Social Media, Web Marketing, and SEO Training In Victoria BC [Video]

I’m pleased to announce that I will be teaching web marketing and social media training in Victoria, BC starting next month. Reachd.com has approached me to be their Victoria instructor. The 3-hour classes are taught in the afternoon, and are ideal for anyone in any small business who wants to learn how to capitalize on this growing trend. How can you effectively use social media and web marketing to grow your business? I can’t wait to show you how. The three courses that are happening next month are: Social Media Guided Tour ($149), Explode Your Growth With A Blog ($149), and Broadcast Your Message With Online Video ($249 – includes a video camera!). You can take all three courses for $399 – a savings of $149. Come out and learn something in December and be ahead of your competition in the new year!

The courses will also be offered in January, along with courses on Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Google AdWords.

More information and registration at http://TimAyres.ca/reachd

–Tim Ayres – Sooke Real Estate Professional

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Life In Sooke #1 – Storms (And Storm Watching!)

Welcome to a new series on the 642Blog, Life in Sooke. The idea for the series came to me as I was out for a run the other day – I thought it would be fun to carry my video camera a little more often and shoot video of Sooke and the surrounding area to give visitors and potential new residents an idea of what it’s like to live here.

This month has been one of the wettest, stormiest Novembers I can remember. It seems there has been non-stop stormy weather, with one system after another pounding the coast with strong winds and heavy rain. Today it looked like we were having a break in the weather, so Marg and I decided to take the dog and head up West Coast Road (Hwy 14) for a little adventuring. We’d hoped to do some beachcombing and I had hoped to capture some nice images on my camera.

We had planned to stop in at Point-no-Point Resort for lunch – something we’d been meaning to do for a long time – Jason from DiscoverSooke.com and Inktvis Creative has been raving about it. Along the way it became apparent that this morning’s calm was only the eye of the storm, as we could feel the wind buffeting the car as we cruised along the road. By the time we got to Point-no-Point, the rain had resumed and was flying sideways.

We had an amazing lunch in the restaurant – overlooking the beach below, the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and – if we could see them – the Olympic Mountains. The food was great, service friendly, and prices very reasonable. Because the weather had turned even worse, we just decided to hike for a half hour or so along the trails that run about the resort property (available to cottage and restaurant guests). Below is a video I shot of the waves and wind pounding the shores as we watched in amazement. If you’re looking for a fun way to spend a stormy winter day, Point-no-Point is a great destination for lunch and a hike. If you’re looking for an overnight romantic getaway, the resort or one of the many other oceanside B&B’s and inns would love to have you!

–Tim Ayres – Sooke Real Estate Professional

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Midweek Humour – Hockey Fail [Video]

We all do what we do because we enjoy it and we’re good at it. Sometimes there are days when even when it seems you can do no wrong – you’ve nailed every phone call, email, sales opportunity or customer service goal; and then, out of nowhere, an instance of FAIL takes over.

To illustrate, here is a video of an amazing goal… And an equally amazing fail afterwards:

–Tim Ayres – Sooke Real Estate Professional

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All Sooke Arts and Crafts Christmas Show is this Weekend

Driftwood Santa Christmas Ornaments
Driftwood Santa Christmas Ornaments

One of the oldest and biggest craft fairs on the Island goes this weekend, November 20 – 22, 2009. The All-Sooke Arts and Crafts Fair is taking place in the Community Hall building in Sooke. Over 60 exhibitors on two floors will be there, along with food and entertainment.

Come on out and get some Christmas shopping done and get ready to deck your halls this coming season! Admission is free and the show runs 10:00 – 5:00 on Saturday and Sunday and 1:00 – 8:00 on Friday.

On a side note – while we won’t be at the fair (couldn’t get a table!), my wife Margaret still has her famous Driftwood Santa Christmas Ornaments for sale. You can call her at 250-508-9122, or order online.

–Tim Ayres – Sooke Real Estate Professional

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Tim Ayres at NAR 2009 Conference San Diego Day 3 [Video]

I had a busy day at the convention today. I caught the last part of a session on social media, but I’m glad I missed most of it. It wasn’t a really good session – the presenters were unprepared, and didn’t really seem to understand social media. For example, when talking about blogging, they didn’t even mention platforms like WordPress or Blogger. There were much better social media sessions at the conference than this one. I also spent some more time on the trade show  floor and attended Tara Hunt’s presentation on Whuffie for Real Estate. Tara has some interesting ideas about social capital and how you can use it to grow your business. David Knox’s session on overcoming pricing objections was very entertaining and informative. I also met with the people from Obeo, a virtual tour and listing marketing company. They have an innovative and interesting product and you should check it out.

Check out the video below:

http://www.viddler.com/player/de6d963d/

–Tim Ayres – Sooke Real Estate Professional

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Tim Ayres at NAR Conference 2009 San Diego Day 2 – Trade Show [VIDEO]

Today I went to several sessions in the morning and spent part of the afternoon wandering around the massive trade show at the National Association of REALTORS® Convention in San Diego. There was quite literally just about everything you can think of that might possibly be related to real estate on the floor. Virtual tour companies, brokerages, MLS systems, lockbox suppliers, even plumbers, house inspectors and other contractors. I am going to have to go back and visit again to take it all in, it was that large. There were lots of contests and games and giveaways – I didn’t bring near enough business cards to enter! William Shatner was at the NAR booth signing autographs – cool! Below is a short video I shot about the trade show, including a pretty famous blast-from-the-past automobile that was at the DotLoop booth:

–Tim Ayres – Sooke Real Estate Professional

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Tim Ayres at NAR Conference 2009 San Diego – Day 1 – Social Media and Gender Differences [Video]

Day 1 of the NAR Convention in San Diego was very productive – I saw two sessions today and unfortunately was shut out of a third due to it being full. The Introduction to Social Media session was great. As a REALTOR® who puts himself out there online using social media like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc, I was very pleased with the session. It was facilitated by three practicing agents, just like me, and they nailed it. Ginger Wilcox, Kelley Koehler, and Mariana Wagner were excellent – it was refreshing seeing a social media presentation by three working real estate professionals who actually, as they put it, do this to feed their kids.

Check out my video update from Day 1:

http://www.viddler.com/player/a9dd33a/

–Tim Ayres – Sooke Real Estate Professional

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Tim Ayres at NAR 2009 Conference in San Diego with VREB [Video]

We arrived today in San Diego for the NAR (National Association of REALTORS®) Conference 2009. There will be approximately 20,000 delegates from all over the world at the convention, which is bound to be exciting, fun, and informative.

I am here as part of the delegation from the Victoria Real Estate Board. I am a director on the board, and we are here to represent our board and to attend conference sessions and the trade show on behalf of the membership. When we return, we will be reporting on the sessions we attended and posting them to REALTORlink, and using what we’ve learned to plan the future direction of our board. Here is a quick video I shot this afternoon. I hope to shoot several videos each day and post the content nightly to the blog.

–Tim Ayres – Sooke Real Estate Professional

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2010 Olympic Torch Relay Comes To Sooke Saturday Morning

2010-torch

I was driving around downtown Victoria yesterday, where I saw several VANOC staff and vehicles in various parking lots, a huge stage being erected on the lawn of the legislature, portable lights, temporary NO PARKING signs, and other signs of the imminent arrival of the Olympic Torch. Lit a few days ago in Greece, it’s due to arrive in Victoria tomorrow – the first stop of its 45,000 km journey across this vast nation, touching over 1000 communities in every province and territory before arriving back in Vancouver to light the Olympic flame in February.

After its arrival and the celebrations (and protests) in Victoria, early risers in Sooke will be treated to a ceremony at Sooke Muncipal Hall, and a relay down to the T’Sou-ke Nation and a breakfast at Edward Milne Community School.

It will be a short visit – the torch is on an understandably tight schedule – before it’s whisked away to Metchosin and other points along its journey.

Set your alarms! At 7:00 am, Mayor Janet Evans will present a short speech at the municipal hall and a short video clip of Ed Johnson’s record breaking 27 second climb up a 100-foot pole at All Sooke Days in 1984 will be shown to give a sense of Sooke’s community heritage. The torch will then travel down the hill and across the Sooke River Bridge to Derbend Road, leading to a ceremony at the T’Sou-ke Nation.  The send off ceremony will include a concert and breakfast at Edward Milne School at 8:00 am.

With any luck, the current forecast will hold – partly cloudy with a chance of showers. I plan to attend, shoot a few photos and some video – check back after the event to see what I managed to capture.

Hope to see you there!

–Tim Ayres – Sooke Real Estate Professional

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Fall Photo Walk Along The Sooke Harbour Boardwalk

As I watched the sun rising over the back fence and into my home office, I was reminded why I love this season so much.  The crisp, cool air, a bright blue sky, and the golden hue of the morning sun on the colourful autumn leaves prompted me to bundle up and shoot a few photos on a walk along the spectacular Sooke Harbour boardwalk.

Parking the car at the lot on Murray Road, I walked up Murray towards Sooke Road to capture some of the leaves in the trees. I had noticed this the last sunny day we had and had meant to get back there to capture it. Unfortunately the wind over the past few days has pretty much stripped the trees, but they still look pretty on the ground.

Walking down the hill towards the Rotary Pier/boardwalk access, I snapped a few photos of the sun shining through the leaves, and reflecting off the harbour.

I love looking at this house whenever I head out on the boardwalk.

The pier and boardwalk are framed perfectly by the trees

Just because it isn’t summer doesn’t mean you can’t toss a trap in the water for crab. It was deserted on the often-busy pier, save for this couple.

There were lots of leaves left on the trees along the water. The harbour was so still, it was like a mirror, reflecting the trees. Gorgeous!

The harbour boardwalk is a real gem, we’re lucky to have it. It goes from the bottom of Murray Road all the way to Ed Macgregor Park, where it switch-backs gently across the slope offering easy access to and from the water.

I hope you enjoyed the photos! If you’d like to see the whole set, you can view it on Flickr.

–Tim Ayres – Sooke Real Estate Professional

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