As a relative new person to Real Estate Industry it amazes me to hear how many people have a blog whether that is an ActiveRain account or a WordPress blog .  After doing research for our client to see what you guys are doing right or wrong we came up with the following things that this industry can be doing in order to use the power of our blogs to gain customers.

Remember it is a representation of your business and the BRAND you are trying to build as an agent.
In my opinion this is the biggest mistake that people make with their blogs.  They get too personal and cover off topic items.   Choose your topics that you think your customers would want to know about. Stay away from political and religious topics, and never post pictures of you doing something that you would not want your conservative grandmother seeing you doing.

Be consistent with your posting.
The best way for you to build an audience is to be consistent with your postings.  I know that you have a lot of things to do, but take one day a week or every two weeks and write your posts and then use a scheduler to post them for you.  I encourage you to take our 30 Day Blog Challenge.  Our 30 day blog challenge is to post at least one article a day for the next 30 days.  I know that it may seem like a lot but if you are serious about it 30 days is not that long and we find that it.  Here are some topics that we recommend to our clients.

•    Market Updates – Use your title reps or MLS for sales information for your area
•    Home of the Week – This does not have to be your listing but would be a good way to showcase listing of interest.
•    Restaurant Reviews – This is my favorite as you get to have a good meal but also because you are posting it to your blog, you can now claim 100% of the meal off your taxes, instead of the standard 50% for local meals.  Bring your camera with you to take pictures of your food and call ahead to interview the owner or chef about the food.
•    Upcoming Events – Tell us about upcoming events, for the Forth of July you could have told us about the various fireworks show available.

Add Some Video To Your Blog.
Instead of typing to us talk to us.  Create a YouTube channel and post the videos in your blog.  Video blogging provides a break for those who read your blog and allows for people to know who you are and get familiar with you.  It is easier for us to relate to someone we can see and hear, then the words that we type on a page.  Use your video blog to interview someone or showcase your new listing with a video tour of it.

Stay tuned for part two, coming soon.

If you are in the Real Estate Industry and you are not using email as a means of marketing you are spending to much money or you are not communicating with your customer. E-Mail is the most cost effective and easiest way for you to communicate with your customers. In fact e-mail is becoming the preferred method of communication. So here are a few tips that we give our clients when setting up email campaigns.

1. Create a custom design. Use a theme that matches your current marketing materials. If you don’t know how to do this then consult with a professional. It will be worth the money.
2. Get Permission to send out emails. Just because you have a name and email doesn’t mean they want to be contacted by you. Also include the required opt out sentence at the bottom of all your emails.
3. Be Consistent. Don’t just send out e-mails whenever you have a new property. Send out monthly home tips, recipes, etc. Use this time to communicate with your virtual farm and to nurture those relationship.
4. Be Productive. Have an exact point to every e-mail that you send out. Don’t just send an e-mail out because you need to do it. If you are struggling for ideas look to sites like activeRain.com or turn to your title rep for ideas.
5. Use a CRM System. CRM stand for Customer Relationship Management. A CRM program will allow you to manage your buyers and seller and keep you entire real estate business organized. Many of the have built in email sending functions with advance tracking features.

Remember e-mail marketing is one of the many tools that you can use to communicate with your buyers and seller. Use it to start a communication with them and then have a plan for how you are going to handle them once they want to buy or sell a house.

If 85% of real estate transactions are starting online why are you spending all your money printing things? I am not saying that you should not drop printing. There is a place for marketing through traditional outlets, but let’s face it most of those are dying breads that take up an every growing slice of your commissions. We were recently in a meeting with a multi-office brokerage in Southern California who averaged less then 5 calls a week from their LA Times Ad. I won’t say what it costs for a full page ad in the weekend real estate section, but let just say it is not cheap. They spent essentially a years worth of our services for 3-4 days of exposure.

Take some time to think about your marketing budget to see if the money that you are spending is making you money. I don’t know what your percentage split should be, but that is something that you need to figure out. In our business we don’t even consider a marketing outlet unless we think we can get a 10X return on our money in the first 90 days of a campaign.

If you are currently advertising in the newspaper or a magazine. Cut the size of your ad in half or run it every other week and move that money to other forms marketing. If you want to more your ad dollar online you should first invest your money in your personal website if you don’t already have one. Then you should invest in upgrading your listings through Realtor.com or get a single property website for it. If you prefer to market offline, invest in a networking group membership. I have experience with BNI and our Realtor gets a lot of leads, but remember you have to commit to attend and actively participate in networking groups for a year to be successful with them.

What are you doing to market yourself and your properties?

Not getting what you want out of your real estate website, here are five common things that we run across when working with clients. See if you suffer from any or all of our five real estate website mistakes.

1. You have the same website as every other Realtor.

Pullan, Advanced Access, and us at Seven Design Studios do a great job of providing cost effective template based websites to the vast majority of real estate professionals. But those who are wanting to take their website to the next level need to get a custom website design and write their own content for it on a regular basis. Google, Yahoo, MSN, and the other websites can only rank your website based on the words contained in your website. So if you and let say 10 other agents in your office or city have the same content how do they rank you higher then the other agents in the results pages? The answer is they don’t, you fall back to the back of the results but with less then 80% of searchers going beyond the first page and less then 2% going beyond the third page, if you are not in the top 30 results your traffic is not going to be more then a few visitors a day. So get a new website and start writing your own content. It is not as hard as you think.

2. Your website design/theme does not reflect your area.

We see this all of the time. How are you going to connect with website visitor if your website does not reflect your city. Here is an example of what we mean.

This is a website of an agent down the street from us. You would think Covina, CA is a nice beach community, but by my calculations we are at least an hour from the beach and more with traffic.

Connect with your city with photos of notable building, homes, parks, etc that are in your city. If you are not the greatest photography hire someone, partner with a college student, ask a friend, be creative and then give them credit on your website. Who knows you could have just met your next home buyer or seller.

3. Your website requires user registration.

Buyers and seller these days are looking for as much information as possible. According to the California Association of Realtors, buyers are looking online for up to 3 months before contacting an agent. Give them what they want free easy access to the MLS. Once they are on your website give them another reason to contact you. The best reason I have seen is the guys from 1000 Watt Consulting and their video “I am not a lead”

4. You try to be all things to all people.

We see this more in major metropolitan areas then others, but just because the MLS gives you access to 100 different cities does not mean that you are “Really” able to represent all of those cities. Our most successful clients concentrate on no more then 3 cities, most of then its one.

5. You not putting enough effort into your website.

The days of build it and they will come have long gone. The search engines and visitors love fresh content and your professional insight. In Covina, I literally have thousands of agents within 10 miles off our office. So use your website to tell me why I should use you for my next transaction. The amount of time you spend is not important, the fact that you have a dedicated time to work on content and marketing for your website is. If you don’t have a time schedule weekly to work on your website then schedule one today.

We often ask clients if you would trust a lawyer or banker if they looked like this?

The answer is most likely NO. The answer is no because he does not look the part of a professorial. As a Realtor we entrust you with one of our, if not, our most valuable possessions, Our Homes. When dealing with high dollar financial transaction there is a certain level of professionalism that you must project. Would you show up for a listing appointment dressed like the guy above? No you put on a professional business attire, and make sure you put your best foot forward. If NAR’s statistics are right then for a good portion of your new clients first interaction with you is your website. Does your website resemble one of the following websites?

If you answered yes to the abpve question you should think about your image that you website is portraying to potential new clients. If you would like one of our website professionals to review your website. Please fill out the contact form to the right or contact us at 626.488.0330.

In real estate the use of Web 2.0 technologies to connect with customers and to market yourself is becoming more and more of a common place. Here is a guide to the most popular venues for marketing yourself using social media.

Benefits of using social media

• Brand Awareness
• Lead Generation
• Event Promotion
• Customer Loyalty
• Blogging Platform
• Build Brand-Centered Community
• Local / Regional Focus

Myspace.com

Quick Statistics

• #3 most visited website in the world
• Over 300,000,000 registered users
• Averages 65-75 millions visitors daily
• Average users spends 25-35 minutes per day on the site
• 40.6% of it’s users are between 35 and 54

When using myspace.com first get the most direct keyword based to describe your business. If I was a real estate agent in Pasadena I would try to get myspace.com/pasadenarealestate or myspace.com/pasadenarealtor. This is important for you to have a keyword that you want to rank for and as you add content to the site you want it to rank well for that term.

Be sure to create a custom theme for your page. You can either download one of the many free templates or contact your website designer to have a custom theme built for you. When you are creating your theme be sure to include third party apps like slideshows of your properties from slide.com, use the music player to introduce your self to your audience, and add video tour of your properties or market updates to your page using youtube.com

Facebook.com

Quick Statistics

• #6 most visited website in the world
• Over 80,000,000 registered users
• Averages 35-45 millions visitors daily
• Average users spends 14-16 minutes per day on the site
• 50% of users over the age of 25

Facebook is one of the fastest growing social media websites online. It has brought many new concepts that are now being implemented by other websites. After you have created your profile be sure to use the following functions. Join and create as many group as you need to market yourself. Join your city, county, and regional groups. If you participate in a caravan create join or create a group for it. If there is not a group for open houses in your area create one and email out your group to other agents in the area. Use the marketplace to advertise your listings. Add your open houses or seminars to the events calendar.

The best part of Facebook is that they opened up the Facebook Platform which allows for website developers to write custom application for you to market on Facebook with. Like I tell many of my clients this allows you to do whatever you want as long as your check is good. So think outside the box and see what can happen.

ActiveRain.com

Quick Statistics

• Ranked 6,771 most visited website
• Over 85,000 registered users
• Averages 400-500k visitors monthly
• Average users spends 8-12 minutes per day on the site

ActiveRain is the largest real estate focused social media website. The basis for the site is blogging and commenting, where users earn points for post and comments. The more points you earn the higher your rank on the site. From my point of view there are not a lot of consumers on the site so take that into consideration when making posts.

Like MySpace, ActiveRain allow you to customize your profile, take advantage of it and brand your profile page.

Affiliates use ActiveRain as a way to establish yourself as a professional in your area and as a way to connect with Real Estate Agents. Agents use the site as a way to establish yourself as an Agent who goes beyond the minimal. Give other agents reasons why they should refer you business. Post your properties in your blog with lots of photos and a good description of the property.

Social Media Tips for the all of the websites

1. Fill out your profile completely add links to your personal website, your other social media profiles, and be sure to post all of your contact information
2. Post all of your listings, open houses, and seminars
3. Give your readers something to think about. Don’t just tell me what the evening news told me. Take the news and add your expertise to it.
4. Think of your posts as the 60 second elevator pitch for the topic.
5. You get out what you put into the sites. So participate in the conversation
6. It takes time to establish yourself on the sites so be patient and consistent.

1. Detailed Property Information

You don’t have to be Ernest Hemingway , but how can I make a decision about the house with the following description.

Adorable 4 bedroom in great area of La Verne – recently painted and updated.

This was taken from an actual listing for a property in a gated community that cost over $1,000,000. One suggestion I have is look to the home owner for their help, because who knows the house better then the current owner.

2. Interactive Tools

Give the buyers custom maps of the property think about including local points of interest like which schools boundaries the school falls and the closest grocery story. Give them good mortgage calculators that offer suggested payments for the house based on today’s interest rates; integrate your calculator with the mortgage rate RSS feed from bankrate.com. And finally give you buyers the ability to email listing to their friends. My wife loves to email her mother with houses that we are looking at.

3. Pictures, Pictures, Pictures!

Pictures are the number one thing people want to look when they come to your website. Most MLS’s allow you to upload up to 20 photos. Your single property website should have as many photos as it takes for the potential buyer to get familiar enough with the house to envision themselves living in it.

If you are not using a professional service get a digital SLR with the smallest mm lens possible. We recommend using the Nikon D40 or the Cannon Digital Rebel XTi . Be sure to get the package with the 18-55mm lens because that will give you the most functional lens for taking photos of your properties

4. Include Multimedia

Use video and or virtual tours to showcase your property. The goal is to get the buyer to see themselves living in the property.

5. Be transparent

Disclose everything about the property that you know. If you have had a pre-listing appraisal or inspection, make those available to buyers. Also use the information from Zillow or comparable home information to gain trust with your buyer so they know your asking price is fair.

6. Contact Information

Give every way known to man for them to contact you about the house. Especially as more and more houses go on the market even the littlest things may cause them to look at other properties.

7. Establish Credibility Your Credibility

On the internet you have less then 15 seconds to make an impression. So I ask you how does your website, photo, flyers, business cards, signs, and mailers represent you? If you haven’t had professional photos taken in the last year, Get Some Done. And take a hard look at how someone would perceive your professionalism based solely on your marketing materials.

How do you separate yourself from the thousands of other agents in your area?

To separate yourself from your counter parts and achieve success in the real estate industry you need to brand yourself, and I am not talking about choosing a particular broker franchise. In order to build your brand you need to understand what a brand should be and what it should do for business.

Brand Defined:

1. A name, symbol, logo, or other item used to distinguish a product or manufacturer from its competitors.
2. A product’s attributes — name, appearance, reputation, and so on, taken collectively and abstractly.

The objectives that a good brand will achieve include:

• Delivers your message clearly
• Confirms your credibility
• Connects with your target prospects emotionally
• Motivates buyers
• Encourages User Loyalty

So how do I build my real estate brand?

The first thing that you need to do is know as much about your target audience. If you desire is specialize in condo/lofts in your downtown area. Then go to the developers of new projects and ask them who their target market and then spend as much time as you need to to understand why people are buying downtown. Take that a step further and understand where they are moving from. The more you understand your target audience the more success your marketing and branding will be.

Build your brand to be consistent in every interaction with clients. What does your voice mail say? We work with a local real estate auction company whose voice mail does a really good job at this. Their voice mail encourages people to go to their website, then lists out the website, to find out how to sell you home in thirty days or less for top dollar. They have branded themselves as a way to sell your home fast and in the market they are busier then ever. As you have read building a brand in more then just working with a designer to create cool flyer’s. Building a brand is about your clients interaction and experience with you.

So are you reflecting the right image?

Your brand will be judged and represented by the following:

• Business cards and stationery
• House flyer’s
• Newspaper/Magazine Ads
• Website
• Answering system/Voice Mail
• E-mail address
• Your Professionalism

The above is just a sample of what needs to be looked at in order to build a brand for success. Here is just some of the questions we ask our clients to answer. Take some time to answer them, be truthful and highly critical of yourself. The more effort you put into this the more you will get out of it.

Action Steps to Building My Brand

Answer the following questions:

1. Who is your target audience?
   • Where is your target audience located?
   • What do they think about your current brand?
   • What would you like them to think about your brand?
   • How will you attract them to your products or services?
   • Who else is competing for their loyalty and devotion?
2. Draft a statement about the relationship you would like to have with your clients.
   • Be as specific as possible
3. Review ALL of your marketing materials
   • Your Website
   • Magazine Articles
   • Buyer/Seller’s Packets
   • Listing Presentations
   • Business Cards
   • Brochures
4. Review your competition
5. Solicit feedback from your best customers
6. Make appropriate changes to your brand and business