BRER Real Estate Marketing Blog

I really don’t know why they bother putting a Control key on computer keyboards.  Have you ever noticed that it doesn’t help a bit?  I would like to feel like I’m in control of my computer, but I can’t really say that’s true.

I know I usually have too many windows open.  But, why is it that I can be working on Word, for example, and all of a sudden an Internet window will appear at the front of the screen?  Is my computer trying to tell me something?  Is it tired of word processing and would prefer to do some surfing for a while?

Then, there’s the backup program for my external drive.  Sometimes, when I open it, all that appears is a popup window announcing its appearance.  It never actually does anything.  So, I open the Task Manager to stop the process, but the Manager tells me that it really isn’t running.  So, why is it sitting there on the screen?  I don’t know.

My sister tells me that when she shuts down her laptop, she gets a popup screen saying that Outlook is closing and if she turns off the computer, she’ll lose all her messages.  After some period of time, on top of that popup, another one appears saying that Outlook is not responding and must be shut down.  Why can’t it make up its mind?  Should she close Outlook or not??

I sometimes think back to the good old days - and I know I’m dating myself here - but, those were the days when all you had on the PC was an operating system, and it wouldn’t do anything unless you wrote some code.  Yes, they were ugly and didn’t do a whole lot, but I really felt like I was in control!

I’m looking forward to the time when computers will do what you want them to do, not what you tell them to do.  Should solve all these control issues.

Here we are, taking a look at the results from the Website Poll in the left column of this blog.  As you may recall, a little less than half of the folks who answered the last poll were getting from half to almost all of their business from their real estate website.

The current poll couldn’t be directly mapped to the first one, but I’ve found it interesting to see where people put their emphasis in terms of getting their website to work hard for them.  Here are the results as of today:

Question:  What do you do to make your website a lead-generating resource?

 I noticed that there was one brave soul who indicated that he/she did no work on their website, and another who admitted that it took them a day or two to respond to Internet leads.

So, what do you think?  Where do you stand in terms of giving your website a chance to work for you?  What questions do you have about any of those categories?  Do you know how to set things up so you can respond to all Internet leads in the first hour or so?

Let’s get some information and ideas flowing!

Note:  I’ve had a lot of people say that they read this blog religiously.  Please don’t just read - participate! 

It could happen to you if you visit www.AgentSuperStore.com. 

This site was introduced on July 16th, so it’s still very young.  The site is set up as a virtual convention floor.  The home page is pretty creative, letting the visitor select what they want to see from a convention floor layout. 

The AgentSuperStore has categories for many different types of products and services that a real estate professional might use.  The categories range from a New Product Showcase to Education and Professional Services to Electronics and Signs.  There’s also a social networking component with a Forum, member profiles, messaging and so on.

According to information on the site:

AgentSuperstore.com’s goal is to serve as the one-stop, online Real Estate directory, as well as the “go-to” destination of all agents, brokers, vendors and industry professionals nationwide.

That’s a pretty big goal, and it will be interesting to see how it turns out.  If you’ve used the site or have an opinion . . .   leave a comment!

Although there have been some changes made to the Smart Frame, it is still not a reasonable way to post home valuations on anyone’s website.

If there’s any new information out there, please let me know.  I tried creating new Smart Frames after the problem with displaying homes for sale was supposedly fixed, but wasn’t successful in creating something that would be useful for web visitors.

I rarely get sick, and I thank heaven for that.  For one thing, I don’t have time, and for another thing, I’m a terrible sick person.  The best thing anyone can do for me is to go away until I emerge from the extreme grumpiness illness causes me.

So, I was appalled last week when I seemed to have come down with the flu.  I went to see a movie over the weekend before last - saw Hancock, which was a good flick.  The person I went with got sick a day later, but I didn’t think anything of it.

Then, I got sick.  What a pain.  I figure some idiot in the movie theater should have stayed home rather than spreading germs around!

I looked in the cabinet for medicine to treat flu-type symptoms and found it - it had expired sometime in 2004.

However, I persevered and recovered.  If you need to talk to me, it’s safe now.

If you visit www.BuildRealEstateResults.com, you’ll  notice that the header includes the phrase Web-Centric Real Estate Marketing.  So, what’s that, you ask?

I did a presentation recently for the local chapter of the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP), and prepared a Powerpoint presentation for the visuals.

I talked about the things that are critical to real estate professionals now.  First, a brand and USP (Unique Selling Proposition) to differentiate each agent from all the others.  Second, a logo to represent that brand.  And, third, a lead-generating real estate website.

This graphic was used to illustrate the idea of web-centric marketing:

I was rather pleased with myself, so thought I’d share the image.  If you use direct-response marketing in your direct mail and print ads, you’ll drive prospects to your website.  If you do SEO so that your site ranks for effective keywords, you’ll drive prospects to your website.  And, finally, if you use the Internet to promote listings, you’ll drive prospects to your website.

Besides the fact that if you don’t have a real estate website you’re in deep trouble, you can use a website as the central component for just about all of your marketing.

I talk to a lot of agents about identifying a niche market to go after.  Those discussions end in different ways.  Some agents immediately see the value of a niche, others really feel that narrowing their marketing focus will be detrimental.

There are a couple things I try to communicate about defining a niche:

1.  Defining a niche doesn’t mean that you eliminate all other prospects.  If you specialize in working with people who are relocating, that doesn’t mean that you won’t work with local buyers or sellers.  It just means that you don’t market to the local folks.

2.  Most (perhaps all) successful businesses define a niche.  I always tell people that one strength I bring to the table is the ability to apply good marketing principles to the real estate industry.  At times, it makes me sound like a nut, but I keep after it anyway.

Think of any business that comes to your mind and ask yourself if they have a niche.  Let’s take cleaning products, for instance.  Have you ever been unlucky enough to be watching television during the day - maybe during a bout of the flu?  Have you noticed that there are tons of commercials for cleaning products during the day? 

Could that be marketing to a niche?  There are many more women responsible for cleaning the house watching television during the day.  The cleaning product manufacturers know that men and women working outside the home may also use their products, but they don’t market to them.

Do you have a luxury magazine in your city?  We do here in Atlanta.  How many ads do you think there are in that magazine for luxury cars?  How about pickup trucks?  Sure, the pickup manufacturers know that someone with a  lot of money might buy a pickup truck.  But, they don’t market to them.

So, the next time you are thinking about a niche market, keep in mind that every human being on the planet might buy a home from you, but do you want to market to them?

No, this is not a patriotic post.  Although, I guess I am pretty patriotic.  Actually, I’m talking about the cable network called USA.  They advertise that they’re the channel for characters, and they’ve got that right! 

But, the real reason I’m thankful for the USA channel is because they brighten up summer TV.  I don’t watch a lot of television, but I do enjoy some relatively mindless entertainment after a hard day at the computer.  And on the phone. 

Summer used to be useless as far as television was concerned.  If you had a good memory, you’d go nuts with reruns.  But, on Monday, two of my favorite shows came back for their short runs.

If you haven’t seen The Closer, you might want to take a look.  The lead is a woman, but it’s not a chick show.  It’s got good story lines and great acting.  There’s only one thing I would change. 

In the show, the lead character moved from somewhere in the South to somewhere on the West Coast, I think.  If the actress playing the lead, whose name I naturally don’t know, could do a good Southern accent, that would be fine.  However, she can’t.  If you haven’t heard a real Southern accent lately, rest assured what you hear on The Closer isn’t getting you any closer to hearing one. 

If I ruled the world, I would have written the story with the lead moving from somewhere like Ohio to the West Coast.  Then, the actress could just use her real voice.

The second show on USA Monday is another favorite, Saving Grace.  Some people I know won’t watch that show because they say that Holly Hunter (I think I got that one right) is just too raw.  My reply?  Well, that’s the whole idea.  If Grace didn’t have a bunch of problems, what would be the point in saving her? 

I also like to watch it because Hunter is not a spring chicken, and I’m fascinated by her physique.  How she has developed all those muscles in that little tiny body is a wonder.

And, then, there’s Earl.  Great guy.  Wish I had someone like him hanging around me, although I’m glad I don’t need one.  That probably sounds very strange, but you have to catch up with the show to understand.

If nothing else, just watch the first few minutes through the part where they play the theme song.  It’ll make you wanna get up and move - or maybe slither . . .

Whether you’re the buyer’s agent or the listing agent, you’re going to be involved in a negotiation for every home you sell.  Well, unless you’re a listing agent with four offers over par.  But, that type of thing isn’t happening much these days.

All of the negotiating information I can recall starts the process of negotiating after the two parties have laid out the outline of their positions.  I came across an interesting article a while back, though, that contained some excellent ideas on how to move toward the negotiation.

If you’re curious about the following issues, you should read the article.

As the Buyer’s Agent:

• Do you meet with the listing agent before presenting an offer?  If not, do you know what you could accomplish in that type of a meeting?
• Do you present your offer in person?  In many parts of the country, it’s common for the listing agent to present offers.  Do you know why that isn’t as effective, and how you could get yourself invited?
• What could you tell the listing agent and homeowner about your buyers to make the offer more appealing?
• Is it more effective to present the offer price first?

As the Listing Agent:

• How do you reply to the homeowner when they ask the following types of questions after an offer presentation:
  • We could have gotten this price ourselves - we’ll put the house back on the market
  • Can you cut your commission?
  • The offer is too low - we won’t accept it

 I think you’ll find the article interesting.  It’s on RISMedia.

Don’t look now, but your monitor might be lying to you!!  It’s an interesting situation when we’re working with someone to design a website.  What looks good to us can look awful to someone else.  And, sometimes it’s not just a difference in color preference.

Sometimes, it’s because monitors do lie from time to time.

When a new computer arrives, people are often tempted to adjust the monitor until it “looks right”.  The fact of the matter is that monitors aren’t supposed to display things that look right to you.  They’re supposed to display true colors.

So, if you want to know what your visitors see when they view your website, you’re pretty much sunk.  You have no idea how their monitor is displaying your colors.  But, if you want to get your monitor’s colors as close to true as you can, there is hope.

The best way to get true color is to purchase an amazingly expensive calibrated monitor.  You could also acquire software that will calibrate the color.  Since those two approaches are really overkill for most people, there is a third alternative.

If you do a search on the Internet for something like adjust monitor color manually, you will find a number of websites that can help you determine if you’re seeing anything close to what you’re supposed to see.

I looked at a few and found this one from Bryce-Alive.net.   The site is evidently a resource for graphic artists.  But, if you follow the link above, you’ll find a page that has several ways in which you can test your monitor to see if it’s close to true color.

If you’re like me, messing with your monitor is a heart-stopping undertaking.  So, the best advice I can offer is this:

Write down your existing monitor settings before you do anything!

Most recent monitors have contrast, brightness and color adjustments.  Give it a try.  If your monitor is far off, and you’ve written down the current settings, you can always go back to viewing the Internet world through your rose-colored glasses!

And, by the way, if you can’t see the number 45 in the image above, don’t worry about your monitor - you’re color blind!