As a real estate agent, I get around the local communities. I hold a lot of meetings in coffee shops and cafes. So, maybe I should call this - straight to the Realtor's mouth.

A week ago, I held two meetings at Moonstruck in Walnut Creek, CA. Moonstruck is a great coffee & chocolate cafe on Locust next to the Olympic Parking structure.

I met with Pat Malone to discuss an upcoming presentation by me to Experience Unlimited – a job search network in Contra Costa County. I’m scheduled to address the group on May 6. My topic will be 8 Tools to Market You.

A few days after meeting with Pat, I met with Michael Onibokun at Moonstruck. Michael is from Nigeria and has many contacts in Africa. He is interested in building a consulting business and leveraging his network of contacts.

I encouraged both Pat and Michael to leverage the power of LinkedIn. 

Moonstruck is a great place to meet – good coffee, comfy chairs and very quiet when you compare it to Peet’s or Starbucks where the background music is more foreground to entertain the troops.

I was on the Internet before Al Gore invented it. My focus is marketing, promotion and site traffic. Consequently, my responsibilities at The Harper-Mees Team involve online marketing and promotion for the team.

At times, I still provide consulting services for small businesses and entrepreneurs. It boggles my mind that many small business owners feel a website is something they can get around to later than sooner. A website should be right under “get a cell phone” for any small business owner or entrepreneur.

I wrote this post to demonstrate to my friend Greg, a chiropractor in Warner Robins, GA the power of a good website. I have noticed over the years, that no chiropractor that I could find is leveraging the Internet successfully – and it would be so easy for these guys! The day after I posted the article about Greg, our site came up #1 on Google if you searched on “warner robins ga chiropractor.” Heck, we are far away from Georgia and real estate is a long ways away from chiropractic. But that’s the power of the Internet, those that know how to use it can dominate Google search results.

Here are the Top 10 Must Haves for Small Business Owners & Entrepreneurs

Get A Blog – Read BusinessWeek – Blogging for Business This is a must read – The New Rules of Marketing & PR and don’t forget this one –Publish and Prosper: Blogging for Your Business

CraigsList – This site can do wonders for your business. 80% of the people using Craigslist use it ineffectivley. Craiglist is responsible for 10% to 20% of our monthly traffic (6500 unique visitors a month)

LinkedIn – a business networking site. What can I say – get linked! Once you create an account, read Jason Alba's book.

RSS – Learn about the value and power of RSS. This rss reader – Netvibes –  helps you to stay informed, track your markets, keep an eye on the competition and much more. Short videos here and here on rss.

Google

• Alerts – Keep on top of your reputation, the competition, your local communities and more.
• Base – Instantly post anything into the Google index. Use this and Craigslist to broaden your product/service exposure.

News Releases – This valuable resource is overlooked by many. Here are several sites you can use:

• I-Neswswire
• PR Leap
• Free Press Release

Send Out Cards – Create custom greeting cards for your business and send them to your clients/customers with gift cards included.

Duct Tape Marketing – Read John Jantsch, his site is a treasure trove of small business marketing gold.

PhotoScape – For those overwhelmed by Photoshop, try this free photo editor.

Digital Camera – You can still find this discontinued digital camera – Kodak EasyShare V610 6MP Digital Camera with 10x Dual-Lens Optical Zoom – This is a dual lens ultra-wide angle camera that is so easy to use. If you can get one of these – do it quick!

If you’re a small business owner or entrpreneur interested in improving your online presence and marketing – send me an email – john (at) the harperteam.com

Last night I was in Sunnyvale attending a presentation on LinkedIn. LinkedIn is the premeire business networking site.

The presentation was hosted at Intero Real Estate by Mitchell Levy of HappyAbout. Jason Alba author of I’m On LinkedIn – Now What??? was the featured speaker.

I got to chat with Jason before the horde arrived – he was expecting about 20 to 30 attendees but 120 showed up. That’s Silicon Valley for you – everyone is networking like crazy. Some estimates are that over 70% of people in tech in Silicon Valley use LiinkedIn.

It turns out Jason is from Salt Lake City. I moved out here a year and a half ago from Park City, UT. Jason and I talked a bit about Utah, tech, LinkedIn and other social networking platforms. I found him to be insightrful, practical and helpful. He has an easy-going manner and a wry wit.

Jason’s presentation was straight-forward and focused on four things we could do to start reaping immediate benefits from LinkedIn. He then answered questions for over an hour.

The lobby-shot picture was taken when the meeting room was already full. Thus, you see people in the last shot having to bring additional chairs into the room for the presentation.

I had a great talk with Lois Steiner of Facilities First, a professional facilities solution provider. We talked about the business potential of having an industry wiki on the Facilities First website and a few other ideas for increasing web presence and traffic.

It was really one of the best events I have been to in a while – well worth the drive down and the time invested.

Mitch interrupted the meeting for a five minute break so everyone could catch the lunar eclipse. At the end, he even allowed anyone who wanted to get up and make any announcement they wanted as a means of promoting networking between the attendees.

Joseph Natividad, our guest author, is starting to gather national attention for his prolific real estate blogging. As far as we know, he is the youngest (18) real estate blogger in the blogosphere.

Joe has been writing for us for a couple of months now. His interest in journalism really shows up in his writing and research. His blog is building traffic about twice as fast as ours did when we launched it 10 months ago.

Inman News will be interviewing Joe tomorrow. Joe was the youngest attendee at the Inman News Bloggers Connect held recently in San Francisco. Here is a pic of Joe at the connect courtesy of REMBEX: Blog Fiesta. Here's what Joe thought of Bloggers Connect:

“The Bloggers Connect was one of the most memorable experiences from my summer break. There was no need to wonder if I was the youngest person in attendance that day because I didn’t see anyone else that looked as if they had just graduated from high school.

I couldn’t leave Bloggers Connect without brushing shoulders and meeting some of the most prolific bloggers in the real estate industry. I was able to take a lot from that day (along with a bulging stack of business cards in my pocket).”

Joe is getting set to head south to UC San Diego for his freshman year. First, he has to attend a scholarship function. The main speaker will be Phil Bronstein, executive editor of the San Francisco Chronicle.

It would be great if Joe and Phil Bronstein could hook up. With Joe’s interests in economics (his major), journalism, and blogging – I’m sure the two of them could find a lot to talk about. Joe is already on LinkedIn, a business networking site – maybe Mr. Bronstein could add Joe to his list of contacts and allow Joe to add him to his!

The Harper Team is biased toward Joe. We were reading his posts on the CC Times LIP Blog since it launched and were the first to ask if he was interested in writing for Realtors. You don’t have to take our word though, here is what Jim Walberg, owner of the Caribbean Islands Realty Blog says about Joe:

"Joe’s work on our site has been absolutley fantastic. By providing two articles each week for us that highlight cultural and important events happening in the Virgin Island region of the Caribbean our site has been enhanced beyond my expectations.  Because of the combination of Joe’s articles and the others we post,  our site is now on the first page of Google after only two months of concentrated blogging efforts!  We have already begun to receive requests for more information about buying and selling real estate in the Caribbean.  

Joe’s writing and research skills are just what we were looking for to compliment the blogging that I am doing regarding what it is like to live and experience the Caribbean as a local and as a Realtor. I would be glad to speak with anyone else who is considering his services in order to be a “raving fan” of his."

I came across a post today on The Real Estate Tomato that grabbed me by the throat. Jim Cronin author of the Tomato has been invited to speak at Keller Williams’ MegaCamp 2007.

“Mega Camp 2007 is the exclusive event where top producers and Keller Williams Realty leaders converge for an extraordinary week of learning and networking. Here, you will discover the newest tools and answers to your business challenges presented by fast-moving mastermind panels, top guest speakers and real estate industry leaders, including Gary Keller, co-founder and chairman of the board of Keller Williams Realty International and a New York Times bestselling author.”

Jim’s going to be speaking on Blogging. I notice that Dustin Luther is also speaking. An there is Craig Proctor in the mix as well.

The fact that all three of these names appear in the speakers roster says one thing to me -LOOK OUT KW REAL ESTATE! And here is why—-

Jim Cronin is the FDR of real estate blogging. His “post in every pot” program has fed the hunger for real “nuts & bolts” blogging advice. Real estate agents around the country visit his garden everyday for something fresh to add to their blogging pot.

Dustin Luther is the Al Gore of the real etate blogosphere – he invented it. Well, not quite, we all know who really did. Dustin’s neck deep in stealth strategy and technology to become the most connected LinkedIn person on the planet. His RainyCityGuide set the early standard for what a local real estate blog should be.

And then there’s Craig Proctor. Craig Proctor is the Lee Iacocca of real estate marketing. Proctor’s system of direct response marketing for real estate has lifted many an agent from obscurity into the broad light of day in their local markets.

I’ve been reading the Tomato for about a year. I’ve been to one of Dustin’s presentations. We, the Harper Team, are part of the Proctor coaching system.

To see these three names together – well – September is going to be one hell of a month at Keller Williams Market Centers around the country. Don’t miss these three speakers. If you synergize what these three have to offer – your business will reward you beyond your wildest dreams.