Western Mass Homes Lesley Lambert

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An amazing Tweetup getaway at the Beachmere Inn

beachmere inn ogunquit meI love Western Massachusetts, but I also love getting away and traveling sometimes.

This weekend Morriss and I took advantage of a destination tweetup at the Beachmere Inn in Ogunquit, Maine.  After an enjoyable three hour drive we arrived at this lovely inn on the ocean.  I have never been to the shore in the winter and was unsure how enjoyable the beach in winter could be.  I was so pleasantly surprised to see that the snow made lovely shadows and contrasts along the shore providing a new view, a uniquely lovely vista.beachmere inn ocean view

More enjoyable than the views was the sight of some wonderful twitter friends that I don’t get to see often enough.  It was wonderful to be able to hug and chat and visit with Dana Moos, Ann Cummings, Jim Lee, Monika and Jay McGillicuddy, Christine Pilch and her boyfriend, Tony.

friends at beachmere inn tweetup

It was a great pleasure to meet the innkeeper, Sarah, and hear the story of how she is the fifth generation of innkeepers and the third generation running the Beachmere Inn.  As part of her tweetup incentives she offered discounted room rates on rooms with amazing views, discounted spa services, entertainment and special meals.  They have an adorable pub with attentive bar tenders and a Kindle lending program, too.

Morriss and I missed the Friday night dinner that sounded wonderful, but enjoyed a great meal with 13 other tweetup guests at a local restaurant, Bintliff’s.  While on the way out some #twitterqueens friends, Ann and Monika and I got a great picture in a throne! twitterqueens on their throne

After a great meal, great conversations and a wonderful night’s rest, Morriss and I awoke to a stunningly beautiful, sunny morning.  We enjoyed breakfast with our friends and then took Sarah up on her offer to allow us to use the inn’s snowshoes to take a walk along the Marginal Way.  It was breathtaking and refreshing and Morriss and I both enjoyed our first snowshoe experience immensely.  Morriss liked it so much that he blazed a heart into the field in the courtyard of the inn, or maybe the heart was for me.

snowshoeing at the Beachmere innwinter view from marginal way, ogunquit me

I hope we can return to the Beachmere Inn another time.  Many thanks to Sarah at the Beachmere Inn for organizing such a wonderful event!

snow shoe snow heart
Snow Shoe Snow Heart

Amazon.com or the Grinch?

So, every year I do the bulk of my Christmas shopping online and most of it is usually with Amazon.com.

This year I placed what I consider to be a large order of holiday gifts right after Thanksgiving.

Some items came right away, but I noticed most of the big gifts for my kids were missing. Last night I contacted Amazon.com and was told that the items were assumed “lost in transit”. If they knew they were lost, why wasn’t I notified?

This video explains further: (be sure to watch the second and third videos below this for the update, too)

So, I spent a loooong time on the phone with Amazon this morning and here are my follow up thoughts on the matter:

So, I am left to conclude that either Amazon isn’t reading Twitter or they simply do not care:

Disney Schwag for Having Klout

When I was first introduced to Klout, I wasn’t very intrigued. Yes, it is fun to feel like a “big shot” on Twitter, but what does a high score give you? Outside of a moment of ego, nothing that I could ascertain.

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.
Klout box
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.
Klout swag from Disney

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.

QR Codes for Real Estate and Generation Y

Last week I was sharing my new real estate business cards with some teenage dance students of mine. I give them an annual speech on driving while impaired or getting in the car with anyone who isn’t fit to drive and always hand out my card for them to keep in their wallet for an emergency.
Mini moo cards w QR code
As they were admiring my cute new Mini Moo Cards which feature photography of Western Massachusetts scenery, several of them exclaimed, “Cool! You have a QR Code on here!”.    Another said, “If I scan it where does it take me?”.    Still another announced she was off to try scanning it that very moment.

This was so refreshing, as I usually have to do a lot of teaching when people in Western Massachusetts encounter my QR Codes on promotional materials. I was thrilled to see that the young generation has embraced this technology because it says to me that it will reach mainstream use eventually.

With large companies like Target using codes in their holiday catalogues and local vendors featuring them on display racks, I believe that soon most average consumers will have at least a working understanding of what QR Codes are and how they work. They may not use the technology, but if they understand why other people want to use it then they will see the benefits in using a real estate agent in Western Massachusetts who is integrating QR Codes into her marketing.

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Inman’s Agent Reboot Boston

It isn’t every day that you can share the stage with two great women at a wonderful conference, but today was that sort of day for me. I was honored to be asked by Inman to present at their Agent Reboot in Boston today. Gracing the stage beside me in my first presentation was fellow #twitterqueens founder and social media innovator, Diane Guercio and in the second it was my privilege to interview Sherry Chris, President and CEO of Better Homes and Gardens.

#agentrb Boston w Diane Guercio & Sherry Chris

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:

Agent reboot boston lesley and diane

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.

Managing Content & Reputation Online #agentrb

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