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Westchester NY Homes

Instagram Marketing: How to Get Started With Instagram | South Salem Real Estate

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Do you use Instagram for your business?

Are you wondering how Instagram can help with your marketing?

To learn how to get started with Instagram marketing, I interview Sue B. Zimmerman for this episode of the Social Media Marketing podcast.

More About This Show

Social Media Marketing Podcast w/ Michael Stelzner

 

The Social Media Marketing podcast is a show from Social Media Examiner.

It’s designed to help busy marketers and business owners discover what works with social media marketing.

The show format is on-demand talk radio (also known as podcasting).

In this episode, I interview Sue B. Zimmerman, who is known as theInstagram Gal. Sue helps businessesuse Instagram to find their ideal customers. She’s used Instagram herself to increase traffic to her Cape Cod retail boutique by 40% in only 12 months.

Sue shares the strategy behind her Instagram success.

You’ll learn how to take advantage of using photos and short videos and how tomake the most of hashtags.

Share your feedback, read the show notes and get the links mentioned in this episode below!

Listen Now

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

You can also subscribe via iTunes, RSS, Stitcher or Blackberry.

Here are some of the things you’ll discover in this show:

Instagram Marketing

Why marketers should consider Instagram

Sue states that she didn’t know what Instagram was until a little over a year ago. She became curious when her twin daughters were using it.

Sue shares that one of the reasons why marketers should consider Instagram is because it’s mobile. It’s a great way for your business to communicate directly with people with whom you want to build trust and credibility. There’s no better way for people to see what you are up to.

sue b zimmerman instagram

Instagram is a great way to share with people what you are doing in the moment.

Instagram is a free mobile app, which you can download onto your iPhone orAndroid phone. It allows you to share photos or videos with your target market. It’s very quick, easy and fun to use. There are 20 filters that you can have a lot of fun with.

You’ll discover why hashtags and @mentions are most important for marketers and businesses.

Listen to the show to find out what type of image gets the most likes and comments for Sue.

Who is Instagram ideally for and how does it differ from Pinterest?

Sue believes they are similar but have slightly different approaches. Sue has a very active Pinterest account, which is also very successful for her boutique.

Both Pinterest and Instagram have grown into their own thriving communities.

With Instagram, you can tell a story with both photos and videos. As soon as you upload an Instagram image, you can see within seconds that someone has liked it. With Pinterest however, you tell people what you like. You curate your boards and highlight what you like from things that are already online.

in the moment sue zimmerman

With Instagram, it’s you in the moment.

Sue gives an example of how she is able to seize opportunities presented to her with customers in her boutique. It’s a great way to create a fun mood.

The hashtags that you use to describe the image or the video are how people follow you or find you.

You’ll hear what hashtags Sue uses at an event and why it helps create more interaction. You have to remember that people look for certain hashtags for their industry to stay top of mind.

falmouth roadrace

Make sure you tag the event you are attending to create more interaction.

From a business perspective, when an image grabs your attention, you can choose to click into the account and see if you want to follow the person. Once you start to follow an account, it will show up in your feed. You can also unfollow accounts at any time.

Sue believes that she can put a visual strategy together for any kind of business. You’ll hear the different types of businesses she has worked with.

In the B2B world, it’s not necessarily about the products you sell, it’s about visual feelings. Images of sunsets, nature and oceans get a lot of likes because they are visually pleasing. It’s not just about business.

Listen to the show to find out what the benefits are when you share your passions visually as an individual.

Examples of businesses that use Instagram well

One of Sue’s favorite businesses is Birchbox. They have over 50,000 followers and are super-creative with their products. One of the products is a subscription-based box of goodies, which is delivered to your door once a month for $10.

 

Instagram Marketing: How to Get Started With Instagram | Social Media Examiner.

Rise in interest rates could be overdone, or just starting | Armonk Real Estate

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The first week of each month always brings the most news, the most important news and the newest news. The net result of this week’s load: a brief pause in the next leg up in long-term rates.

For 40 years, one of the most reliable economic indicators has been the monthly survey of manufacturing purchasing managers, renamed “ISM” (don’t ask). For August that value jumped to 55.7 (50 is breakeven, 60 a runaway) in an uptrend beginning early this year of the kind historically telling the Fed that it’s time to pull back.

The companion ISM for the five-times-larger service sector has a history less than half as long, thus a suspect indicator but rocketed to 58.6 in August.

After those two releases, the 10-year T-note on Thursday touched 3 percent, and mainstream low-fee mortgages reached 5 percent.

Today’s job data bought us some time, the 10-year down to 2.9 percent, mortgages in the high 4′s.

The headline 169,000-job gain was enough to maintain Fed-fear, but not the 74,000 jobs revised out of June-July, not the 2.2 percent year-over-year increase in wages (nominal; negative after inflation), and not the jobs themselves, heavy on the low-end.

– See more at: http://www.inman.com/2013/09/06/rise-in-interest-rates-could-be-overdone-or-just-starting/#sthash.tpBPTOi2.dpuf

 

 

Rise in interest rates could be overdone, or just starting | Inman News.

Rising Rates and Falling Standards Raise Default Risk | South Salem Real Estate

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Mortgages currently being originated stand a 14 percent higher risk of default due solely to current economic conditions, especially rising mortgage interest rates and falling underwriting standards.

Under current economic conditions, investors and lenders should expect defaults on loans currently being originated to be 14% higher than the average of similar loans originated in the 1990s, due solely to the local and national economic environment.

Investors and lenders should expect defaults to rise on new loans according to the latest UFA Mortgage Report by University Financial Associates of Ann Arbor, Michigan. The UFA Default Risk Index for the third quarter of 2013 rose to 114 from last quarter’s revised 96 in our baseline scenario.

“Most of the increased risk this quarter can be attributed to the hefty increase in mortgage rates – 100bps in just three months! Borrowers initiating mortgages at these higher rates will have higher payment ratios and will be more likely to default if the household is stressed,” said Dennis Capozza, Professor of Business Administration in the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan and a founding principal of UFA.

“At the same time, borrowers at the lower rates of earlier vintages become less likely to default. This is because their existing mortgage at the earlier favorable rate becomes a more valuable contract, since the market value of the mortgage liability falls when valued at current higher rates,” Capozza said.

Capozza also cited changes in underwriting standards as factors contributing to higher rates of risk in new mortgages. Last week Jonathan Corr, president and CEO of Ellie Mae, said credit standards continued to ease in July. “The average FICO score fell to 737, from 742 in June 2013, and it is now at the lowest level since we began our tracking in August 2011. Similarly we saw slight increases in both loan-to-value and debt-to-income ratios last month-signs that lenders are willing to accept slightly more risk to maintain volume,” he said.

The UFA Default Risk Index measures the risk of default on newly originated prime and nonprime mortgages. UFA’s analysis is based on a “constant-quality” loan, that is, a loan with the same borrower, loan and collateral characteristics. The Index reflects only the changes in current and expected future economic conditions, which are much less favorable currently than in prior years.

 

 

Rising Rates and Falling Standards Raise Default Risk | RealEstateEconomyWatch.com.

Reining in Share House Rentals in East Hampton | Waccabuc Real Estate

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[PARTAY! Photo credit: GoaG]

The Wall Street Journal yesterday discussed the latest proposal in the Town of East Hampton for limiting share houses because of complaints about noise and overcrowding at beaches. Some residents say the problem has worsened in recent years as trendy bars and clubs have opened in Montauk. The bill would require homeowners to inform the town if they are renting their house and disclose the square footage and number of bedrooms. Not everyone is in favor. John Keeshan, the well known Montauk broker, says if the town would “enforce the laws on the book presently, it wouldn’t be necessary to muddy the water by creating new legislation.”
· East Hampton Seeks Share-House Hangover Cure [WSJ]

 

 

Reining in Share House Rentals in East Hampton – party hearty – Curbed Hamptons.

Classic Harborfront ‘Cottage’ on Vinalhaven Listed for $3.6M | Bedford Hills Real Estate

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Location: Vinalhaven, Maine
Price: $3,600,000
The Skinny: Built in 1904 as one in a long line of Maine “cottages,” Stonecropboasts 11 bedrooms and 4.4-acre property that spills downhill to a dock on the edge of the Fox Island Thoroughfare, the channel that separates Vinalhaven from neighboring North Haven. Joined on the property by a pair of historic boathouses, the main shingle-style cottage includes plenty of historic charm, with a stone fireplace, ceiling beams, and “one-of-a-kind beautiful Japanese-style wall panels.” Worryingly, the listing includes no photos of the kitchen or bathrooms, suggesting that after the buyers are done forking over $3.6M for the property, they should be ready to spend thousands more to bring it up to date.

 

 

Classic Harborfront ‘Cottage’ on Vinalhaven Listed for $3.6M – House of the Day – Curbed National.

5 unexpectedly hot housing markets | Waccabuc Real Estate

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Five housing markets in which home prices, building permits and employment growth have increased at impressive rates since their troughs between 2007 and 2011 are not all found in warm, sunny locales, according to the NAHB/First American Improving Markets Index (IMI).

The five markets, in which home prices have gained an average 28.4 percent since their recent bottom, permits are up an average 17.8 percent, and employment has increased an average 12.8 percent, are:

Phoenix, Ariz.

Odessa, Texas

Bismarck, N.D.

Boise, Idaho

Detroit, Mich.

 

Source: InvestingAnswers – See more at: http://www.inman.com/wire/5-unexpectedly-hot-housing-markets/#sthash.dGyrV7Uk.dpuf

3 Mobile Tools to Improve Your Social Media Marketing | Waccabuc Realtor

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Have you figured out how to engage on-the-go prospects and customers?

Is more of your audience interacting with your business from their mobile phones?

If you want to enhance your mobile marketing, then keep reading.

I’ll show you three awesome tools that make mobile marketing easier.

Why Mobile?

Mobile is no longer something you can afford to ignore.

As customers’ adoption of mobile grows, you need to find ways to leverage mobile marketing tools to optimize their experience, no matter what device they’re on.

Whether you’ve already been experimenting with mobile marketing or are just getting started, the right tools help increase leads, engagement and sales.

In this article, I highlight three tools that offer easy ways to mobilize your social media marketing strategy.

#1: Send SMS (Text) and Video Messaging With Mogreet Express

One of the most powerful mobile marketing channels available today is SMS or short message service, which is also known as text message marketing.

SMS is a permission-based messaging tool that lets customers receive messages from you after they text a keyword or sign up using a web form.

SMS may not sound sexy, but it’s highly effective. Studies have indicated that 97% of mobile subscribers read an SMS (text) message within 15 minutes of receiving it. 84% respond within 1 hour.

Many top retailers actively use SMS to send out sales or product updates, special coupons or other important announcements. Coca-Cola focuses 70% of their mobile marketing budget on SMS/Text messaging.

Coca-Cola embraces the power of SMS to reach consumers.

So what does this have to do with social media?

Conversations with your customers shouldn’t end on Facebook, Twitter or any other social platform you currently use.

Mogreet Express lets you quickly create SMS (text) or video messaging campaigns to incorporate into social media and build a database of customers who want to receive your information and offers.

First, you create a keyword to title your campaign, and then Mogreet Express pairs your keyword with a shared short code. Make your keyword short and easy to remember.

After you’ve decided on a keyword, you’re guided through the process to set up the response customers receive when they opt in.

mogreet dashboard use keywords

Mogreet Express lets you set up keywords in your dashboard to promote campaigns to your audience.

Now you’re ready to promote your campaign on Facebook and Twitter. The easiest way to do this is by using language such as:

“Become a Mobile VIP. Just text YOURKEYWORDHERE to 12345″ (this would be the short code that Mogreet Express provides to you).

Lane Bryant incorporates their call to action on a Facebook tab to connect with them. Their keyword is LBGB and their short code is 23705.

Credit Unions Grow Mortgage Business | Bedford Real Estate

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Credit unions continued to steal market share from other mortgage lenders, originating 2.5 percent more first lien mortgages in the second quarter than the first and growing 5.6 percent over the same period last year.

First mortgage real estate loans rose to $253.8 billion, up 2.1 percent for the quarter and 5.6 percent year-over-year, the National Credit Union Administration reported yesterday.

Virtually all of the mortgage business was underwritten by larger credit unions, which are responsible for most of the growth during the quarter.

“Although the industry is performing well overall, smaller credit unions continue to face challenges with making loans, generating earnings and attracting members,” said NCUA Board Chairman Debbie Matz. “NCUA is committed to providing assistance and support to ensure the viability of small credit unions so they can continue to serve local communities.”

“The increases in lending, net worth and membership are especially positive signs,”. “The brisk loan growth shows that federally insured credit unions are meeting the needs of more borrowers and putting their assets to productive use. The net worth ratio rose to 10.5 percent, its highest level since 2008. Credit union membership continues to reach a new milestone each quarter.”

Membership in federally insured credit unions reached 95.2 million, a record high, in the second quarter of 2013. Membership grew by 560,670, or 0.6 percent. Nearly 2.1 million Americans have joined a credit union in the last four quarters.

While adding members, the number of federally insured credit unions dipped to 6,681, a drop of 72. The decrease is consistent with recent trends, as most consolidations were voluntary mergers.

Federally insured credit unions reported $613.7 billion in total loans in the second quarter of 2013, an increase of $13.8 billion over the previous quarter.

The industry’s net worth ratio stood at 10.5 percent of assets at the end of the second quarter, up 34 basis points from the end of the second quarter of 2012. The ratio is at its highest level since the fourth quarter of 2008.

 

 

read more…

 

http://www.realestateeconomywatch.com/2013/08/credit-unions-move-into-mortgages/

Why Promoting on the Facebook Timeline is Good and Bad | Bedford Hills Real Estate

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Facebook has made another change to how you can market on Facebook.Why Promoting on the Facebook Timeline is Good and Bad

Is this good news or not?

A couple of years ago, they decided to forbid running promotions directly on  the page and made the use of a third party app mandatory. This restriction is  now gone.  You can now run a promotion without using a third party  app.

There are still rules though, and not everything can be done. Nonetheless,  this can be a good option in some instances, or a very poor one in others.

Let’s review the pros and cons of this new possibility.

#1. The good part

So what you can do when  running a promotion on  your timeline and  why can it be a good option?

The new terms  of service and the accompanying FAQ they have put together are pretty clear about what you  can do:

  • You don’t HAVE to use a  third party app anymore to run a promotion on your page (you still can, but it  is not mandatory)
  • If you run your promotion  directly on your page, entries to the promotion can be made by either posting on  the page, liking or commenting a page post, or messaging the page.

If you have a small audience and want to offer a prize, it’s now super  simple:

  1. Post to your page that  people may just “post” or “message” the page or “like” or “comment” a post of the page
  2. Tell them you’ll pick a  winner among the ones who have done so

Super fast, super easy and free!

You can even pay for ads and get the concerned post displayed to more people  than your usual organic reach (between 5 and 50% of your fans). The ad part is probably the main  motivation for Facebook to change its rules by the way, but that’s a different  story.

A good example would be the following:

  • You have a small business  and a couple thousand fans and you are launching a new product
  • You want your fans and the  world to know about it
  • At the same time you want  to engage with the announcement
  • Create a post announcing  the launch
  • include a nice picture  and ask your fans to find a name for the new product using the comments on the  post
  • Pick the name you like  among the comments and you have a winner.

 

Read more…

 

 

http://www.jeffbullas.com/2013/09/02/why-promoting-on-the-facebook-timeline-is-good-and-bad/#kxXoFfoBSdZTxRTl.99

How to Insulate a Slab Foundation | South Salem Homes

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In Texas where I build the most common foundation type is Slab on Grade. In effect, we pour a big rock of concrete on top of the ground (also mainly rock) then build a house on top.

 

My Project Manager Ryan on top of this newly poured Slab Foundation.

I just completed my first house with Perimeter Slab Edge Insulation and I thought I’d walk you through the process. First, let’s talk about why to insulate the slab. As we build tighter and better insulated houses the uninsulated slab becomes more of a heat loss in the winter time for these High Performance Homes. Check out this Manual J energy loss chart from a house we remodeled recently.

Check out the BTU loss through the un-insulated concrete slab on this house.

The chart above is from a house with R-19 walls, and an R-40 roof. As we build better that slab becomes a larger % of the loss of heat!

This is for a house with an R-11 Insulated Slab.

Now look at this chart with a house with similar specs for walls/roof but it has an R-11 Perimeter insulated slab. Big difference! As a percentage of heat loss the floor went way down compared to the un-insulated slab house.

So, let’s look at the mechanics of actually insulated the slab. One of our first concerns for this process is Termites! Adding foam to the outside of a slab is a big no-no in Termite country. First, we used Borate impregnated foam from Nisus Corporation. I’ve been using their Bora-Care on my framing lumber for about 10 years now, but I only recently realized they make a termite resistant foam aptly called Bora-Foam. Our local Termimesh dealer sourced it for me and did the install.

I want to thank Joel Roeling from Termimesh for his help in this project. Also want to extend a big thanks to my Energy Rater/Tester Kristof Irwin of Positive Energy here in Austin, TX. His modeling really helps us decide what approaches will yield benefits long term for the houses I build. Last, but certainly not least was the amazing Architect/Client on this house Scott Ginder of Dick Clark & Associates. Scott and his wife Andrea are wonderful clients and it was such a pleasure to build this beautiful high performance home with them!  Here’s some detail photos but be sure to watch the video too.

 

read more…

 

http://www.finehomebuilding.com/item/31642/how-to-insulate-a-slab-foundation