Real Estate Marketing Drips: March 2009

Polished to Perfection? I hope not.  I'm a REAL person and this is my BLOG

Yesterday I held a seminar for a local real estate franchise, Keefe Real Estate in Walworth County Wisconsin.  The seminar, "Community Equals Profitability" was about building a strong community using social networking, blogging, and yes, belly-to-belly offline marketing strategies.

During the seminar I explained how there's more then one method a real estate agent can use to become a content provider.  We discussed blogging, podcasting, microblogging, and the "dreaded" vlogging.  I encouraged the agents to give it a try by going on Facebook and recording a quick message for a friend.

BUT....there was something missing.  I hadn't really given vlogging a whirl yet, but I realized the power of this multimedia tool enough to introduce it as a viable option in my seminars.  Enough to post about it on my blog in my New Year's Series,

"New Year's Consideration:  Vlogging in 2009" and receive this comment,

"I'm still trying to get a handle on blogging!  Is vlogging in your future?

I said yes.  I continue to preach, but I haven't yet practiced anything but the art of procrastination when it comes to vlogging.  I don't wear yellow feathers very well so here I go and what I want you to notice is,

• I am not saying anything earth shattering.
• Not the best lighting and no retouch on the makeup
• No staging of my messy office space

In other words, it's not perfect, but it is really me. 

I recorded this yesterday afternoon.  I had to mess around with some software and then decide where I wanted to upload the video to.  I am truly a novice at vlogging but it was kinda fun.

I'll still blog than vlog more often.  I enjoy writing the unspoken words. It fits MY business needs and I can do it comfortably, anytime of day, even in my pajamas.

So no more yellow feathers, maybe a few stray hairs:-)

Polished to Perfection? I hope not.  I'm a REAL person and this is my BLOG.

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I've been inspired by this post, "The 22 Step Social Media Marketing Plan" from blogger Peter Kim written last November.  Kim cites 22 examples of social media marketing methods and the corporations who are using these online methods. 

Since the 1,000,000th blog post has been announced on Active Rain I thought it might be fun to look through my blog to find examples of different social media marketing.  I found a few,

• My 2008 Blogging Revelation:  Blogging to Consumers Opened My Eyes 
• Conversations Are for Everyone 
• I'm New to Blogging. Can You Help Me Out?

• How to Nip Blogging Schizophrenia in the Bud
• The Four Letter Word That's Making a Difference in My Life
• A Cure for Time Exhaustion:  The Solution that Business Planning Forgot

• Why are Home Buyers and Sellers Still Afraid to Ask Questions? December 10th is One Day for Human Rights:  Make the Choice to Use Your Voice
• ActiveRain Week- In- Review- 10/12/09-10/18/09

• 12/15/08- Launch a Cyber Open House and Rock the Casbah,
• 6 Days of Selling Before 2009.  Real Estate Discounts and Returns Are The Products You Should Be Marketing

• The Misconception of Social Networking:  Magic, Miracles, or Just Plain Moving and Shaking
• Is There A Net Gain In Social Networking?
• The New Front Porches of America are Online

• Are You Cutting Off Your Niche to Spite Your Marketplace
• Digging Deeper: Marketing Real Estate As A Business

• 5 Ways To Grow Your Community Through Internet Education
• The Key to Profitability:  5 Steps to Grow Your Community

Here's my motive.  It's much more fun to exercise with friends.  Stretch your blogging limbs, get your oxygen flowing, and contribute to this Social Media Marketing Madness by commenting below with a link to a post about any of the social media marketing methods you have blogged about. 

Yes, I am saying self promote.  So holla at this blogging girl and send a little link love back to your blog in the comments below.  As part of my cool down I might just follow up with a post that lists ALL of the contributions listed in this post.

Time for a social media marketing exercise on hump day.  On your mark, get set, GO.

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Spin Timeless Classics and Rock Your Blog Archives

What are the timeless classics that live in the archives of your blog?  Your blog should be well stocked with a variety of posts that will rock the prose of time.  As you look through your blog can you pull out a dozen or more posts that a real estate buyer or seller can turn to for advice, inspiration, or information? 

If your mission in blogging is to educate homeowners or buyers I bet you can find these posts.

Once you spin some timeless classics on your blog take these steps to gain traction and mileage from your hard work.

• Keep your posts that have a shelf life clearly labeled in your archives and make them easy to find for your blog visitors.
• Repurpose the content from these posts in your newsletters or on your website in lieu of the boring canned copy that comes with some websites on topics like relocation or first time home buyer tips.
• Syndicate these posts to article directories.
• Create a lens on Squidoo for post topics that will be part of an ongoing series on your blog.

6 Tips On How To Find the Lucky Blog Charms and Ditch the Social Media Grifters on the Worldwide Web

I started blogging nearly 2 1/2 years ago for a real estate internet advertising company after having worked online since 2000-2001 helping real estate agents market themselves.  Although blogging was a bit intimidating to me, the more I read and commented on other blogs the more comfortable I became with my own writing voice.  After months of writing, researching and topic hunting I turned onto a path on my journey where my mind was filled with visions of blog posts dancing in my head. 

I became a student of my own blog voice that yearned to get out of my head and unto a blog publishing platform.  My listening skills sharpened and the world seemed like one great road map of posts.  Everyone from my butcher to my sister had a story to tell and I was listening.

It was evident to me very early on which blogs I resonated with and which ones I didn't.  There were some posts I would read and my gut reaction was disgust, dismay, or a bitter taste.  Shock rarely awes me, not much is awesomely shocking.  If you've lived a little life you know what I am saying. 

I guess I just can't stand blatant self promoters UNLESS you can VERY transparently see a golden egg behind the quacking goose.  I often couldn't find a crack in the puffery so I decided early in my web 2.0 travels to ditch the blogs that tried to suck breath from kindred souls.  I knew they would resonate with others but for me it was just a no go.

They are the social grifters of the worldwide web and I just don't have the time or the patience to give an audience to restless thoughtless provoking souls.

The GOOD NEWS that I would like to share on this St. Patty's Day is that also early on in my travels I came across some very caring individuals.  These were the lucky charms whom I could gather inspiration, friendship, a laugh or great, useful information. 

These folks aren't pushovers and they speak their mind but they don't take themselves so seriously.  They are proud and they are strong, but they don't make a living bent on uselessness and they are willing to extend a hand or an arm.  Far from boring their blogs have spirits and they got soul.  These bloggers wouldn't back away from a challenge but they wouldn't challenge just to toot their own horn.

Here's how you find the lucky blog charms and ditch the social media grifters on the worldwide web,

1. Look for bloggers who don't mind sharing a part of their story even if doing so might show a little vulnerability.
2. Comment on blog posts where the blogger has taken the time and effort to give information freely.
3. Extend your reading repertoire beyond the feature dashboard and into groups.  You'll find kindred spirits who have wonderful messages to share with you.  Then take it one step further and be willing to extend your reading in and out of the community of ActiveRain.
4. Be willing to laugh and be humbled with life every now and then.  A quirky post thrown in the midst of business and real estate can teach the best business or life lesson.  These stories can put a smile on the face of despair.
5. Grow your community offline by picking up the phone with a blogger you connect with online.  A good friendship can come from remarkable spaces and there are many online.
6. Controversy is fine when it teaches or strives to bring transparency to an inefficient, corrupt, or bankrupt system of life.  Systems that are widely adapted and accepted should be reviewed openly and often.

5 Lucky Charms. These bloggers who do just as much for their readers online as they do for themselves, if not more.

Katerina Gassett- While she blogs about SEO, short sales, and real estate scam artists she takes the time to connect with professionals personally by email, twitter and phone.  My first email from a blogger came from Katerina Gassett encouraging my blogging effort and helping me out with the point system on ActiveRain.

Anne Marie Malfi- It's no secret I am a fan of this virtual assistant blogging lady.  While Anne Marie is my friend, I also hire her to work on projects with me and she does a fantastic job.  Her step by step blogs are selfless gifts and true knockouts.

Jeff Belonger- I am really impressed with his grassroots campaigns to help homeowners and home buyers.  I bookmark many of his posts and appreciate the information he shares on mortgages, especially his specialty, FHA.

Gary Vaynerchuk- I've blogged about Gary before because his passion reverberates in every vlog.  Gary's advice hits a home run with me. He will be the first person to tell his subscribers to follow their own drummer and march to their own song.

Greg Swann- There is logic in this man's controversy.  Many of his posts are incredible words of actionary items for real estate professionals and there is no doubt in my mind that he loves and wants change, sensible change, in this industry he serves.  Trouble is, when you challenge the status quo you become a target for controversy.  Greg actually wears it quite well.

Happy St. Patty's Day.  Have fun finding the lucky charms on the worldwide web.

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Travel the Worldwide Web.  Answer A Few Simple Questions Online Where Consumers Ask

Inquiring minds are coming on the internet in increasing numbers to ask questions and get answers.  Here are some staggering statistics from Hitwise's March 2008 Report, U.S. Visits to Question and Answer Websites Increased 118 Percent Year-over-Year Yahoo! Answers receives 74 percent of all U.S. visits,

• U.S. Visits to a Question and Answer site increased 118% from March 2007 to March 2008.
• U.S. Visits to a Question and Answer site increased 889% comparing February 2006 to February 2008.
• Females accounted for 52 percent of all the U.S. visits to the top five Question and Answer websites for the week ending Mar. 15, 2008.
• The majority of these visits came from users between the ages of 35-44 at 24 percent.

Is answering questions online a part of your social media marketing strategy?  Travel the Worldwide Web and Answer Where Consumers Ask

31 Question and Answer Websites

1. able2know.org - Google Page Rank 5
2. Active Rain Q&A- Google Page Rank 4- There's room here for more professionals to jump in and answer consumer questions.
   
3. allexperts.com - Google Page Rank 5
4. answerbag.com - Google Page Rank 6
5. answers.com - Google Page Rank 7
6. askmehelpdesk.com - Google Page Rank 6
7. askpedia.com- Google Page Rank 3
8. askville.com-  Google PR 6
9. bitwine.com - Google Page Rank 5
10. blurtit.com - Google Page Rank 5
11. chacha.com - Google Page Rank 6
12. dizzay.com - Google Page Rank:  Unranked
13. ether.com- (Create a service listing and get paid to answer questions by phone or email)- Google Page Rank 4
14. fluther.com- Google Page Rank 5
15. grupthink.com - Google Page Rank 4
16. justanswer.com- Apply as an expert and if you're accepted get paid for the answers- Google Page Rank 5
17. knowbrainers.com - Google Page Rank 4
18. Linked In Questions- Google PR 7
19. liveperson.com- Apply as an expert and set a fee for your service- Google Page Rank 8
20. Live Search QnA- Google PR 8
21. Minti Q&A - Google Page Rank 4
22. mosio.com (Mobile QnA site)- Google Page Rank 5
23. oyogi.com - Google Page Rank 4
24. simplyanswer.com- Google Page Rank 3
25. simplyexplained.com- Google Page Rank 4
26. Trulia Voices Q&A - Google Page Rank:  Unranked
27. whatshouldisay.com - Google Page Rank 2
28. wikianswers.com- Google PR 7
29. wis.dm- Google Page Rank 6
30. yahooanswers.com- Google PR 8
31. yedda.com- Google PR 6

BONUS:  Question and Answer Websites for Your Reference and Research

askalibrarian- Ask your questions to a librarian
uclue.com - Researchers answer your questions.

Four Tips On How to Answer Questions,

• Look for questions in which you feel you have a good level of expertise by choosing questions wisely.
• Remember to use good listening skills by reading the question in full before you respond. 
• Ask for clarification if you are unclear of any part of the question.
• Respond with useful information and without self promotion.

Travel the worldwide web.  Answer a few simple questions online where consumers ask.

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Want To Be A Good Listener? Start With A Note to Yourself

Prelude to Listening Skills

This past Sunday I watched a story on 60 Minutes about a man, Robert Cotton, who was accused of rape and was in prison for some 12 odd years for a crime he didn't commit.  He looked very similar to the actual rapist and was in the line-up which is where the rape victim, Jennifer Thompson, identified him from.

What was amazing to me was that often if the perpetrator isn't in the line up the witnesses will "tend to pick someone from the line-up who looks most like the perpetrator."  As Lesly Stouts recanted after speaking with some experts on the subject of memory, "Memory is "mailable, full of holes... easily suggestible."

The line up system has two problems, Stouts explains,

1.  It's often unreliable

2.  It's highly persuasive to Jurors.

Gary Wells, the expert interviewed during the 60 minutes segment, discussed memory with Stouts and explained that recognition memory is quite quick.  It normally takes about 10-15 seconds for recognition memory.  In other words, if it takes longer than 10-15 minutes for someone to remember something then that person is most likely using something other than recognition memory.

Another problem with memory is that a reinforcement strongly alters memory, "dramatically".  Take a minute to watch this video,

Fight or flight also causes flaws in memory.  Stress has a deep effect on memory.  A person won't forget the event happened but the details are unreliable when the person is faced with a stressful situation,

Pausing to Listen and Write Is A Good Business Move

Now think about this when it comes to real estate and business.  Think about REO's, foreclosures, divorced sellers, first time home buyers, short sales sellers and your communication with them.  Do they take notes when you are educating them on the real estate process? If they aren't I would encourage them to do so. 

In your client's anxiety and excitement how can their memory possibly digest and remember in sum total and with absolute certainty all of the advice and information you will be giving them?

Do you always take notes when you are interviewing clients or meeting with them either on the phone or in person? In your excitement to assist your clients and in your expertise having dealt with similar situations before (the ho hum syndrome) how can you be sure you will remember all the details exactly as they told them to you?  How can you be sure that during your busy workdays you didn't overlook a detail a client told you or hear something differently than what a client said?

How can you be sure you can remember it all?

Sometimes the Old Fashioned Way Is the Best Way To Listen and Remember

I take notes on every client call and on conversations with business associates.  I highlight and scribble notes in the margins of books and periodicals I read.  If I have a thought about something I read online, I will take a moment to scribble it down, even if I make a note on a document in my computer.

At a conference I attended last year the speaker teased those of us who chose to write our notes instead of type or solely use a hashtag and tweet them.  She said it was cute.  Oh I had my Smartphone with me and my laptop to boot.  I knew though, that if I wrote my notes with a pen on "old fashioned paper" I would not only remember what the speaker said but I would remember where on my piece of paper I wrote the words.

Learning is fundamental, but listening and remembering can be tricky.  I take my business seriously.  I will now start asking my clients to please make sure to take notes for their own best records, regardless of my handouts, because I take their business seriously.

I will continue to hone my listening skills. My cute listening and memory basics have taken me to the bank many times over my competitors because my prospects were blown away that I remembered and was able to touch on the things they said to me.  My clients can't believe how much I really listen.

I will always put pen to paper and write notes to myself.

Want to be a good listener? Start with a note to yourself.

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How are you finding the sweet spot in online marketing to become a real estate baller?

Grant me two guesses....

By pulling consumers to blogs through the use of carefully choreographed keyword verified prose that stands on point like perfectly trained prima ballerinas poised and positioned on the first and second pages of Google.

By keeping consumers on blogs and enlightening them with the tales of REO, Short Sales, and Housing Bills, peppered with memorable memes and client recantations.  Content is King and you are looking to score some base hits.

How do you hit a home run?  Where's the sweet spot that grows online readership and Word of Mouth Marketing?  How can a real estate blogger get loyal fans outside of the professional real estate community?

You can syndicate blog posts, create groups, and answer questions on Twitter, Facebook, Linked In, Yahoo Answers, Trulia and Zillow and you should because these are all tools in your sales kit.

So focused is this path of routine workaday action of SEO and Tech Tool Mastering  before many real estate bloggers that the "old school" lessons of meet and greet start to get buried under home plate. 

It's ironic that the overshadowed old school method of meet and greet when employed online will lead you to the sweet spot,

• It will require your time.
• It will require you to engage in reciprocation.
• It will require you to get involved with your local community on a more "hyper-local level".

How do you find the sweet spot in online marketing and become a real estate baller?

The Sweet Spot is to engage in online community building at the "hyper-local level" and you can do it in communities online that already exist full of dedicated bloggers who aren't real estate professionals but local citizens. Get ready to do some door knocking by reading, writing and commenting on some citizen journalist and local blogger websites. 

I have begun to do this myself and it's a slow but rewarding process.  In my initial stages one thing is clear to me...local bloggers much like bloggers who write for their profession are loyal and they've got each other's backs.  Their blog rolls are populated with other local bloggers and their posts selflessly promote their fellow writing friends. 

Check out their readership numbers and their Page Rank.

They have got the game right.  They have community and they have fans. Are you ready to get started?  Have no fear, I have done some of the searching for you,

A Good Stepping Stone this list from SourceWatch has 103 Local and National Citizen Journalist Sites.

To satisfy your visual search craving check out this Citizen Journalism Google Map with a drop down and push pin feature to get to find your local citizen journalists.

You can do a search for local bloggers on Google and compile an initial list.  In my Google Blog search for Wisconsin Bloggers there were 116,599 results,

You can tweet on Twitter to find local bloggers,

And get results,

The key is consistency and I'll be the first to admit, since I launched my community endeavor almost one month ago I've been remiss in this.  My marketing blog has been my first and primary focus and goal but my back to basics business plan reminds me that building my business through my local community is important as well.

 A Real estate professional can build a solid community both online and offline.

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."

-Margaret Mead, American Cultural Anthropologist, Margaret Mead books

"Community. A friend started a real estate brokerage a few years ago. By the time she'd added her second employee, she was a pillar of her 35,000-person community. No rule says that only the local banker or car dealer can organize the program to raise supplemental funds for the public library or send the high school band on a well-earned special trip. Participating in community affairs, with time more than dollars, is good business from day one. It gets your name around, adds to your distinctiveness, and, best of all, makes you an attractive employer (which is the key to sustained success)."

- Thomas J. "Tom" Peters : US author, lecturer, mgmt consultant; coauthored best-seller, In Search of Excellence Tom Peters (1942 - ) Source: The Pursuit of Wow!, Page: 117

"When I was trying to popularize the concept of the Internet -- ten or 15 years ago -- I came up with this concept of "the 5 Cs." Services needed to have content, context, community, commerce, and connectivity. After that, when I was trying to think of what the key management principles were to build into the culture, I started talking about the Ps. The P's were things like passion, perseverance, perspective and people. I think the people aspect is really the most important one." 

-Steve Case : Gaia Child Steve Case

How do you find the sweet spot in online marketing and become a real estate baller?  Be a real estate blogger who faces, interacts, and builds relationships with consumers.  Become a real estate blogger who builds a community.

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The 10 Citizen Journalism Resources Real Estate Bloggers Should Be Using

Citizen Journalism, just like social networking, has always been around.   Now instead of relying solely on Word of Mouth storytelling we are able to record ideas, thoughts, research and sometimes unfortunately speculation, through a photo lens, a microphone, a blog publishing platform, or an Internet radio show.

It's the increasing use of Citizen Journalism while traditional media is losing ground that has caused the rumbles to ROAR.  What does citizen journalism have to do with real estate?  If you fancy yourself a blogger and you are writing about past/current client transactions, real estate ordinances or bills passed that effect real estate, educational pieces, or community breaking news, than you are a citizen journalist.

Citizen Journalism "is the act of non-professionals "playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analyzing and disseminating news and information," according to the seminal report We Media: How Audiences are Shaping the Future of News and Information, by Shayne Bowman and Chris Willis- Source:  Wikipedia.org. 

Citizen Journalists-Bloggers, Podcasters, and Vloggers- have an impact on their audience.  They can effect a person's purchasing decisions or actions with the news they report.  As I learned from BlogWorld's Citizen Journalism Workshop last September, Citizen Journalism isn't going away.  The key is to apply the pillars of Accuracy, Thoroughness, Fairness, Transparency, and Independence. The same pillars that real estate professionals wish were used when traditional journalists report on the Real Estate Market they must learn to employ themselves.

To help real estate professionals in that effort I have compiled,

NewsU.org

A free and simple registration form allows you to sign up for online classes like,

• The Be A Reporter Game Practice the basics of newsgathering -- asking questions, verifying information -- while racing against a deadline.
• Journalism and Trauma Learn how to compassionately interview victims and how covering traumatic events affects you.  A fitting training module for the real estate industry in light of the number of foreclosures and short sale properties.
• Local Readers and the Newsroom: The Online Credibility Gap: A Webinar Replay Hear where readers and journalists agree -- and disagree -- about news site credibility and join the discussion about key findings in this landmark study.

Can you research these citizen journalism resources?  How can you fit the research into your daily and weekly routine?  If you're going to inform and educate the public you need to make sure you inform and educate yourself. 

• Put aside a slotted chunk of time to give yourself some homework each night. 

If you have an assistant, have your assistant pull the pertinent reading for you to do every day. 

• Cut your t.v. time, outsource time wasting activities, put a time limit on playing with new tech tools. 

Dedicate yourself to learning

Become a valuable citizen journalist covering the real estate beat and become a community builder in the process.  Strive to be a sought after leaderand expert in your field. 

Remember that means you will need to get off your computer and out in your community on a regular basis, talk to people, answer questions, ask questions, learn about the needs of your community. 

Some days you might be smelling the roses of a sweet story, other days you might be trying to scrape the stench of a sad situation off the bottom of your shoes. 

At the end of the day remember the words you choose can be a lesson, a help, or a comfort to your readers old and new.


Don't hold your breath waiting for the entire media industry to change when you have your feet to the street everyday and you are the real estate industry expert.

The advantage is yours if you use the 10 citizen journalism resources real estate bloggers should be using.

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Real Estate Brokers:  5 Keys to Real Estate Agent Success

This list has been building in my mind since I first got started in the real estate industry 17 years ago when blogging wasn't even a conceptual thought on Jorn Barger's mind.  I have compiled this list from on the job experience, reading, listening and helping close thousands of real estate sales and purchases by partnering with local real estate agents.

I have much more to share, but thought I would kick this off with the five basics relevant to the real estate industry today.

Five Keys to Real Estate Agent Success

1. Provide Real Estate Training

Develop an in house mentoring program.  There are some professionals who I am sure know HTML and PHP but I am unsure if they know what houses are on the market, what has expired, what has sold, what has been listed in the past 30-60-90 days.  I see this as a huge oversight by the real estate industry.  It's important to be a great marketer, but buyers and sellers of ALL GENERATIONS hire real estate professionals because they are supposed to know the market not because they are self proclaimed Internet marketing gurus. 

If a real estate agent advertises as a first time home buyer specialist but cannot answer questions like:  1. What first time home buyer programs exist?  2.  Can you recommend any mortgage professionals?  3.  What is available in my price range and will it have to be a fixer-upper?  4.  Can you tell me about the school districts in this area?  Then that IS a problem.  If a real estate agent advertises themselves as any specialty but cannot provide a service that differentiates themselves from their competitors THAT is a problem.

My sister and her boyfriend are going to be new first time home buyers in Chicago and by next week I will be interviewing at least three real estate agents before referring one to them.  I will be looking for a first time home buyer specialist in particular neighborhoods.  I will not be looking for an expert in PHP development. Let that be your minor.  Real estate should always be your major.

The agent I am looking for will be a blogger and I will be reading their content solely to assess the agent's expertise on first time home buyers and Chicago Real Estate Markets.  I will also be trying to get a sense of their character.  I don't want to refer my sister and her boyfriend to someone with a snotty attitude.

Back to basics.  Education and knowledge of the real estate industry is FIRST.

2.  Emphasize the Importance of Having a Website

86% of consumers come onto the Internet to look at properties, but there are still real estate agents who don't own any internet property.  Why?  It is guaranteed that if you don't provide a marketing hub you are losing more opportunities than you should.  I would NEVER refer a consumer to a real estate agent who didn't own a website, especially a seller.  A page on a real estate broker's website IS NOT a sufficient website.  A website off a real estate broker's website IS NOT a sufficient website.  All real estate professionals need their own domain with their own website. 

IT IS that simple.

3.  Encourage (strongly encourage) your real estate agents to write a business plan that includes a marketing plan. 

This is a topic that is discussed ad nausea each November/December headed toward the new calendar year.  If you don't decide what you want from your business and how you are going to get what you want, HOW CAN YOU expect your business to deliver for you? 

The concepts of defining a niche, giving yourself real estate homework daily and weekly, advertising and marketing, and good ole fashioned selling should be part and parcel of a good business plan.  Defined quarterly goals and objectives is another essential part of business plan.
 
A good business plan doesn't need to be a novel, it just needs to have meat and potatoes that real estate professionals can sink their teeth into.  The business plan should have actionable items and a checks and balance system to measure the results. 

I would recommend dedicating the last eight Fridays or Thursdays of the year to helping real estate professionals with their new year business plan.  There are also resources available FOR FREE   to help real estate brokers and agents with putting together business plans.

It's really simple.  If you do not plan you are planning to fail.

4.  Pick your training partners carefully

I love this one.  Many real estate professionals get so caught up in needing to know the latest and greatest tools and SEO techniques that their content just falls by the wayside.  If you hire an "SEO Expert, Social Media Expert, or Blogging Expert" to train your real estate professionals on the tools of the profession, then do yourself a favor and make sure they have adequate knowledge on the subject AND that what they are teaching pertains to the real estate industry.

Everyday there is a new Social Media Evangelist, Social Media Expert, or Blogging Expert.  It has become an "in demand" skill and so the market has flooded quickly with experts.  It's very similar to the amount of technology vendors who entered the industry in 2004 when they saw they could just sell any old website/lead generation product to the industry and r.e professionals were buying. 

It didn't matter that they had no knowledge of the industry or any experience with real estate consumers.  They were using the spaghetti theory, throwing noodles up against the wall to see if they would stick.  Last week I personally referred 3 prospects to a business associate who could serve their needs better than I could. 

I know what I know and am not afraid to refer what I do not know or care to know.

You can provide training for real estate professionals on tools and tech toys and networks all day long, but if they really don't understand why and the reason is not part of the training, you might as well just flush your money down the toilet.

5. Be aware of your office culture and hire like minded people

Be picky, nit picky, when you are recruiting and hiring real estate agents for your company.  Realize that you have a corporate culture, goals, a mission, a repoire, a sort of spirit about your office and you should be seeking agents who would be a good fit for your real estate environment. 

A company I worked with had a sales professional on their team that used to be absolutely negative about absolutely everything that had to do with selling the product.  That professional was described by the Director of the Sales Department as a cancer on the sales staff but still no one could pull the trigger and let the salesperson go. 

This salesperson continued to disturb the other members on the sales staff and after many years of employment was finally let go.  If the company had a better screening and assessment system in place I am confident that this particular error in judgment could have been avoided.

If regular reviews and consequences were a part of this company's operations this problem would have been nipped in the bud a lot sooner.

The people you staff your company with, from the receptionist to the individual real estate professional, are an obvious reflection on the quality of your services.  Do you want to be the market leader or the market bench warmer?  I could have made this list longer, but I figured I'd start with just one shy of 1/2 a dozen.

For a fun bonus here are a few recent polls I have conducted.  Back to Basics:

• Are you inviting your SOI, farm Area, and website prospects to read your blog?
• Why do you blog?
• How many hours a day do you spend prospecting for new business?
• Brokers:  Do you actively mentor or have a mentor program in place for your real estate agents?
• Will you be attending a marketing seminar that includes blogging and social media marketing in 2009?

I don't mind digging in the dirt. If you want your garden to flourish you gotta keep up with the weeds.

Real Estate Brokers:  5 Keys to Real Estate Agent Success.

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Need help with your real estate marketing needs?  Rebecca D. Levinson is a Real Estate Marketing Consultant who can help you develop an online marketing strategy.  Call #262-203-5231 or Email rebecca@realestateskillz.com.  You can also visit my real estate marketing profile.