Coming to Austin for Mega Camp, another event or just to visit KW…and just not sure where or what to eat? Well, we are here to help! Austin is full of amazing restaurants and there are so many choices. To make it a little easier on our guests, we created a Food Guide on Foodspotting.

So, first things first, what is Foodspotting? Foodspotting is a unique local guide where you can find and visually see what people have “Spotted” at restaurants–to see what looks good to you or discover something new. Maybe you would never try the Pasta with Clams, but it looks so good that you can’t pass it up (that’s me)! It is a very fun way to visually see what looks tasty, instead of reading through reviews. Basically it is social media heaven for foodies!

There are two ways to participate on Foodspotting: Continue reading ‘KW is Foodspotting Across Austin!’

5 tools to maximize your social influence.

Maximizing your social influence doesn’t have to take a lot of time or money. In fact, spending 20 minutes a day Tweeting, Facebooking and general stalking is all you need to keep the conversation going. Here’s a quick rundown of a few popular social media management tools that can help you build more buzz in minimal time and for less buck.

TweetDeck: TweetDeck allows users to monitor and manage what’s happening across multiple social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and foursquare all in one powerful and flexible custom-based dashboard. Free to use, the tool is (as the name indicates) best for viewing and managing multiple Twitter feeds, searches and mentions.

HootSuite: HootSuite is another social media dashboard for managing Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Wordpress and many of the other popular social networking sites. HootSuite’s feature to fame is its ability to schedule future posts and display statistics for your Tweets. For the agent on-the-go having your tweets go out at peak times of the day and being able to monitor analytics to tweak your strategy is an excellent asset to your overall Social Media plan. HootSuite also lets you manage multiple contributors and share data access without sharing passwords which is an added benefit for individuals who might have many team members posting.

SproutSocial: SproutSocial allows businesses to effieciently and effectively manage and grow their social presence across channels and turn social connections into loyal customers. The online application integrates well with Twitter, Facebook Pages, Yelp, LinkedIn, Foursquare and other networks where potential clients are engaging with your brand. While SproutSocial does come with a monthly fee (See Pricing Breakdown), its slick interface and integration features, including Google Analytics on one single dashboard make it a great option.

Continue reading ‘Manage your social brand on a budget’

By Laura Price, Marketing And Communications Specialist, Keller Williams Realty International

There sure was a lot of dialogue on Google+ last week. Daily – probably hourly – articles were posted to the Internet from geeks, Google freaks and the average user weighing in on +Circles, +Sparks, +Hangouts and +Huddles and now Google+ Games.

Here are some of the most useful ones, from general perspective and proactive tips!

TechCrunch – It’s Fun, And it Looks Good – Now For the Hard Part

Google+ Unveiled: 9 Things You Need to Know

20 Google Tips to Enhance your Google+ Experience

Zuckerberg on Google+: It’s Validation of Facebook’s Vision

Google+ and Facebook are not CRM Tools

Usage is continuing to go up as more people jump on.  Some people are using it on a personal level. Some in a professional capacity. And some people’s personal profile is also their professional one – think +ChrisBrogan and +MarkZuckerberg.

Even in just a short time, the early adopters are attempting to establish themselves as the Google+ heavyweights, offering more advanced tips for those who have the basics down.

But for those who are just getting their invite and are interested in learning more about the various features, think of the next several posts as your Google+ 101 Guide. We’ll be covering each feature separately to help you, at the very least, have a robust profile and several Circles of people.  As a disclaimer – there are a lot of excellent tutorials out there – this is just one of them.

This week we’re covering +Circles.

In case you missed it last week, +Circles enable you to organize contacts into groups for sharing across various Google products and services. Although other users can view the list of people in your collection of Circles, they cannot view the names of those Circles. They also made it very simple for you to organize your contacts into Circles with an intuitive drag-and-drop motion.

Google has already created a few +Circles for you including, Friends, Family, Business and Acquaintances. Here’s how you create your own +Circle.

STEP 1: Click on the Circles Icon in your Google+ Dashboard toward the middle of your Homepage.

Continue reading ‘Make Your Google+ Circles Go Round’

By: Laura Price, Marketing and Communications Coordinator, Keller Williams Realty International

“Toto, I have a feeling we‘re not in Kansas anymore”

Whenever I login to Google+ I feel a little like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. Upon entering, Google’s new social space has the feeling of a familiar world but things around me are suddenly different.

I’m intrigued. I’m curious. And frankly, I’m also a little confused. Hrm.

Why am I here? Where should I go next? Who should I take with me? What the heck does it mean to +1 something?

What’s great about Google+ is that it is new and different, yet reminiscent of our general social interactions. What’s challenging about Google+ is that it’s new, different and adds a whole new layer of complication to our online, socially-driven lives.

What we need here is a Google+ Yellow Brick Road! Let’s get skipping friends. (And put the Wizard of Oz allusion to rest).

WHAT IS Google+?

For those of you who have been stuck in Kansas (you thought I was done!) for the past month, Google+ – also known as Google Plus, or G+ – is Google’s largest attempt at a social networking site. It integrates with other social services such as Google Profiles and Google Buzz and incorporates several new services within the platform including:

Continue reading ‘Should you care about Google+’