Ty's Tech Blog

For quite some time I was not much of a believer in Twitter.  I figured you can convey only so much in 140 charechters or less and why would anyone care.  Yes, there are services that allow you to shorten your posts and you can link to photos and videos, but what real purpose does it have?

Well, after attending a presentation by Gary Vaynerchuk, author of  “Crush It” and the newly released “The Thank You Economy” my perceptions of Twitter have changed darastically.  Here is why.

It is projected that Twitter will have at least 200 MILLION users by the end of 2011 sending nearly 1 BILLION “tweets” per week.  These tweets contain a tremendous amount of information about the users.  From hobbies and interests, to weekend plans, to relationship status and much more. 

Gary Vaynerchuck discussed on tactic he used to create a customer for life.  Gary, who runs a website that sells wine, started following one of his best customers on Twitter.  From following the customer, he was able to learn that the customer was a huge fan of NFL Chicago Bear’s quarterback, Jay Cutler.  As a thank you to this person for being such a loyal customer, Gary had a signed jersey sent to the customer’s shipping address (which he had from his previous orders). 

What an incredible way to communicate and thank your customers!!!

Now, aside from stalking your friends and customers, there is another hidden jewel within the Twitter-verse.  That is the ability to search for Twitter users that have posted a Tweet containing a key word or phrase that you are interested in.  From a business standpoint this is HUGE!  You can perform searches for things such as “buy an investment home in (your city)” or “moving to (your city)”.  To perform the search, just go to http://search.twitter.com and enter in your search criteria.  Here are some different search tricks that will help you really zero in on the most reliable and accurate results.  (you can find more at http://search.twitter.com/operators)

If you are to focus on any of these tricks, the ones I recommend you pay special attention to are the NEAR and WITHIN functions.  These search functions when used properly will allow you to zero in on a certain city or zip code.  For example, if I wanted to search for everyone that has tweeted “real estate investment” within 10 miles of Phoenix, my search would look like this:  real estate investment near:Phoenix within:10mi

Another feature that really sets Twitter apart from FaceBook and other social media sites is that you can follow just about anyone without their approval.   However they do have the option to BLOCK you if they don’t want to be followed.  So if you do start following someone that you don’t know, be careful you don’t jump on them.  People will respond much better to positive, helpful information rather than someone trying to sell them something or forcing information down their throat.  Become a resource for the person.  Build your credibility and if you do this correctly, they will reach out to you for further guidance and support.  Guide them to your blog or website for more information.

If I can become a believer in Twitter, I know you can too.  And with these powerful tips, you will be able to interact with more people and generate more business.   Even within 140 charachters or less.

Did you know that there are three different ways to copy, cut and paste?  And within those three methods are numerous different ways to perform some very simple functions.  I have talked to so many people that are shocked when I tell them this.  So I am going to tell you about some very simple tricks that will save you a TON of time when you are on your computer typing e-mails, documents, spreadsheets, etc.

Here are the three basic ways to copy, cut and paste.  Undo is also available as well in these methods

1.   Through the top toolbar, click “edit”, then click “copy” then click “paste”. (newer versions of Microsoft Office now have icons that represent these functions)
2.   Keyboard shortcuts, Ctrl-C will copy,  Ctrl-X will cut, Ctrl-V will paste.  CTRL-Z will Undo
3.   Mouse shortcuts. Right-click and you will get a menu like in the first method.  Undo is also an option in this menu

My favorite and probably the fastest way to work is with the third method.

So this is pretty simple, right?  Here are some tricks that take it a step further.  If you double-click on the word you want to copy, it will highlight the ENTIRE word.  You don’t have to click and drag your cursor.  If you TRIPLE-CLICK somewhere within the paragraph you want to copy, it will highlight the ENTIRE paragraph.  Again, this will save you from clicking and dragging your mouse.  This could be a huge benefit to those who use a touch-pad mouse on their laptop.

Here is one last tip on quick copying.  If you need to select a block of text that doesn’t start or stop at the beginning or end of a paragraph, click your mouse in front of the first word you want to copy then hold down the Shift key and then click AFTER the last word in the block you wish to copy.  It will highlight everything in between your clicks.

From there you can use one of those three methods to copy, or cut the selected text.

As for pasting, well, there isn’t much to it.  However, there is one trick you should know about.  There is something called the “Paste Special” function.  This can only be accessed from the Edit option on your toolbar (or look for a down arrow under the paste icon in newer versions of Microsoft Office).  What this will do is, if you have copied text from a webpage or any place that has HTML or special formatting, by using the Paste Special function, you can paste the information without the extra “stuff”.  It will paste just the text.  When you click Paste Special, a window will open up with a couple options, and in most cases you will want to choose “Unformatted Text”.  My suggestion, when you paste something and it doesn’t come out looking right, use the Paste Special function and see if that solves the problem.  You can try the other options within that window if your first choice doesn’t work the way you wanted.

Something as simple as copying and pasting can take up a lot of time when done multiple times throughout the course of the day.  These tricks are small time savers that when added up will definitely save you a lot of time in the end.

My one gripe with FaceBook Business (Fan) pages has been the inability to post from anything other than a computer.  Fortunately, this has been addressed and the solutions are relatively good.

There are four ways to post to your business page from a mobile device.
1. email your post to your page
2. visit your business page through your mobile browser and post from there
3. the iPhone app has the capability
4. send your update via text message

To e-mail your post, here is what you need to do.  You need to find out the e-mail address for your page.  To do so, go to your business page and then click on the Edit Page link at the top right of the screen under “Home” / “Profile” / “Account”.  From there, click on “Mobile” on the left side of the page.  You will then be shown your page’s e-mail address.  Save this information in your address book and any time you want to post an update or a photo to your page (you can’t send video or post website links yet), all you have to do is send the e-mail to the address, and put the information in the subject line.  DO NOT put information in the body of the message.

To use your mobile browser, just enter in the url of your page (ie.  www.facebook.com/sony) and you can post your information through the web interface.  If you don’t have a Vanity URL, here is a link to a post I did a while back explaining how you can get yours, http://tystechblog.com/2009/10/06/facebook-vanity-url/.  You can also find more information on Vanity URLs on FaceBook.com at http://www.facebook.com/help/?page=900.

To post via the iPhone app, install the Facebook application and login. Click the “+” sign on the top left corner and then Click “Pages” on bottom right. Select your Page — it is now a favorite on your home dock. Now click your Page’s icon. To post a photo, click the “camera” icon. To post a status update, tap the “What’s on your mind?” field.

Finally, to post via text message, within the Mobile page as reference above, click on the green “Sign Up for SMS” button on the right side of the page and follow the instructions.  You will then be given a 5 digit number to send your updates to.  At this time you can only send text via this method.  So no photos, videos or website links yet.

By being able to post photos on the fly, you can get really creative, like posting a photo of a new listing or smiling clients after a closing.  Let your imagination run wild!  Just don’t let your business page sit there and rot.

It is important to keep your business pages active in order to generate interest and business.   If you can update them while you are on the fly, you are able to stay engaged and top of mind of those following you without having to wait until you get to the office or home.  So no excuses, make your business pages come to life!

I am becoming more and more of a fan of Google Voice every day.  If you are not familiar with this FREE service, here is a quick breakdown.

Google Voice is a system that allows you to choose a local phone number and have it ring at any location (up to 5 phones at once).  You can specify which phones you want to ring when a particular person calls. So when a family member calls, you can set them up to have your mobile, your office and your home phone ring.  If a client calls, you can have just your mobile and office lines ring.  You can set a ”do not disturb” so if you are with clients, the calls will immediately go to voice mail.  The system will also transcribe all of your voice mail messages into text and e-mail them to you which includes a link to the audio recording which then can be played back if the transcription isn’t clear, forwarded via e-mail or stored for future use.

Here are the features I find most useful.  I am able to screen all of my calls so I can weed out calls that aren’t urgent and answer the calls of my clients/associates or any other important calls.  I also use the text transcription feature when I am not able to take calls, like when I am in a meeting or doctor’s office.  I can see if the message requires urgent action or if it can wait until I get free.  I can also use the system to make FREE calls to Canada.  It can make calls to other international locations for extremely low rates as well, starting at $.10/min.  (List of rates – https://www.google.com/voice/rates).   And since I am a Gmail user, the system is intelligently integrated into my Gmail website.  So I can click on phone numbers within e-mails and my contact list and talk to someone without having to dial their number.  It is also very simple to play voice mail messages within my e-mail.  There is also an incredible Google Voice application in both the iPhone and Android marketplaces.

A change that I have recently made that I really enjoy is that I now forward my cell phone voice mail to my Google Voice number.  I no longer have two places to go to check voice mails and if someone does leave me a message, it is always transcribed and saved in my Gmail e-mail account.  Now, I should note that every cell phone provider has different ways of doing this, so refer to your owner’s manual or call your provider for instructions.

There was also a BIG announcement recently made that you can now take your current phone number with you to the Google Voice service for a fee of only $20.  Be aware that you may be under contract with your current phone provider and that there may be other fees that apply.  Check with your provider for details

So if you are looking for a great way to organize your calls, I suggest signing up for the Google Voice service. 

To sign up, go to http://voice.google.com.

I have finally jumped aboard the TweetDeck bandwagon.

If you haven’t heard of TweetDeck, here is a quick explanation.   TweetDeck is a program that allows you to connect to your Twitter, FaceBook, MySpace, LinkedIN, FourSquare and other social media accounts all from ONE place.

The program is FREE and it is available on your computer, iPad, iPhone and any Android based device (not yet available for the Blackberry).   You can find it in your device’s mobile app marketplace or online at www.TweetDeck.com.

One reason why I like TweetDeck so much is because it saves me a ton of time when I want to post to multiple social media accounts.  I only go to ONE program instead of multiple programs/websites.  It also gives me the flexibility to choose which accounts I want to post to.  So if I have something personal to post, I can control which account will display it.  It works the same for business related posts. I retain total control.

Another reason why TweetDeck is useful is because it has engaged me in some social media sites that I didn’t use very much, such as Twitter.  Now, because I can link everything into one place, I am connecting with my followers that are not linked to me through other services (ie FaceBook).   From a business perspective this is HUGE because you are expanding your reach to potential customers.

Finally, TweetDeck allows me to view all of my social media streams in one place, so I can see what my friends, followers, etc are doing and posting, all in ONE place.  Again, this is another time-saving feature and it allows me to engage with more people than before.

The program is easy to set up and easy to use.  If you are looking to save even more time when engaging in social media, I recommend at least trying TweetDeck.   I’m certain you will enjoy the features and flexibility it provides.

Within the last two days I have had at least five of my FaceBook “Friends” spam my wall and made general posts with links to phishing viruses.   Now, I know that my friends did not submit these posts.  Their accounts were compromised by a virus.  These types of viruses are very dangerous because they can get in and grab your own personal information and spread itself to your list of friends via bogus links that can appear to be legitimate.  And if they fall for it, the virus continues to spread. 

To protect yourself, be very aware of the links you are about to click on that have been sent directly to you via a wall post or in your general feed.  If they sound kind of fishy or too good to be true, they probably are.  The virus links that get the most attention are the ones that claim to be programs that allow you to find out who is viewing your profile or how many times your profile has been viewed.  There is NO SUCH FEATURE AVAILABLE and there will very likely never be one.  I have noticed that the majority of the posts come from my friends that are not very active on FaceBook.  So if a friend of yours that normally doesn’t use FaceBook all that much sends you a link or posts something that seems strange.  AVOID IT.

Another sneaky virus comes via a friend request.  If you get a friend request from someone you don’t know, be very suspicious.  There are viruses that send themselves out as friend requests and they usually look disguise themselves a very attractive male or female.  Keep your hormones in check, click “ignore” and move on. 

One thing I personally do to keep myself safe online is I do not use the same password for all of the websites I visit.  I have 5 different passwords that I consistently use for five different purposes.
1. e-mail
2. banking
3. shopping or any site that requires or stores a credit card number
4. social media sites (FaceBook, YouTube, Twitter, etc)
5. everything else

It is good to change these at least once a year as well.  By keeping them separate, I don’t have to worry about someone hacking my FaceBook account, finding my password and then getting into my bank or e-mail account.

Now, back to FaceBook viruses.  If you fall victim to one of these viruses, here is what FaceBook recommends (this is directly from the FaceBook “Help” page).

1. Run anti-virus software: If your computer has been infected with a virus or with malware, you will need to run anti-virus software to remove these harmful programs and keep your information secure.
For Windows:
http://www.microsoft.com/protect/viruses/xp/av.mspx http://www.microsoft.com/protect/computer/viruses/default.mspx
For Apple/Mac OS:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1222

I personally use MalwareBytes and Avast Anti-Virus.  Both are free and can be downloaded from www.Download.com.

2. Reset your account password: If you know your password and would like to change it, you can do so from the Settings tab on the Account page. If you don’t remember your password, you can reset it by clicking here.  Be sure to use a different password than you use for other sites or services, made up of a complex string of numbers, letters, and punctuation marks that is at least six characters in length. Do not use words found in the dictionary.

If you are not able to access your account because your security information was changed, you have two options:

1. Select the “Forgot your password?” link that appears below the Password field on the FaceBook login page. An email will be sent to you with steps for completing the process.

2. Submit a report to FaceBook using the following link, follow the instructions on the page.  http://www.facebook.com/help/?page=420#!/help/?page=1025

Having a FaceBook account can be a life altering experience in many ways.  By being cautious when you are in your account, you can keep the experience positive and hassle free.   However, if your account ever does get hacked or if you accidentally click on a virus, you can resolve the issue with a few simple steps and get back into your account.  Just be a little more careful next time

If you’re anything like me, you have a thousand things going through your mind at any given moment. Trying to remember little mundane details can be challenging at times but finding ways to remember them isn’t as hard. Here are a couple of tips I follow when I’m on the fly and need to remember something.

1. Use your camera phone – Almost every phone has a built-in camera. Don’t be afraid to use it for more than National Geographic’esque shots. I recently used my camera phone to take a picture of the make and model of a computer that needs repair. I also took a photo of my parking spot in a large parking garage. I have even taken a photo of a business card and e-mailed it to someone. They say a picture can be worth a thousand words.

2. Voice recorder – Again, almost every phone has a voice recorder built-in. You can use it in many of the same ways as I have listed above, but they are little more difficult to sort through since the recordings are listed usually by the date and time they were recorded. However, when you have a long note or reminder, this is a GREAT way to record that information for use later. You can also use the voice recorder to record a telephone conversation (with the other person’s permission of course).

3. Software – Most smart phones have notepad or note taking software either pre-loaded or accessible through an application marketplace.  I prefer one that is available in the marketplace called Evernote. It is free and available on Android, iPhone and Blackberry phones. It is an ingenious way of collecting information in both text, photo and audio formats into one consolidated place. It can even take an image of something with text on it and convert it into text on your phone. This technology is kind of like what you would find on a scanner that supports OCR (Optical Character Recognition). It isn’t perfect, but it is a neat technology that is sure to improve as time goes on. And the best part of this software? It is all stored on-line so you don’t have to worry about losing your data. You can also install the desktop software version on your computer so you can access and manage your notes there as well. Oh, I almost forgot to mention, this program is FREE.

By just becoming more familiar with the tools that you have or thinking “outside the box” when using them, you can help keep your busy life and those mundane details organized.

Ok. So there is a new technology getting some serious attention in the real estate community called QR codes, which stands for Quick Response Code. These are computer generated bar codes that are intended to be put on print materials that direct users mobile phone browsers to the website of your choice.

Sample QR Code

When someone takes a picture of the QR code with special software installed on the user’s mobile phone, it will then open a web browser and take that user to the website that is linked to that code. It can direct the user to anything that has a URL like a YouTube video, website, blog, FaceBook page, Twitter page, ANYTHING. Now, most Android devices and the iPhone are being delivered with the software already installed, so the technology is not hard to obtain. The issue is that not everyone knows they have it or how to use it. However, with the growing popularity of the technology, that is going to change relatively quickly.

So how do you make your own QR code? It actually is incredibly simple since the technology is FREE!

All you need is a URL where you want to direct your customers. Again, it can be a link to just about anything. Just make sure that the website URL you use is set up in a way that it can be easily viewed on a phone’s browser, otherwise the effectiveness will be lost.

Next, you need to use a QR code service to convert the URL into a QR code image (like above). I personally like www.qurify.com because you don’t have to register and it is free. There are others that offer tracking capabilities and other features you may like, such as www.qreatebuzz.com, which is also free but you will need to set up an account. The QR code service will then provide you with a QR code image (usually a .png or .jpg file) that you can save to your computer and then insert into any of your print media.

Some suggestions for application of this technology are as follows:
- Link to a testimonial video that is posted on YouTube.
- Link to a walk-through of a listing or community that is posted on YouTube
- Link to your blog or your personal FaceBook page or Fan page
- Link to your website. (It helps if your website is optimized for viewing on a phone)

You can put these QR codes on some of the following items:
- Your car
- Your business card
- Property flyers
- Your property “For Sale” signs
- Magazine ads
- ANY print media

Your options are nearly limitless!

I do recommend that you or someone you know tests out your QR code before you print it. On your smart phone, you want to use the application called Barcode Scanner or you can download a QR code scanner from your phone’s application store if you can’t find one already installed. There are many FREE ones to choose from.

QR codes are an emerging technology that everyone can use with little to no investment. Try it out and I’m sure you will see some results.

If you want to know more about the origins of the QR code technology, just go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QR_Code.

Google has a very cool, and FREE, service available called Google Alerts. It will send you an automated e-mail alert every time a keyword or phrase that you choose is posted somewhere online. This can be a person’s name, company name, topic, whatever you want it to be. (You can set it up to e-mail you weekly if you choose.)

Here is how you do it.

1. Go to http://www.google.com/alerts
2. Enter in the search term of your choice in the box on the left (ie. John Doe, Arizona real estate, etc.)
3. Select the Type. I recommend “Everything” (Note: you will be able to change all setting if you desire)
4. Select how often you want to be notified. The more vague the term, the more results you will receive.
5. Select the Volume. I suggest “All Results”.
6. Enter in your e-mail address
7. Click “Create Alert”

You will then be sent a “Verification Email” from Google that will finalize the process. Click on the link in the e-mail to verify and you’re done.

Now, every time you get an e-mail from Google with the alert report, there are links at the bottom that will allow you to remove, manage or create another alert.

While this is a great tool to monitor information posted about you, you can also set this up to monitor your children, get information about a subdivision that you are targeting, latest government initiatives and much more. Be creative and I’m sure you will find many benefits to using this FREE service.

Almost every day there is some new tool or technology released that can change the way we live and communicate with each other. However, it is my belief that one of the oldest technologies we have today is still the best. Take a guess what it is……

The phone. And not for the reasons that you might think.

People tend to forget that the phone was originally designed to make calls. It amazes me how many people seem to have forgotten how to use this feature.

I am constantly communicating with friends, family, employees and customers. I would say that 95% of those conversations start via e-mail or text, and this is fine. However, in many situations I feel that I am able to communicate most effectively by actually picking up my phone and talking to the person. It is amazing how much can come out of those conversations. While it may take a little longer to get through the discussion, I truly believe that a much better impression is made in the end.

What really bothers me is when there is a challenge that needs to be addressed and people insist on dealing with it via e-mail or text. Especially when dealing with a customer, don’t you owe it to them to show an extra level of care to help them through a problem? And when someone is trying to call you for help, answer your phone! Customer service shouldn’t be gauged on how many e-mails or text messages you send back and forth. It should be gauged on how FEW you send.

I completely agree that sometimes e-mail or text is the best way to resolve an issue. However, pay attention to what the issue is and if it can’t be resolved in one e-mail, try using your phone. Who knows what might come of it.

Good businesses LOVE referral business. What do you want your customers to say about you when someone asks about you?

Remember that your phone is a multi-faceted communication device that allows you to listen to what the other person is saying, and how they say it. So many of the nuances of a conversation can be lost in text. Use this to your advantage. By improving the way you communicate you will likely open doors to new opportunities.