CAPSTONE PROJECT (MP3)

Engage New Media

Introduction

This project is intended to satisfy two things. First, the final assignment for Writing & New Media course (ENC3416) titled “Final Project or Major Project 3”. Second, it is the foundation for a “real” blogging web page initiative I had for a long time, and now I am able to materialize. In academic terms, this is a project that falls in the category of “PRACTITIONERS”, as defined by Dr. Vytautas Malesh, Professor at Florida International University, teacher of this course, as I am going to perfected and use it in my practice.

The Final Project requested us to engage with new media in our on terms. Meaning, use the new media in a creative and manageable way based on the knowledge acquired, experience, research and risk aversion. Since I am not afraid of taking risks (that is calculated risks), I embarked in the task of creating my own business page with real life application. The idea behind creating and maintaining this webpage is not only to express my thoughts about the industry that I am passionate about, but also add value and good information for the readers. This is a first approach. By no means I think it is the final product. Due to time constrains and insufficient technical knowledge, the project is still a work in progress according to my standards. I am required to submit the project in a specific date, so I did my best with the time I was able to dedicate to the project, and the time we had allotted to complete the work for the course.

In order to use the new media effectively, I researched and consulted a great deal of materials presented during the course and relevant to my project. Also did some external research to supplement the information and attempt to produce a professional web page.

The References used to Produce this Project

1. The material presented during the semester was very helpful and provided a framework to design what I wanted. The readings from McLuhan, Lyotard and as conceptual references, and articles about writing in the web, effective writing, the visual effects and engagement techniques to use to attract the attention of the reader. Article like “Wikihow: ‘How to Create User Friendly Web Articles and Site Content Links to an external site.”, “Wikihow: ‘How to Write Social Media Content Links to an external site.'”, and “Wikihow: ‘How to Write Quality Blog Content’.” all came together to be part of this project.
2. From my own research, I found good information on website design, content and effective writing and recruiting in the following sources:
   1. “The Influence of Visual Complexity on Initial User Impressions: Testing the Persuasive Model of Web Design.”
   2. “The Do’s and Dont’s of Web Design.”
   3. “The Effectiveness of Recruitment Advertisements and Recruitment Websites: Indirect and Interactive Effects on Applicant Attraction.”
   4. “Engaging Customers during a Website Visit: A Model of Website Customer Engagement.”

All in some way assisted me in the development of my business website.

It is important to note that normally, I would engage the services of a professional when it comes to developing this type of activity for lack of technical knowledge. I think now I am able to do much of the work myself and outsource some activities that are more technical and time consuming, like design and configuration. Even if I delegate those task to the experts, I now can discuss with them some particulars that I could not do before. I believe it will be the best use of my time to produce content and focus on writing blogs and articles. That will be my area of focus and where I want to improve my skills.

Presenting my Website: “Sebastian Manes – Real Estate Broker”

The goal of the site is to provide information and value to the reader. Information about the state of the industry, the markets, practical tips for buyers and sellers, and opportunities for investors. We also aspire to attract new talent by promoting our culture and way of doing business. It is aimed at new agents or people in general that are interested in real estate industry, and may want to develop a career in this sector. We are her to provide guidance and honest advise. Real Estate is not for everyone, but anyone can contact us to learn more about it.

Other randomized banners include:

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

The idea originated in my desire to write about the industry and let other professional and audience in general engage in a constructive debate and criticism. Putting your opinions and thoughts out in the open for everyone to see is not an easy task. It requires care and attention in the production and verification of the information. I can say now that I understand the concept of “credibility” to its fullest application. The identification of the audience you are writing for, the purpose of your article, the tone, and the message itself left the theoretical world of academics to become a practical matter to consider in this project. I hope I was able to achieve that in my latest Blog “Broker Thoughts #2” published today in my website.

The site also includes different tabs with plenty of information about the industry. The “Blogs” tab provides some engagement pieces to attract customers. Other tabs like “Home Valuation” and “Search for Homes” are linked to my Customer Relationship Management (CRM) portal. Once they request a home valuation, I can capture the leads and provide a market analysis of that specific property and hopefully originate a transaction. The search engines are connected to our property listing service. This service is only accessible to licensed real estate agents and members of the Florida Board of Realtors and the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Both of this associations are influential at state and national levels respectively, and provide a permanent source of information for practitioners. Some of the articles included in the tab “Industry News” and part of the information contained in my blogs where obtained from those sources.

The last public oriented tab, “Tips and Tidbits” aims to provide practical suggestions for homeowners or prospective buyers or sellers. Presented mostly in the form of infographics, it allows the reader to visualize the information in a user friendly manner. I find that infographics are extremely useful when conveying a great amount of information in a practical way.

For this specific project presentation, I have created a tab “FIU-ENC3416” that contains this document together with MP2 Annotated Bibliography as part of the submission for the course.

A final word about the project and necessary disclosure. Some of the materials and information included in this site are part of the information and marketing assets I/we develop in my business everyday, and also have access from different sources due to my affiliated businesses. I participate actively in the development of some of the materials such as Blogs and Recruiting. Some of the other materials are from our corporate affiliation, and we can use them with permission, or from membership/subscription base organizations we belong to. My participation in the blog content development is more of a team effort approach. My role is more of an originator/editor, rather than a writer. However I participate in the entire process; doing reviews and editions until the final product is completed. I do take credit for the articles “Broker Thoughts #1” and “Broker Thoughts #2”, as I created those from scratch.

Conclusion

The site is still a work in progress. I think the general concepts, ideas and contents are included in the site, but still need to be polished and improved as I learn more about the platform. The course provided me with valuable insight and information to take on this endeavor. It also provided me with the necessary momentum to accomplish this personal objective. I will continue working on improving the site and developing more articles, blogs, and Broker Thoughts as frequent as possible. I have enjoyed this project and find the course content relevant and applicable in the real world.