BRER Real Estate Marketing Blog

Many of the agents I talk to are focused on being found in Google.  We all know that more searches are done on Google than the other search engines.  And, depending on who you talk to and what you read, everyone has a different opinion about the prime search engine for real estate.

Our philosophy is that you need to track your progress on all the major search engines: Google, Yahoo, MSN, AltaVista, Lycos, AOL, and Ask.

Have you seen any of the TV ads for Ask?  They’re running in my area, and they come across as a very viable alternative that offers some unique capabilities.

And, AOL is doing some interesting things with their real estate search.  Take a look at this post on the Future of Real Estate Marketing site.  Players like Zillow and Trulia will need to deal with some of the more established sites like AOL.

This article also reinforces the fact that advertising dollars are moving away from traditional print media and flowing to the Internet.

So, a word to the wise:  The Internet landscape as it relates to real estate marketing is changing rapidly.  Don’t get stuck in a rut that will put you behind the crowd as everyone (local newspapers included) runs after Internet market share and advertising dollars.

To Jenny - A good friend and companion for
over 20 years.

If you’ve ever lost a friend who had four legs,
or wings, or fins

And, if you believe in Heaven, and that
in Heaven you get to have everything that makes you happy,

Read this story about

RAINBOW BRIDGE

Staying top of mind with prospects and past clients is critical.  And, there are a number of ways that you can do that.  What you want, of course, is a way to:

• Stay in touch on a regular basis
• Avoid annoying your prospects
• Provide useful information to prospects that are in very different situations - some may have just purchased a home, some may be 3 years from another real estate transaction
• Prove your value as a real estate advisor
• Minimize the time you must devote to staying in touch

If you’re not familiar with the Home Mangement Club, you need to determine if it’s your answer for staying top-of-mind.  You’ll find it meets all of the criteria listed above.

Learn more about this real estate marketing tool!  You’ll find a brief description of the opportunity, plus links to consumer-side and real estate professional web pages that will show you how you can use the Club for your own on-going marketing.  You can  put a sign-up link on your website to help make your site more sticky.

If you are already using the Club, leave a comment to let us know what your experience has been!  And, don’t forget to answer the poll on Internet marketing in the left column on this page.

Getting your real estate website found in the search engines – it’s the goal of most real estate professionals.  The days when a real estate website is used as just an online brochure are virtually over.  Ever since it became obvious that websites are a cost-effective way to generate leads, more and more agents and brokers are working on creating lead-generating websites.

By the way, don’t forget to answer the poll in the left column of this page about leads coming from your website!  Based on the responses so far, I’m thinking a series about Do-It-Yourself-SEO might just be useful!

Use this link to see all the posts in this series: Do-It-Yourself SEO.

Getting Started with SEO

We provide SEO services to many of our clients, but some prefer to do their own.  For those clients, and anyone else who is interested, this post is the introduction to an eight-part series on Do-It-Yourself-SEO.  My goal for this series is not to cover every nuance in the world of SEO.  There are lots of books written on the subject if you want that level of detail. 

My goal for this series is to provide enough information about the basics to get you started.  I know that you can make progress with a subset of SEO information, because I’ve worked with clients who have done it.

Here’s What This Series Will Cover

1. Do-It-Yourself or Hire an Expert - We’ll discuss the issues that you should consider when you make a choice between doing your own SEO and hiring a professional.  We’ll also provide some guidelines for choosing an outside firm.
2. Thinking Like a Search Engine - If you understand how search engines think, it will be easier to understand the process for getting your site ranked in the search engines.  It’s true that search engines don’t provide a lot of detail about their ranking algorithms, and different engines use different approaches.  But, it is possible to describe the process at a very high level.
3. Selecting Keywords - The important first step is selecting the keyword phrases you want to be found for.
4. Creating a Site Map - Based on your keyword strategy, you need to identify the specific pages that you’ll create for your site.
5. On-Page Optimization – The things you need to do on your site to make it attractive to search engines.
6. Off-Page Optimization – The things you need to do away from your site to get the search engines to rank your site.
7. Blogging – How to use your blog to improve search engine ranking.

A Glossary of Selected SEO Terms

This list may be expanded, but these are definitions of some of the more commonly-used SEO terms:

Read the rest of this entry »

Don’t forget to answer the poll! 

The year is almost over, and it’s flown by, as usual.  They say that time seems to speed up as you grow older for a very logical reason.  When you’re 5 years old, a year is 1/5 of your life, so it seems like it goes on forever.  When you’re…  well, older than 5, a year is a much smaller increment in terms of how long you’ve been on the planet.

I have many things to be thankful for this year, not the least of which are the great clients I’ve had the opportunity to work with this year.  To all of you whom I’ve come to know personally, I thank you for your camaraderie, and for your business.

For everyone who reads this blog, I thank you for your interest, and I hope you find this blog helpful.

I’m taking tomorrow off, so see you back here on Monday! 

Remember our military at the holidays!  As you may know, there are many ways  to show support for our military folks who give so much all year around.  Two Internet-based opportunities:

• Send a postcard to someone in the military.  Visit Let’s Say Thanks.  Xerox Corporation has set up this website where you can select a postcard from among designs created by children all across the country, and personalize it with your own greeting.  The postcards are then printed by Xerox and mailed in care packages sent to military personnel serving overseas by a military support organization, Give2TheTroops.
• Send an e-mail.  Visit America Supports You. 

And, please join me in a prayer for peace.

Determining how porous your real estate market is has nothing to do with whether you’ve had any rain lately.  But, determining the Absorption Rate in your market area can help you set home prices and manage client expectations.

Imagine. . .

Your new listing prospect asks you how long you think it will take to sell their home.  You pull out the Absorption Rate analysis you prepared before the listing presentation and you give them an estimate based on current trends in your market.  Sounds like fun, doesn’t it?  Sounds like you’ve got a competitive edge over your competitors if they’re still giving the old, “It depends” answer.

Calculating an Absorption Rate is Easy

If you’re not familiar with using this tool, you’ll be glad to know that it is a very easy way to track trends in your market.  A presentation was given at the recent NAR conference, and this brief summary explains how to calculate an Absorption Rate

You can also use it to help set pricing, based on the number of units that are on the market and how long it should take to sell them.  Some of my clients provide monthly Absorption Rate figures to their clients each month.  The same type of information can be calculated for a neighborhood, or for a price range.

Sell It in English

If you’re going to sell the fact that you provide regular updates on market conditions, I suggest that you say it in English.  A bullet point on your “about” page listing monthly Absorption Rate updates as a benefit of your service probably won’t be meaningful to your clients.

Think about what that type of information adds to the process, and write a benefit statement that even non-real estate folks will understand!

Don’t forget to answer the Share Your Experience poll.  The poll is located in the left column of the blog.  Look for the header “Share Your Experience”, click on the response of your choice, then click the Vote button!

This is the last post in the series on website content mistakes you can avoid so that you don’t end up annoyed with your website like our friend here.  Use this link to see all the posts in this series:  Real Estate Website Content Mistakes.

The first five posts in this series covered issues related to how your website is set up, some related to Search Engine Optimization (SEO), and some related to how your content is written and how your pages are laid out.

11.  Selling Your Visitors:  Too Much “Me”!

What’s Too Much “Me”?

Packing Your Home Page with Information About You  - Earlier in this series, the point was made that the most effective use of your home page is to sell visitors on your website. 

When an Internet buyer or seller hits your home page, their first question is whether or not your site provides them with the tools they need to research their next real estate transaction.

The goal for your home page is to make it easy for your visitors to find the information they need, and to let them know there is a place where they can learn more about you - when they’re ready.

It’s a good idea to include a “teaser” on the home page with a link to an “about” page.  It’s easy to write that teaser if you have a brand, but even if you don’t, pick one of the key benefits of your business that your target audience will relate to.

Making Your “About” Page All About You - You could be thinking, “But, wait a minute, isn’t the about page supposed to be about me?”  The answer is no!

When you’re a one-man show, like many agents are, it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking you need to sell yourself to prospects.  What you’re really selling is your business.  So, what business are you in?  I usually think of it as a real estate consulting practice.

Your prospects will choose to work with you when they believe that the benefits that they will receive when they work with you are better than the benefits they will receive from working with any other real estate advisor.

There’s a story about the head of Stanley Tool who made this point during an annual sales meeting:

“I want each of you to remember that you are not selling drills - - you’re selling holes!”

And, that philosophy works very well in the real estate industry, too.  You’re not selling yourself - - you’re selling a successful real estate transaction.

Concentrate your “about” page on the benefits your clients receive when they work with you.  Translate your market knowledge and experience into benefits that are meaningful for your target audience.

And, certainly it’s true that real estate is a personal business.  You and your clients work closely together, and you spend a great deal of time together in situations that can sometimes be very stressful.  So, don’t be afraid to share some of yourself with your visitors, but tie insight on who you are with what that means to your prospect.

Another thing to keep in mind is that prospects are rarely impressed by industry awards you’ve received, unless you can tie them into a benefit.  So, if you’re the #1 sales person in your office, don’t mention it unless you can use it as a proof source for selling homes quickly and at top value, for example.

*     *     *     *     *

Effective Internet marketing is a critical component of your marketing strategy.  As you’re probably aware, the trend for buyers and sellers using the Internet is increasing every year.  Real estate professionals who ignore the Internet do so at their own risk.

If you take the time to create a lead-generating website, it will pay for itself, and you’ll reap the benefits, many times over!

SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCE!

One of the great things about the Internet is that it provides an excellent opportunity for us to learn from each other.  The Share Your Experience poll is another way that you can share with your fellow real estate professionals - and it only takes a second!

The current poll has to do with your experience with Internet marketing.  Very common questions about Internet marketing are these: 

• How do other agents/brokers use the Internet?
• What results do they get?
• Am I getting good results from my Internet marketing?
• Should I be getting more leads from my website?

Don’t Leave It to Someone Else!

Take a second right now to answer the poll.  The more responses we get, the more it will encourage others to participate, and the better insight we’ll have on the issues raised.

The poll is located in the left column of the blog.  Look for the header “Share Your Experience“, then click on the response that most closely matches your experience with the Internet, then click the Vote button.

The Share Your Experience Poll will be changed regularly.  If there’s a topic you’ve been wondering about, let me know!

What Can Google Webmaster Tools Do For You?

If you’re not using Google Webmaster Tools, now would be a good time to evaluate how useful they can be.  The tools are a free resource that can help you improve your real estate website’s performance in ranking well in Google.

An Overview

The tools are available to help you manage your website’s relationship with Google.  You can do the following types of things:

• Identify broken links
• Manage how Google indexes your website
• Determine how often the Google bot stops by to crawl your web pages
• Identify the keywords where your site appears in the search results, and even more interesting, the keywords where people are actually clicking through to your site
• And, the list goes on . . .

If you have very in-depth reporting currently available about your website, traffic statistics, keyword ranking and which keywords are bringing you traffic from which search engines, you may not use the Webmaster Tools as much.

But, it’s a good idea to establish a Google account.  It doesn’t take long, and you’ll have the information available when you want it.

Where to Go for Help

You may be thinking, “I just don’t want to figure out another web tool!!”  If that’s the case, try reading this Google Webmaster Tools Review at the Online Marketing Blog.  The article is not just a review.  It gives a very clear explanation of how to set up an account, and how the various tools work and what you can learn from them.

I am a pretty laid back person, in my opinion anyway, and usually the dumb things people do don’t annoy me.  I tend to attribute bad behavior to a lack of self-esteem, a dysfunctional childhood (which covers just about all of us), fear, a lack of education or whatever other malady fits the situation.

But, there are some people who REALLY annoy me, and I’m taking this opportunity to call them out!

People Who Make Drugs Out of My Medicine

Have you bought a cold or sinus medicine that contains pseudoephedrine lately?  I have.  It’s the only stuff that can clear my sinuses.  I tried the other stuff, but it just doesn’t work.

Now, I feel like the criminal!  First, I have to skulk into the aisle of my local mega mart where the cold and sinus remedies are displayed, and sneak a small piece of cardboard off the shelf that has a picture of the contraband I want to purchase.  Then, I stand in the pharmacy line.  Then, I have to show my driver’s license and sign a small monitor promising that I will only swallow the pills, not cook them into an illegal drug.  Cheez.

Internet Spammers

There are all kinds of things I have to do because of Internet spammers.  I have to purchase special software to protect my computer.  I have to answer  all the ridiculous questions my computer asks me trying to protect me from spammers. 

But, the thing that annoys me the most is checking my e-mail Spam folder.  My brain can’t help but absorb some of the filth in the emails that end up there while I’m making sure that e-mails from real people haven’t been swept in there by mistake.

Stupid People Who Force Me to Read Dumb Stuff

I purchased a thingy to put in my windshield to deflect the sun so the car didn’t get so hot during the summer.  It’s pretty clever, actually.  It’s reflective material stretched on some kind of wire.  It starts out a relatively small round disk, and with a flick of the wrist, opens to cover the windshield on the inside of the car.

The instructions printed on the material includes this admonition:  “Do not operate the vehicle while the sun guard is in use.”  Duh.  Could anyone really be that stupid?!?  How did that court case play out?  “Well, Judge, I didn’t notice I couldn’t see out of the windshield, and there was nothing in the product literature that told me the sun guard couldn’t be used while driving.”  Give me a break!

So, Now It’s Your Turn!

Let me know about people who really annoy you!  Send me an e-mail, and I’ll publish your lists next Wednesday.  Include your web address (and even the keyword phrase you’d like to use as the link text), and I’ll include a link to your website.

I would have simply given you my e-mail address rather than a link to a contact form, but then the spammers would scrape the e-mail address off this blog and send me even MORE GARBAGE!!