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Should I be following your real estate blog?
PDF Do you have an excellent real estate blog? Or do you follow some really good
real estate blogs?
I would love to find and follow some new real estate blogs with original content and great photos and video. If you do a great blog or know about some great real estate blogs, post them in the comment section below.
Why? I am interested in real estate and in visiting my neighbourhood, communities where I have lived, places I have visited, and destinations I would like to visit.
A good real estate blog will give me some good ideas about what is taking place in a particular market and help me to stay current with that community.
There is a lot of ‘canned content’ out there. Brokerages, agents, or their content providers provide some news that has been boiled up and served to many over dozens, if not hundreds of websites/blogs. There is a place for borrowed material when we are distracted by other concerns or our creative well is running a little dry.
But the gold is in the original content. Real estate agents have a unique perspective and for various reasons, mostly busyness I suppose, they do not get around to sharing it in their blogs.
High-quality original content is what will bring me back to your real estate blog. People like to read blogs that are a blend of useful information and entertainment.
You can have a very simple blog design without a lot of frills. You can post as little as once a week. Just be sure to understand that your reader is not a loyal and polite friend. They are visiting you because you have something to offer them.
An added bonus: Google and Bing continue to make changes that are directed toward rewarding original content. So without cost, you can boost your SEO in the right direction.
A Real Estate Sales and Marketing Plan for 2012
What? You haven’t finished your real estate sales and marketing plan for 2012? Time to get going on that.
Here is a short list of suggestions for starting:
1. Review. Take a look at your plan for 2011. How did things work out? Why?
2. Put it in writing. Summarize your expectations for the coming year: The economy and micro-economy of your community. Your health, family situation, and financial needs. Include the various opportunities and risks that your real estate career faces in the coming year. What is the competitive picture like?
3. Set targets. What are your specific targets for 2012 (e.g. $$$ gross commissions for the year, $$ gross commissions per month, $$ business and personal expenses per month, taking into account the annual sales cycle, # of sales per month, # of leads per month, # of advertising markers and hits per month.
4. Contingency plan. What are you going to do if things aren’t going well in three months? Six months? What if there is a local disaster? What if you encounter a health or family problem?
5. Communication. It is important to have multiple sources of prospects and referral sources, redundant channels of communication, and a clear idea of how and what you are going to share with people.
6. Collaborate. Be sure to discuss and debate your plan with others among your family, friends, and business circle. Don’t be afraid of pessimists, worry warts, and cynics, but don’t let them hold you back from making bold and creative plans.
7. Success. No set of projections is bullet-proof, but whatever you do, plan for success.
(For a fun kindergarten book about making big plans):
If we can help with your business planning for 2012, let us know: info@thetouchmarketing.com.
Holiday Socializing, Social Media, and Real Estate
Veteran real estate people know that home owners and potential home buyers will use holiday events to plug into their brains for low-key, no-pressure, no-commitment real estate information.
Being consummate professionals, they are prepared for these ‘spontaneous’ conversations. They carry in their minds, current and accurate real estate information and news. They have thought about how to respond to the big real estate stories that are now in the news and questions like ‘what do you expect the spring market to be like’? For specific questions they cannot answer, they are ready to say ‘I don’t know but I will get back to you’ and to take information for follow up. You know that they will, in fact, follow up on the promises they make.
They dress like the successful and confident persons that they are. They always carry business cards and a smartphone and present themselves as trustworthy and responsible friends.
In 2011, many savvy real estate people have easy-to-remember Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, Google+) names and addresses and can offer these verbally and printed on their cards. This simple step allows people to continue their casual, no-pressure conversations with you online, Perhaps immediately via smartphone.
A final tip: Many real estate agents will choose to stay constantly available, possibly by Smartphone, while travelling and taking time away. Others will be away on tropical cruises, relaxing on secluded islands in the South Pacific, or snorkeling off of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.
Whatever your plans, Social Media is an excellent way of staying in touch – for free…. And be sure to keep in touch with us here at Touch Marketing: info@thetouchmarketing.com.
Have a merry Christmas from all of us at The Touch Marketing!
Facebook Timeline: Hey, real estate agent are you monitoring your online reputation?
Here at Touch Marketing, we are recommending that our real estate clients do a thorough review of their online reputation over the holiday season. Google yourself. Take a look at your social media pages. Dig a little deeper into your old online content and conversations.
But… if you don’t want to… your Facebook friends will do it for you. Because Facebook is dramatically changing up its profile set up. They are calling it Facebook Timeline.
From birth to .... the 'scrapbook' of your life according to Facebook
With Facebook Timeline, what you get is a virtual scrapbook which chronicles your online life. The Timeline tells your life story through sharing the images, video, and text that you have posted on Facebook over time.
Facebook will pull together all kinds of elements about you and your life and present these elements in a clear and beautiful way. Looking at the Timelines will be endlessly fascinating for millions of people, this holiday season.
It could be interesting and surprising for a lot of us. Do you remember that certain boy/girl friend in high school that you no longer want to talk about? You know, the one who has tragically slid into a tragic life of sin and crime? You know, the one you left behind to establish yourself as an award-winning real estate agent with a sterling reputation for integrity, professionalism, and community service?
Through Facebook’s amazing ability to make online connections and references, that person may suddenly loom large in your Facebook Timeline.
Your challenge? To monitor and manage your online reputation, to properly set up your Facebook privacy settings, and to carefully edit your history of Facebook posts for items that no longer match the persona you want to present to the world. For help, drop us a line at: info@thetouchmarketing.com.
Tips for Using Google+ for Real Estate Sales
Have you been thinking about giving Google+ a try? Google+ is Google’s answer to interactive social media.
For those of you who are old pros in using Facebook, much about Google+ will look familiar. Google has created some interesting features that will appeal to many users and are useful for your real estate business.
1. Google+ Integration
If you use Google products and services, you will already appreciate that Google offers a suite of products that are free or very inexpensive to use (their google search ads pay for almost everything they do). For real estate salespeople who are already using gmail, google chat, and other google products, the Google+ social network is an opportunity to use the Google networking resources and tools. Google is relentlessly building Google+ into a long list of online services.
2. Circles
You might find Circles to be useful for organizing your contacts into groups. Some Circles users find it easier and less cumbersome than the Facebook groups.
3. Mobile
Mobile is important to many real estate people. Google’s mobile app is already pretty good and getting better, especially with Google’s Android phones. Google will be using Mobile as one of its biggest competitive tools in the battle with Facebook.
4. Search
Given that Google made its fortune on search, the company’s developers typically do a great job of integrating search into its online offerings. Circles is no exception. The search functions work smoothly and are much superior to what Facebook offers.
5. Lots more…
Give Google+ a try. Google+ has attracted millions of users but is not expected to quickly catch up to Facebook. There might be a tendency developing in the marketplace to use Google+ for specific purposes such as for your contacts who are big Google fans, or certain groups of business contacts. Google has developed brilliant and free ways for sharing documents, video, and images and collaborating on projects.
We highly recommend Google products for simple and inexpensive collaboration. We would love to hear how you are using Google+. Drop us a line at info@thetouchmarketing.com
