This is it! Last video from HomeGain Nation 2009 Live Real Estate Forum in San Francisco. And it’s a really good one, too!

This video features some of the best in the business for online marketing and social media experts –

• Jay Thompson, Thompson’s Realty, PhoenixRealEstateGuy.com
• Robert Hahn Robert Hahn, 7DS Associates, Notorious R.O.B.
• Patrick Kitano, Domus Consulting, Transparent Real Estate
• Joseph Ferrara, Sellsius Real Estate Blog

Louis Cammarosano, the General Manager at HomeGain, moderates this power group, who discuss marketing trends in the real estate industry.

What challenges are REALTORS are facing in today’s Internet space? Advertising trends through social media? Value of networking via micro-blogging tools? Of course they give insight and best practices for Facebook and Twitter and how to enhance the quality (or quantity) of your social media followers.

Watch the “Trends in Real Estate Marketing” Video

Watch more HomeGain Nation session videos

Also see more HomeGain Nation real estate videos on the HomeGain YouTube channel, on the HomeGain Nation Blog. and in the HomeGain Media Center.

The internet is all abuzz about Twitter.

Twitter is a “microblogging” platform that lets you send 140 character “Tweets” (sort of like instant messages). People “follow” you, and you “follow” others. It’s a social networking platform that is undergoing tremendous growth. (See this article from Nielsen Ratings for more info. And note the largest user demographic is those aged 35 – 49. That’s prime home buying selling age folks…)

Realtors tend to jump on anything that has even a hope of getting them business — and there is nothing wrong with that provided you investigate and understand what it is you are getting in to. And yes, Twitter can get you business. It is a wonderful tool for expanding your Sphere of Influence and for networking with other professionals in and out of the real estate industry.

While there are no “rules” for the proper use of a platform like Twitter, there are unquestionably some guidelines and generally acceptable etiquette practices that, used properly, will accelerate your business growth and used improperly may result in you never getting anything out of Twitter. Continue reading this post

Yesterday I was perusing online through my cell phone bill. I took note that my two teenagers ages 15 and 17 had sent and received over 10,000 text messages – in December.

The two adults in the home sent and received approximately 400 text messages this month -– mostly between the aforementioned teenaged children. Sometimes it seems like I text them more often than I talk to them.

This got me to wondering about the future of communicating in the real estate industry.

As I write this, I’m looking at an email inbox containing 5,586 messages. Lousy email management skills aside, this is an indication of how often I send and receive emails. As I look into my sent mail folder, I see that I have sent an average of 11.33 emails each day this month. These are emails sent from Continue reading this post

Yesterday Inman News released its 25 Most Influential Real Estate Bloggers list for 2008. Three HomeGain bloggers were included on that prestigious list:

Joseph Ferrara

Joe is HomeGain’s blog school professor and operates the innovative Sellsius Real Estate Blog.

Jay Thompson

Jay is a HomeGain Guest Blogger and the founder and blogger behind the Phoenix Real Estate Blog

Nicole Nicolay

Nicole is a HomeGain Guest Blogger and founder of Effecktive Solutions. Nicole also recently founded  Sacrilicious Marketing with fellow HomeGain Guest Blogger, Mary McKnight.

Congratulations to Joseph, Jay and Nicole!

Louis Cammarosano

It seems everyone had another life prior to real estate. Few people grow up saying, “I want to be a real estate agent!” Rare is the 18 year old that gets a license and does nothing but sell real estate the rest of their life.

I had a plethora of jobs in my youth. I got a job at McDonalds the day I turned 16 and have been pretty much working ever since. One summer in college I moved pianos. That job sucked. Another summer I had a brief stint installing guard rails for the Texas Highway Department. That was about as much fun as moving pianos.

I went to college for two semester’s right after high school. First was at Texas A&M at Galveston where I quickly found out going to a college where you could see the beach outside the English 101 classroom was not conducive to proper study habits. Rather than get kicked out, I packed up and moved to Austin to attend the University of Texas. There I quickly found out being 18, away from home and living in a college town that is jammed full of coeds, in a house with 5 other guys, was not conducive to proper study habits.

I pumped gas that semester in Austin (physically pumped gas – this was back in the day of full service gas stations) which did not pay well. One evening an ad came on the radio announcing that Motorola was hiring for entry-level workers in their semiconductor manufacturing facility. The pay was outstanding—$3.50 an hour (almost a buck over minimum wage!) and it had benefits – like vacation time, tuition reimbursement and health insurance. So I dropped out of college (“They can’t teach me anything!”) and applied for a position.

Fast forward 16 years. I was still employed at Motorola and Continue reading this post

Last week we kicked off the Lives of the Realtors series. So far we have heard from two amazing individuals, Ryan Ward and Mitch Ribak.

Later this week we will be publishing the past life of Phoenix Real Estate Guy, Jay Thompson.

Jay has had an interesting background prior to becoming a successful Realtor and one of the country’s top bloggers.

We will also be launching a new series about Realtors – A Day in the Life.
In the new series we will ask Realtors to talk about their current day to day practices, business philosophies, work habits, office set up and other daily items that make up a Realtors’ life.

Stay tuned, better yet, subscribe to the HomeGain Real Estate Blog.

Louis Cammarosano

Continue reading this post