At the Malcolm Center today, located at the High Tech Maui Institute, was a lecture on “Social Media and How to Improve your Business”.

With the population being 50% around the age of 30, the media choices are going to shift. The email usage will fase out and the more personal medias like messaging and blog commenting will be more utilized.

The “old” marketing has been a commercial or email telling you something, but mainly speaking ‘AT’ you.

The “new” marketing is all about engaging in ‘CONVERSATIONS’.

Doing business today means nurturing relationships and participating in conversations like blogs and instant messaging.

Marketing your business instead of getting your name out there and being “branded” visually is changing to a personal level. Consumers are wanting to do business with the vendors that are involved. The vendors that they see commenting on blogs and posting pictures and videos.

The relationships are to be nutured and to optimise your consumer feedback is to use topic angles that are funny, entertaining, or use tips n recipies. Dont try to sell, instead try being personal.

Below are some media facts to make you think;

-55 million tweets a day are happening.

-1 out of 8 couples meet online

-80% of companies use social media sites for recruitment or background checks

-YouTube is the second largest search engine next to Google

-25% of Newspapers have gone under due to internet media

For more information on lectures or courses like this see http://www.hightechmaui.com

Economist: Recovery will start ‘next week’
By CHRIS HAMILTON, Staff Writer
WAILEA - The long-awaited economic recovery will start in Hawaii and on Maui at the start of the new fiscal year - “also known as next week,” economist Paul Brewbaker told the Maui Chamber of Commerce on Friday. The state Council on Revenues chairman and principal owner of TZ Economics said that the recession already has ended and that his analysis predicted actual economic growth, not seen since the bottom fell out of the local and national economies nearly two years ago. “I think we’re on the threshold, but Maui is still lagging behind the rest of the state,” he said Friday after his speech. “The challenge I see is that perceptions are slow to adjust to the coming changes.” Brewbaker briefed about 130 Maui business leaders at a Chamber of Commerce luncheon at The Fairmont Kea Lani, Maui resort. His audience was ready to hear the upbeat forecast. “Come July 1, we’re ready to rock and roll,” said Maui Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Pamela Tumpap.
Real estate sales and construction remain relatively flat, although Brewbaker had some ideas to change that. But the good news is that the airlines are beginning to fill the void left by the bankruptcy of Aloha Airlines and ATA more than two years ago, Brewbaker said. There are more flights and more visitors coming to Maui. A recent study showed visitor-days are up 7.4 percent but are still down by about 8 percent from 2007. Still, tourism is on the verge of radical expansion, he said. Domestic and international travel is up, he noted. “And there’s choke Koreans, but they don’t know Maui exists,” he said. “So you’re going to have to work on your kim chee.”
U.S. gross domestic product peaked in the second quarter of 2008, before hitting bottom in the second quarter of 2009. “Going from a peak to the trough, that’s a recession,” Brewbaker said. However, the 2010 first-quarter gross domestic product was about 3 percent higher than a year ago, he said. “Sometime this summer, the country is going to punch through,” Brewbaker said. “And I know it doesn’t feel like it because you live on Maui, no offense, but the GDP growth rate was actually down 9 percent in 2009.” Obviously, he said, America is a consumer-driven economy, and a sign of the recovery is that the consumers are coming back, to a certain extent. “You know when you stopped seeing people at Macy’s and would (instead) see them at Ross? Well, they’re back at Macy’s,” Brewbaker said. Another sign of recovery is that business purchases of equipment and software are going back up, indicating that people are reinvesting in their companies, he said. “To really get this ball rolling, we need investment in housing and commercial retail development, though,” he said. The financial forecasts are all calling for 3 percent economic growth through 2011, he said. The Federal Reserve is a little more reserved, with a 2.7 gross domestic product growth estimate, he said. In Hawaii, layoffs and furloughs of public employees will delay recovery in the government sector, he said. But the return of tourists should expand income in the private sector.
Another bright spot is a Council on Revenues prediction that Hawaii will begin to see the barest of growth in tax collections - a welcome change after a gloomy period in which revenue estimates were revised downward again and again. “It’s going to end, and we are heading into the next expansion. So you need to start thinking about where we go from here,” he said. “Hey, you (chamber businesses) are still here! I know some didn’t make it. They’re gone. Now you gotta start looking down that road.” Maui’s unemployment remains high at more than 8 percent, while the state average is about 6.5 percent.  Brewbaker indicated most job growth has been on Oahu and the state has not realized a jobless recovery. As as an aside, Brewbaker noted that Maui routinely has been named the best place to retire because real property taxes are so low. He suggested perhaps elected leaders or those seeking higher office should consider whether there needs to be a “realignment.” On the housing market, Brewbaker said investors and homebuyers need to start loosening the logjam of foreclosures, because banks won’t be the ones to do it. There are deals to be had, he added. “Maybe you should start to rethink and buy the foreclosures yourselves rather than waiting for the banks to decide what to do with them,” Brewbaker said. Brewbaker said he was perplexed somewhat by Maui’s home construction trends over the past several years. Virtually nothing is getting built, according to his numbers.
He wondered if the slowdown meant the real estate bubble had burst or if the county’s two-year-old work force housing ordinance was deterring construction. The ordinance requires developers to provide up to50 percent affordable homes if they want to build market-rate subdivisions. But Brewbaker said that simple math showed that the housing and construction market would turn around. The annual rate of new construction is 0.05 percent, and the population growth rate is 1 percent.”Either someone has to move - and it’s not me - or we are not building enough homes,” he said.
* Chris Hamilton can be reached at chamilton@mauinews.com.

Maui News:

Spending by international visitors to Hawaii is increasing faster than their spending in the rest of the United States.

The Hawaii Tourism Authority reports that international tourists in Hawaii spent 7.3 percent more through the month of April than during the same period in 2009. In all, they spent $1.38 billion.

By comparison, the U.S. Commerce Department reported Tuesday that spending by international visitors to the United States as a whole was up 5 percent through April, to $42.8 billion.

The increase in spending reflected growth in the number of visitors to Hawaii.

The Hawaii Tourism Authority said international arrivals to Hawaii rose 5 percent to nearly 147,000 in April.

Maui News: 

WAILEA - The Maui Chamber of Commerce will hold its annual installation luncheon Friday at the Fairmont Kea Lani resort.

It will also celebrate its centennial and present a Business Showcase and Mini Trade Show. Economist Paul Brewbaker will address the members and guests.

The Business Showcase will be from 10:30 a.m. to noon, with the luncheon following.

The cost for the luncheon is $45 for members, $75 for others. For more information, send e-mail inquiries to office@

mauichamber.com. To make a luncheon reservation, visit www.mauichamber.com.

ABC-directory.com: 

Conde Nast Traveler today announced the results of its 2009 Readers’ Choice Awards, ranking the best cities, islands, cruise lines, airlines, hotels, resorts, and car rental agencies worldwide. The awards appear in the November issue (on newsstands October 20) and are derived from the Conde Nast Traveler Readers’ Choice survey. This year, 25,008 readers voted on more than 10,000 properties and destinations.

“The big news is that, undaunted by tough times, our readers are still out there, discovering the coolest experiences and reaffirming an enduring passion for travel,” said Conde Nast Traveler Editor in Chief Klara Glowczewska. “It’s clear that our readers are as devoted to the worldwide diversity of travel as ever.”

The results of the 2009 Readers Choice Awards reveal some surprising news:

* The friendliest U.S. cities are Charleston, Savannah, and Honolulu 

Hot List of the world’s best new properties:

Below are results for the top three winners in each category to visit

Top Islands Pacific

1. Maui
2. Kauai
3. Bora Bora

The full list of winners is on cntraveler.com at: cntraveler.com/readerschoice

Maui news:

Blaze reported at 1:25pm Tuesday afternoon was contained a few hours after start.

Drivers were backed up as they headed the “back way” around Kahului Airport. They were backed up all the way to Costco.

By 4:45pm the fire was fully contained, yet the cause of the start is still under investigation.

No injuries reported =)

Maui News:

A brush fire on Tuesday afternoon prompted Maui officials to close part of Hana and Haleakala highways.

The brush fire was first reported at 1:25 p.m. on the mauka side of Kahului Airport and heliport. 

Motorists traveling to and from Paia and Upcountry Maui cannot go through Kahului. 

Heavy smoke and gusts are affecting Hana Highway and Haleakala Highway near the back of the Kahului Heliport. Police also closed Hansen Road. 

Firefighters are working to extinguish the fire.

Be safe out there!

Click on the Link below to hear Donna Hansen LIVE on Radio Real Estate Show, with Host Tom Lucas and Co-host Sheri Brown, who is a local realtor in the Vancouver area! It was on-air live the morning of Saturday, June 19th 2010. This show covers the Metro Vancouver, The Fraser Valley, Vancouver Island on-air, and the World On-Line.
 
Radio Real Estate Show is live every Saturday from 10-11AM (Vancouver Time) on AM 650 Radio, reaching each week over 17,400 homeowners, realtors, and real estate investors.
 
During the on-air conversation Tom, Sheri, and Donna discuss;
·        The State Of Real Estate in Hawaii
·        The Types of Properties that are selling
·        Hawaiian Vacation Rentals
·        A few names of our Hottest Listings
 
Sheri Brown’s link is www.sheribrown.ca   
The Link to hear the station anytime is  http://www.am650radio.com/player/player 

The Radio Real Estate Show featuring Donna Hansen link is :http://advanteam.podbean.com/wp-content/plugins/podpress/podpress_backend.php?podPressPlayerAutoPlay=yes&standalone=yes&action=showplayer&pbid=0&b=189826&id=1165413&filename=http://advanteam.podbean.com/mf/play/zdww6b/hawaiirealestatejune19.mp3
 

Donna sounds great and had a great time! Have a great day everyone!

Happy First Day of Summer! 

Every season brings change and summer tradionally means things will be heating up. They certainly are in Maui! Our economy appears to be taking a turn in the right direction with many indicators pointing to a lot of it being due to the International Buyers. Being that this truly is a global economy, we need to always be fully focused on the global activity all around us. 

The Hansen Ohana is now practicing along with Maui Estates International. We have joined forces to better serve our valued clients and we are excited to be apart of the global market!

Enjoy your of Summer and dont forget the sunscreen!