads, sell more homes and add revenue to your bottom line!
Learning Outcomes:
- Learn the elements of a complete Web marketing strategy – and why you need one to remain competitive
- Pick up proven techniques for planning, budgeting and implementing your strategy
- Get insights into the role of social media in your Web strategy, as well as tips and techniques in eLead follow-up and conversion
- Acquire better ways to evaluate your strategy and make modifications on the fly
- Learn which elements you can do in-house and which you should outsource
Join us on Thursday, Jan. 21 from 3 to 5 p.m.
Stop Gambling
Stop Gambling: Target your Marketing Budget with Internet Tracking
The International Builder’s Show may be in Vegas this year, but Mitch Levinson will show you how to stop gambling and how to target your marketing dollars through effective Internet tracking.
Learn how to analyze your tracking reports to determine ROI (return on investment). This will help home builders, remodelers and developers make the proper decisions to attract online shoppers. Attendees will have a better understanding of the information in their website and email tracking reports and how to utilize the information to drive more traffic, advertise more effectively, and improve their businesses.
· Gain valuable insights into effective measurement of your Internet marketing expenses
· Learn what to track and how to analyze your website hits, bounces and clicks
· Get step-by-step guidance on tracking your email marketing, website and Internet advertising for effective results
Outcomes/take-aways
1. Effective measurement of Internet marketing
2. Learn what you should track
3. Analyze your website hits, bounces and clicks
4. Learn email marketing tracking reports
5. Track online advertising spends to determine placements
Mark your calendar for Stop Gambling: Target Your Marketing Budget with Internet Tracking. It takes place at the International Builders Show on Wednesday, Jan. 20 from 3:30 to 5 p.m.
Women and the Social Media Grapevine
Women outnumber men on social networking sites, AND they influence more than 85% of consumer product purchases. Does your business have a plan to interact with this powerful consumer group (women) in the places they already are?
The average family does 8 to 12 loads of laundry a week. How can knowing that help you reach this target audience?
Here are some interesting statistics:
84% of social networking sites have more female users than male.
Study done by Brian Solis using Google Ad Planner Service
50% of women surveyed say that blogs influenced their purchase decisions
Women and Social Media Survey by BlogHer, iVillage and Compass Partners survey.
91% of homebuying decisions are influenced by women and this year at the International Builders Show (IBS) Karen Dry, Dina Gundersen, Tammie Smoot and I (Carol Flammer) will show you how to engage them through social media. See great case studies of how corporate America is engaging this demographic group. Discover ways social media can help you spread your messages virally through the social media grapevine, build advocacy, create top of mind awareness, listen and engage.
Sell to Women through the Social Media Grapevine is sponsored by Professional Women in Building. Join us on Tuesday, January 19 from 1:30 to 3 p.m. at the Las Vegas Convention Center South 221.
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