5 Quick Facebook Tips you should follow
1. Post good content daily. This is the No.1 one thing that I see agents NOT doing. They spend time calling or e-mailing clients, but they drop the ball on their Facebook page. You should be posting two to three times a day. A good formula for Realtors on Facebook is: two parts personal and one part business.
2. Have a plan and stick to it. Make a list of the top 10 sites you like to visit — include news sites, recreational sites (gardening, travel, etc.), and, of course, your Web site or blog. Visit this list daily. This makes it very easy for you to link to interesting stories and post good and relevant content daily.
3. Do it yourself. As a Realtor you can’t hire out someone to manage your Facebook account for you. You have to make time — every morning and every evening — to manage your account. You can, however, hire someone to enhance your page and make custom tabs with HTML.
4. Comment on what others post. This is KEY! It is not all about YOU! Take five minutes out of your Facebook time each day to comment on what some of your friends or fans have said.
5. Be engaging. Ask questions, post photos, be a part of the conversation. Remember: Facebook is like the ultimate dinner party. At a dinner party you wouldn’t sit in the corner and not talk to anyone right? Nor would you JUST talk about real estate. By Katie Lance

The Power of website IM

Reading Inman News today I glanced over an article about Instant messaging. (http://www.inman.com/opinion/letter-to-editor/2010/02/3/the-power-im)
Barrett Powell makes a really strong point here that I feel warrants a commentary on my part. I am a strong advocate for bringing true value to my clients businesses.
Whether that be through creating a solid brand or even a quick marketing tip that helps you utilize a free tool or idea in your business.

People are social creatures. Let’s face it, the great majority of us love to interact with others.

Am I the only one who wants to pull my hair out whenever I pick up the phone to call my service provider and it takes 5 minutes of navigating through an endless cue of automated choices just to get someone on the line? I think not.

Your website should be a tool for you to generate leads. End of story. It is your 24 hour a day, 7 day a week sales executive. Imagine not only being able to get information from people who sign up on your site, but making a chat option available to interact with them live. I think it’s brilliant and it works. 58% of visitors on average will gravitate towards using chat before emailing. Perhaps it’s because we’ve become instant gratification based? Perhaps our time is so valuable that we want answers now so we can move on to the next thing? Take your pick. Bottom line is the facts are the facts. Let’s pay attention to modern human behavior for a change and adjust our marketing plans accordingly.

Put yourself in your web visitors shoes. Your users want to get in touch with you now, not tomorrow. Where you miss an opportunity, another professional will take the initiative. Provide them with that option. It allows you an opportunity to increase your value to that potential client and make a great first impression. A great first impression can lead to a sale, and more importantly a fantastic relationship. We all know that fantastic business relationships equal referrals right?

So, Website online chat? SOLD.

YOU can IM ME with any questions about integrating a chat option into your current website. My AIM/gTalk is tschuettdesigns.

I hope you found this useful. Until next time.

Craigslist.org is a very popular Web site for real estate classified ads — be it a home for sale, apartment for rent, or office to lease. And it’s a place where real estate agents and owners alike can advertise properties.

The following are some tools to reach Craigslist searchers:
GoGoPin lets you easily create eye-catching graphic ads. You can include photos, clipart, graphs, speech bubbles and much more. You can even add photos taken with your cell phone. What makes GoGoPin a favorite of mine is the ability to export the graphic ad to Craigslist. Simply copy and paste the HTML code in your ad. GoGoPin ads are free. Tip: You can hyperlink your ad to any Web page by simply adding a URL when you save the ad. Now, if a Craigslist reader clicks your ad, they are sent to a more detailed page, or your Web site. http://ad.gogopin.com/

Postlets lets you create graphic classified ads that you can display on Craigslist simply by copying and pasting the HTML code. http://www.postlets.com/home.php

CraigsToolBox is an amazing Firefox and Internet Explorer add-on that automatically reveals images and other features in your Craigslist search results. Beside images, you can see the map location and text preview without having to click each ad. You can also request notification, via text message, of all new ads. The tool is available for a free trial and the annual cost is $9.99. CraigsToolbox also works for non-real estate ads. http://www.craigstoolbox.com/

PadMapper allows users to search for apartment and house rentals on Craigslist (as well as Oodle and Apartments.com) and displays the properties on a map with details, including the date the ad was placed. The mapped listings can be shared via e-mail, link or embeddable code. PadMapper has good search filters, such as sliders for rental cost and number of bedrooms, listings less than seven days old, sublets, no-fee apartments (in New York City and Boston), pets, photos, and proximity to subways, etc. Tip: Set up e-mail alerts on PadMapper to receive new listings that meet your search criteria. http://www.padmapper.com/

MapThatPad is another rental search tool. When searching for apartments, use MapThatPad to map the properties you find, add notes, save the map and then send it to clients (or their parents). A “bookmarklet” (a small program contained in a bookmark) makes the tool easy to use. The tool currently only works for apartments but it may be expanded to include homes. A great feature, and time saver, is the ability to contact all apartment listings with one e-mail. http://www.mapthatpad.com/

SearchTempest lets you do a proximity search of Craigslist, based on distance from a specified ZIP code area or in many selected states and cities, thereby saving you the time of searching each area separately. What’s nice is that CraigsToolbox works on SearchTempest, allowing you to see images in the results. SearchTempest also has a forum to help you get advice and help. You can get an RSS feed for any search you do on SearchTempest, to keep up to date on new listings. http://www.searchtempest.com/

CraigslistChecker is one of many ways to set up and receive alerts about new Craigslist ads, and its beauty is its simplicity. Just enter the URL of your search results and every hour you will be notified by e-mail about new listings that meet your search criteria. End the updates by simply clicking the cancel link in your e-mail. Simple. http://www.craigslistchecker.com/

Craigly is a mobile Craigslist app for iPhones. Among its neat features is a multiple-location search by city, state or distance from your location, image preview, and portrait/landscape views. You can also post ads with photos. The current cost of the Craigly app is 99 cents. http://www.apptism.com/apps/craigly
Article by, Joseph Ferrara

Hope one or more of these tools are useful to you.
What Craigslist-related tools do you use?

Most agents have a Web site, but few regularly generate leads from their site. If you want to make sure that you have optimized your site for 2010, evaluate your site using the checklist below.

1. Do you have a personal Web site with your own URL?
Many agents have only a page on their broker’s site. The result is the Web traffic goes to your broker, not to you. Not having your own site greatly reduces the number of leads you can generate from the Web. Make setting up your own site a top priority for 2010.

2. Is your picture on the front page of your site?
If so, move it to the “About Us” page. Leaving it on the front page causes up to 50 percent of your visitors to surf away.

3. Does your home page list your city, state, phone number and e-mail address?
A high percentage of agent Web sites fail to include this important information on their home page. Check your site to make sure this information is displayed on your home page.

4. Is all of your personal listing information on your site up-to-date?
Many agents forget to post price changes to their listings, including noting when a property has sold. Make sure the information on your site is current.

5. Does your site link to all listings on your local multiple listing service?
The primary reason people visit real estate Web sites is to obtain access to listing information. The second most important requested information is access to sales prices. If possible, make sure the appropriate links are on your home page.

6. Do you have a URL (Web site address) that references the area where you work, the specific niche(s) you serve, and that includes a reference to real estate?
If not, purchase a new URL and create a new page designed specifically for the niche(s) you serve — for example, “LiveatLakeTravis78733.com” or “BostonProbateSellers.com.” Whatever you choose, make sure that you select a URL where you can obtain the dot-com address. You can set this up as a separate site or incorporate it into your existing site. If you choose to incorporate it into your current site, set up the new URL page as if it is a home page. (In other words, anyone clicking on this URL would go to this new page on your main site.)

7. Does your site have landing pages for lead capture?
A major challenge with most agent Web sites is that they are advertising-based rather than marketing-based. In other words, the sites describe the agent’s services, but there is no mechanism to motivate the Web visitor to contact the agent. Update your site by offering a “free CMA” or “free reports” on topics such as “How to Save Thousands on Your Next Mortgage,” “Options for Avoiding Foreclosure,” or “Are You Eligible for a Property Tax Reduction?” You could also offer coupons for local visitors or any other item that would motivate Web visitors to contact you. Have your Web designer build a landing page on your current site where visitors can order these items.

8. How many pictures have you posted for each of your listings?
Whenever possible, post at least 20 pictures, as this maximizes the number of leads that you will receive on your site.

9. Is your Web site linked to your blog and your social media?
Ideally, your blog should be integrated into your Web site. If not, make sure that you have links on your blog to your site and vice versa. If you are active on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, does your site link to them? If not, have your Web designer add the appropriate links using the icons provided by each site.

10. Are their links to videos of your listings?
According to the National Association of Realtors, only 1 percent of agents are using video and yet 73 percent of sellers would hire an agent who uses video. Currently, Google and other search engines appear to give sites with video a higher ranking than those who lack video. Set up a button on your home page that takes visitors to a page called “Videos of my listings.”

11. Does your site link to important community information?
Consumers want lifestyle data, videos that illustrate what it’s like to live in your area, Chamber of Commerce information, school data, crime statistics, etc. You can link to sites such as Walkscore.com to determine the “walkability” of nearby amenities, Eventful.com for a calendar of local events, or Gasbuddy.com to locate the best gas prices in your area. These tools keep visitors returning to your site regularly.

12. Does your site have a mortgage calculator?
People want to know how much they can afford. It’s also smart to include a “rent vs. buy” calculator as well.

13. Does your site have a privacy policy?
Many people are reluctant to fill out online forms with their data. A privacy policy can change this. Your policy should include a statement that explains: “We respect your privacy and will not share your information with anyone. We understand that you may just be looking at this time and are not yet ready to be contacted by an agent. Filling out the form below is optional.” This approach actually yields more correct information than forcing visitors to complete a mandatory form.

14. Does your site have testimonials from past clients?
If not, start gathering these right away. Testimonials, especially if they are on video, help your site achieve higher search-engine ranking.
Most real estate Web site providers already provide most of these features. The key to Web success in 2010 is taking your site and making it entirely about the specific customer you serve. This is how to differentiate yourself from the competition and drive more deals to your business in 2010. Article by Bernice Ross

If you have any questions or would like to sit down and talk about putting together a new website, let’s make an appointment. You can check out our web work at www.PR-Pros.com. Let’s get your business on the right track for 2010!

In today’s age the idea of finding ways to make money via advertising is a strong draw for popular websites and social media Platforms. It is more and more critical for us to create a complete marketing strategy using all the mediums available to get the best bang for our buck. Where as smaller Sites and Social media Outlets might not have the “click rate” that we are used to using Google, Yahoo and MSN, they do offer a very specific audience and of course lower costs per click. Staying on top of all the outlets is the challenge. Knowing which ones have a good return on investment and ultimately which ones bring results.

Social Media Giants like Facebook , My Space and YouTube already have healthy internet marketing programs and more and more of the smaller sites are getting in the game. Now Social Bookmarking leader Digg has announced that they too are embracing their own sponsored Ad program. See article below:

From www.searchenginewatch.com is this article

June 5, 2009
Digg to Launch In-House Advertising Platform

In April, Digg pulled out of its advertising contract with Microsoft. There was speculation at the time that Digg would launch its own advertising platform. This week the social bookmarking site announced that rumor will indeed come to fruition.

Digg Ads will launch as a pilot program in a few months. Ads will be in the form of content you would normally see on Digg, but clearly labeled as “sponsored.”

Digg members can vote on sponsored content just like they vote on submitted stories. Digg says the more an Ad is Dugg, the less an advertiser will have to pay for it. The more it is buried, the more an advertiser will pay, effectively pricing it out of play.

The platform is in early stages of development. Digg will be working with advertisers and the Digg community to perfect the system.

Let’s talk about Search Engine Marketing and how to be effective in this area. Out of the three options for internet marketing that we are recommending, the search engines have the potential to bring in the most business by far. It’s still important to do the free directories and Classified Websites like Craigslist, but there isn’t anything that can compare to the sheer volume of people that use the top 3 internet search engines on a daily basis. As you are probably aware, Google dominates the search engine market with about 60% of the market share. Yahoo and MSN (now Bing)make up the majority of what’s left and all then there are a bunch of small ones that make up the last few percent.

Organic Search Results

When you type a search term into a search engine, the engine scans over all the pages on the internet to generate a list of websites that contain relevant information pertaining to the search term entered. This relevancy is based on a score that is determined by supercomputers that analyze and take into account a number of factors such as content, traffic, the age of the site, etc. The main list that comes up is called the organic search results list.

Search Engine Optimization

While there is no cost to the owners to have their sites listed in this area getting there in the first place is the trick. It requires Search Relevancy which is accomplished through Search Engine Optimization. Additionally it can take up to 6 months for new websites to even be recognized by search engines much less to begin working their way up this list. Depending on what you are looking for and the search term entered, the organic results may or may not be helpful unless you have a well engineered site that has great content and uses effective SEO Techniques.

One other component to consider is location! For example typing in the word “glass shop” would bring up a list of all the sites relevant to glass shops but not necessarily glass shops that are in your local area. The organic search results are pulled from sites across the US and internationally and often won’t contain anything pertinent to a local customer unless more specific terms such as “glass shop Roseville, CA” is entered which would narrow down the results. But remember we need to create results for the masses.

Many web searchers start by entering more general terms and don’t fully use more specific search terms such as location. Your site may be slowly working its way up the organic search results lists for a number of terms. But unless you are on the first page, or the potential customer enters in your exact location, chance are your site wont be found.

Introducing Search Engine Marketing

Fortunately, there are ways to bypass the organic results and get front page exposure on the search engine from day one! Your site can get top 10 results by paying for it! This is one of the ways Google, Yahoo and other search engines make their millions. By enrolling in the search engines “search marketing” program: Adwords for Google, Search Marketing for Yahoo and adCenter for MSN you can get your site showing to the people who are looking for your services.

Typically, these are the results shown at the very top of the page as well as in the right hand margin and labeled sponsored links. In the sponsored links area, the different ads and sites are ranked against other sites who have designated that they want to show up in that geographic area any number of specified search terms.

The order or ranking is determined by businesses bidding how much they are willing to pay. Those who bid more show up above those who bid less. For example, a site who bids $.50 per click will be ranked above one who bids $.25 for the same term. Bid amounts vary greatly by industry. While a Glass Shop typically pays anywhere from $.25-$1.00 per click for glass related terms on the first page, attorneys and mortgage brokers have been known to pay as much as $40-$50 per click (no kidding!) for the more popular search terms that apply to their industry. This type of advertising is referred to as Pay-Per-Click (PPC) or more generally Search Engine Marketing (SEM).

Location Location Location!!!

The beauty of PPC and the sponsored links is that they often will be more relevant to the individual doing the search than the results that show up in the organic list. The reason is that the sponsored links will often consist strictly of local businesses as opposed to the organic results which come from everywhere. Businesses can choose which specific areas they want their ads to show so they can limit their exposure (and costs) to only areas that they can service.

Many people doing online searches don’t really understand the difference between the PPC and organic results but simply just look for what applies most to what they were searching for (which is often the sponsored links). Businesses participating in the PPC advertising can also set a maximum daily budget to ensure that they don’t spend more than they can afford.

What about my Phone Book ads?

With yellow page advertising as with many other types you pay every month regardless of whether anyone sees or calls off your ads. With PPC advertising you only pay for what you get. When your ad pops up under the sponsored links and is visible on the page, this is called an “impression”. It’s subtle advertising but it’s free. You are only charged when someone sees that impression and actually clicks on your ad which redirects them to the specific page on your website that we designate.

Most people don’t just randomly click on ads that don’t genuinely interest them in some way. So for around $.5o per click on average you can get someone to your site who is looking for your services and you have the chance to educate them about who you are and what you do.

Of course, not everyone who clicks will be ready to do business with you. But educating someone new for that small of an expense is more valuable than just the immediate response in the form of calls or Information Request Forms being filled out. The long-term branding and awareness it creates is equally beneficial. Even if only one out of every 20 people that click your ad and visit your site calls or fills out the form, at $.5o per click on average that’s only a $10 lead. How much is one customer worth to you?

Compare that to the Yellow pages, Mailers, Home shows, Radio and TV where you might average anywhere from $20-50 per lead and the difference can be huge. We all need leads to stay busy and convert to customers so which leads would you prefer, the ones for $10 or $50. I think you’ll find the leads generated from PPC are the same quality so you can get more at a lower cost without sacrificing on quality.

In addition to helping you get more leads for less money and effort, you have to consider the cost of not being seen on the search engines. If someone is doing a search in your area for your service and you are not there but a competitor is, do you feasibly have any realistic chance of getting their business? With PPC advertising, you can ensure that you get your fair chance to expose your business to these potential customers.

It really is all about opportunity and looking for that new approach to reaching your customers. Below is a great article about incorporating social media into your game plan. With this ever evolving world of business and technology staying on top of the new tools is a full time job.

Turn Conversations Into Sales
People are talking about your brand online–find them and make them your customers.
Marshall Sponder: Web Metrics Guru

Social media is all about having conversations, while search marketing is about identifying and taking action on what customers already want or need. So, if you can mine that data from social media, why not use it to build search campaigns (paid and organic) and include copy on web pages that will foster conversations?

Conventional keyword tools are a good place to start finding conversations. One good place to look for keywords is in your own product pages. Google’s keyword tool is good at picking phrases from any page, but it doesn’t help with social media. A keyword phase is not a conversation–it’s the words around a keyword that tell the most about what someone wants, not the keyword itself. Search engines can, however, extract terms that are good ways to find conversations between your potential customers. The key is to figure out where these conversations are happening and become part of them. Techrigy SM2 is an extremely powerful social media monitoring tool that can help you do just that.

Techrigy’s free account will allow you to the first 1,000 results on a given day pertaining to your brand. Based on those results, you can see which social media platforms you should focus on: blogs, message boards, photo sharing sites like Flickr or social networks like Facebook or MySpace. You can also see how often your brand shows up on Twitter, but keep in mind that Tweets are much easier for users to generate than blog posts. The software will also mine demographic information, including the physical location of people who are talking about your brand and, based on semantic breakdown, educated guesses about their age and sex.

One way to use this information is to go after individuals who express positive opinions about your brand by reaching them on Twitter, in blog comments and in e-mails, when appropriate. You can also work on sending different e-mails to women and men, and determine when to send them. For instance, Techirgy might tell you that sending out an e-mail on Thursday night or Friday is optimal, especially around mid-month. You’ll need to examine the data for more insight, but it’s clear that good timing is part of the equation. And the best-case scenario: You can combine all this data to craft the perfect offer at the right time, sent to people who already like what you’re selling–so much so that they take time to talk about it online.

Search engines can be a good starting point for identifying keywords around which conversations revolve, but social media needs another type of approach that focuses on conversations. Those conversations might not lead to customers right away, but they can foster brand loyalty and, eventually, sales.

It is just the beginning stages but we are making the move to our new, and hopefully long lasting, website. This new site will feature bountiful resources for both our customers and our sales force. Stay tuned for examples, articles, tips, tricks and even editorials from our staff in each of the areas they are passionate about. Well, more coming soon. Right now I need to get back at it and get the rest of this site completed. Talk with you more soon. Jim