Harp 2.0

I found the links for the new guidelines for the new HARP 2.0 program. The trick is going to be finding a lender that will underwrite directly to the new guidelines. I'll let you know when I find one.

http://www.freddiemac.com/sell/guide/bulletins/pdf/bll1122.pdf
https://www.efanniemae.com/sf/guides/ssg/annltrs/pdf/2011/sel1112.pdf

Facebook Ads - how to make it worth your time.

So, if you're like me and have tried using Facebook Ads, you're probably wondering how to see results.

The best method I've seen is to narrow down the geographic area you are targeting to a neighborhood or maybe a zip code. This way you blanket that specific segment instead of people seeing your ad sporadically. When someone sees your ad 8 times in an hour, they are much more likely to get curious than if they see it once total.

Facebook Event Reminders

A good friend of mine in a band called J. Wride gave me this idea earlier this week. When you change the name of a Facebook event, it sends an update to EVERYONE that has been invited regardless of their RSVP status. We had an event with more than 4k people invited and just changed the event's name to "Concert Tonight" and there went 4000 reminders. Cool huh?!

The +1 button: Is google+ worth it as part of my marketing strategy?

The biggest gripe that I have heard about  trying to incorporate google+ into a marketing strategy is that you can’t have a business page. I can see why people wouldn’t like that — we are used to Facebook where the message coming to us from a company actually comes from the company itself. However, from a marketing standpoint google+ is like gold. We are conditioned to distrust corporations. (If you need evidence of that all I have to say is 99%.) So, on google+ your marketing message has to come from a person! You effectively bypass corporate distrust by mixing in marketing messages with your day to to social status updates. For instance, I do a lot of marketing for mortgages, once a week or so on my google+ page I’ll post something like, “Mortgages rates are the lowest our country has ever seen! If you’ve thought about refinancing, get in touch with me!” Sandwiched between a status about my kid brother’s soccer game and my wife’s latest pinterest tweet, it looks totally organic, natural and trustworthy. Contrast that against what it would look like on a mortgage company’s Facebook page. Google plus in your marketing strategy? Good choice.

A bit of self indulgence. My band’s latest music video.

Wonder what I do in my spare time?

We are also ranked #1 Indie Band in our county at Reverbnation.com

I guess that's a little of me putting my money where my mouth is. 

Marketing vs. Public Relations (a note on social network marketing strategies) Part II

So, you’ve done a ton of work and now you have thousands of followers on Facebook. Now what?
Most people think this is the end goal of a social network marketing strategy; but think of it this way – a blank billboard on the side of the freeway isn’t gonna do any good. That’s exactly what a poorly managed Facebook page or profile is.
For my own marketing strategy, I search out Facebook “friends” much more than I do “fans” for my page. I’ll explain why another day, but unless you are branding a product, I suggest going the friend route.
From here it’s all about making yourself look like the single smartest person anyone knows about whatever topic you are marketing. Post everyday and post insightful things about the topic. After a while, when one of your Facebook contacts has a question about your topic of expertise, they are gonna come to you.

Marketing vs. Public Relations (a note on social network marketing strategies) Part I

Much of the time you hear that social network marketing doesn’t drive sales. Well, according to that mindset there is, by definition, no such thing as social network marketing. It would have to be social network public relations. Marketing is what gets you more sales, more leads, or more customers.
I am here to say, unequivocally, you can use social networks such as Facebook to drive sales, generate leads, and get more customers. It just takes a whole lot more work than people are willing to put in.
Little story. I had a friend that worked for a little boutique, and as little boutiques often do . . . it was struggling. So, the owner put some time and effort into the social networks and last I ran across them they had literally thousands of Facebook fans on their page. Now, the though that probably went through your head just now was “what a success story.”
THAT IS WHERE EVERYONE FALLS APART WITH SOCIAL NETWORK MARKETING!
Thousands of fans is not the end goal of social network marketing, it is merely the first step.
Check back Monday for Step 2.