Collaborative Service Learning Project: Nest Realty

Since the length of this Service Learning Project is so excessive, I have provided the link for your convenience.

Using Pictures Ethically

When we see various pictures on the Internet, whether that's through google searchers or various other search engines, many of us do not think about the rights those pictures encompass or the ethical usage of them. Personally, I had not true knowledge of this until we just got to this particular project in my Business Writing Course at UNCW.

Last time, I came to you all talking about slidecast, and how effective and cool they were. Now I want to discuss with you some of the images I will be using on slidecast project. I will also be going  more in depth about how I will be using these photos ethically.

There are three different ways to ethically use photos; which are fair use, creative commons and original. Fair use is any copying of copyrighted material that's done for limited and trans-formative purposes. In other words, this type of copyright is used without having to obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Both of these images are examples of fair use. I found them by simply using Google search.

Creative commons is defined as the sharing and use of creativity and knowledge through free legal tools. To be more simplistic, creative commons is a simple and standardized way to give public permission to use and share your work. These photos can only be find when a particular creative commons search engine is used.

 

The above images are examples of those that are of creative commons. To obtain these images I used the creative commons provided to me by my professor (http://search.creativecommons.org/).

I will be using these images as graphics on my upcoming slidecast project. I feel they all contribute to the argument I'm creating regarding how Linkedin can be useful in the social media presence of real estate companies, and how it increases ones chances of finding a job.

The Perks of Google Presentations!

In my business writing course at UNCW, we are utilizing Google to create presentations. Here is the slide I created as an example of how to use PowerPoint on Google.

I chose to talk about LinkedIn because I think its very useful for many college students to utilize this resource when searching for jobs. The design of this slide was very beneficial to the concept of rhetoric. The color I chose for my slide was very subtle, it wasn't too bright, and didn't distract the viewer. I made the writing and the background color of the bubbles different to create a bit of contrast. I also kept my wording to a minimum, but I was still able to describe the photos and provide the necessary details to show people why this resource could be favorable to them. Its not visible in this photo but I was also able to incorporate some animations into this slide. I created it so that each photo and cluster of words would enter in from different sides of the slide by a click of the mouse. This made the slide more fun for the viewers

Slidecast: What are they?

For those of you that aren't familiar with slidecast, they are audio presentations combined with a slideshow without the presenter. In other words, they are like PowerPoint slides that are easily understood, but there's not presenter, just words and graphics. Cool right?

Watch this video below.

 

What did you think from the video? It was interesting right! I was amazed of how clear the message was in this slidecast without a presenter speaking on each point. I thought the layout was great. There were fun colors, and the comparison to hide and seek was phenomenal. The viewer was engaged throughout the presentation. In this slidecast, there was a great use of contrast with the font and background colors. None of the segments were too hard on the eyes, and the speed of each was perfect. The viewer had just the right amount of time to read and understand the point made on each slide. Overall, Billy Phillips did a great job on expressing his thoughts on  the question "Where's God?"

What about Twitter?

As I've mentioned to my group members, I believe that Nest Realty should give Twitter a shot with expanding their social media presence. They have already established a social media presence on Facebook, Instagram, and somewhat Youtube. I think Twitter would just deepen their horizon.

I believe that some people view Twitter to be somewhat useless, but in my opinion its a quick way for a company to advertise, and show their expertise. Instead of making a extensive status on Facebook, a realtor could just post a sentence on Twitter and it can be seen by so many people. Here is an example of how a realtor is using Twitter:

In this example you can see how Twitter is very similar to Instagram. A realtor is able to post pictures of houses and other properties, specials or events going on in the area. One key thing about Twitter is that these post can be seen by a previous client, retweeted to where its now visible on their news feed, which in turn presents the opportunity for future followers and potential clients to see it and gain interest,

Overall, even though Nest thinks that social media can be a little much at times. I do think if they began to utilize twitter it would only expand their clientele. There's no harm in trying out new social media sites in order to have a well-rounded conclusion of what works best for their company.

Types of social media used in realty- What are the best ones?

I've been doing some research to figure out the types of social media used in Nest Realty and other realtor brokerages, and which social media sites work the best. I'm fascinated by all of the useful information I've found thus far. As many of you know, social media plays a huge role in our society today. Whether that's people's social life, or businesses methods of communication on social media.

There are many different types of social media used in realty. Some of which are Youtube, Twitter, and Facebook. Many would think that these Realtors use these sites as sales pitch, but that's very rarely the case. During my research I found a realtor company in Manhattan that has recently made a transition to social media. To build a relationship with their followers, maybe even potential clients, "they post information ranging from restaurant recommendations to neighborhood happenings - which over time builds the relationships and trust that may eventually turn fans into clients." I found this to be very clever. It makes the increase of their clientele much more subtle. They don't just hop on social media and try to lure people in directly, which greatly benefits their ethos

While doing my research I found the most unexpected social media site- LinkedIn. NorthMarq- a Bloomington- based company did a online perception research study in order to determine if LinkedIn or Facebook were the go-to site to search for information on the professionals within that company. I was really surprised by this, I thought most people would still utilize Facebook to look up personal information about their realtor. Even though LinkedIn was the more utilized site for this particular company that still doesn't necessarily mean that LinkedIn is the better social media site. I think in order to find the best site for Nest Realty or any other company, it will take trial and error. With that, Nest should be on every social media site (ie:Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, LinkedIn) in order to see which particular site they get the most feedback and followers. Thus being able to see what the best social media site it for their company. 

Sources:

Fung, Amanda. "Social Media Hits Home." Crain's New York Business. 16 May 2011. Web. 24 October 2015

Parmar, Arundhati. "Real Estate Meets Social Media." LexisNexis Academic. 31 December 2009. Web. 24 October 2015.

Nest Realty and Ethos

Nest Realty is a brokerage that my classmates and I will be researching for our project in my UNCW business writing course. They have many components to their business that makes them out shine the other companies her in Wilmington, NC

Ethos is one term we have discussed heavily in my Business Writing course. For those that are unaware of what this term means, it is one of the rhetorical appeals (pathos and logos are the others) and it can be simply referred to as the credibility or character of a company.

From examining Nest Realty's official website at http://www.nestrealty.com/wilmington/ I have seen the outstanding amount of effort and dedication that went into building a brand for this company. They have definitely stayed up-to-date with the latest trends in design of the website and training the various employees. Majority of the time when companies are mainly based off of commission, competition can be a major issue. Another thing that I really found amazing about Nest, was that each realtor didn't see each other as a competitor, more so as a family member. This made the credibility of Nest more reliable, because new clients will be assured in knowing that their realtor is not just viewing them as another piece of commission they can get to before the next, but they are solely concerned with making the client feel comfortable in every aspect of their buying or selling process.

 (Figure 1)

Figure 1 is a picture of how I believe Nest showed some character on their website. I like how they used one of the "magic numbers" to make some aspects of their company stand out. In one of my previous blogs, I stated that the usage of magical numbers creates a easier read for the interested client and a quicker response for the company. I believe Nest did just that with this asset to their website. When the prospective client sees these "3 ways Nest isn't like the rest" they will have something to compare to other potential companies without having to search too deep, and/or they will have 3 more concrete reason why Nest fits better with their wants and needs of buying or selling a home.