Archive for Content – Sites/Blogs
If you blog on a regular basis, you know what a challenge it is to find the right photo to brighten up each post.
One thing that I have done is to create category images on this blog so that people consistently recognize the source of a post. This “From the Web” post is an example.
Judi Barrett has published two posts on Active Rain identifying several websites where you can find free photos. She has also identified how to use the photos for free and whether there is a fee for some types of uses.
Thanks, Judi. It’s always great to find new resources, or to be reminded of ones we may have forgotten!
Real Estate Blog Photos Part 1
Real Estate Blog Photos Part 2
And, Judi mentioned she’d publish 3 posts, so there may be one more to come.
Add a Cool Tool to Your Real Estate Website
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Making Your Real Estate Website Sticky
One of the trickiest things to do is to make your website “sticky”, meaning that people stay on the site when they first arrive, and return again. Anytime you can find a tool that provides information visitors can’t get elsewhere, you’ve got a winner.
Walk Score just keeps adding more functionality. If you haven’t taken a look lately, you should. It could be a real asset to your real estate website.
The Walk Score Rating – Just One of Several Toys
Walk Score has something for everyone, whether you’re in an urban or suburban/rural area. The actual Walk Score rating is only one of the features of the tool. The Walk Score rating is more useful in some areas than others.
- If you’re selling in an urban setting, the walk score rating is a nice tool for people looking for walking neighborhoods.
- If you’re selling in a suburban or rural setting, the walk score rating won’t be very significant. It will just tell you that the location is car-dependent, but you probably knew that already.
Something for Everyone
Regardless of the location of your target market, the Walk Score tool has capabilities that your website visitors can play with.
Local Amenities: Enter an address and you will be presented with a map of that location, along with nearby amenities, including Restaurants, Coffee Shops, Groceries, Shopping, Schools, Parks, Books (libraries and book stores), and Bars.
The list in each category isn’t exhaustive, but it will give visitors a feel for the area right around a home that interests them.
Commute Times: The latest addition is the “Your Commute” tab. Visitors can enter the address of a house of interest, then click on the “Your Commute” tab. At the next screen, they can enter their work address, mother’s address, the place where they drive the kids every Friday, and the list goes on.
The commute calculator will then display the commute time for driving, via public transportation, walking and riding a bicycle. And, for those who are thinking of walking or biking, they’ll even get a chart showing the hills between the two addresses.
Since the Walk Score tool covers at least the entire United States and Canada, you can amaze your friends by telling them you’ll be biking to their place and it will only take 76 hours and 58 minutes! Also handy if you plan to walk across the US for charity.
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If you haven’t taken a look at Walk Score lately, visit their latest demonstration. You’ll find the demonstration for the free version here.
The free version has the features discussed above, and it does display Google ads and links to larger maps on the Walk Score website. You’ll find information about the Premium version at the link above, also.
The Premium version starts at $25/month as of this writing. That version eliminates the Google ads and links, and adds some capability. The actual fee is dependent on the number of visitors a month. But, if you have more than 25,000 visitors to your website per month, I’m sure you won’t mind paying more than the starting fee of $25.
Go get sticky!
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Where ARE Your Testimonials?
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I must admit that I’m surprised at how few real estate agents have testimonials on their websites. Testimonials are wonderful things. Done well, they give anyone reading them good insight about who you are and how you work. You can put testimonials together on one page, but you can sprinkle short excerpts on content pages, too. And, of course, you’d put a link with each excerpt inviting visitors to explore your testimonials page.
If you don’t use testimonials, what are the reasons why you don’t?
- None of your real estate clients would recommend you to anyone else?
- You have emails or written notes from clients, but you haven’t taken the time to compile them?
- You’re afraid to contact clients after the close?
- You aren’t comfortable asking for a testimonial?
- The testimonials you get all sound alike and don’t really highlight any of your real strengths?
If you chose numbers 1 or 3, you really need to find another line of work. If you chose number 2, there’s really nothing anyone else can do for you. You just need to put “testimonials” on your to do list and get the job done.
Many people get stuck tackling reasons number 4 and 5. Here are some tips to break that pattern.
How to Get Great Real Estate Testimonials
1. If you want testimonials, you’ll need to ask for them. In a perfect world, every one of your clients would write an email profusely thanking you for all the wonderful things you did for them during their real estate transaction. Well, as you know, the world isn’t perfect. And, if you want to use testimonials, you must go after them.
2. Make it easy for your clients to give you a testimonial. Don’t just mumble something about your client giving you a testimonial and expect that it will happen. Don’t expect that clients will consistently fill out an evaluation form. Don’t expect that your clients will be comfortable sitting down to write something for you. Most people just don’t know where to start or what to say. Put a process in place that makes it easy and you’ll get a much better response.
3. Don’t end up with a boring, uninspiring testimonial page. The entire reason you use testimonials is to be a “proof source” to prospects who are thinking about hiring you. We all know that no one gets a testimonial from anyone that doesn’t think they walk on water. But, the more genuine the testimonial, the more weight it will be given.
Don’t end up with a testimonial page that consists of 12 different clients saying basically the same thing: “Joe did a great job”. Make sure that your testimonials touch on various aspects of the services you provide.
4. Don’t leave it up to your clients to decide what to say. The easiest and most effective way to get great testimonials is to give your clients a topic or two and ask them to respond to those specific issues. You can send them an email with some questions, then they can quickly respond to that email with the testimonial.
Use well defined, open-ended questions that relate to the client’s transaction. For example:
- How would you describe my role in handling the fact that the house appraised lower than the sales price?
- How did you feel when we were successful in negotiating the sales price you wanted?
- What impact do you think the staging advice I provided had on the length of time your home was on the market?
- How helpful were the trips we took to other homes for sale in your neighborhood to develop a good pricing strategy?
Does all this make sense? Can you see where it would be easy to get good testimonials if you do it right? Good – then get out there and do something about it!
If you get stuck thinking about how to raise the issue, try something low key like this:
- “I’m going to be updating the testimonials on my website, and I’d like to include some feedback from you. If it’s OK with you, I’d like to send an email with a couple questions that you can just respond to. And, don’t worry about making your response perfect prose. I’ll be glad to edit what you send me to make it sound good!”
Was that the last stumbling block? If so, go knock ‘em dead.
If there are other problems that prevent you from getting good testimonials, let me know and we’ll find some solutions!
Every real estate professional I talk to wants to find ways to make their real estate website work harder for them. A few years ago, some professionals wanted their website to be a lead generation source. Now, I could almost stop asking about objectives, because almost everyone I talk to does want their website to generate leads.
Finding 8 ways to use video is good news. Studies have shown that videos do improve sales conversions. Here are some ideas about content that comes from an article on a website called MarketingProfs.com.
If you don’t follow some non-real estate related information, you might be missing something. Every so often it seems to me that I’m reading the same information over and over on real estate publications. It can be refreshing to look outside our industry to find new ideas.
I don’t intend to repeat that article here (that, of course, would be Internet theft), but I do want to highlight some things that can bring the article into clear focus for the real estate industry.
Eight Ways to Create Enough Video Content to Last 18 Months
Introduction – In the article, Pete Savage talks about B2B (business-to-business) marketing. His ideas also apply very well to the B2C (business-to-consumer) marketing that you do as part of y0ur real estate practice.
1. Repurpose - Mr. Savage talks about reusing information that has previously been published in a white paper. I don’t know of any real estate professionals who publish white papers, but I do know many who provide reports that can be downloaded from their websites. We are all in search of the compelling proposition that will motivate a visitor to indicate their interest (along with some contact information).
So, when you read #1 in the article think about the information that you have on your website now. If you’re not getting lots of reaction to it, a video explanation might be just the teaser visitors will need to want more.
2. Whitepapers: Create Video Executive Summaries- Again, you’re probably not writing whitepapers, but you do have a lot of information to share. So, think of this approach as part of summarizing the information you offer on your website.
3. Case Studies: Create Video Versions – Have you ever thought of creating case studies of interesting or unusual transactions you have been a part of? Let’s say that your niche is helping homeowners avoid foreclosure. You know there is a right way and a wrong way to go about that. And, you have probably run into people who used both those ways. Why not make a video describing those scenarios?
You may not be able to get your clients to participate, but there may be other less sensitive situations where a client would be pleased to be asked to share their experience.
4. Webinars- If you’ve done webinars or given talks to local community groups on real estate topics, this idea on how to use those things is for you.
5. Give a Sneak Peek at Upcoming Content – Are you planning a series of blog posts on a timely real estate issue? Give a sneak peek through a video.
6. Tradeshows and Conferences- You probably don’t attend a lot of tradeshows, but you can apply these tips to any place you meet and greet people – perhaps the local chamber of commerce meetings.
7. Create a Content-Rich Microsite – These tips are easily applied to the real estate industry.
8. Get Personal with a Q&A Session - These tips are easily applied to the real estate industry.
The Secret to Writing Great Headlines
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If you are reading this post because of the headline, then you know the secret is working! When you write a blog post, you want something to attract attention so that people will actually read it. When you’re writing a landing page on your website, you want the same thing. So, you wanna know the secret?
It’s really pretty simple – you just need to know where to look!
If you’re not familiar with a website called Copyblogger, you’re missing out on a wealth of information. And, for writing headlines, you’ll find some very helpful information that has been written in simple English. The authors also include examples, which I find to be extremely helpful when you’re learning a new concept.
So, to find the secret to writing great headlines, visit this page at Copyblogger. You’ll find a list of 11 articles, all of which are great resources. Some of these will help you to understand why you need great headlines. But, if you look at numbers 7, 8, 9 and 10, you’ll find many ways to write effective headlines along with examples of how to make them work for you.
Enjoy!
