Twitter to Stop Counting Links, Photos in 140-Limit

Twitter to Stop Counting Links, Photos in 140-Limit

Tweets are about to get longer. The social network will soon stop counting users’ photos and links as part of its 140-character limit for messages.

The change, which Twitter has yet to formally announced publicly, will likely be implemented by the end of this month, Bloomberg reports.

To Twitter users, cutting out the links in the character limit could be a big savings in crafting their messages. Links take up about 23 characters, even when Twitter automatically shortens them.

Twitter’s CEO Jack Dorsey said in January that the company would be experimenting with new ways to display text on Twitter. The 140-character limit has been with Twitter since its beginnings in 2006. But the limit was initially in place so that tweets would fit all within a mobile text message. Now, with the growth of smartphones, the 140-character limit no longer seems as important, some users have argued.

“Removing the character requirement for links and photos may encourage users to add more media to their posts,” Bloomberg reports.

Twitter has seen its growth stall in recent months. In its latest quarterly update, the number of monthly active users totaled 310 million, just a 3 percent increase compared to last year.

Source: “Twitter to Stop Counting Photos and Links in 140-Character Limit,” Bloomberg (May 16, 2016) and “Links and Photos Won’t Count in Twitter’s 140 Character Limit Soon,” Business Insider (May 17, 2016)

Why You Don’t Need to Worry About Snapchat…Yet

Why You Don’t Need to Worry About Snapchat…Yet

Confused about Snapchat? You’re not alone. At the Emerging Business Issues & Technology Forum during the 2016 REALTORS® Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo in Washington, D.C., three social media superstars in the real estate space explained what the messaging app is for, and what it’s not.

First, it’s important to realize that it’s not really a social media tool, at least not in the way that Facebook or Twitter can be. Amy Smythe-Harris, Emerging Business Issues & Technology Committee chair and co-broker/owner of Urban Provision REALTORS®, explained that the app is best deployed on a one-on-one basis. “Thats why I think not a lot of people are using it in real estate,” she said. “It’s a communication tool.”

Axay Parekh, Smythe-Harris’ co-chair on the committee and the operating partner at RE/MAX Life in Tulsa, Okla., told attendees he’s seen some use Snapchat’s “Story” function to record a video that will be viewable on the platform for 24 hours. After that users can download the message and repost it to YouTube, or another social media platform where it won’t disappear after a proscribed period of time (like it will on Snapchat). But he added that he’s not seeing many people doing that, and guessed that the reason is that other social media platforms offer more engagement for the same amount of effort.

“I would rather do that as a live video on Periscope or Facebook,” Parekh said. “I get a better return on investment.”

Jacy Riedmann, vice president of Amoura Productions and member of NAR’s Social Media Advisory Board, said that this doesn’t mean that real estate pros can write the platform off forever. She made the point that Snapchat—along with all social media platforms—is constantly changing.

When it first started, Snapchat had “very private components,” Riedmann said. “Then they decided to put a business component on it, which surprised me… But all the platforms that we talk about are going to be different in two weeks, three weeks.”

Smythe-Harris also made the point that the demographics may have an effect on who uses Snapchat and when it’s appropriate to incorporate it in business communications. “Your 14- or 15-year-old sons and daughters or grandchildren are the ones using it,” she said. “That’s my target market in like, 15 years.”

—Meg White, REALTOR® Magazine

Boost Your Business With Diverse Markets

Boost Your Business With Diverse Markets

“Consumers do discriminate. They want to work with people they feel comfortable with,” Dan Forsman, president and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Georgia Properties told attendees at RISMedia’s Power Broker Forum Thursday at the REALTORS® Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo. Brokers learned about emerging market opportunities and the importance of showing cultural sensitivity in their work with clients.

Panelists offered insights about growing opportunities with Asian, Hispanic, and LGBT home buyers, including:

• Global is the new local. “When breaking into new markets and communities, you need to hire agents who speak the language” of that community, said Eddie Berenbaum, president and chief marketing officer of Washington, D.C.-area Century 21 Redwood Realty. More than just having agents who can work with a client on a transaction in their native language, “you need to do networking in their language,” he said. For many countries, it’s also essential to learn about how money transfers are handled and their economic issues.
• LGBT clients are looking for agents who are respectful and courteous. “You don’t need to be LGBT-identified,” said Jeff Berger, founder and CEO of the National Association of Gay and Lesbian Real Estate Professionals. “The community just wants to be treated fairly.” He noted that a recent market survey by NAGLREP indicated that 59 percent of LGBT millennials plan to have children, suggesting that the “family formation” prospects are trending up for this group. “Between this and the legalization of marriage equality, there will be a major impact on the real estate business,” Berger said.
• Hispanics are a young demographic. The median age of Hispanics in the United States is 29, which represents huge home-buying potential as 69 percent of new households formed in 2015 included people of Hispanic descent. “Hispanic buyers will drive the market. You’ll be left behind if you’re not involved,” said Joseph Nery, 2016 president of the National Association of Hispanic real Estate Professionals.
• The Asian-American market is larger than the Asian market, noted John Yen Wong, founding chairman of the Asian Real Estate Association of America. He noted that the life expectancy of Asians—87.5 years on average—is nine years longer than the overall population, which means that if you’re able to secure their loyalty, you can count on a sustained relationship.

—Wendy Cole, REALTOR® Magazine

Start Tough and Negotiate

Start Tough and Negotiate

At the outset if his presidency, Ronald Reagan took a hard line against the Soviet Union, calling it the evil empire and daring its leader at the time, Mikhail Gorbachev, to tear down the Berlin Wall. A few years later, the wall was down and the Cold War was effectively over.

By starting from a position of strength and then showing a willingness to compromise, the two leaders were able to advance their own country’s interests while allowing the other side to do the same, renowned journalist Bob Woodward told thousands of REALTORS® Wednesday.

“You have to give as well as take,” Woodward said at a political forum during the 2016 REALTORS® Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo.

It’s a lesson President Barack Obama could have benefited from when he took office in 2009 because he conceded too much power by downplaying the country’s military strength and pinning its security on the strength of its moral rightness, Woodward said. The result, he added, was a loss of negotiating position. “No one was afraid of him,” Woodward said, sharing what a key American ally had told him. “Toughness is absolutely essential.”

Congress might have the opposite problem: It relies solely on toughness with no compromise. Woodward quoted a leader in the House who said Republican lawmakers weigh every decision they make based on how it will play in conservative media: “Every action taken now is driven by whether they get beaten up by conservative radio.”

Woodward called on leaders to take the time to engage today’s problems in a spirit of wanting to do what’s best for the majority of people, and to have the courage to make the decisions they feel are right.

He credited former President Gerald Ford with trying to do the right thing when he pardoned disgraced President Richard Nixon shortly after taking office. At the time, Woodward said, he shared the views of many that the pardon was the result of a deal Ford had struck with Nixon. But years later, he came to believe that Ford sacrificed his political career in an attempt to heal the country by moving past Watergate to focus on other daunting problems.

With the country now preparing to vote for the next president, it’s important to learn as much about presumptive nominees Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton as possible, Woodward said, because the presidency is an office that wields more power than ever before.

He called Trump a “skilled reader of people’s reaction to himself” and someone who is always “gauging how what he’s saying is going down.” And he suggested Clinton is someone who passionately believes in the power to shape the future.

Regardless of who wins the election, Americans must never stop demanding transparency from their leaders. The next president, he said, must “understand the office is a trust that the holder gets temporarily” and has a responsibility to ask, “What do people need?”

—Robert Freedman, REALTOR® Magazine

Outdoor Trends Buyers Love

Outdoor Trends Buyers Love

Home owners crave outdoor spaces for gathering and entertaining, which is why it’s important to highlight your listings’ outdoor spaces.

RISMedia recently highlighted some of the following outdoor trends:

1. Natural wood and stone: Natural wood and stone features are popular today, even those made of faux materials like vinyl. “This design trend can make an outdated home look modern on the exterior, causing more buyers to stop and schedule a showing,” the RISMedia article notes.

2. Privacy: Home owners love outdoor space but they also like their privacy. Make the outdoor space more private. Place walls around the pergola, enclose a gazebo, or use tall shrubbery to create more backyard privacy.

3. Lighting: Good outdoor lighting helps make a property appear more inviting and improves the security. Make sure there are plenty of lights on the backyard or deck. Solar lighting can be an inexpensive way to add more lights, if the wiring isn’t in place. “A well-lit deck lends itself to summer barbecues and parties,” the article notes.

4. Low-maintenance landscaping: Buyers tend to be drawn to low maintenance. Try using perennials, which can add a splash of color, but don’t need to be replanted every year. Also, mulch and rock can help keep weeds away while also enhancing the space’s look. Stone walkways and decorative items can further spruce up a lawn, without adding in extra maintenance.

5. Fire pits and fireplaces: A fire pit can provide an outdoor spot for easy entertaining. Stage it with chairs all around and ready for making s’mores.

6. Outdoor structures: To enhance a backyard, a gazebo or pergola can go a long way to help making the space more inviting. “These outdoor structures boost the function, and therefore increase your home’s value,” the article notes.

Source: “8 Outdoor Trends That Attract Buyers,” RISMedia (May 10, 2016)

Top Sales Pros Say Tech Tools Are Critical

Top Sales Pros Say Tech Tools Are Critical

Sales professionals say relationship-building technology tools can have the highest impact on their revenue, according to the results of a new survey conducted by Market Cube on behalf of LinkedIn.

Seventy-seven percent of the top salespeople surveyed say they rely on sales intelligence tools. What’s more, the highest performing salespeople are 24 percent more likely to attribute their success to the use of sales technology tools, according to the survey, “The State of Sales in 2016.”

The most important sales technology tools the sales professionals cited as using in being able to grow their revenues were from relationship-building tools, sales intelligence tools, CRMs, productivity apps, and e-mail tracking tools.

“Today, building relationships by providing value from the first interaction is a requirement for winning new business,” according to the report. “As marketers turn to software to generate more qualified leads, sales organizations have begun to recognize the value of technology to create human connection at scale. In fact, salespeople cite the ability to build stronger relationships with prospects and customers, and the ability to close more deals and generate more revenue as the top two benefits of sales technology.”

Ninety percent of the top sales professionals say they’re using social selling tools, used to build and nurture relationships with prospects and customers through social networks, such as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Sixty-two percent of employees at large companies say that social selling enables them to “build stronger, more authentic relationships with customers and prospects,” according to the study.

The study revealed the following breakdown in usage of some of the top selling tools:

• CRM: 33% of users spend 3 to 5 hours per week using CRM tools (24% spend more than 10 hours per week using CRM tools)
• Sales intelligence: 33% of users spend 3 to 5 hours per week using these tools
• Social selling: 28% spend 3 to 5 hours per week (20.9% spend 5 to 10 hours per week)
• Productivity apps: 30% spend 3 to 5 hours per week
• E-mail tracking: 26% spend 3 to 5 hours per week

Source: “The State of Sales in 2016,” LinkedIn (2016)