Twitter is an amazing resource for me. Not only do I learn a lot by following very smart people, but I am able to leverage my relationships by asking questions and post content that could be beneficial to my followers.

I don’t have tons of follows, I have decided to grow my list organically. As I post people find me and follow me. Sometime when I get the email I don’t have lots of time to follow through and see if this is someone I would like to follow as well.

This is a post to share a simple program called Topify. It has enable me very quickly to figure out who people are who are following me and whether or not I will be following them.

You can sign up for Topify at www.topify.com.

Plain and simple it saves me time. When someone decides to follow me I am sent an email. The email

• Has buttons to easily follow or block them
• Number of followers
• Number of updates and their engagement level
• Their bio
• Samples of the Tweets

I think topify sends better twitter email notifications. Even better, if  I am reading the email on my Blackberry I can follow back by just replying. I can even reply with a direct message via email. With a click I can either follow, or block.

If you do follow someone Topify sends a confirmation message.

Sign up at Topify. Change the email in your Twitter profile to the one topify gives you and you can take advantage of this easy to use program.

Recently I was writing a new course on email and came upon this graph from Pew Internet Life. Email still is the number one daily internet activities of today’s internet consumer.

So, I came up with the best practices of e-mail marketing. To keep it simple,

• Timely.
• Signature with links to everything.
• Business writing still works.

The typical net-savvy consumer participates in an average of two online digests, receiving daily and weekly messages on a variety of topics such as travel, weather, sales or topics of close personal interest. So, take advantage of this resource to reach and communicate with your members.

One effective way to do this is with an e-mail newsletter. Newsletters are a primary online communication tool, and can ultimately replace their direct mail counterpart.  They are more cost-effective and can be more target-specific.

Newsletters can carry imbedded photo tours and direct links to specific information. They can also be automated, and scheduled to be date-specific or sent in conjunction with some other event, like an open house.

Also, e-Newsletters tend to generate a second life when forwarded on by a primary recipient.  For all of these reasons, you always want a link on your web site where visitors can subscribe to your e-Newsletter.

In building a relationship between you and the prospect/past customer/sphere influence, the last thing you want is to flood him or her with unwanted e-mail. So be specific to ensure that your e-Newsletter is fresh, has valuable content and is market-specific.  Also make certain you comply with Anti-Spam legislation by including an opt-out mechanism, identify the newsletter as an ad, and include the physical address of the business.

More than 1/3 of all responses to direct e-mail come in the form of a purchase at a later date; e-mail direct marketing can drive future revenue.

Note that much direct e-mail is “permission based” and that of all permission based marketing, almost half pertains to home ownership/household issues.

E-mail Marketing Programs

If you’re worried you don’t have enough online experience to create an effective e-mail newsletter, choose from a range of products.

Some are turn-key, so you just pick the campaign, add your members and the system does it for you.

• Constant Contact
• Emma
• Vertical Response
• iContact
• Imprev

Make sure your product allows you to:

• Manage subscriptions automatically.
• Offer Unsubscribe feature.
• See who is reading your newsletter through Data and Analytics.
• Create a professional looking product using their predesigned templates.

Living the Code – The Can Spam Act

Enacted in 2004; stay on top of this and the Do-Not-Call Law. Visit the Field Guide to Do-Not-Call, Do-Not-Fax, and
Do-Not-E-mail Laws at Realtor.org at http://www.realtor.org/library/library/fg707

The Act requires all commercial emails to include:

• A legitimate return e-mail and physical postal address.
• A clear and conspicuous notice of the recipient’s opportunity to decline to receive any future messages.
• A mechanism that may be used or an e-mail address (active for at least 30 days after message transmission) to which a recipient may send a message requesting not to receive any future-e-mail messages from the sender.
• A clear and conspicuous notice that the message is an advertisement or solicitation.
• Clear notice in the subject heading if messages include pornographic or sexual content.

The best way to stay in compliance is:

• Ask permission to e-mail.

  Do not spam.

• Put opt-out language at the bottom of every e-mail you send. It can be included in your e-mail signature.

I just had the opportunity to speak for the Women’s Council of REALTORS Mega Summit in Boston over the weekend. I taught a breakout on Video in Real Estate and was asked about Video Emails. I have seen lots of products that like to spend out money and I am not totally convinced that these branded polished email templates really reach and touch today’s consumer. Please check out TalkFusion and Covideo and VideoBusinessCard.

Then I found EyeJot – Wow! I must admit that I found it when logging into my RealEstateShows account. Jeff Turner had written a post on this product awhile ago and guess it didn’t interest me until . . . today!

You have to check this out.

Eyejot is a robust video messaging platform. It can be used in a number of different ways, including recording videos for email distribution, so you can send quick messages to anyone with your webcam! It is really easy to do and works with your email program. BUT . . . there is also Eyejot This!

Eyejot This! is a bookmarklet that allows you to send Eyejot video messages attached to web sites you visit. Your Eyejot message will automatically contain a link to the page you’re on, along with the page title.

You can install Eyejot This! on most browsers..

So, lets say you are sending a listing link to a client, you can comment directly on the web page you are viewing and have your video travel with that web page to your client, or whoever else you are working with. How can this help you and your business?

You can point out features that are not apparent in the text or even in the Virtual Tour.
You can educate today’s Buyer who may not know why solid Brazililan Cherry floors rock
You can include a call to action like: I am showing this home on Thursday – if you would like I can fit you in.
You can send an article from the Wall Street Journal on the housing market (that is not hosing us) to your sphere and let them know why you like it.
I think you get it.
What do you need? All you need is a webcam and an Eyejot account.

Webcams come in all shapes and sizes, and to fit any budget. One thing they recommend is looking for a webcam with a built-in microphone. Logitech has a great family of webcams. If you are purchasing a new laptop, make sure you get one built in. My new laptop has one and it is great.

In the class Automated Agent where I speak on all the “tools of the trade” I am constantly asked what I think of the new IPhone, with the recent update release. Although I also have IPhone envy I am sticking with my Blackberry. Why, you ask? Because I still feel it is a superior business tool, and costs less. The encryption of the email keeps my data (any my clients) safe and the ease in which my email arrives is just a lovely thing.

Matthew Ferrara of my company just wrote a great post on this topic on our company blog and he says it all. So here is the link to hear my thoughts . . . and Matthews. Click here to read the article titled: Why iPhone will never beat Blackberry.

Good reading . . .

What’s old any more? Who knows? The basic delineation is email. Can they open them, read them and respond? My parents can’t. They try, but just can’t. They are not one of the 80 year olds that get it. But I found a great solution – MyCelery. This device is a state of the art color fax machine. Friends and family email them at their mycelery.com account. The phone rings and tells them they are getting an email . . . over their fax. It prints out the email and the pictures. If they want to respond, they hand write the email with the persons name at the top. The software recognizes the email address and emails the person the handwritten note back . . . as an email. My parents love letters. They print out emails now (when they can figure it out) and reread those emails over and over.

So – all the grand kids are ready to email their grand parents at least once a week with a photo or two, so are the kids. We are really excited to keep the generations connected with this device. With a great grandchildren here, we will keep the photos and emails coming.

Here is a video demonstrating the product.