Tag: Real estate marketing (page 1 of 1)

June 11, 2012

An Effective way to gets lots of pages indexed to your real estate web site

by Al Lorenz

Realtor, Media Mogul

I’m cheap on spending money on real estate stuff from vendors promising all kinds of things, whether it is leads or exposure. But, I went ahead and tried out a real estate search utility that is setup for WordPress. There were three reasons I chose to do it: 1) They would program it to work with our itsy-bitsy MLS at Lake Chelan (no other vendors, IDXPro, etc. support such a tiny market). 2) Each listing in my MLS, and every saved search I did, became a page indexed to my web site. 3) They are less expensive per month than my current vendor with no setup fees.

Sure enough, I now have 4380 pages indexed to my site in little old Chelan. I’ve moved up one spot in the top 5 Google results in a week. I do have a nice real estate search for browsing properties with a photo type of interface. The vendor is Spot-on Connect.

I have saved a bit of money in that they replaced part of what my former vendor did. However, I haven’t been able to shut off my older IDX service because their searches allow more user choices to create more specific searches. Yes, there have been a few bugs, but the Spot-on people have been pretty quick in fixing them.

I’m even getting search traffic, for searches like “9607 sr 17, coulee city, wa 98851” coming to my web sites that did not arrive before.

I wouldn’t plug a vendor normally, but I’m getting fond enough of this approach to hope Spot-on connect survives and prospers.

Like many things, the service hasn’t been everything I could wish for, but it is a pretty effective way to get your SEO juice up if you use WordPress. If that and the ability to have beautiful custom neighborhood searches, like the one pictured above appeals to you, they are worth checking out. This is one of the better things I’ve done for improving my web page ranking, ever.

August 30, 2011

What Willie’s Roadhouse taught me about being a Niche Biche.

by Teri Lussier

Rust Belt Realtor

Yes, yes, I’m late to the SiriusXm party I admit it, but we recently got rid of a car with a cassette player, so that should tell you a lot. Honestly, the only thing I knew about satellite radio was Howard Stern so you can’t really blame me, can you? But that’s the past. Now that I’m here, can I tell you how much I love it? I do! I love it! A channel of nothing but Broadway show tunes? What, are you kidding me? My gay clients and I have sing-alongs, but that’s not why I love it. Here’s why I love it: It’s specialized. I don’t know how many channels there are altogether because I only listen to two. I flip between OnBroadway and Willie’s Roadhouse. I’m not interested in Spa, POTUS, or Hair Nation (If you’ve ever met me you know I live in my own private Hair Nation, thanksanyway), or any other of the bazillion channels available, each so freaking specialized and focused that it blows my mind! On the way from OnBroadway to Roadhouse, I have to pass Prime Country, Outlaw Country, Bluegrass Junction, and The Highway. No thank you, I’m not interested. I want my Roadhouse. I want my George and Tammy, my Johnny and June, and a little lite Texas Swing thrown in to mix it up. I’ve been laboring under the false impression that C&W was C&W but no, not even close. And each radio station taps into one tiny segment of the entire car-driving radio-listening population, each driver getting their own unique radio itch scratched in just the right place- it’s ecstasy. Pure unadulterated radio ecstasy. But this is a real estate blog so let’s talk Realtor talk.

Last week I was referring a lead to a Realtor and she informed me that I’m too quick to limit myself to one area. Not really true, but I remembered Ryan Hartman’s post that gave away the blue print for a broker’s market domination plan. You should go read it, I’ll wait. Done? Okay, see where I’m going with this?

You know how much you love Read more

March 1, 2011

Shouldn’t Sellers Invoice Listing Agents?

by Sean Purcell

Real Estate Renaissance Man

I suppose it’s pretty rare that a seller actually hands their listing agent an invoice during the course of a listing, but it shouldn’t be. Based on what I see, the vast majority of listing agents should be billed by the seller, same as they would be by any other third party vendor. The fact that it doesn’t happen simply means most sellers don’t understand what is really going on during the course of a listing and, I’d wager, neither do most agents – or if they do they certainly haven’t informed their client.

Here’s a question every seller should ask their listing agent: “Why are you going to put up a For Sale sign in my front yard?” Standard answer: “A sign is just one part of my ‘Handy-Dandy, Super-Duper, 24 Point, 7 Step, Maximum Sales Price Marketing Plan’ or HDSD-24/7-MSM Plan… which I offer to all my clients completely free of charge.” (The standard answer is impressive, wouldn’t you agree? We agents are very creative indeed.). Of course, given the use of internet these days, I suggest to you, dear reader, that most For Sale signs are more directional than informational, but let’s not split hairs. Okay, so the sign is a part of the marketing plan. Next question by an informed home seller: “If that sign is part of your plan to market my house, why doesn’t it mention anything about my actual, you know… house?”

This is old Greg Swann stuff, but I’m rehashing because it needs to be taken further. There are actually two correct reasons for placing a sign in someone’s front yard:

Sell the actual home. (The primary objective from a fiduciary standpoint.)
Attract future home sellers from the neighborhood. (Secondary objective, but a legitimate expectation of work well done.)

So why is it then, that the vast majority of signs fail both of these objectives? Because they are designed with a different purpose altogether; they are designed to advertise the brokerage (hence the uniform colors, logos, big brokerage name and phone number). To a smaller degree, they are also designed to advertise a brokerage’s presence in a neighborhood Read more

January 21, 2010

They are Smarter than you, Better than you and they Know More than you

by Scott Schang

Mortgage Systems Samurai

I’m a mortgage guy. Mortgage guys (and gals) will often talk about how highly they regard and respect the professionalism and expertise of Real Estate Agents, and they paint thise adoration with a very broad brush.

Real Estate Agents have a big ‘ole brush as well as they sing the praises and glory of how efficient, communicative and quickly Mortgage folks do their job to ensure a speedy and worry free transaction.

(The sarcasm should be about waist deep by now)

And you know what? (this applies to both groups) They are Smarter than you – at marketing to their services to thier prospects, they are Better than you – at doing their job, and they Know More than you do – about their business (most of the time!). Here’s the kicker….we have the exact same clientele.

Here’s a question: What can you learn from someone that’s not in your line of work that will make you better, smarter and cause you to innovate?

A couple of years ago I read a book called the Medici Effect that quite effectively makes the case that true innovation is realized at the intersection of different disciplines. There are no new ideas, only new ways of looking at things that already exist…maybe just not in your world.

If you think about it, mortgage types and agent types are different disciplines. Some people can pull off both and make a good living at it, for the most part however, these are two different personality types.

The very best in one field of the Real Estate profession is rarely the very best in the other field as well. We’re not talking about having competence in either discipline.

I’m talking about being cutting edge, innovative, kick-ass, gonzo marketing fools. This isn’t vanilla agent or loan officer stuff we’re talking about. I’m talking about raising the bar and being a thought leader in your market.

For the past few years I have belonged to Vistage, an Executive Coaching and Business Leadership group that promotes “better leaders – decisions – results”.

My group is made up of 12-15 CEOs from different businesses and industries and we meet once a Read more

February 26, 2009

The Twitter Experiment: SWRake Seeks Companion for Possible LTR

by Chris Johnson

Instigator, anthill kicker.

Alright. I talked about posting my results on this post.

Today’s pay pal of $575.00 allowed me to cross the finish line, early. I have blogs to build, SEO to SEO, copy to write, PHP to PHP and more work than I can possibly do. And way more than that, to channel Yogi. Lawyers, a local News Station…Realtors®…and others have contracted with me to do everything from setting up social networking profiles (boring), to trying to aggregate information on their competitors (fun). I have a pile of work to do. From Twitter. It’s an efficient clearing house when you’re ready to pick up the phone and be a catalyst and when you see phrases and words you dig at http://search.twitter.com.

I’m not highly skilled as a cold caller compared to many. But I make the calls. That’s most of it. And, I had one shitty response. Only one. But I pick up the phone, I say I’m enjoying your tweets. And, I now have money to pay 2008’s extortion taxes. I’ll probably have $14,000 after I pay my subs out. There’s money in twitter. Just lying around. If I’m a mortgage lender, EVERY Realtor® would get a phone call in EVERY state I could lend in. Why? Because being ON twitter is instant credibility & rapport.

I didn’t spend hours doing this, really. I spent probably about 70-75 minutes a day initially calling, and then I did follow up, scheduled through ACT 6.0 now that I have my PC working on my MAC. (Act 6.0 was the pinnacle of single user CRMs) . I also asked the Twitterers for referrals that WEREN’T on Twitter. That was $8,000 of my $25,150. I have probably another $4,000-8,000 in business I could extract if I’d follow up with zeal and vigor.

And there’s the rub. See, I need someone to manage and do the work. I’ve sold it, gotten project requirements, I’ve found people with real needs to be helped. And I’m looking for someone to help grind out the work so I can honor my clients, and keep the pace up. I want someone that Read more

January 13, 2009

More Arguments in Favor of Ma Bell.

by Chris Johnson

Instigator, anthill kicker.

Guess who woke up full of passion, piss and vinegar?

Shiver me timbers, it’s GenuineChris. So, let’s talk 1.0, 2.0 and stuff.

NEVER did I say–or advocate–that it’s acceptable to burn through clients. You can AFFORD to when you have 1.0 skills. But it’s wasteful, stupid and inefficient. So, get this: I said I’ve been wasteful stupid and inefficient in the past. Who hasn’t? Who admits it? You find people to honor. To help, to serve.

NEVER do I say that you list anything, work with anyone. INITIATING a conversation doesn’t obligate you to take junk listings or work with mentally ill drama queens. You’re looking for the BEST AND MOST PROFITABLE people to sell to.

NEVER did I–or will I–say that “cold calling was the ONLY way that I generate business.” Fact is, I adovocate “deliberate connecting,” first, THEN cold calling. Connect with, and build a Brian Brady proof fence around EVERYONE that you know. EVERYONE that you interact with. (By the way, a Brian Brady proof fence would be a magnificent thing). Connect, DELIBERATELY. A call to your top 400 people once a quarter. That’s just: 133 calls/month. Or ~40 calls a week. Or ~8 calls a day. And it’s unobtrusive, and if you do it serving them…

…you’ll never starve.

Most people won’t even do that. I dig the drama, the tension, and that’s why I like honing myself as a “cold” caller. I do it to build my ability to connect with people as much as anything else. Fact is, I’m persistent, I’m Rocky Balboa. I get my face beat in but I keep coming back for another round. And the fact is, I call people, in roughly the order:

-People that know, like trust and seek me out: every 30 days. There are 45 people on this list. And I talk to them as often as I can, and I make it a point to honor all of them. Never forget the people that have helped. Be present and ready to give them a %%^& referral.

-People that know me and recognize me. Every 90 days, a CONVERSATION. Today? We’re at about Read more

September 2, 2008

To Whom Shall I Pledge My Allegiance?

by Thomas Hall

Realtor, Rabble-Rouser

The Pledge of Allegiance

Alright now – simmer down – relax – this is not a political post.

With the advent of a new school year here, I couldn’t help but be reminded of days gone by – in the classroom – Ms. Sukula, my second grade teacher – with Bewitched hair – stood proudly at the front of the classroom, hand over her left breast – slowly reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. She told us to stand like soldiers – hand over our chests with pride – you’re an American!

Now if you didn’t recite it along with her – her eyes would focus on you with the deep intent of causing bodily harm – lips firmly and taughtly pulled back to bare her brilliant white teeth – still slowly reciting the words – almost melodically.

It was definitely not a smile – believe me – her message did not lack clarity.

Ahh – memories …

Now – surprisingly, this draws parallels in my current day-to-day life as a real estate agent deeply embroiled in the pursuit of sorting out of all the new technology solutions in the Real Estate 2.0 cyber space. You’ll notice from my last post – this is a taking some time.

Greg has shared with us the cool new Trulia app for the iPhone here on Bloodhound. I recently saw on Twitter that Trulia has already surpassed over 10,000 downloads – this new functionality not only is cool, it clearly has legs.

But why am I not running to Trulia?

I am a member – I participate on TruliaVoices. I’ve claimed all of my listings and have subscribed to Trulia Pro – but their latest feature has me frustrated – blogging. While it is a great feature, I can’t help but ask myself, why do I want to put all of my eggs in the Trulia basket?

I have spent the last several idle months re-alphabetizing my CD collection, sorting through my closets and more importantly, really being focused on learning the new Web 2.0 tools and building my online presence. I’ve invested in my own domain for my blog and Read more

July 2, 2008

We’re off to beat the Wizard…

by John Rowles

IDX Search Entrepreneur

I found BloodHoundBlog by following a link from a comment Greg made on an Inman story that I had also commented on. It was pretty typical Inman fare — “Blog your way to a Fortune in Real Estate” was the implied headline. When I arrived here I felt like Dorothy waking up in her bed back in Kansas.

I am new to the Real Estate “industry”. I put that in quotes, because “industry” implies the production of something other than nausea when sellers see the commission they paid (BA DUM DUM – Crash! But I kid the Realtors…). I began working with brokers after building a career as an eCommerce consultant. That was in the real world, which for the purposes of the metaphor I will beat to death in this post, we will call “Kansas”.

That makes Real Estate “Oz” for all the many reasons that have been documented here over the past two years.

Full disclosure: I have spent the last two years trying to bring eCommerce Best Practices from Kansas to Oz. The centerpiece of that effort is a IDX Search platform called “Foyer” that is powered by Google Search Technology. I guess that makes me a vendor, but I am not a carny barker. So far, every gig we have is from a referral. Its been a slow way to grow, but its kept us honest. Its also the best marketing we can afford.

With that out of the way, you want to know why you should bother to read what I have to say, so to give you an idea of where I am coming from, I will finish the beating of the metaphor.

If I’m Dorothy, then, in no particular order:

Lollipop Guild: Real Estate Agents. Obviously.

The Wizard: The NAR/Move Inc/Realtor.com cartel. Behind the scenes of an imposing edifice The Wiz is an old man pulling big levers (one is labeled “MLS”) that are no longer attached to anything. The Wizard’s power is derived from the size of the Lollipop Guild. The stature of the Guild members indicates the height of the barriers to entry set by the Wiz. When Bloodhounds Read more

March 16, 2008

The Future of Marketing: Intent and Content

by Mike Farmer

Real Estate Broker

John Battelle wrote a book a while back called The Search which is basically about Google. In this book he discusses, among many other topics, the mountain of information being gathered by search engine companies and gives a few scenarios of how this might affect adverising and marketing. One particular scenario is something I think is not too far away from being a reality.

He uses a couple gathering information about the expected birth of their first child, how the husband is badgered into taking a part and learning about child-birth, parenting and such, so he begins searching — searching for articles, searching Amazon for books, etc. Battelle’s point is the merging of intent-based and content-based advertising. The husband then gets with his wife to use the TV search capabilities to find the programs related to child-care and parenting.

He goes on with the scenario describing the behind-the scenes computer gyrations that trigger connected sites to form the “intent” and begin the auctioning for advertising — all this taking seconds, from TiVo to Amazon to BabyWorld.com to whatever other connection he’s made.

When they start the child-care programing, in the corner of the screen is a message that three advertisers have information packages. The agreement with the cable program services is that he will access the ads every so often in order to get an incredibly low cost for the program services. He really doesn’t mind this because he’s found the ads very useful and pertinent to his needs.

The auctioning process behind the scenes was preset by advertisers with a maximum bid they will go, or they set to always bid the highest for top placement. The bids are in and three advertisers have won the top spots.

When the husband clicks on the ads, he not only gets a textual ad saying “We’re the greatest”, he gets links to information sites, discount offers, a whole package of useful content.

Now, plug in a home searcher and real estate and we get a glimpse of what the future might hold. I won’t even go into the predictions of barcoding technology, but imagine scanning your smartphone over a barcode on a for sale sign and uploading Read more

February 27, 2008

This is not for the contest — just tipping my hat

by Mike Farmer

Real Estate Broker

The most powerful marketing Idea I’ve heard lately is to create a separate blog for listings. I’m in the process of giving area information, one area at a time on my home buyer’s website/blog with plenty of links to pertinent information.

But the idea of creating a blog for each listing is something that didn’t dawn on me. To tell the story of the listing. The 455 50^th Street Blog! My provider allows categories, so I can create as many blogs as I want to create and delete them when it sells.

The possibilities are many – you could even have the owners write a guest post, you could fully explain the area surrounding the listing, you can place powerful photos highlighting the strong points; you can have one post that gives demographics, one post that gives comparables, and if it’s an older home like many in Savannah, one post that gives the history. You can highlight in one post all the improvements, in one post talk about its energy efficiency, on and on.

It’s a lot of work but it would be powerful and sellers would love it. Talk about rich content and Google love! It would distinguish the home and it would place it in a great position to compete in a tough market.

I have two new listings coming up and I’m going to try this. There may be objections I haven’t thought of, but I believe it would be worth the effort.

Tag: Real estate marketing (page 1 of 1)

An Effective way to gets lots of pages indexed to your real estate web site

by Al Lorenz

What Willie’s Roadhouse taught me about being a Niche Biche.

by Teri Lussier

Shouldn’t Sellers Invoice Listing Agents?

by Sean Purcell

They are Smarter than you, Better than you and they Know More than you

by Scott Schang

More Arguments in Favor of Ma Bell.

by Chris Johnson

To Whom Shall I Pledge My Allegiance?

by Thomas Hall

We’re off to beat the Wizard…

by John Rowles

The Future of Marketing: Intent and Content

by Mike Farmer

This is not for the contest — just tipping my hat

by Mike Farmer

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