NAR’s Center for Realtor® Technology recently released a
survey detailing just how Realtors® stay connected. The 2011 REALTOR Technology Survey Report revealed the most valuable tools Realtors® used over the past year; these included tablets like the iPad and Galaxy tablet. I am using the iPad to work on the fly, sign documents, make presentations and I can’t imagine doing my job without one, now!

These products were found to keep respondents connected, save time
and increase productivity. Realtors® also reported using
Smartphones frequently. Currently 35 percent own an Android
smartphone, followed by 28 percent who own the iPhone and
18 percent who own a Blackberry. I switched from a Blackberry to the iPhone and never looked back. The connectivity and sheer power of the applications on the iPhone make it the hands down best purchase in my business.

These physical tools combined with my use of social networks and my blog have changed the way that I find clients (or should I say my clients find me) and the way I communicate. I am now available to clients in whatever medium they prefer: phone, text, email, tweet, facebook message, skype, etc.

This allows me to be available more often to more people and to better service clients who might not live in the immediate area or who, like me, have an insane and tight schedule.

This year Park Square Realty recognized my efforts in using the internet and social media to grow my business by pronouncing me a Master of Social Media.

I don’t know about Master…it changes too often to really master it, but I am a pretty advanced explorer!

If you want to find me, I use my name (Lesley Lambert) as my profile name on all platforms. Google my name and you should get more than you asked for (I hope it is all good!).

I am proud to say that I am a PodCamp Western MA veteran as I have attended all four of them! These aren’t the only camp/unconferences that I attend, in fact, I have been to over a dozen other camps.

That said, PodCamp Western MA (#pcwm) is always my favorite and PodCamp Western MA 4 was my favorite of them all.

I remember distinctly my first #pcwm in March of 2009. I was really nervous about going to the function and asked Morriss (who I didn’t know at all besides a few tweets) if I could go for part of the day. He assured me that I could, but cautioned me that I wouldn’t want to leave early. Well, he was (as he typically is) very right about not wanting to leave. As soon as I got acclimated to the event I knew I was home and I loved the energy and spontaneous nature of PodCamp immediately. That first year I learned more about the internet and social media in that day than I had all of the year previous.

For the second and third years of #pcwm, I was more comfortable and played a more active role in the facilitating of the event. I now had friends that I was excited to see and the energy and excitement was still there, but I didn’t feel that I was being challenged or learning quite as much. I figured that was natural, as I spend a great deal of time researching and teaching social media now, so it is harder to find topics that I don’t have a pretty good grasp on.

This year I went to the event with the expectation and desire to help run the day so that the new people could have an amazing experience. I kept my expectations at that role and BOY was I blown away with how wrong I was!

Session after session I was being shown new ideas and tools that I hadn’t explored in the same fashion as the presenter.

David Packman did an amazing presentation about video and podcasting that I enjoyed completely and learned a ton from. I have been doing video for over four years now and thought I had a better grasp on YouTube than I really do. His insights were powerful and I can’t wait to implement some of his great ideas.

Other sessions gleaned great thoughts and I had a fun time leading a discussion about Pinterest that opened up some people’s awareness and afforded an opportunity to hear from all types of professionals as to how they are using the platform.

Morriss and I were interviewed by Channel 40 on how we met at PodCamp and the reporter was the first one to notice that I was wearing Twitter bird earrings:

But by far, my favorite session of the day was the last session. While standing at the schedule board my good friend Christine Pilch Mancini came over and I asked her what session she was attending. None of them were resonating with either of us and she and I decided that we were going to spur of the moment create a new session. Based on her idea that it would be great to brainstorm and crowd share with other advanced social media users, we decided to call our session the Advanced Social Media Sharing session. We claimed a room and tweeted out on the #pcwm hashtag where we were and what we were doing.

Our good friend, Ron Miller, kicked off the session with a discussion on Evernote, but soon the ideas and sharing was hitting maximum speed and we were all wow-ing each other with our tips, secrets, favorite sites and expertise. This session was the core of what a PodCamp should be and was the best session I have ever attended at a camp. I firmly believe we should close every PodCamp in the future with this session.

I left the event (and went to the after party, of course!) feeling so energized and excited by the new ideas and tools that I had learned. PodCamp Western MA 4 was by far the best social media event that I have attended and I am so glad to have been there to experience the potent charge that a room full of excited learners provides.

We geek types can really have a good time talking tools!

Lately, though, I have been missing the “Twitter of old”. When I first joined Twitter, it was an underground social media experiment of sorts. It wasn’t indexed on Google and most people had barely heard of it. That lent itself to allowing those of us pioneers to get some time to mingle. When I first began, it was exciting to have all these new people following me. I soon realized, however, that while the number of followers can fool you into feeling popular, many of these people never actually TALKED to me. I gravitated towards others who wanted to socialize and converse and have made some powerful and amazing relationships (including meeting my boyfriend @mmpartee).

Twitter has always been my favorite social media platform because it is quick and agile and everyone’s experience is defined by who they follow, so each stream is unique. That being said, I have been spending less time on Twitter and couldn’t quite put a finger on why.

Last night I figured it out. I tweeted that I missed when people on Twitter tweeted at me with conversation and not sales. I longed for the day when the stream was more than an endless pitch of blog posts and ponzi scams. Was I ever gratified when out of blue several people started actual conversations with me. Many of them are “old twitter friends” and several were people I had never chatted with. I was energized and excited that Twitter could still hold that positive result for me.

I tossed out that we should create a movement to take back the “Twitter of old” by committing to strike up at least three conversations on Twitter a day.

I added that I thought we should use the hashtag #3Tweets to be accountable to each other.

My plan includes doing some Twitter pruning for the first time ever. I never really felt the need to thin the herd before, but after last night, I feel like it is time to create space for conversations with people who want to engage.

Of course I use social media venues, including Twitter to share my blog posts and business ventures. BUT….I still talk with people most of the time. If you are using Twitter as one neverending commercial sales pitch, say goodbye to me now while you still can.

If you feel the same way as I do, drop in on #3Tweets and share the conversations! I am @LesleyLambert, Twittervangelist!

It is no secret that I am a big fan of all things social media and technology in real estate. Using location-based applications is no exception. I have been using applications like Brightkite, Foursquare and Gowalla for a couple of years now in Western MA and have spent a lot of time thinking about how I can utilize them to help with exposure in the local Western MA real estate market.

Last summer I wrote a post on this topic for Agent Genius magazine geared toward sharing some of my thoughts on how location based applications like Foursquare can be used in a marketing and branding sense to expose real estate agents to a new market.

I was beyond flattered when REALTOR Magazine emailed me and asked if they could use some of my post as a quote in an upcoming article on the same subject. Yesterday my broker presented me with the magazine and when I saw the article I was even MORE excited because I shared space in the story with Todd Carpenter, NAR’s social media manager. Todd and I have had the opportunity to meet a few times and I am so honored to be quoted in the same story!

If you want to take a look at the REALTOR Magazine story, click here. I am so proud to see my quote followed up by says Lesley Lambert, a sales associate with Park Square Realty in Westfield, Mass!

If you are interested in learning more about social media, technology or location-based applications you can contact me. If you want a REALTOR who is using new media techniques to help her clients achieve their home-ownership dreams then definitely contact me!

It got me to thinking, I wonder what other people think of automated DM’s?

Well, what do you think?

I was curious when I got an offer from Disney based on my Klout score. Because of my status in social media, Disney was offering to send me a free sample of products related to their new movie “Tangled”.

I filled out the form and wondered what type of things would come and then forgot all about it, until I found a box from Klout on my steps today.

Weeee! Goodies in a box. I love getting items in the mail, makes it feel like my birthday. Upon opening the box I was so impressed with the quality and quantity of the items included.

A t-shirt, a soundtrack, silly bands and a stuffed toy…wow! My daughters are going to be so excited about this stuff.

Disney, you get it. You really do. Because now I am writing this blog post that I will share with my social media sphere AND I will take my daughters to the movie because we are super excited about it now.

Hey, sometimes it pays to have Klout.

After a 5am start from a very dark and cold Western MA and then biting my nails through an hour of Boston traffic, I arrived at the conference in time for my first presentation with Diane, “From Clicks to Closings”. Diane and I discussed how we use social media to find potential clients and how we turn those leads into closed sales. It was a short session and went by too fast, but I love presenting with Diane, we work well together. Updated to add this slide deck:

My next visit to the stage was to discuss “Managing Content and Reputation Online”. I led with the slide deck seen below and wrapped up with a Q & A with the lovely Sherry Chris who shared some great advice and perspective from the corporate and broker position.

I was sad to have to leave at lunchtime, but was so glad that I attended and was able to meet Agent Reboot emcee (and long time social media friend I never met) Daniel Rothamel, Madelyn Mock (congrats on running a fabulous event and thanks for inviting me!), Jim Lee (congrats on your engagement), the ever lovely Ann Cummings and the ever charming Gerry “Realtyman” Bourgois.

If you were at Inman’s Agent Reboot and had questions for me, please feel free to reach out!

THAT was my favorite part of Pod Camp Boston 5.

I love un-conferences, I love the energy, the opportunity and the people. I love hearing smart people share their wit and wisdom and I especially love the opportunity to share some of what I know.

This conference was especially good for several reasons.

#1- I got to go with my sweetie, Morriss Partee.

#2- I got to teach advanced Twitter to rockstars.

#3- I met some extremely smart people who happen to have boobs.

I want to spend some time with the third item on my list: the #smartboobs.

On Saturday morning I saw a tweet in the #pcb5 stream from Rakiesha Chase @rawrmeans143 who said she wanted to put together a “Girl Power” session during lunch. I was intrigued enough to commit and after lunch I wandered out to the patio to meet the other women who were curious, too. It was a small, but wonderful gathering of about 7 women and our conversation was stimulating and fun, but far too brief. We decided that we would re-convene the following day, but start earlier and allow time to really broaden our conversations. Rakiesha had initiated a conversation about a Twitter article about women that she had seen and we all agreed was insulting and limiting.

The following day we started to gather, and gather and gather. People just kept coming in (men and women alike) until the room was full with both our original group plus lots and lots more. This lively and intelligent conversation was by far the highlight of #pcb5 for me. How invigorating to be in a room with so many intelligent, caring, forward thinking people! They gave me the opportunity to tell the #TwitterQueens story (xox), too! We didn’t all agree (which is part of the fun), but everyone was respectful and open. This engaging conversation was both enlightening and entertaining and has given me many things to consider and work on. If you want to meet these power house PodCampers you can go on Twitter and search the hashtag: #smartboobs…designated by Tamsen McMahon. After someone commented in the session that we are smart and just happen to have boobs, this hashtag was quickly adopted by the crowd.

While I did attend sessions and learned lots from soooooo many brilliant and generous minds, my favorite parts of Pod Camp Boston 5 happened out of the sessions. In addition to “girl power”, there was dinner with a small, but special group of people and lots of fabulous hallway chats. I made real friends with several people who I found exciting and wonderful and I can’t wait to grow our little seedling friendship into one big, giant, social media tree.

A final thought. At the opening of the camp Chris Brogan and Chris Penn challenged us to ask for the help we needed and to give help where we could. This isn’t just a good Pod Camp thought, this is a great way of being. So I will close by telling my Pod Camp friends and readers of this blog that I am here for you. I know a lot about real estate, quite a bit about social media, I can teach dance and am a terrific listener. Let me know if you need me and I will do the same.

Steve Sherlock and I running the registration at #pcwm2

The real energy of a camp is the opportunity to meet new people (and revisit old friends) who share a common interest and a goal of sharing their knowledge with other attendees. The meetings started pre-camp for me via Twitter and the #pcb5 hashtag and was further facilitated by Chris Penn’s “Follow Friday” list today (I followed all of you!), but I really can’t wait to meet you in person!

As a REALTOR in Western Massachusetts, I have been exploring the use of social media for business and personal growth for a few years now. I love the fact that this journey is never-ending as the new media space expands, changes and adapts to the needs of the users. I have had an amazing journey with social media and am ever grateful for the gifts it has brought me.

I look forward to facilitating a discussion on “All Things Twitter” on Sunday. I love to discuss how I have utilized Twitter to meet people in my area who have become my friends and clients (and a boyfriend). I especially enjoy talking about “Taking Twitter Face to Face” and how to move off the online world and into a real meeting.

The thing I most look forward to is sharing discussions on things like Twitter with others who embrace the same ideals of networking and learning something new from them. If you are going to be there, be sure to say hello!

The article featured alumni who are using social media to further their careers and enhance their business.

It is wonderful to be included in this WSU publication and to have an opportunity to share how I am using social media to help sell homes in Western Massachusetts.

My English degree from Westfield State University helps me with writing and creating my marketing plans. As a real estate agent at Park Square Realty in Westfield MA 01085. I enjoy combining traditional marketing with online and social media marketing to help my clients sell their homes and help buyers to find their next home.

Thank you to my good friends at WSU for including me in this article!