Monthly Archives

July 2009

Announcing DK New Media

By | Featured, marketing, Mobile Marketing, Mobile Marketing Blog | 2 Comments

dknewmedia_300Recently a good friend and social media mentor, Doug Karr, announced he would be leaving Compendium Blogware to start his own company, DK New Media. DK New Media will be a consultancy for Social Media and Online Marketing strategies. Doug has been working with Social Media and Online Marketing for a number of years now and is extremely adept at identifying and integrating marketing technology into new and existing marketing campaigns.

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CLIENT SPOTLIGHT-JIM & JOAN NORBUTA, REAL ESTATE

By | Featured, Real Estate | No Comments

JimNorbuta_Family-Photo

How long have you been a realtor?   What made you get into real estate?

This is our 9th year in real estate.  We had positions with major corporations, relocated and moved a number of times, and sold a number of homes in Cleveland, Columbus, and Chicago (if the city didn’t start with a “C” we didn’t move there…we’ve  lived in Chagrin Falls/Bainbridge for 21 years).  We were so involved in real estate with all our moves, that becoming Realtors seemed like a natural transition.

What’s your favorite area to show homes and why?

Chagrin Falls, Ohio is such a unique little town.  Most of the buildings are either 100 years old or older or built to look like they have been around for 100 years.  It’s businesses still function and the town could be in the middle of Anywhere, USA.  When relocation is the reason for a move to our area, it’s fun to see the looks on people’s faces when we drive into town for the first time.  There is actually a waterfall in Chagrin Falls in the center of town.  The famous Popcorn Shop Factory is located right alongside the falls…also a great place to get an ice cream cone.

What do you do in your spare time?

We really like to visit our grandchildren.  The older 3 live in Wadsworth, Ohio via Chattanooga & Hartford (Tommy -17, Frankie – 15, and Katherine – 12).  We have 2 that live in Goshen, NY via Columbus (Andrew – 3 and     Aubree -2).  The youngest live in Alaska, via Reno/Tahoe and New Zealand (Benjamin and Jonathan 9 month old twins).  The visits aren’t nearly as frequent as we would like.  Thank goodness for the Skype video phone calls.

*In the photo above, Jim & Joan share time with family in New York.

What impact has mobile marketing/social media had for you?

When working for the Cleveland Convention & Visitor’s Bureau, we were teaching our members how to network.  Now we are back to being the students.  To date, most of the impact has been the time and effort spent to initiate programs that will benefit our clients.  We’ve realized the importance of developing and sharing information that will benefit the Home Buyers and Home Sellers that we work with and allow us to attract new clients.

Any additional information that you would like to share?

There are many parts to a real estate transaction.  We believe that there are 2 important parts of being a good realtor.  Part A is to be a good resource.  We provide the right information to arm every buyer and seller with the data they need and want.   Part B is to be a good friend.  To be a good friend, we do a lot of listening to get to know and understand our clients.  The better we understand them, the more we can help them through the buying and selling process.  This can be a stressful time, and sometimes all we need to do is listen.  We don’t make decisions for our friends.  We give them good advice and information so that they can make good decisions.

Want to learn more about this real estate team?    www.yourclevelandrealtors.com

CLIENT SPOTLIGHT-BANDS OF AMERICA

By | Events, Featured, marketing, Mobile Marketing, Mobile Marketing Blog, SMS, Text Messaging | No Comments

Bands of America* set an aggressive (& necessary) goal to raise $250,000 in a 2 month timeframe. On December 11, 2008, Music for All kicked off its first virtual fundraising campaign. Given the organization’s roots in marching band and the more than 1.25 million students that it has served under its Bands of America brand, the BOA Alumni Campaign was born. In 81 days alumni, parents, grandparents, educators and fans from across the country banded together and donated over $252,000 to support a not-for-profit that had provided them positively life changing experiences.

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