Are you ready to save money on your holiday parties this year? This time of year can already be so expensive with travelling, buying gifts, decorating your home, and finding a big enough ham for Christmas dinner. It’s also a great time to get together with friends and family for your annual holiday party.

If you’re lucky enough not to care about how much you spend during the next month or two, then this article isn’t for you. For those who budget holiday spending, here are a few tips to throwing a fantastic party – and impressing your mother-in-law at the same time – without spending next month bills.

Less Really Is More
The theme to keep in mind this Christmas season is that less is more when it comes to hosting people. It starts with your mindset. Unfortunately, like most big events, your guests are not really going to notice all the little extra things you went out of your way to do to make your party special. No matter how cute they are, you do not need to individually place everyone’s silverware is those mini red stockings!

Save yourself some time and money by deciding not to ‘go all out’ on every detail of your evening. Not only will it cause you to stress over the little details, you’ll also feel disappointed and, possibly, a bit irritated when your guests don’t notice all the work you put into it. Plus, it’s more expensive and that’s why we’re here in the first place. So, take a deep breath. Put down all the burlap. And let’s get to work to make this year’s holiday party the best and cheapest one yet!

Let’s Start at the Beginning
There is no need to spend an unnecessary amount of money printing off individual invitations. Do people use print invites anymore? We don’t know. But opt for email invites or a Facebook event instead. It gives your guests the opportunity to RSVP easily online instead of having to call you and go through the awkward small talk. That’s what your party is for anyways, isn’t it?

Don’t Go Crazy with the Food
You will automatically save money in one of the biggest areas in party planning–food–just as long as you don’t overdo it. Keep the options light and easy for your guests. Too many choices can be overwhelming. They don’t need a 5-course meal to have a good time and, chances are, they won’t eat as much as you’re planning anyways. No one loves a heap of leftovers and after guests politely say, ‘No, thank you’ to your offer of bringing home the dip, that’s exactly what you’ll be left with. You have a lot going on during this time of year. Why not make it easier on yourself?

Finger food is gold. Instead of hand-wrapping those garlic butter prosciutto wrapped asparagus that you found in a fancy magazine, stick with some cute Grinch-themed kabobs using grapes, strawberries, and banana slices on a stick. You could also throw together some popcorn with red and green m&ms to make a festive and generally enjoyable snack.

Finally, head over to Aldi or another discount grocery market and buy off-brand food products to save even more dough. After all, this food is basically only going to last one evening.

Definitely Don’t Go Crazy with the Drinks
Similar to what we discussed about food, you should also try to limit your drink choices – especially if alcohol is involved, which can be outrageously pricey if you’re not careful. A bar for hot chocolate is cute, easy, and includes a beverage that’s loved by almost everybody this time of year. If you plan on having alcoholic drinks, stick with one signature cocktail or a punch.

Also, keep it down to two or three wines and one beer. Generally speaking, people who like wine can either enjoy a simple red or white. In the same way, most beer-drinkers aren’t all that picky either. If you have a picky guest, then maybe they’ll have to accept their role as Designated Driver.

Party Décor and Entertainment Doesn’t Have to be a Chore
Thrift stores and discount stores such as Big Lots, TJ Maxx, and Walmart are the place to go if you want to find relatively inexpensive but simple and attractive decorations. If you’re a part of those families who put up bigger-than-your-house inflatable snowmen and Christmas minions well, then, there’s no help for you here. But we bet your house looks amazing!

Another good tip when it comes to decorating is not to buy all new serving dishes for one party. Work with what you got! You can tie some holiday ribbon around serving bowls or silverware. You can use those mason jars piling up in the top cabinet with cotton balls for fake snow and tea lights for a warm Christmas glow.

Finally, instead of getting favors or goodie bags for every guest–which we know you’re going to spend too much time hand-tying ribbon across the top of every single one–stick with one grand gift or prize. Play a holiday game with your guests and the winner gets the prize. You can also do a gift exchange, still only causing you to worry about one gift.

Have fun!
The choices are endless and there are countless ideas all over the internet if you want to spice up your holiday parties this year without taking out a small loan to do so. But whatever you decide to do, whether it’s a massive gathering or a small get together, all of us at First International Title wish you a wonderful holiday season.

Questions? Comments? Email shannonw@firstwesterntitle.com

So you’ve recently tackled the world of social media to help grow your business. You have a flourishing Facebook page and the leads are starting to roll in. We all know Facebook has many benefits as it is easy to use and it’s full of potential clients. But let’s talk about Instagram. Contrary to belief, Instagram is more than food shots and selfies! With over 700 million users, this platform is actually a very beneficial tool for your real estate marketing efforts.

This visually heavy medium is ideal for showcasing photos and videos of your listings, happy clients, and behind the scenes of your day to day grind. But here’s the catch: you must post original content. Remember, your followers are following YOU. Actively posting original and unique content will catch the eye of your next customer. This will also show potential clients that you are working hard to sell or find that home fast.

Instagram is a great tool to drive client engagement. Actively posting content and responding to comments is a start but you must do more than that if you want a successful page. I encourage you to start engaging with content posted by your community and local influencers. It is kind of like networking, the more you do it the more you will gain. Not only will you build a strong online presence, you will attract new customers, increase word of mouth referrals, and maintain client loyalty.

The next step to Instagram victory, is to hashtag, hashtag, hashtag! If you have no idea where to start, I suggest researching the trending real estate and local hashtags. By picking industry appropriate and popular hashtags, you will place your posts right in front of your target audience.

Instagram can be easy and fun! With a little bit of effort and some creativity, your page can increase your business in no time. Just remember, there are many Realtors out there but only one you! Let your personality shine.

Did you love this blog? Stay tuned for more real estate tips and tricks at the one and only First International Title.

Social media is a wonderful thing. You can stay in touch with friends on a daily basis, follow current news stories, and even use it to promote your business. Facebook has become the ideal platform for real estate agents to increase their marketing efforts and make more money. But why Facebook?

The number one reason you need Facebook for your business is reach. Facebook remains the largest social media platform as there are over 1.3 billion members worldwide. You could join every networking group in your area and cold call all day long but still not reach half that amount of people. Tell me where else you have the ability to connect with a billion people? Go ahead. I’ll wait…

Now that we know why you should use Facebook for your real estate business, let’s discuss how to use it. Just having a Facebook account will do nothing for your business. You have to actively engage with your audience. This is much simpler than you may think.

The first step is to create a Facebook business page. According to Facebook’s Terms of Services policy, it is in violation of their policy to create a Facebook profile page for conducting business. You wouldn’t want to use your personal profile anyhow. A Facebook business page has way more benefits than a profile. For example, let’s look at Facebook insights. This is where you can see your hard work and efforts pay off. Not only can you see how many people have ‘liked’ your page, you can see how much reach your posts are actually getting.  Facebook insights helps to see what works and what doesn’t.

Now that you’ve created your business page, you want to give it curb appeal. Make sure to update the profile and cover photo with high quality pictures. I suggest putting a professional head shot as your profile photo. We all know you’re cute but let’s keep the selfies for your personal profile page! The next step is to fill out the ‘about’ section. This is not a resume. Feel free to be yourself and show some personality.

The call to action button is relatively new to Facebook but I highly suggest you add one. There are several options such as ‘Call Now’ or ‘Learn More’. Pick whichever is best for your business. In order for you to optimize the reach in your area, be sure that ‘Similar Page Suggestions’ is checked within your settings. This will enable your business page to be displayed as a page that Facebook users might like.
You’ve finally completed your business page. Now what? It’s time to create some content and post! The million dollar question remains…. “What do I post?” You want to share engaging content. Do not, I repeat, do not solely post listings. While it is great to give your listings exposure, you want to present content your audience actually wants to read. About 20 percent of your content should be business related. The other 80 percent should be entertaining. After all, you don’t want to just sell. The goal is to build relationships with repeat customers. For the business portion, share listings, industry related advice, open house announcements, or whatever you see fit. For the rest, post news articles, funny videos, life hacks, etc. Pay attention to what your followers post and like. I guarantee you that your impressions, shares, and likes will increase exponentially. And if you get brave enough, start writing your own blogs and creating videos to share.

Social media marketing can sometimes be a chore. It takes a lot of trial and error, adjustment, and effort. But you may grow to love it once you start seeing the results! Hard work truly does pay off.

Did you love this blog? Stay tuned for more real estate tips and tricks at the one and only First International Title.