Archive for October, 2008
Getting Your Visitors Where They Need to Go
I was reviewing an agent’s website recently and discussing how we could be of assistance. I noticed that they had a page on the site called Maps and Directions.
The agent’s site is usually visited by people who are looking for second home or vacation property, so the visitors aren’t really familiar with the area. They’d done a good job of giving directions to the resort town from the closest major cities. But, it was a static display of a map and information that couldn’t be easily printed to assist visitors for the drive.
One option to make that information more useful would be to put the directions into a PDF file and let visitors download it. But, the most effective way to help those visitors would be to let them generate a map showing specific directions from their starting point.
Don’t Forget the Maps!
There have been other posts on this blog about maps. The map-maker I use is www.ZeeMaps.com. It’s a fairly easy way to create interactive Google maps that are extremely useful.
You end up with a map that can have a list of the locations shown on the map, and push pins that identify a specific location. When a visitor clicks on one of the push pins, they will see the description you added, and links that will give them the ability to get directions from a specific starting point, just as you see on the maps on the Google site.
And, the good news is that the map directions open in a new window, so your visitors won’t lose the page on your site.
Take a look at this example of a map in Northwest Florida. To see the type of description you can add, click on the push pin #6, or click on the #6 entry under Points of Interest on the right side of the map.
Maps can be useful in many ways – don’t forget to use them!
Have you ever wanted to show a client or associate a number of web pages? I do that all the time.
I might want to show someone samples of how branding works for real estate, then show them a couple examples of websites that have brands incorporated into them, then show them a portfolio of different designs we have completed.
I’ve known about using TinyURL.com for some time. It will take a long URL and condense it into a short one that is easy to send in an email, for example. I recently discovered another cool tool on the Internet: Shrink2One.com.
Using Shrink2One, you can take a number of links and combine them into one. And, you can name the link and add a password, then only people you send the link to can view it.
So, the next time you want to direct a client to several listings on your website, or a listing and a video tour, or a set of articles on your blog, you can shrink all those links into one.
Want to see how it works? Try this link:
I put a password on it so you could see how that works, too. The password is test
Just make sure to click the SUBMIT button after entering the password. Enjoy!
Whimsical Wednesday: Campaign Fatigue
· CommentsOK, if I have my calculations correct, it’s just 13 days until the election. Hallelujah!
I’m not a fanatic about politics, although I do care who is leading the country. So, I do pay some attention to political campaigns. But, I have to admit, that sometime before the election actually happens, I experience campaign fatigue. And, it’s hit hard this year.
Here’s how I know when I’m experiencing campaign fatigue:
- I don’t care that Tina Fey looks almost exactly like the Republican VP candidate
- I don’t feel like discussing whether the Republican VP should have appeared on Saturday Night Live or not
- My thumb is strained from surfing channels during commercials while I’m watching TV in order to avoid being exposed to any more campaign commercials
- I am really, really sick of the threads on RealTalk where everyone is trying to pretend that rabid right-wing and/or left-wing politicos are really making any sense whatever
- I am amazed at the report that the Republicans spent $150,000 to clothe and accessorize their VP candidate – what do they wear in Alaska. . . cammo pants and hunting boots????
- I am tired of checking facts – we should just all accept the fact that facts can come out however you want them, and checking doesn’t really help. . . mainly because it depends on who is doing the checking!
- I believe that our enemies will always test us – I don’t care who is President!
- With all that is going on these days, I can’t understand why a VP would make one of their key duties being a champion for children with special needs. . . what about the kids with cancer? adults with cancer? Lupus, Parkinsons’s disease, Wall Street, recession talk? I mean, let’s get serious
- Who cares when Powell endorsed Obama. He did it – so enough already
- I’ll be glad when Katie Couric is no longer asking the candidates about the last time they cried. Cheez
- And, after all Palin’s new duds go to charity, will she be back to the cammo pants? Another burning question
I do wish we could get all the way through a campaign taking the high road. Talking about the issues. Getting candidates to tell us where they stand, not where their opponent is.
It’s a fantasy. I know it will never happen. But, this year I’m going to vote early. Then, I’m going to pretend like the campaign is over, and they’re just taking a really long time counting the votes!
Real Estate Marketing: Take Time for Stories
· CommentsThis guest post was written by Larry Easto who is a
best-selling business writer, and publisher of Real Estate Marketing Link
Once upon a time, there was a real estate agent named Norm.
Norm was not like other real estate agents. He was more interested in hearing purchasers’ stories than what kinds of homes they were looking for. Once he’d heard their stories, he would then ask what they were looking for.
Similarly, when talking to home-owners, he would simply swap the same stories they had exchanged many times. Eventually Norm would ask if the owners had thought about moving. He already knew their stories…and as a result, understood what housing would be most appropriate for their stage in life.
Norm never showed properties: he introduced the owners and purchasers to each other. He invited the owners to tell stories about living in the house and invited the purchasers to tell their stories about their lives.
By encouraging his clients to tell their stories, Norm was applying the age-old technique of story-telling to real estate marketing. Strategically, this helped build relationships with his client and identify their needs and wants.
When owners and purchasers swapped their stories, it was not just social chit-chat. It allowed the parties to establish a rapport that helped minimize, if not totally avoid problem-causing misunderstandings.
When owners like prospective purchasers, they will be less anxious about selling the home that they love. They believe that once sold their home will be in good hands.
Similarly, when purchasers like the home, its stories and owners, they can see themselves living there, adding their own stories to those they heard about the home.
In the current real estate market, it’s virtually impossible to follow Norm’s techniques in bringing owners and purchasers together.
But even in today’s technology-driven world, people still love stories. This means that story-telling can be just as effective now as it was when our ancestors told stories around the campfire.
Listening to people’s stories is a perfect way to establish rapport and also identify clients’ needs and wants. We all like people who listen to our stories. By listening to prospects stories, you help them like you. And the more prospects like you, the more likely they will choose you as their agent.
While physical things like HVAC systems and appearance are features that distinguish property from another, they can be changed.
Intangibles such an interesting history–or a collection of stories–helps make a house a home and distinguish it from other similar properties.
The moral of Norm’s story…the ancient technique of story-telling can be a very effective real estate marketing tool that will help you learn about clients and serve them better.
I saw an interesting article on RISMedia today. Prudential in Chicago has just announced “a new consumer-friendly online information tool.” Sound familiar?
Pru says that they wanted to provide a brand new type of real estate market information that is updated weekly and replaces outdated services that provide information updated no more than monthly, and that might be updated quarterly or annually.
Giving their clients easy access to real estate market information allows the clients to make the best real estate decisions because they are completely up-to-date on the latest market trends. The reports provided even include interpretation of the statistics to assist clients in absorbing the information. Imagine.
Pru even gave the service a name: the Preferred Market Watch tool, and they say that they’re excited to be taking clients into a new world of information access.
Have you figured it out yet? I mean why there’s a quote around the word “new” in this blog title?
Prudential in Chicago is providing information from Altos Research.
I’m not being critical. I think it’s great that they are aggressively differentiating themselves in the market, and providing the current market information their clients need. And, from a marketing perspective, branding the service and making a splash about it is an excellent approach.
Just remember that you heard it here first! September 24, 2007: Real Estate Marketing Tips 
