Social media marketing is often seen as the quick fix for marketing your struggling business.

Obtain some Facebook likes, even buy some fake Twitter followers, tell customers you are the best company in the world in your blog articles and start blasting away. The cavalry will then show up on white horses and save the day.

The truth.

It takes time, effort and persistence.

The real premise of social media is adding value with content that engages your customers which inspires, educates, informs and maybe even entertains. This means forgetting about “you” and thinking about “them”

This means adding value to your audience by solving their problems with content that includes “How To” articles,white papers and ebooks on your blog and website.

Small businesses see the potential of tapping into Social Media. They come with different expectations that are built on the foundations of traditional marketing which include one way conversations, email blasts with only sales messages and  not willing to listen to negative comments.

Here are three common mistakes you should avoid with your social media marketing.

The number of homes listed for sale today is lower than it’s been in a decade. Home buyers are scouring Web sites for property listings and when they find a home they like, they often find themselves in an expensive, stressful bidding war. What they don’t know is that they’re not seeing as many as 15 to 20 percent of the homes for sale in their markets.

This is a critical time for buyers. Mortgage rates may never be so low again in our lifetimes. Though home prices have risen ten percent or so over the past year, they are far from the peak levels of 2007 and relatively affordable. Like mortgage rates, home prices have only one direction to go: up.

However, inventories or home for sale are down 40 percent or more from two years ago. Selections of homes, especially homes in the mid-range or entry-level price brackets. Even foreclosures are experiencing price increases.

You might do all that you can to find out about homes for sale in your price range. You can sign up to be notified by email when new listings come on stream. What you don’t know is that you aren’t looking at all the homes for sale. You are still going to miss one out of seven homes for sale.

That’s because almost all listing sites rely primarily on one source for their information: the nation’s 900 multiple listing services. Multiple listing services are databases of homes for sale. Most are owned and controlled by local Realtor organizations and only members of MLSs can list properties on them. The first MLSs were established 125 years ago and they have become more powerful with the emergence of real estate listings sites that have made it possible for consumers to see their listings. Despite the dominance of the MLS system, tens of thousands of homes are sold each year outside of it.

There are four kinds of homes for sale that don’t make it onto the MLS: pocket listings, for sale by owners, closely held transactions and expired listings.

Orlando home sales prices in March were up 22 percent from a year earlier ¿ the largest year-over-year increase since 2006.

By Mary Shanklin, Orlando Sentinel

7:46 p.m. EDT, April 15, 2013

The Orlando area’s 2-year-old climb up from the depths of the nationwide housing slump has been accelerating lately, with the median home price in the core market rising 22 percent in the past year alone, a new report shows.

The midpoint price for a house in the core market, mainly Orange and Seminole counties, was $140,000 in March — up 5.2 percent from a month earlier and 21.7 percent from a year earlier, according to the report released Monday by the Orlando Regional Realtor Association.

That’s the largest year-over-year increase in the Realtor group’s monthly median price since February 2006, close to the height of the home-buying frenzy.

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Winter Park real estate agent David Welch said the market is so heated right now that one of his prospective buyers offered cash on three houses — for more than the asking price each time — yet in each case was beaten by other buyers.

“Every sale I have had for the last nine months was in a multiple-offer situation,” Welch said. “You almost have to look at it by asking: How much over the asking price do I have to offer?”

Photos: Florida’s worst natural disasters

The Orlando area’s median price hit bottom in January 2011 at $94,900. But it has risen almost 50 percent since then, including an increase of almost 30 percent just in the 15 months since January 2012.

Among the market pressures driving up prices: a dwindling inventory of listings and an influx of hedge funds purchasing distress properties.

One of the most dramatic turns in the local market has been that continuing decline in inventory: Last month the core market had a 2.6 month supply of homes based on the current pace of sales — its smallest supply since 2005, which was the Orlando Realtors’ single-busiest year on record for existing-home sales.

Orlando real estate broker Kari Gann, who by her own reckoning has purchased, fixed up and sold more than 100 properties in the past 20 years, said Monday that hedge funds have now made it impossible to find suitable houses because they are buying up so many of them.

And just as Orlando prices spiraled downward from 2007 through 2010 because of a flood of foreclosures and short-sale properties selling for below-market prices, housing prices now are experiencing hyperinflation because foreclosure sales are dwindling and more “regular houses” are selling for the going, market rates.

“Normal sales traditionally carry a higher price tag than foreclosures and short sales,” said Steve Merchant, chairman of the Orlando Realtors group and a broker at Global Realty International. “For example, in March the median price for normal sales is $173,590, while the median for foreclosures is $96,000 and for short sales is $110,000.”

Of the 2,605 sale completed by the local association’s members in March, half were houses that were not in distress. The number of normal sales has increased 50 percent from a year ago, while the number of short sales and foreclosures have dwindled.

The average interest rate paid by Orlando-area homebuyers in March was 3.65 percent, the first month-to-month increase since April 2012. Houses that sold in March were listed on the market for an average of 80 days, which is about two weeks less than the listing window for houses that sold a year ago.

In addition, March sales prices were only 4.1 percent below the asking prices, on average, which is slightly less negotiating room than buyers had a year ago.

mshanklin@tribune.com or 407-420-5538

Spring Cleaning: 6 Ways to Declutter Your Closet

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byecosalon April 12, 2013
Categories: Environment, Fashion, Lifestyle.

By Rowena Ritchie, EcoSalon

Get to grips with your disorganized, cluttered and overflowing closet this season. Chances are you already have some of spring’s essential looks tucked away… if only you could find them.

If your closet is anything like mine, it’s a minefield. Every time I open the door something explodes out at me. As a fashion journalist who writes about ways we can enjoy style without excessive consumption, the plain truth is that my closet is bursting at the seams and yet I’m wearing the same old pair of jeans, boots and sweater I’ve been wearing all winter.

Just as the warmer temperatures and longer days gently awaken our spring spirits, the awareness for a seasonal closet clean-out becomes explicitly clear. Now’s the time to devote a few hours to tackling your closet and in the process, set yourself up for a year of wearing wisely.

Because chances are, like me, you already have some of spring’s essential pieces tucked away in your wardrobe. And as an ethical style seeker you know that the most sustainable fashion is the clothing you actually wear more than anything new you are tempted to buy. So save your money and prolong the life of our landfills with my 6-step guide for creating an uncluttered and organized closet you can shop guilt-free and without ever having to leaving the comfort of your home.

1. Take Inventory. This is a great opportunity to get intimate with all the clothes you do have and gain awareness of the items you tend to habitually overbuy. I was shocked to count 15 black t-shirts in my wardrobe, I can safely strike the need for a new one from my list for quite a while. The goal is to whittle down your closet to only the things that you absolutely love. Try everything on and be brutally honest with yourself about whether it still fits or suits your body shape. The rule is if it doesn’t look 100 percent great on you, let it go.

2. Restyle. Acquaint your self with this season’s color trends and silhouettes and then spend some time putting some new outfits together from your newly culled wardrobe. Perhaps all you need is a pair of chunky fishnets and some booties to reinvigorate all those adorable tea dresses you collected in the ’90s? Would one new blazer in this season’s juicy tangerine shade instantly update your office separates?  Devising a list of exactly what you need for the upcoming season will make shopping for those key pieces so much easier, and spare you from the kind of unfocused shopping that is now cluttering up your closet.

3. Redesign. Take a fresh look at what you have that fits, but if it’s just ho-hum as far as this season’s trends are concerned, get in touch with your inner Project Runway contestant and consider what pieces can be reworked to inject some new life into them. Re-imagine that basic grey marl sweatshirt by slashing a sexier neckline. Could you cut off the arms of an old denim jacket to make this season’s must-have denim vest? For the scissor adverse, tell your local dry cleaner that does alternations your ideas and see if it’s something they can do.

4. Mend or Attend to. Are there any rips, holes or fraying hemlines that need attention? Buttons missing?  These are things that can easily be done at home with the aid of a basic alterations guide, if necessary. Broken zippers and setting in tailored sleeves should be left to an expert. Stains can be lifted with DIY natural solutions. Even those perspiration stains on silk that the dry cleaner couldn’t get out are worth a shot at. Mix vinegar and water in equal parts and pour it on a piece of soft cloth, dab it on the stain and then rinse with warm water, I’ve found this method can be successful even on stains that have been set in for years. If the item is truly beyond repair, consider cutting it into scraps to make quilts, pillowcases, rags or shopping bags.

5. Consign/Sell or Donate. The high-quality, designer or vintage pieces that are in great condition but just don’t fit or never really suited you, should be resold or consigned. There are a number of apps that allow you to do this now online. For everything else, take it down to your local Goodwill, Salvation Army or thrift store. The IRS allows you to deduct a fair market value for your used clothes if you itemize your deductions on your tax return.

6. Take Care Of What You Have. Savvy style lovers know the best way to save money and look great is to keep the clothes they own and love in tip-top shape. Plastic dry cleaner bags don’t allow your clothes to breathe, which leads to color fading and mildew. Replace with home-sewn muslin bags or ethically made options like Jendarlng bags. My favorite non-toxic moth repellant is Moth Away, these herbal moth repellent sachets are formulated with 100 percent natural ingredients and are highly-effective.

If you need more information or want to get help , check out list of services from House Cleaning Houston, TX – Top Houston Maid Service – Ready Set Maids.

Related Articles:

HOW TO CREATE A SUSTAINABLE CLOSET

EASY TIPS TO MAKE YOUR CLOTHES LAST LONGER

AUTHOR INTERVIEW: ELIZABETH CLINE OF OVERDRESSED: THE SHOCKINGLY HIGH COST OF CHEAP FASHION

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About ecosalon

EcoSalon is the web’s leading conscious culture and fashion publication for women. Featuring style, design, life and culture, the arts, food, sex and relationships, EcoSalon is the first and finest general interest website for the modern green woman.

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